Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 102 Vaughn's Fate and Splatoon Ron

After the enactment of the Secret Law, wizards buried their heads in the sand like ostriches.

They are lost in the false peace and prosperity that comes from concessions, praising and lamenting the hardships of life, indulging in the abundance of material gifts bestowed by magic, living a life of debauchery, and dreaming of a peaceful existence in a secluded corner forever!

However, it overlooks the fact that only by maintaining competition can progress be achieved. From a macro-historical perspective, the idea of ​​natural selection has permeated almost the entire history of human development.

No country or group has ever gained a chance to survive through constant compromise and concessions; those who cannot be born in adversity will ultimately be eliminated.

Of course, in essence, Vaughn was not someone who cared about the survival of the wizarding world.

All he ever sought was magic.

"Fruit tea, I love magic. I yearn to understand all its secrets, truths, knowledge, and power!"

He suddenly spoke, and Guoguocha, who was lying next to him, slightly raised her head to listen to Vaughn's voice.

"I long to one day unravel the mystery of the origins of magic, to one day reach the pinnacle of magic and see what this world truly is like from its highest peak... but I know I can't do it alone!"

Human resources are sometimes limited.

Even with the system, Vaughn didn't believe he could push magic to its limits on his own.

"I need help from others, the more the better. The development of any knowledge system must rely on the collective strength and wisdom, but the current magical world cannot do that..."

"The current magical world is inefficient and disorganized. Centuries of false peace have caused everyone to lose their sense of urgency and collectivism. They lack identification with a unified will and, more importantly, a competitive spirit."

"Fruit Tea, I've known for a long time that if I want to continue down the path of magic, I must change the magical world!"

Fruit Tea couldn't help but snuggle into Warn's arms: "Meow~"

Vaughn glanced at it and smiled:

"Yes, it's difficult... but fortunately, we live at a critical juncture, when the Muggle society is about to experience an information revolution."

"The Internet is profoundly impacting the world. In just a few years, mobile phones and mobile networks will be widely available. With the ever-accelerating technological progress of Muggles, the maintenance of the Secret Service Act will become increasingly precarious."

"Years later, a photograph or a video will spread to every corner of the globe at a speed beyond your imagination. Even if the Ministry of Magic cooperates with Muggle governments to block information, as long as wizards maintain contact with Muggles and remain active in Muggle society, the cost of such concealment will inevitably increase until it becomes unbearable for everyone, causing the cooperation to collapse!"

"In my view, the future evolution of the wizarding world can only go in two directions. The first is that the wizarding world completely severs its ties with Muggle society, with all wizards living in a few villages and no one allowed to enter Muggle society anymore, and Hogwarts also stops enrolling students..."

His voice grew softer and softer, then stopped.

He lowered his head and looked into the eyes of Guoguocha, who was looking up at him.

He reached out and scratched its chin, and Guoguocha hugged his hand, whimpering softly.

Vaughn's voice was deep: "That's right, Fruit Tea, I don't like that kind of future. It was destined from the beginning. I will only choose the second path of evolution—to abolish the Secret Code, integrate the wizarding world, take the initiative, and forcefully push for the merging of the wizarding world and Muggle society!"

"And with this choice, war is inevitable!"

As someone who considers himself more of a researcher, Vaughn dislikes politics and, naturally, war.

The frustrating thing is that if he wants to push magic to its limit, he needs to integrate the magic world and even expand its power.

It is imperative to abolish the Law of Secrecy, promote the integration of wizards and Muggles, and popularize magic to address the problem of a small wizard population.

Such a change will undoubtedly lead to a series of conflicts.

Conflicts of ideas, conflicts of interest, and may even involve conflicts over the right to survival of species!

Even in Muggle society, a nation's rise to power will attract wolves from all sides, let alone wizards who are so different from ordinary humans and almost another species.

Once Muggles learn of the existence of wizards and magic, whether out of fear or greed, Muggles and wizards will inevitably repeat what happened hundreds of years ago.

This is a fundamental flaw in human nature, and it has remained unchanged throughout history.

Long ago, Vaughn also considered a peaceful approach to the process. He envisioned using memory magic to modify the minds of Muggle leaders and, with the help of the Muggle government's control, to minimize the negative impact of the convergence.

Unfortunately, after experimentation and further consideration, this idea had to be abandoned.

First, the magical conditions are not met. Apart from the Oblivion Spell, the effects of memory magic are not permanent. It seems that the human memory system has a concept of "backup" in the soul. The more modifications are made, the easier it is to trigger the correction mechanism.

Imperius, which directly affects the soul, can achieve permanent control, but as dark magic, its corruption and high mana consumption are problems.

Another reason is that when it comes to issues like the merging of wizards and Muggles, which determine the fate of humanity, it is difficult for a minority to control the will of the group.

That's why he later changed his approach and pushed for the establishment of the Werewolf Affairs Committee, thereby actively participating in the politics of the magical world.

Compared to the Muggles, who have a large population and complex social situation, wizards are undoubtedly much simpler.

This has nothing to do with morality or ideological awareness, but is determined by the population size. There are only tens of thousands of wizards in the whole of England, which naturally appears more "simple" compared to the 6000 million Muggle population in England.

Even in such a "simple" environment, Vaughn felt that he would find it difficult to unify everyone's thoughts and understanding in the future.

There will inevitably be die-hards who insist on upholding the International Secrecy Act, such as pure-blood families, and so on—

Dumbledore!

A jumble of thoughts raced through his mind. While stroking Fruit Tea's soft fur, Vaughn stared blankly at the curtain above his head.

Guoguocha listened quietly to his murmured words:

"Dumbledore's premonition of death is probably related to me. Our views are vastly different, and it seems that my future self has not convinced him. We are ultimately not on the same path..."

"...What a pity!"

Sensing the complex emotions in Vaughn's tone, Guoguocha nuzzled her head against Vaughn's chin.

"Meow~"

"I'm fine, just a little sad."

The path of magic is somewhat lonely.

There aren't many wizards that Vaughn can respect and admire, and after spending so much time together, it's inevitable that some feelings will develop.

Although he would not give up his ideals and pursuits for the sake of feelings.

In a sense, he was also an idealist!

Of course, premonitions of death and foreshadowed fates are all uncertain and distant futures. Vaughn's attitude towards fate has always been one of awe, followed by an attempt to take control.

As night deepened and lights out time arrived, the magical flames in the dormitory gradually dimmed and went out.

In the darkness, only Vaughn's open eyes remained, still radiating a magical glow.

……

The agonizing Easter holiday is over, but no young wizards are relieved. For fifth-graders taking the OWLs exams and seventh-graders taking the NEWTs exams this year, the holiday's end means they only have one month left.

The situation wasn't much better in other grades. The professors didn't want the young wizards to level up by playing around, and many of them hadn't finished the homework assigned before the holidays.

Harry and Ron were among them.

Fortunately, Hogwarts does not have class representatives; homework is usually collected by the professors themselves during class.

The two of them had taken advantage of the last few days of the holiday to cram for the Monday and Tuesday assignments after school started, such as the History of Magic, Herbs, Transfiguration and Charms classes.

They all unanimously put the potion-making assignment last.

Even though Hermione's deductions led Harry and Ron to realize that Professor Snape wasn't a bad person, they still disliked him.

On Tuesday, in particular, Harry stormed back to the common room in a rage.

When Hermione and Ron questioned why he hadn't gone to training, Harry snapped:

"I've never seen a more annoying guy than that old bat! Today it was supposed to be our turn to use the pitch, but he abused his headmaster's privileges and gave it to Slytherin!"

"That's outrageous!"

Ron immediately joined in the discussion and offered a suggestion: "Didn't you and Wood go to Professor McGonagall? If Snape could get a note, she certainly could too."

Speaking of this, Harry sounded a bit deflated: "Professor McGonagall refused to approve it because Snape had told her beforehand that he had asked for her consent... If you ask me, Professor McGonagall is too upright. How could she believe such an absurd excuse as Slytherin needing to change tactics at the last minute and urgently requiring special training?"

Ron snorted, "Our headmaster is always like that, so upright he's almost pedantic, which is why we get bullied..."

"Ronald!"

Hermione glared at him, and he quickly shut up, changing the subject: "Well, it's good that you don't have to train. You have Defense Against the Dark Arts class tomorrow, so you'll have time to finish your homework without having to stay up all night."

Hearing this, Harry covered his forehead, looked at his two friends with a troubled expression, and whispered, "I don't want to take Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Why?

"You know, I've always felt sorry for Quirrell and always thought he was good to me. But it turns out he's the one who cursed me and almost killed me. I... I'm worried I won't be able to control my emotions!"

The three of them had already agreed beforehand not to alert Quirrell, but to secretly monitor him and expose him when he couldn't resist trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone.

With witnesses and physical evidence readily available, those adults will surely not ignore it any longer.

At this point, it's clearly unacceptable to let Harry alert Quirrell.

Ron, who was always quick-witted when it came to crooked ideas, suggested in a flash, "Why don't you take a sick leave? We'll go find Fred and George, get you a 'skip-class candy,' and spray it with three pints of blood. Even if you want to go to class, Mrs. Pomfrey won't allow it."

This suggestion, which Hermione would usually vehemently reject, was now unanimously approved by the trio.

"Speaking of which, what have Fred and George been up to lately? They've been acting all mysterious, not even playing pranks anymore. It feels like something's missing when they're not causing trouble every day."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I only see them during training."

Hermione replied, "They seem to be researching something, which I think is great. Fred and George have a real talent for alchemy; it's a waste that they've always been so obsessed with pranks."

As they spoke, the three arrived outside the twins' dormitory. The door was tightly closed, and a note was pasted on it:

[A great experiment is underway in this dorm room, please do not disturb!]

Ron scoffed, touching the doorknob as he muttered, "A great experiment? These two are just playing tricks again!"

To Harry and Hermione's astonishment, Ron, who had just touched the doorknob, had his red hair stand on end, convulsed violently, and collapsed to the ground.

The twins are in trouble again!

A third-year student found Vaughn in the library, told him the news, and relayed Professor McGonagall's instructions to have him go to the school hospital immediately.

When Vaughn arrived, before he even entered the room, he heard Professor McGonagall's distinctive Scottish accent, loudly reprimanding him:

"...You're audacious and lawless, Fred Weasley, George Weasley. I think I made it very clear to you that you were not allowed to conduct experiments in secret. If you can't remember what I said, then perhaps I should consider using magic to engrave it into your minds!"

"Professor, we didn't do it secretly; we put up warning signs on the door."

"Don't try to change things up, George Weasley. Dormitories are for rest, and any experiment that deviates from classroom instruction is..."

"Excuse me, Professor, I am Fred."

"Fred Weasley, I think I've said it before: raise your hand if you have a question, or do you feel you don't need your hand anymore?"

Professor McGonagall's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

Vaughn could almost picture her staring with those sharp eyes, making the twins tremble.

Vaughn coughed and pushed open the door.

The school hospital has recently been almost full of fifth and seventh graders trying to escape their heavy workload.

Everyone's eyes turned to the innermost bed, where Ron lay pale-faced, while Hermione and Harry stood there dumbfounded.

At the foot of the bed, Professor McGonagall, just as Vaughn had imagined, exuded a tremendous aura with her gaunt body. The twins shrank back, dejected, under her blazing gaze.

Hearing the door open, Professor McGonagall turned around and saw Vaughn. Her ashen face softened immediately, and her voice lowered several octaves:

"Mr. Weasley, please come here."

The twins couldn't help but look up, only to be immediately reprimanded by Professor McGonagall: "You two, stand still! Don't move until you admit your mistake!"

The twins grinned, their lips moving silently as if they were muttering something to themselves. Vaughn knew without guessing that they were probably complaining about being treated differently or something.

It had always been this way since he was a child, and Vaughn was used to it.

With a calm expression, Vaughn nodded to Professor McGonagall, whose demeanor had suddenly softened, then went to the bedside, looked at Ron, and poked him with his finger.

It's rock hard.

"Professor, what happened?"

"Electric shock, Mr. Weasley. Your two older brothers were doing Muggle electrical experiments in their dormitory, and your younger brother, poor Ron Weasley, was struck by a powerful current... Oh, don't worry too much, dear. He's stiff right now because of muscle spasms caused by the current. Madam Pomfrey just gave him a whole bottle of relaxant, and the potion hasn't taken effect yet."

Upon hearing about the electrical experiment, Vaughn couldn't help but look up at the twins.

Professor McGonagall quickly explained the purpose of her meeting with Vaughn:

"This shouldn't be bothering you, but the two Weasleys said that the electrical experiment was an assignment you gave them. Is that true?"

The twins stared intently at Vaughn.

On the other side of the hospital bed, Hermione and Harry also raised their heads, and even Ron, who was still unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes. It was unclear whether it was due to the relaxant taking effect and the orbicularis oculi muscle relaxing, or whether he was "dying with his eyes open."

Vaughn shook his head without changing his expression: "No, Professor."

The twins' eyes widened, and they cried out in unison, "Professor, he's lying—"

"Shut up, you two!" Professor McGonagall snapped. "You're hopeless! I shouldn't have believed your nonsense. I even dared to hope you had a fraction of Vaughn's honesty. You're both Weasleys, why can't you learn from yourselves?"

The twins looked grief-stricken.

Professor McGonagall ignored them and turned to Vaughn. "Sorry, child, this is none of your business. Go back and get some rest. You've been working yourself to the bone lately."

Ignoring the twins' grief and indignation, Vaughn asked, "Professor, what are you going to do with these two liars?"

Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together, about to say something, when she heard Harry suddenly exclaim behind her, "Ron!"

The group turned around and saw that Ron, who had been stiff on the hospital bed, was now like a limp lump of dough, his limbs and mouth hanging limply.

Most horrifyingly, his chest began to collapse, and long breaths came out of his nostrils, but he couldn't take in any air.

Harry was terrified; it looked like he was about to die.

But Madam Pomfrey, who rushed over, said these were minor problems: "Don't worry, Harry, the relaxant is working, the muscles supporting his lungs are completely relaxing... Oh, look at his eyes, how wide they are, pupils dilated, he's still dreaming!"

"Professor McGonagall, could you transform into a trachea for me? Our little redhead needs a trachea to supply air to his lungs for the time being. If possible, you should stay a little longer, as we will need your Transfiguration to help with some things later."

Although Mrs. Pomfrey didn't say it explicitly, Vaughn and Professor McGonagall knew what else they needed help with—there are many types of muscles in the human body, one of which is called… the sphincter muscle.

Relaxants are obviously very powerful and indiscriminate.

If the muscles that control the lungs relax, then the sphincter muscles probably won't escape it either!

Vaughn didn't want to see that scene, so he seized the opportunity to suggest, "Professor, why don't you help treat Ron first? I'll take the two of them back. We can discuss any punishments later, okay?"

Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement, and casually dismissed Hermione as well: "Miss Granger, it's not a good time for you to stay here. You and Vaughn should go back... Potter, you stay and help out!"

Vaughn and Hermione hadn't gone far from the school hospital with the twins when they faintly heard screams coming from that direction:

"Merlin—"

"Jesus Christ!"

"Help! I can't breathe!"

In the blink of an eye, several senior students who claimed to be seriously ill and refusing to leave the school hospital came running out with screams and disappeared, full of energy.

The twins, who were initially angry and reluctant to go with Vaughn, exchanged a glance and were suddenly relieved that they hadn't stayed behind, and also felt a bit smug.

"Poor little Ronnie, his reputation will spread throughout the whole school tonight."

"That's right, George, maybe we should give Ronnie a nickname in advance."

"Great suggestion, how about calling it 'Out of Control Warrior'? Or 'Spray Hero'?"

The naturally optimistic twins forgot their anger in the blink of an eye.

Forgetting that she had been scolded by Professor McGonagall just moments before, she began to care for her younger brother with great interest.

Hermione finally snapped, yelling, "That's enough! Who caused Ron to be like this?"

"No, no, no, Hermione, we put up warning signs on the door, warning anyone who tries to open it!"

"Yes, Fred, it's clear that little Ronnie has forgotten the dangers of the world, and we, far from being wrong, have actually taught little Ronnie a lesson—in the magical world, don't touch things carelessly!"

"Yes, that's really touching, George!"

Hermione: "..."

For the rest of the journey, Hermione ignored Fred and George, afraid of making herself angry to death.

Vaughn didn't say anything either.

He went up to the eighth floor, opened the Requirement Room, and summoned the study he used most often.

Only after closing the door did he look at the twins and speak, "So, you've already figured out a way to solve the problem of the electricity being interfered with by magic?"

The twins, who were looking around with great interest, became animated upon hearing this:

"Of course, such a simple question is no challenge for us!"

"George, remember to be humble. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, there's nothing to be proud of. In fact, the magic radio you provided, Vaughn, has been a great help to us."

"Yes, yes, that's probably about one-eighth of the credit!"

"I said we should be humble, but we can raise it a little higher, maybe one-seventh!"

"Alright, considering the alchemical materials provided by Vaughn, we can barely raise the price a little more."

Ignoring the twins' arrogant and infuriating tone, Vaughn opened his satchel, took out the remaining alchemy materials and tools, and handed them to them:

"Show me your thought process and solution!"

"Ha, George, our dear brother doesn't seem to trust us very much!"

"Then let him see, Fred!"

The twins completely forgot their initial resistance when they accepted the task, and with a lot of laughter, they took the items and were ready to get started with great enthusiasm.

Watching the two begin sorting through the materials and whispering amongst themselves, Hermione leaned closer to Vaughn: "So it really was you who assigned them this task?"

When facing Hermione, Vaughn no longer needed to lie. He said helplessly, "I initially just wanted to distract them so they wouldn't be thinking about playing pranks all the time. In fact, I didn't expect them to succeed so quickly."

Vaughn really hadn't expected the twins to complete the mission so quickly.

He had given them a deadline to finish before the end of summer vacation. He had calculated that deadline, and in his opinion, it was even a bit tight.

As they spoke, the twins had already taken stock of the materials and tools.

Hermione, who was about to ask something, immediately focused her attention. She had never been exposed to alchemy before, and the subject was full of mystery and unknown knowledge to her.

She held onto Vaughn's arm, stood on tiptoe to see better, and asked questions from time to time:

"What is that bowl-like thing?"

"The magic mortar and pestle is mainly used to grind materials that are soft and fragile," Vaughn replied. He was always very patient with his girlfriend, even taking the initiative to introduce other tools. "That flask-like thing next to it is called a retort, used to mix or purify liquid materials. The closed metal cylinder is called a calciner, used to process metals..."

Hermione listened with great interest. "So many tools and their uses! I didn't know alchemy required so many steps. But it seems a bit like potions?"

Vaughn nodded: "Potion making is originally a branch of alchemy. Hundreds of years ago, alchemists' main job was to brew potions, and they were the ones who developed the earliest potion system."

Hearing Vaughn's words, one of the busy twins gave him a thumbs up: "A fair answer, dear brother! Many pharmacists are unwilling to acknowledge this history!"

Hermione asked curiously, "Why?"

Another proudly replied, "Of course, it's because alchemy is greater and more inclusive, while potions are singular and narrow. Only someone like Snape would find stirring something in a pot with a stick aesthetically pleasing!"

Snape gets roasted every day!

Before long, the twins had assembled the tools, set up the boiler, rubbed their hands together, and began to explain their idea with great pride as they started processing the materials:

"Although solving the problem of magic interfering with electricity wasn't particularly challenging, it actually stumped us a bit at first."

"Just a little bit, George."

"That's right, only a little bit... We discovered that the generation of electricity is actually not the problem. The generator that Vaughn provided us can operate normally. The magical interference only takes effect when the power is input into the line, causing the power to dissipate."

"We spent two days poring over several Muggle books and got a basic understanding of electricity transmission and the forces of electric fields. We discovered that magic doesn't interfere with electrons... Fred, you mean electrons?"

"Yes, George, magic doesn't interfere with electrons, it interferes with electric fields." Fred looked at Vaughn, a seemingly reserved but actually provocative smile on his face. "Our genius brother, do you even know what an electric field is?"

Vaughn glanced at him, realizing he'd come to the right person: "Simply put, an electric field is the force between electric charges. Going deeper, it involves quantum electrodynamics and the concept of virtual photons. If you want to understand that, I suggest you study for a few more years!"

Fred: "...Damn it!"

George: "He wasn't stumped!"

The two didn't understand at all, and decided not to humiliate themselves any further. They began to explain their discovery to Hermione: "...In short, the flow of electricity is determined by the electric field, and magic interferes with the electric field, which is why electricity fails at Hogwarts."

"Once we find the cause of the problem, things will be much easier. Actually, it's not difficult to solve. The electric field is formed in these wires. We just need to find a material, like the insulation layer made by Muggles, to wrap the wires and reduce the magic's effect on them."

As they were talking, Fred and George picked out a few plants and put them into the mortar. The spell-cast mortar and pestle ground them quickly, and soon they were ground into a gelatinous substance.

Looking at the plant and the ground-up gelatinous substance, Vaughn pondered, "Milkweed..."

"That's right, it's the main material of the new type of insulation layer we invented... It's actually quite complicated, even though it sounds simple. We tried many materials that could extract the adhesive, and finally found that only it has higher compatibility."

"This is just the first step. Only magic can fight magic. There is no material that can block magic."

"Just like nothing can block gravity!"

"A perfect metaphor, George!"

"So we took a different approach. Since we couldn't use magic to fight magic in order to avoid interference with the electric field, we let the magic 'slide' smoothly over the wires as we wanted, minimizing its interference with the electric field."

As George explained, Fred poured several handfuls of metal powder into the calciner, and after calcining, poured the molten liquid metal into a cup of solution.

Vaughn recognized it as a mercury solution at a glance.

The molten metal, after being calcined, fell into the mercury solution and gradually 'dissolved' as Fred stirred it. When it finally cooled, a peculiar, golden-yellow paste appeared in the cup.

The twins held up the cup, struck an exaggerated pose, and shouted:

"Ta-da! Mithril Mercury Potion, Weasley's great invention, highly mage-friendly, magic flows through it like silk."

"Weasley Professional Guarantee: Absolutely no residue!"

Mercury is a fundamental substance that you learn in the first lesson of alchemy.

Because the birth of alchemy is closely related to it.

According to Vaughn's knowledge of the history of alchemy, the early development of alchemy was due to the ancients' discovery that mercury could "dissolve" metals.

In that era, no one understood the principle of like dissolves like, and no one could explain the concept of metal atoms "sharing" electron clouds.

Muggles could only regard this amazing phenomenon as magic...

Wizards also believed it to be magic, a wondrous magic without any magical power involved!

As a result, the study of mercury rapidly emerged and was eventually named alchemy. It was named this because wizards and Muggles at the time often used mercury to dissolve gold ore powder and then used the resulting amalgam solution to refine gold. Gold is chemically inert and exists only as an element, making it difficult to react with other elements. Therefore, gold particles in gold ore are generally very small and dispersed.

However, mercury has been phased out in modern times.

On the one hand, through years of research, wizards gradually realized that mercury is not a product of magic.

On the other hand, the rapid advancements in Muggle metallurgy and the series of metal trade agreements signed in recent times to appease the goblins have made wizards accustomed to "reaping the benefits without sowing."

The direction of alchemy's development thus changed, no longer involving the input of metals—why waste effort on things that can be bought cheaply?

Unexpectedly, something that had been phased out appeared brazenly in the hands of the twins today.

However, Vaughn did not belittle the twins' creativity because of their "renaissance" concept.

He took the cup from the twins, held it up to the light, and carefully examined the peculiar solution inside, saying, "Are you planning to mix this into the insulating layer made of milkweed gum?"

"That's right, look at George, I knew my dear brother would understand our thinking!"

"But he doesn't understand enough!" George said indignantly.

"Yes, yes, not enough!" Fred raised his eyebrows, every expression seemingly radiating smugness.

Vaughn frowned slightly in thought.

That's right, it's definitely not enough!

Mithril is a magic-friendly metal, but it is neither magic-resistant nor magic-absorbing. Just like Muggles say that metals conduct electricity, without a connection, metals cannot magically attract electricity.

Whether it's magic or science, they share the same logic—objective material conditions need to be designed and planned to achieve the desired effect.

He suddenly remembered the magic radio he had given to the twins. In fact, he had already done some preliminary research on it before giving it to them.

However, due to his limited knowledge of alchemy, Vaughn couldn't figure out how the magic radio solved the problem of magic interfering with electricity.

He only saw some... symbols inside the radio!

Thinking of this, Vaughn looked again at the mithril-mercury mixture in the cup and suddenly realized, "It's also the ink you prepared. You're going to use it to outline alchemical symbols in the insulation layer?"

Upon hearing this, and because they had finally stumped their younger brother, the twins, who had been exchanging knowing glances, immediately put on long faces.

"Damn it, he actually guessed it!"

"I think when I go back home for summer vacation, I need to ask my parents to reinvestigate. How could Vaughn and Ron possibly be twins? They're practically two different species!"

The twins were furious and too tired to say anything more. They took back the cup of mithril mercury from Vaughn, grumbled, sat down on the ground, and closed their eyes.

Hermione, who knew nothing about alchemy, looked at the two curiously and asked Vaughn, "What are they doing?"

"They are meditating on symbols."

"Meditation? Symbols?"

"Yes, do you remember what Professor McGonagall said when she taught us Transfiguration? In the eyes of a wizard, all things have a spirit, and this is the key to transforming inanimate objects into living things."

Vaughn slowly said, "Alchemy has a similar view, but alchemical doctrine holds that all things were once a whole, so even though they have differentiated into what they are today, at a higher level, the world and all things still share a common soul called 'ether'."

"Ether contains the secrets of creation; it is an ineffable concept, unable to be organized into language or writing, existing only as rudimentary symbols... The core of modern alchemy is alchemical symbols, which can help alchemists create all sorts of magical artifacts, manipulate magic, traverse space, and reverse time..."

As he spoke, Fred opened his eyes, just in time to hear the last sentence, and happily agreed, "That's right, my dear brother, alchemy is truly magical, great, and unparalleled!"

Hermione, engrossed in taking notes in her notebook, looked up in surprise: "You're done meditating?"

"It's over."

"Where's that... symbol? Draw it for me."

Fred narrowed his eyes, adopting a mysterious air, and slowly replied in a deep voice, "I can't paint it; it only exists in my heart!"

"..."

Hermione puffed out her cheeks angrily, thinking Fred was up to his old tricks again.

But Vaughn knew Fred wasn't joking. He explained to Hermione, "Alchemy symbols are not language, much less writing. They have no system and no observable, concrete imagery."

"In a sense, it is actually invisible, unreadable, ineffable, and unwriteable. It is a concept or enlightenment obtained by the soul's journey through the 'ether'."

Hermione was completely confused; this was beyond her comprehension.

Frowning for a while, the girl scratched her head and looked at Vaughn in confusion: "You mean, it doesn't exist? But you said before that it was a rudimentary graphic... It feels so contradictory."

"No, it's not contradictory. It actually exists, it's in Fred's soul, or you could say it doesn't exist, because you can't see it."

"...How did you know?"

Vaughn didn't answer, he just smiled.

Why does alchemy require talent? Because without talent, one cannot even understand basic concepts, let alone make observations.

At this moment, perhaps in Hermione's eyes, Fred and George were still the same as they always were, but in Vaughn's eyes, they were shining brightly—

As the meditation ended, numerous tiny points of light appeared within the twins' bodies, merging together and enveloping their forms in a soft glow, as if draping the twins in a veil woven from stars.

The "gauze dress" was perfectly round, appearing both real and illusory.

This "circle" is the symbol that the twins brought back from the ether.

Vaughn's knowledge of alchemy was limited to this; in alchemy, a circle could represent many things.

In the introductory books on alchemy that Vaughn had read, there were a total of 53 symbols in alchemy, which had developed over thousands of years.

Eleven of them are considered to be the basic framework of the world.

They represent four elements and seven metals (gold, silver, iron, mercury, tin, copper, and lead).

They are constant and have a definite meaning in any school of alchemy.

In other words, in addition to these 11 basic symbols, alchemists have used the remaining 42 symbols over thousands of years to explain and represent the changing relationships between all things and them.

Therefore, in alchemy, each of the 42 symbols has a wide range of meanings.

As the discipline of magic that is closest to Muggle technology, alchemy is essentially more idealistic than magic. At least magic cannot create things out of thin air (magic cannot conjure food or any substance out of thin air; incantations such as summoning spells are essentially transferring objects from other places).

Alchemy, however, can.

Therefore, no knowledge in this discipline can be shown to the outside world. Fred said he couldn't draw the symbol, not because he couldn't draw the circle, but because it was meaningless.

Not only could Hermione not see the symbols he drew, but the meaning of the symbols could not be fully expressed through graphics.

Just as Vaughn could see it at this moment, but he had no idea what the "circle" Fred and George obtained from the ether actually represented.

He was, after all, still a beginner in alchemy.

Before long, George also woke up from his meditation, and the twins did not delay any longer and immediately began to work.

Fred took out his wand, chanted a spell, and drew it in the air a few times. Under the control of magic, the milkweed juice that had been ground in the mortar quickly released water and solidified into a milky white gel.

(End of this chapter)