The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 31 Discussion of the Philosopher's Stone and a New Guest
"So it makes sense that someone would want to steal the Philosopher's Stone." Hermione said, "Who wouldn't like something that can make people immortal and produce infinite gold?"

"But, since it's such a good thing, why not make more?" Hermione asked with some confusion.

"I think it's not that they don't want to do it, but that they can't do it," Ryan replied.

"Why? Since you can do the first one, how difficult will it be to do the second one after you master the method?"

"I flipped through a few books on alchemy when I was in the Hogwarts library. Although I didn't understand much, there is one thing I remember very clearly: the core of alchemy is the principle of equivalent exchange."

Ryan waited for Hermione to nod to show that she understood and then continued, "Then think about it, from the perspective of equivalent exchange, what kind of thing can violate the laws of nature to increase life and at the same time change the nature of matter to create gold?"

Hermione thought for a moment, then suddenly covered her mouth with her hands as if frightened.

"You've probably figured it out, right? Only at the cost of life can such a powerful effect be achieved."

"But...but. Nicolas Flamel is Professor Dumbledore's friend. He shouldn't be a bad person." Hermione stammered.

Ryan knew Hermione had misunderstood as soon as he heard it. "I didn't say Nicolas Flamel was a murderer. It's just that when he was making the Philosopher's Stone, there was a large-scale outbreak of the Black Death and smallpox in Paris, where he lived. Given the level of science at that time, infectious diseases caused a large number of deaths. For example, when the Black Death broke out in 1353, the death rate in Paris was 40 times higher than usual. And when smallpox broke out in 1418, at least 6 people died in Paris within a month and a half. The loss of these lives may have provided enough raw materials for the production of the Philosopher's Stone. But there were very few such opportunities after that."

"I remember there was this passage in elementary school history class." Hermione nodded in agreement. "Then let's write a letter to Harry right away to tell them that we have found it. This way he and Ron don't have to worry about it during the Christmas holidays."

"I think they may have forgotten about this a long time ago," Ryan complained.

Finally, because Hermione had something to do, Ryan ran to Diagon Alley alone and wrote a letter of his discovery today and sent it to Harry by owl.

……

As Ryan expected, Harry did not use the holiday to look up information. After the holiday, he and Ron had a lot of fun and didn't think much about Flamel.

The dormitory was entirely theirs, and the common room was much emptier than usual, so they were able to occupy the more comfortable armchairs by the fire. When Ryan's letters came, they sat there, eating whatever food they could stick on a fork - bread, flatbread, mushrooms - and devising schemes to get Malfoy expelled, which were never likely to work but were always pleasant to talk about.

"Hey, Harry, there's a letter outside." Ron saw an owl standing outside the window, pecking at the glass, with a letter on its feet.

Harry opened the window and a gust of wind blew snowflakes into his face. He took the letter and broke off a small piece of buttered bread from the toasting fork and fed it to the owl. After the owl ate the bread, it flapped its wings and flew away.

"Who gave it to you?" Ron asked.

Harry tore open the envelope and took a look, then said to Ron, "It's from Ryan. He said that he and Hermione have found Nicolas Flamel, and they will tell us when they return from vacation."

"Hey, I told you a long time ago that Ryan and Hermione, the two people who like reading, are better at this kind of thing. It's right to leave it to them." Ron said to Harry lazily while half lying in the armchair.

After that, they let it go. Ron started teaching Harry how to play wizard chess, which was exactly the same as Muggle chess, but the pieces were alive, so it felt more like commanding an army.

However, Harry, who used other people's chess pieces, was not as good as Ron, who used the wizard chess pieces handed down from his grandfather. These chess pieces criticized Harry's chess level at the same time, making him dizzy.

...After sending the letter to Harry, Ryan returned to doing boring homework in the last few days before Christmas, and chatted with his parents during the break, decorated the house, and repaired some broken things in the storage room. As he came into contact with more and more mechanical products, Ryan's mastery of the Winter Home Industrial Manual became higher and higher.

On the day before Christmas Eve, Ryan even fixed the old typewriter in the corner of the storage room, which made Mr. Lambert very happy because it was once used by his grandfather and later given to him as a primary school graduation gift.

Mrs. Sally polished every button and every part of the typewriter until they sparkled, and then placed it in the display cabinet in the living room as a decoration.

In the afternoon, Ryan decided to go out for a walk, after all, he had not been out for the past few days because he was doing homework.

Just as he walked into the park and hadn't looked around, the Wanjie Grocery Store suddenly told him that there was a new customer.

Ryan quickly found a public restroom, checked to see if there was anyone around, went into a cubicle, locked the door, and then headed to the Wanjie Grocery Store.

When he arrived at the shop, Ryan found that there was already a customer standing there waiting.

This person was a middle-aged man who was a bit fat and looked a bit timid. He was wearing a cotton-padded jacket made of homespun cloth, and his hair was shaved in a yin-yang style with a small braid at the back.

When he saw Ryan suddenly appear in the store, he hurriedly knelt down and shouted for help.

Ryan quickly walked around the counter and pulled him up. After all, it was really hard to accept a man of his father's age kneeling and kowtowing in front of him.

"Well, you must be here because you need help with something. Tell me what the problem is. Otherwise, how can I know how to help you?"

After hearing this, the man was about to kneel down again. But he stood still in Ryan's angry eyes. "My name is Defu. Because my master was framed by a villain, my master and I were exiled to HLJ. Now my master's wife and my wife have just given birth to a baby. The cold is too strong in the cave where everyone lives, and the baby is also sick. I was so anxious that I took a walk in the yard at night, and then I heard a voice calling me, so I came here. Great Immortal, you must save us."

Ryan felt that this story sounded familiar. After careful recollection, some of his memories as a middle-aged person born in the 90s in his previous life awakened.

"Is your master the miraculous doctor Xilaile?"

"Ah?" De Fu opened his mouth in surprise. "The gods also know my master?"

Ryan waved his hand mysteriously: "When I was drinking with the Wuchang people, they complained that your master made them run in vain many times."

"Is my master okay?" De Fu asked.

"It's alright. Your master has accumulated a lot of merit. All they can do is complain."

"Now that you mention that, I need to think about how to help you."

After saying that, Ryan sat behind the counter, propped his chin with one hand, and began to think. Defu stood there cautiously, not daring to make a sound.

A few minutes later, Ryan clapped his hands and said, "I know what to do."

(End of this chapter)