Chapter 881: An Ordinary Alchemist
Chapter 881: An Ordinary Alchemist
In France, at the Nicole Manor.
Kyle had slept for almost two days and nights, finally waking up in the early hours of the third day.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a house elf holding a bottle filled with potions, ready to pour it into his mouth.
"Oh, you're awake," said a familiar voice from the side.
Nicole approached with a book in her arms, taking small steps, "I saw someone break into my library yesterday, and I guessed it was you.
"How do you feel? Tata is holding a Vitality Tonic, drink it, it'll be good for you."
"Thanks," Kyle said without hesitation, taking the potion and pouring it into his mouth.
A warm current flowed down his throat, spreading to his limbs, restoring some strength, and his previously hazy mind instantly became much clearer.
"You're welcome, it's just a bottle of Vitality Tonic," Nicole said with a smile.
"It's not just the potion," Kyle shook his head, picking up the broken Portkey he had placed beside him earlier, "Thanks to this, I was able to escape... Nicole, did you know beforehand that Voldemort would chase me in the Hebrides?"
"What...?" Nicole was taken aback, shaking her head repeatedly, "Of course not, you're giving me too much credit. I'm just an alchemist, how could I possibly know what would happen six or seven years from now?"
"But I remember, you have a crystal ball," Kyle blinked.
Anyone who knew Nicole was aware of her special crystal ball, with a prediction success rate of almost a hundred percent.
"You mean that one," Nicole smiled and said, "That crystal ball was created three hundred years ago by seven of the most renowned diviners and me, but it can only predict matters related to me, and only ongoing events.
"We first met six years ago, right? This is already beyond the scope of the crystal ball's predictions."
"Huh?" Kyle was puzzled.
"No, when you gave me the Portkey, why did you say I would need it someday?"
"This time, I almost got killed by Voldemort, and it was this Portkey that saved me. It all fits perfectly."
"Hmm..."
Nicole paused for a moment before saying, "Actually, I didn't think that much. I just felt that your personality is rather eccentric, completely different from Albus. Your actions and thoughts are unpredictable.
"Based on my experience, people like you are usually not straightforward. Giving you the Portkey was a sudden idea, just to give you a means of survival, nothing more."
"Eccentric personality?" Kyle pointed to himself, "Me?"
"Hmm?" Nicole raised an eyebrow, teasing, "A normal person, upon seeing that young girl from the Drakula family for the first time, wouldn't think of putting her in their own magical zoo.
"Although she does have the blood of a Veela, it's only a quarter, and she's more of a wizard than a magical creature."
"Er..." Kyle was momentarily speechless.
Well, when he first met Furong, he did have such thoughts, but he always thought he had hidden them well, and no one knew.
"That... Nicole... you..."
"Don't worry, Olim doesn't know this, including that young girl from the Drakula family," Nicole seemed to guess what Kyle wanted to say and smiled as she explained.
"This is just my personal guess, based on the experience of an old wizard."
"That's good," Kyle sighed in relief.
Ms. Maxim wouldn't mind, but Furong is now close to Connor and they even live together. If she found out that I once categorized her with magical creatures, I wouldn't know what to say to Connor.
It's too scary.
It's better not to know.
Seeing Kyle's apprehensive look, Nicole smiled even more mischievously... happily.
"Now it seems my experience is quite accurate, but you used the Portkey later than I imagined."
"This is late!?"
"I heard about the things you did from Albus," Nicole glanced at Kyle with a meaningful look, "I thought that after Voldemort's resurrection, he should have come for you.
Not to mention the three Horcruxes you brought, Voldemort wouldn't let you off, not to mention that you took away the identity and symbol he had designated... that snake."
This is already an irreconcilable hatred.
"Perhaps you should thank that boy named Harry Potter; he took some of the hatred off you."
"Harry..." Kyle stroked his chin.
Well, before this, Voldemort's attention had always been on Harry, the savior, only occasionally glancing at Kyle.
Thinking about what he had done...
In his second year, he had jumped around on Voldemort's head, threatening him to reveal the method of making Horcruxes.
In his third year... oh, the third year was about the diary, but strictly speaking, the protagonist was Tom Riddle, not the current Voldemort.
In the fourth year, he threw his servant Wormtail into Azkaban, and in the fifth year, he disrupted the resurrection ceremony. In the sixth year, he even pulled Voldemort out of the shadows...
Each of these actions was a provocation to Voldemort, yet his gaze remained fixed on the savior.
Kyle had never really given Kyle a place in his heart until he saw the giant snake in Godric's Hollow.
Harry seemed like a good person, giving Kyle ample time to develop.
Kyle felt he should thank Harry...
Kyle thought to himself that maybe next time he went to Hogwarts, he'd bring Harry some sweets, as he recalled Harry's sweet tooth.
"Come on, Tata has prepared some food," Nicole interrupted Kyle's wandering thoughts. "I guess you must be hungry too."
"Grrr..."
Nicole's words made Kyle's stomach grumble.
After sleeping for a day and a night, he was indeed hungry.
As they spoke, the house elf Tata appeared with seven or eight plates, looking like a juggling act.
The aroma of fried pork chops and roasted beef legs almost made Kyle drool.
"In that case, I won't hold back," Kyle said, standing up and stuffing his mouth with food while casually asking about the situation in the Hebrides Archipelago.
"I don't know," Nicole replied matter-of-factly. "I don't really care about Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Most of this information was told to me by Albus."
"But the Hebrides Black Dragon hasn't appeared anywhere else, so it should be resolved by now."
"That's good," Kyle said, stuffing another piece of fried potato into his mouth and washing it down with pumpkin juice.
"Nicole..." After finishing his meal, Kyle blinked shyly and asked, "Do you have any extra Portkeys?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," Nicole said. "The one I gave you was made with the last fragment of the Philosopher's Stone, and they're all used up."
"No more Philosopher's Stones?" Kyle asked persistently.
That thing was incredibly useful, with no restrictions, distance-ignoring capabilities, and requiring only a minuscule amount of magic to instantly return to a safe house. It was the perfect choice for staying alive and evading danger.
"Extra Philosopher's Stones?" Nicole raised her head and looked at Kyle with a complex expression. "Are you overestimating me a little? I'm just a slightly older, ordinary alchemist."
"Being able to help you create a second one is already a miracle."
"Alright," Kyle sighed softly.
What a pity.
"But..." Nicole suddenly paused and then slowly said, "You can try making one yourself. I remember you had a good relationship with Albus's Phoenix. When it next undergoes its rebirth, you'll have the material."
"Hmm?"
Kyle's eyes lit up.
Indeed, the most important material for the Philosopher's Stone was the ashes left behind by the Phoenix's rebirth. He actually had a way to obtain it.
"How do I do it?"
"You've asked the right person," Nicole smiled slightly and took out a scroll. "The process is all written down here. Take a good look at it."
Kyle instinctively lowered his head.
It was just an ordinary scroll, about the size of a book page, but when he saw the content, his mind suddenly buzzed.
He felt like he was looking at a universe.
Various magical texts, magical formulas, and diagrams were stacked upon each other, forming a massive pattern, and countless patterns combined to form another formula, seemingly infinite and endless.
Who knows how such a small scroll could contain so much information.
Kyle felt that if he were to extract each piece of content individually, it could fill up that entire library room.
Just a glance made Kyle's head hurt. It was like... like Ron had written a hundred ancient Runic language assignments.
Fortunately, Nicole quickly covered the scroll with her hand.
"It's okay," she chuckled. "The process of making the Philosopher's Stone is indeed a bit more challenging. You can take your time to study it."
"This is just a bit more challenging..." Kyle held up his thumb and index finger.
Wizards also have finger universes, it seems.
"Anyway, the Phoenix's normal rebirth period is one hundred and fifty years, which should be enough time," Nicole said. "When I first tried to create the Philosopher's Stone, it only took me over a hundred years. I believe you can do it too."
"This..." Kyle pondered.
If he thought about it carefully, Nicole had started from scratch, and now that the entire process was laid out, the difficulty could be considered to have dropped significantly.
However...
Kyle glanced at the scroll again.
He realized that he didn't really want the Philosopher's Stone that much. Even without the Portkey, he still had Fawkes.
The Phoenix could also take him around, and it was simpler and more efficient.
"Nicole..." Kyle changed the subject. "Did you figure all this out by yourself?"
"Not exactly," Nicole shook her head. "I actually referenced the Jade Codex."
"The Jade Codex I'm thinking of?" Kyle asked in disbelief.
"If there isn't another alchemy book with that name, then it should be the one," Nicole said calmly, glancing at Kyle's glowing eyes. "But first, you should manage your expectations. That book has some sort of consciousness. After I created the Philosopher's Stone, it mysteriously disappeared, and it hasn't reappeared in all these years."
"It... it disappeared?"
"Yes," Nicole confirmed, "I placed it right here, but when I turned around, it was gone as if it had never existed."
To be honest, Kyle was indeed curious about the Jade Codex. He wanted to examine it up close.
Who wouldn't be? It was a treasure akin to the Holy Grail of alchemy, more renowned than the Deathly Hallows, and its legend had persisted from the earliest wizarding records to the present day.
But for an alchemical tome to have consciousness and the ability to move on its own... well, that made sense.
"This one is the same." Nicole gently pushed the parchment again.
"You're really giving it to me?" Kyle couldn't help but ask.
"Why, don't you want it?"
"I do!" Kyle blurted out.
This was the process of creating the Philosopher's Stone, and even though it seemed like gibberish to him due to his lack of alchemical knowledge, it was still a highly coveted item that could cause a bloodbath if exposed to the outside world.
After receiving Nicole's affirmative answer, Kyle carefully placed the parchment into a box, handling it with utmost care.
He didn't plan to examine it anytime soon, as his current level of alchemical knowledge was insufficient to understand its contents.
So, Kyle decided to store it in a secure location first.
A Niffler would be ideal, but that mischievous creature might just run off one day, as Newt's experience had shown.
A dragon... they tended to breathe fire while sleeping, which could incinerate the parchment.
After considering various options, Kyle's gaze fell upon the snake-like creature.
He carefully removed a scale from the creature, pierced a hole in it, and used the Traceless Extension Charm to expand the space within, making it large enough to accommodate the parchment. Then, he used the Permanent Sticking Charm to reattach the scale to the creature's body.
He chose a spot deep within the scales, ensuring that even if the creature shed its skin, the parchment would remain unaffected—a perfect solution.
After completing this task, Kyle clapped his hands and stepped out of the box.
Outside, the morning sun had fully illuminated the sky, casting a serene and peaceful glow through the window.
Nicole sat there, fiddling with a golden model of a flying ship.
"Where are you headed?" Kyle asked.
He remembered this ship—Nicole's mode of transportation. Perhaps, due to his current skeletal state, she preferred this method over Apparition or Portkeys.
"Hogwarts," Nicole replied, taking out a golden pocket watch. "Remember this? I need to deliver it to you."
"The Time-Turner?" Kyle was well aware of the pocket watch's significance; he had sent it to Professor Vector himself.
"Is it today?" Kyle was a bit surprised.
If his memory served him right, the day Nicole delivered the Time-Turner was the day he traveled back a hundred years.
In other words, time had come full circle, returning to its proper course.
Surprise gave way to delight.
"Would you like to come along?" Nicole invited.
"Sure," Kyle agreed, as he also needed to inquire about the Hebrides Black Dragon at the Ministry of Magic. This was a convenient ride, saving him from the hassle of sending an owl to transport him back.
Kyle took a step forward, and before he knew it, the scenery outside the window began to shift. The rooftop of a nearby building transformed into a cloud in the blink of an eye.
The entire house seemed to be in motion.
Kyle approached the window for a closer look.
They were indeed flying. From this angle, he could even see another old mansion on the street below.
This made Kyle recall Nicole's earlier words... about being an ordinary alchemist.
Using an entire house as a means of transportation—now that was ordinary.
...
The flying ship's speed exceeded Kyle's expectations, and before he knew it, the streets of Paris had vanished, replaced by a familiar castle.
Hogwarts, already? No dizziness, no sense of weightlessness, and no feeling of being dragged through the air—everything felt incredibly stable, as if he had merely stepped out for a short walk, only to find himself in a perfectly calm state.
Kyle blinked, feeling a sense of delight and desire.
When that wandering wizard named Lainis attacked Nicole's manor, this flying ship would be right behind the Opera House.
Of course, that was assuming Alastor Moody spared his life.
"I have a feeling you're thinking about something unpleasant," Nicole's voice echoed from behind him.
"Not at all, just a passing thought," Kyle turned around, flashing his signature smile.
"You don't understand the intuition of an old wizard." If Nicole had initially suspected something, she was now certain that Kyle was indeed contemplating something sinister.
However, he didn't mind, or perhaps he had become accustomed to it.
It would be stranger if Kyle didn't have these random, chaotic thoughts.
"Would you like to accompany me to Hogwarts?" Nicole asked.
"No, thank you," Kyle shook his head. "For now, it's best if I stay separate from my other self until time fully returns to its proper course."
"There's still some time left. Would you like me to send you there first?"
"No need this time. See you later, Nicole." With that, Kyle Apparated out of the room.
He planned to visit the Ministry of Magic first to inquire about the Hebrides Black Dragon and then head to Cornwall Province to check on Tonks and confirm her well-being.
...
(End of Chapter)
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