https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-766-Sometimes-the-Truth-Is-Only-in-the-Hands-of-a-Few/13454620/
Chapter 767: Book of Hieroglyphs
Chapter 767: Book of Hieroglyphs (Combined 4000 Words)
"You actually kept it from me for so long! Tell me quickly, what exactly happened that day?" Seamus said with great excitement.
"Tomorrow, I'll tell you tomorrow. Or you can ask Harry and Ron, they know as well." Ivan shook his head helplessly, looking at Seamus's excited expression.
He should have known better than to say so much; he had some important things to do tonight.
Due to their previous conflict, Seamus felt too embarrassed to ask Harry for information and instead clung to Ivan persistently.
Luckily, Ron, who had just finished guiding the first-years, walked in at that moment, providing Ivan with a reprieve.
After all, Ron loved telling stories the most...
Finally managing to shake off Seamus's persistent clinging, Ivan walked to the bedroom, tidied up his trunk, and then leaned against the bedside to unfold the Marauder's Map.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!"
With a light tap from his wand, fine ink lines appeared on the blank parchment, gradually outlining the entire castle.
"Hmm, Dumbledore is in his office." Ivan scanned the Marauder's Map and quickly located Dumbledore. He immediately jumped off the bed, preparing to visit the Headmaster's Office to ask about the location of the Hogwarts Magic Storage.
The scarcity of magic was his greatest weakness. If he could resolve it, he wouldn't have to hide from Voldemort anymore. He could rely on blood magic to face him head-on...
With such power, and with the Aurors in Knockturn Alley, he could even overthrow the Ministry of Magic.
As Ivan was thinking this, Dumbledore's name on the Marauder's Map suddenly flickered and then disappeared.
Ivan, who was almost at the door, was forced to stop. He scanned the map carefully but found no trace of Dumbledore anywhere else.
If Dumbledore hadn't deliberately used magic to shield his name, as he did last year, it meant he had left the school via his Phoenix.
"Out so late? What could be so urgent?" Ivan furrowed his brow, pondering the situation.
During the Opening Ceremony, Dumbledore had arrived unusually late and hadn't lingered after the banquet, as if he was rushing off to do something.
This made Ivan feel uneasy. Moreover, Dumbledore's state seemed too good, completely different from what he had expected.
If it weren't for the fact that Dumbledore used his left hand to cast spells and his name appeared on the Marauder's Map just now, Ivan would have doubted whether it was Dumbledore himself.
"Never mind, I'll ask him tomorrow. It's not like a day or two will make a difference." Ivan waited for a long time with the Marauder's Map, but Dumbledore didn't return. He had to give up on asking about the Magic Storage Room for now and instead took out the two books gifted by Nicolas Flamel to read.
...
The next morning.
Ivan yawned as he got out of bed, washed up, and then walked out of the dormitory with Harry, Ron, and the others.
When they reached the common room, they saw Hermione angrily tearing down a piece of parchment from the notice board.
"What does it say, Hermione?" Ivan asked curiously, approaching her.
"Take a look for yourself!" Hermione handed him the parchment.
Ivan initially thought it was Umbridge up to her usual tricks, but upon a closer look, he realized it was an advertisement for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It listed their new products for the year and even openly recruited testers and employees at the end...
"Skiving Snackbox, Quill of Acceptable Answers, Decoy Detonator, and even a Portable Swamp... How can they sell such things? It's outrageous! They weren't this bold last year because Percy would have stopped them!"
Hermione was shaking with anger, believing that George and Fred must have thought she and Ron, as Prefects, would go easy on them, allowing them to post the advertisement in the common room's notice board without hesitation.
"Goodness, Hermione, do you want to be the next Percy? That's terrifying!" Ron didn't think posting an advertisement was a big deal and was more shocked by Hermione's last statement.
He imagined Hermione walking around with a copy of "How to Gain Power as a Prefect", acting all high and mighty, and shuddered.
“I certainly don’t want to become Percy…” Hermione rolled her eyes, speaking with a hint of irritation. “They should know that fifth-year students have to deal with the O.W.L. exams this year, and seventh-years have to take the N.E.W.T. exams. They don’t have time to mess around!”
“Will you help me, Ivan…?” Hermione turned to Ivan, her eyes pleading. She knew she couldn’t control George and Fred.
“Alright, I’ll talk to them when I have the time and get them to tone it down a bit,” Ivan nodded in agreement.
He had seen the Love Potion called Amortentia on their product list. Selling a potion that manipulates the mind was indeed going too far and could easily lead to trouble.
Not to mention, Umbridge was planning a major cleanup at Hogwarts this year. Being too rebellious at this time wouldn’t be a good idea.
“Tone it down a bit?” Hermione pursed her lips, clearly unhappy.
“Come on, don’t worry about it. Let’s go get some food…” Ivan didn’t back down this time. He tossed the advertisement aside and suddenly kissed Hermione on the cheek. Without waiting for her reaction, he took her hand and led her toward the Great Hall.
Hermione’s face turned red in an instant, momentarily forgetting about confronting George and Fred. Although Ivan had kissed her before, Harry and Ron were still there.
The group walked together into the entrance hall. The students they encountered had mixed reactions—some greeted them warmly, while others avoided them as if they were the plague.
Ivan was well aware of the situation. The young wizards who avoided him probably believed the Daily Prophet’s rhetoric or had been ordered by their parents during the summer to stay away from him, the source of trouble.
Those who still believed in him were likely his fervent followers.
Harry also noticed some people deliberately avoiding him and felt disheartened. He couldn’t understand why so many people would believe the Ministry of Magic’s absurd claims.
“Of course, it’s the power of public opinion!” Ivan explained. “The Ministry of Magic is like the government for Muggles, inherently authoritative. As long as what they say isn’t too outrageous, most people will believe it. Add to that the Daily Prophet’s constant bombardment of information, and even more people will believe it!”
Ivan knew all too well how easy it was for the authorities to manipulate public opinion and twist the truth. A bag of laundry detergent could be labeled as a biological weapon, and whether Voldemort was alive or dead was just a matter of their word.
“Exactly! Those wizards can only see what the Ministry of Magic wants them to see. It would be great if there were another influential newspaper willing to report the truth…” Hermione, having recovered from her earlier embarrassment, spoke confidently. She then paused, sounding regretful.
“Even Lavender believes the Daily Prophet’s claims.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll convince her. It just needs a bit of time!” Ron patted his chest, making a solemn promise. Since the dance last year, his relationship with Lavender had progressed rapidly, and they had become a couple within days.
As they chatted, Ivan and the others quickly took their seats at the Gryffindor long table and enjoyed their breakfast. They then hurried to the History of Magic classroom.
Professor Binns, as usual, paid little attention to classroom discipline. He droned on for over an hour about the Giant Wars, his monotonous voice lulling most of the students to sleep. Only Hermione remained attentive, taking several pages of notes.
Ivan had chosen a secluded spot before class and pulled out the Book of Hieroglyphs to read.
Last night, he had spent some time skimming through the two books Nicolas Flamel had given him.
The other book, the Book of Jewish Abraham, contained many advanced alchemical knowledge, including the method for creating the Philosopher’s Stone, which Nicolas Flamel had discovered within its pages.
However, the entire text was written in a mix of Latin, Arabic, Chaldean, and ancient Syriac, and without a translation, he couldn’t understand it.
Ivan believed that in the short term, the Book of Hieroglyphs would be the most helpful to him. It was a collection of Nicolas Flamel’s research notes, with knowledge that was well-organized and easy to understand.
In addition, it contained hundreds of different runic inscriptions and thousands of ways to arrange them, as well as methods for using the Philosopher’s Stone!
"Indeed, last summer, Master was researching something related to the Philosopher's Stone..." Ivan's hand paused as he flipped to a certain page, muttering to himself.
On this page, there was a peculiar device resembling an armband, with a central slot that held a bright red, irregularly shaped stone.
A year ago, he had seen the same thing on Nicolas Flamel’s research blueprints.
After reading the content below, Ivan quickly understood the purpose of this device.
Generally, to harness the immense Magic stored within the Philosopher's Stone, one had to set up an Alchemical Array, which was quite inconvenient during battles, as enemies wouldn’t give you the time to prepare.
So, the armband that Nicolas Flamel had developed was crucial. It acted as a Magic conduit, easily drawing out the Magic stored in the Philosopher's Stone for casting spells.
This was likely the clever method Nicolas Flamel mentioned for obtaining ample Magic in battle.
At this point, Ivan realized he had another task to add to his list for the year: creating this Alchemical Device!
During the next class, Ivan found methods for using Alchemical Arrays for Material Conversion and the recipe for the Elixir of Life in the Book of Hieroglyphs...
Ivan was thrilled. Transmutation was one thing; with his current Alchemy skills, making money was easy. But Eternal Youth was a different story.
It was the ultimate dream for most people.
Especially since the potion’s effects could also slow down aging.
As for Nicolas Flamel’s perpetually aged appearance, there was a reason for that.
First, taking too many potions had built up a tolerance in his body, significantly reducing their anti-aging effects.
Second, Nicolas Flamel spent over twenty years just deciphering and creating the Philosopher's Stone. By the time he took the Elixir of Life, he was already in his fifties or sixties. Without magical enhancements, it was impossible for him to maintain a youthful body over six centuries.
This was undoubtedly a regret!
But Ivan was different. Being very young, he could maintain his peak physical condition for a long time after taking the potion!
Thinking about this, Ivan couldn’t help but feel excited, but he quickly suppressed his emotions.
Calm down, calm down... take it slowly!
Now wasn’t the time to get distracted by these Alchemical Arrays...
Ivan forced his gaze away from the Alchemical Arrays and flipped back to the Magic conduit device. This was what he needed to focus on in the near future.
Ding After the host’s relentless efforts, the History of Magic class has ended. Please continue to strive.
This class’s overall evaluation: Low
Evaluator: Binns Casper
Reward: House Points * 2
*
As Ivan was studying how to create this Alchemical Device, a System Notification rang in his mind.
Ivan was momentarily stunned but then realized that the History of Magic class had ended. Professor Binns floated out of the classroom, glancing in his direction before leaving.
Clearly, the somewhat senile ghost professor had noticed that he wasn’t paying attention.
But that was to be expected. He rarely failed to stand up and answer questions, so it was strange for him to be caught off guard.
Ivan rubbed his nose, realizing he needed to be more careful in the future. House Points were crucial for improving his learning efficiency.
The next class was Potions, and no one wanted to be late for Snape’s class, so Ivan hurriedly packed his books and left the classroom.
“Ivan, why were you so distracted in class today?” Hermione quickly caught up and asked, puzzled.
Today, when Professor Binns asked questions, Ivan didn’t compete with her, which felt very out of place for Hermione, who was used to their rivalry.
“I was just absorbed in an important Alchemy project… Besides, I’ve already read about the history of the Giant Wars in the books, so whether I attended the class or not didn’t matter much.” Ivan said with a smile.
Hearing Ivan’s casual response, Harry and Ron, who had been dozing off and playing games during the boring class, were quite envious.
They could only beg Hermione to lend them her History of Magic notes for the next exam...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
