https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-546-The-Essence-of-Magic-and-the-Ultimate-Creations-of-Alchemy/13448915/
Chapter 545: The Essence of Magic, I Think You Already Know, Don't You?
Chapter 545: The Essence of Magic, I Think You Already Know, Don't You? (Combined)
To confirm his hypothesis, Ivan shifted his gaze to Dumbledore's right hand.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore's right hand remained hidden in his sleeve, making it impossible for Ivan to see if he was wearing that Ring.
However, Ivan had never been particularly interested in the Resurrection Stone and didn't pay much attention to it.
The object's purpose was to allow one to see the souls of the deceased. According to the original story, these souls were false, merely projections of the deceased as you remembered them, making it the least useful of the Deathly Hallows!
While Ivan was deep in thought, Dumbledore and Nick's argument continued unabated.
"Albus, you should understand that I have already wasted a lot of time", Nicolas Flamel's expression was far from pleasant. "According to our previous plan, I should be with her by now!"
"You've already missed it, haven't you? A little more delay won't make a difference!" Dumbledore responded firmly. "You should know this isn't just my issue, nor is it solely the British Wizarding World's concern!"
"Yes, I hope you know what you're doing!" Nick rolled his eyes irritably. "Do you really think everything will go as you plan? Albus, no one can control everything, not even a god!"
"Perhaps, but I believe this is our best chance", Dumbledore replied noncommittally.
He didn't want to argue with Nick over this and quickly changed the subject, asking Nick to repair the Deathly Hallow as soon as possible.
Nick showed no signs of backing down. Repairing such a legendary item would take at least two years, even if he exerted all his efforts.
Two years?
Dumbledore looked disappointed. This meant he might not live long enough to uncover that secret.
"Since that's the case, we might have to prepare for the worst", Dumbledore's face turned unusually weary as he muttered to himself.
Without getting the promise he wanted, Dumbledore slowly got up to take his leave, turning to go.
Before leaving, he reminded Nick not to forget their previous agreement and to make his own decisions if the situation turned unfavorable.
Nick nodded, watching Dumbledore leave the Cottage and disappear in a golden flame.
For a long while, Nick stood there silently, lost in thought.
Ivan didn't dare to interrupt, silently pondering the so-called "best chance" and "worst preparation" in his mind.
He felt that Dumbledore and Nick were not just talking about the Resurrection Stone.
"Sorry, Hals, I was a bit distracted just now!" After a while, Nick came to his senses and looked at Ivan apologetically.
"It's fine, Mr. Flamel!" Ivan shook his head, indicating it didn't matter.
Then, Ivan asked curiously about their earlier argument, hoping to uncover some secrets.
"You know, when you get old, you can't help but worry about things that might not even happen", Nick chuckled, clearly not intending to reveal anything.
Ivan pursed his lips, not believing a word of it.
However, Ivan hadn't expected much to begin with. If they could have told him, Dumbledore and Nick wouldn't have been so evasive during their argument.
Ivan could only speculate that this matter might be related to Voldemort.
In the original timeline, Dumbledore used the Elder Wand and his own death to set a trap for Voldemort.
The former was Voldemort's cause of death, and the latter was a significant catalyst. Without this formidable adversary, Voldemort transformed from a cunning conspirator into a reckless brute who only knew the Killing Curse!
Before that, Voldemort's intelligence was still intact.
He managed to take Harry away from under Dumbledore's nose during the Triwizard Tournament and, after his resurrection, didn't immediately declare his return to the Wizarding World but instead hid and built his strength, simultaneously sowing discord between Fudge and Dumbledore!
But everything changed after Dumbledore's death. Feeling invincible, Voldemort became increasingly arrogant and reckless.
With his Horcruxes being destroyed one by one, Voldemort's mental state suffered repeated blows. He became fixated on Trelawney's Prophecy, ultimately leading to his downfall at Harry's hands.
This perfectly illustrated the saying, "To destroy a person, first make them mad!"
However, the current situation was different, and Ivan didn't know if Dumbledore would use the same method. The old professor might not live long enough to see it through.
While lost in thought, Ivan maintained a calm exterior, pretending to be somewhat disappointed at not receiving any news.
Nick offered a few words of comfort, then shifted the topic, showing a keen interest in testing Ivan's Alchemy skills.
He had always heard that Ivan had a high aptitude for Alchemy but didn't know the specifics, so naturally, he wanted to assess Ivan's abilities firsthand.
Facing Nicolas Flamel's examination, Ivan answered smoothly, detailing the Runic Inscriptions sequences he had mastered and his daily study progress and methods.
Although his Alchemy had already reached level six, according to the System's classification, he was at a level where he could teach others. However, without a sufficiently skilled mentor, he had mostly relied on self-study, often unsure if his methods were correct.
Now, with this opportunity, Ivan was not about to miss the chance to validate his knowledge.
After a while, Nicolas Flamel's casual demeanor changed.
He realized that Ivan's Alchemy skills far exceeded his expectations, even approaching the upper limits that most Alchemists could only achieve through diligent study.
This discovery surprised Nicolas Flamel. According to the information he had, Ivan's Potions skills were also very high, and his overall strength far surpassed that of his peers.
Could there really be such a versatile genius in this world?
Nick looked at Ivan's youthful face, feeling quite moved, but he still patiently answered Ivan's questions about Alchemy.
Ivan was fully engrossed in the Q&A session. The System Notification would ring in his mind from time to time, but he completely ignored it, absorbing knowledge like a sponge.
Hours passed, and Ivan's throat grew dry. He instinctively reached for the teacup beside him, only to find it empty, and reluctantly stopped.
At the same moment, the final System Notification rang.
[Ding, after a period of study, your Alchemy level has improved. Current level: 6 (1395/16000)]
Ivan glanced at it and saw that his Alchemy proficiency had increased by over a thousand points in just a few hours!
He knew that since last year, after absorbing the Alchemy knowledge from Bogrod, his Alchemy level had reached level six, and the proficiency growth had slowed to a crawl, sometimes only a couple of points after reading an entire thick Alchemy Book.
Compared to the daunting proficiency cap, Ivan felt it would take him several years to reach level seven just by studying on his own.
Because of this, Ivan's gaze toward Nick became more eager, his eyes full of a thirst for knowledge, treating Nick as a new learning accelerator!
On the other side, Nick was very satisfied with Ivan's insatiable curiosity.
After the examination, he had a good understanding of Ivan's foundation.
This young witch and wizard was a practical type, excelling in hands-on creation of Alchemical Items. However, there were also weaknesses, such as a lack of solid theoretical knowledge.
At the same time, Nick curiously asked Ivan who had taught him Alchemy. At Ivan's current level, he was already considered a top Alchemist in Britain, and Nick was curious about who could have taught such a prodigy.
“I don't have a true Alchemy mentor. My mother, Asia, taught me all of this.” Ivan explained, completely ignoring the contributions of Bogrod and Tom.
“I see.” Nicolas Flamel thought for a moment. He had never heard of Asia, indicating she was not a very famous Alchemist.
However, this was not unusual. During the examination, he had noticed that Ivan's knowledge was quite eclectic, not resembling someone who had received formal Alchemy education. This further confirmed Ivan's talent in Alchemy.
To achieve this level without formal training, his talent must be quite high.
Nicolas Flamel raised his estimation of Ivan, hesitated for a moment, and then couldn't resist asking, “What do you think of Alchemy, or rather, what do you believe Alchemy is?”
“Um, I think it's a method ancient Wizards used to understand the world, with the power to transform the mundane into the extraordinary!” Ivan said, carefully observing Nick's expression. Seeing no change in Nick's face, he grew bolder and continued.
“When I was at Hogwarts, I talked to many Wizards from Muggle families. They told me a lot about the outside world, and it seems that Alchemy is somewhat similar to Muggle programming!”
By arranging Runic Inscriptions in a specific way, one can release specific Magic, which is somewhat like running a program by writing code.
Just now, computers hadn't become widespread yet, and Ivan was worried that Nick wouldn't understand, so he rambled on to explain it to him.
After listening to Ivan's explanation, Nicolas Flamel smiled and said, "That's quite a novel idea!"
"Do you think it's right?" Ivan quickly asked.
"It can be considered right or wrong!" Nicolas Flamel's smile faded, and he adopted a serious expression. "Because, fundamentally, Alchemy is still using the power of Magic!"
"To understand Alchemy, you must first understand what Magic is!" Nicolas Flamel added.
Faced with this profound question, Ivan was completely stumped. He couldn't help but recall the embarrassing scene when he was transformed into an Owl and was questioned by the Bronze Eagle at the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower.
The difference was that the Bronze Eagle had asked about the essence of Magic, not the essence of Magic.
Ivan glared resentfully at Nicolas Flamel. Was it really fair to use such a question to challenge a young witches and wizards?
Noticing Ivan's resentful expression, Nicolas Flamel couldn't hold back his serious demeanor and laughed.
From the moment Ivan entered, he had shown various expressions, but Nicolas Flamel could see that Ivan's inner calm had hardly wavered. He was neither proud nor impatient, not at all like a fourteen-year-old young witches and wizards.
Only now did he show a bit of childishness!
Ivan frowned unhappily.
Nicolas Flamel stopped laughing and paused before asking, "Do you remember the three steps of Casting?"
"Using a wand to channel the Magic within your body, combined with a Gesture and a Spell." Ivan didn't dwell on the previous minor incident and answered seriously.
"Which of these three steps do you think is the most important?" Nicolas Flamel asked.
Ivan hesitated, finding it difficult to decide. For an average Caster, all three steps were essential.
But for powerful Wizards, none of these seemed indispensable. After all, there was Wandless Casting or Wandless Magic.
Nicolas Flamel didn't rush to press Ivan for an answer. Instead, he took out an ancient wand from his robes and made a peculiar Gesture, moving slowly as if deliberately to let Ivan see clearly.
"Scourgify!" Nicolas Flamel waved his wand and incanted the Spell.
A gust of Magic wind blew over, lifting the cups from the table.
It was as if invisible brushes were surrounding the cups, and in a moment, the tea cups were spotless and slowly stacked back onto the plate.
Ivan watched silently but couldn't understand the meaning behind Nicolas Flamel's actions. Was it just to clean up?
Before Ivan could figure it out, Nicolas Flamel waved his wand again, and the same Magic wind swept through the entire room, clearing away dust and straightening the chairs.
The Alchemical Constructs below panicked, grabbing onto the table edges or pressing against the tea cups, fearing they would be swept out as trash!
Ivan's expression changed when he realized that this time, Nicolas Flamel had spoken not in English but in French!
Even the Casting Gesture had changed slightly!
Ivan stood up in surprise, his eyes gleaming as he stared intently at the legendary Alchemical Master, eager to ask for an explanation!
Nick didn't look at Ivan. He extended his left hand and placed it on a plate.
Without a wand or a Spell, the plate suddenly twisted and stretched, becoming fluid and rapidly reshaping. Within seconds, a white-feathered dove appeared in the center of the table.
The snow-white dove looked around with lively eyes, flapped its wings, and landed on Nick's arm.
Nick walked to the window, shook his arm, and sent the dove flying out. He watched it soar into the sky, then turned back to Ivan and said,
"Wizards exist in every country, and the Spells and Gestures they use are not uniform, yet Magic still flourishes. The secret behind this, I believe, you should have already figured out, haven't you?"
Thank you to Nisitake for the 500 Qidian coins and Yu De You Dian Meng for the 200 Qidian coins.
(End of Chapter)
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