Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 31 Nico's Fantasy Book

There weren't many people in the Gryffindor common room. Loren greeted the people he knew and then went back to his dormitory, pulling out his black suitcase from under his bed.

The little elves clean the box every day, so there's not a speck of dust on it.

Loren pulled out two truly treasured books and sat cross-legged on the carpet in front of the window, carefully examining them in the sunlight.

The cover of "A Comprehensive Explanation of Pictographic Symbols" is dark in color, with only the simply formatted title and Nico's signature in the lower right corner, without any grooves or anything like that.

Take out the small card Nico gave me. The paper is thicker than ordinary parchment and has a frosted texture, similar to the business cards printed in the Muggle world. The background color is pure black.

In the picture, a young Nicolas Flamel is squinting, as if he is taking a nap.

Loren placed the picture right in the center of the cover page of "A Comprehensive Explanation of Hieroglyphics".

Red, blue, green, and yellow light trails flowed from the edges of the picture. Streams of light originated from the four sides of the picture, extending outwards and mixing with each other, but the light trails did not intersect, giving it a slightly sci-fi feel.

As the light spread throughout the book, Nicolas Flamel on the illustration opened his eyes—a pair of silver eyes flashing with magical symbols.

Perhaps it was due to the change in lighting, but Loren felt that Nico's hair in the portrait had turned a bit whiter.

Hogwarts has many magical portraits, and people can move freely among them and interact with them. Loren had the most contact with the Fat Lady at the entrance to the common room.

He tried to communicate with Nico in the portrait: "Hello? Can we talk?"

The person in the portrait had their eyes following Loren's mouth, but didn't speak.

Unable to get a reply, Loren tried to open the book, but the entire book was as one piece and could not be opened.

Loren thought of Tom's Horcrux notebook, which seemed to allow for communication through writing. Loren took a quill, dipped it in ink, and wrote "Hello?" under the picture.

The ink blot disappeared instantly, as if the book had absorbed the ink. Nico in the portrait spread his hands out, as if to show something, and then four circular outlines appeared at the bottom of the portrait.

The rings were about the size of a copper nut, arranged in a row. The first ring contained an open book, the second ring contained two crossed wands, the third ring contained a boiling cauldron, and the fourth ring contained a weighing scale.

Loren speculated that the book might represent theoretical knowledge, the crossed wands might be related to spells, the boiling cauldron might represent potions, and the last scale might represent alchemy, alluding to the principle of equivalent exchange in alchemy.

This strong sense of déjà vu is like a mobile app from a past life. Could it be a touch-screen app?

Loren thought this and did it; he pointed to the first icon, the open book.

Nico's silver eyes in the portrait shone brightly, drawing Loren's gaze. When their eyes met, Loren felt a wave of dizziness. Then, Loren felt a pulling force on his nose, as if someone had inserted fingers into his nasal cavity, dragging him forward.

When Loren came to his senses, he found himself in a library. It was spacious, brightly lit, and had white marble floorboards. Bookshelves were everywhere, piled high with books.

"Welcome to the world of Nicolas Flamel's fantasy book!" The voice came from behind Loren.

Loren turned to look and saw a ghost that looked exactly like Nico in the picture floating in the air. Its lower body gradually blurred, disappearing by the time it reached its feet, like a holographic projection of a past life. The virtual human's voice was somewhat high-pitched and sounded distorted.

"Did they use magic to put the library inside this book?" Loren's eyes gleamed with surprise.

"Of course not. This contains all the books Nico has read over the past few centuries, many of which can no longer be found in reality."

"Memory magic shaped this library, which is somewhat similar to the Pensieve, but more physical and can be browsed at will."

"The book also contains an alchemy laboratory, a potion shop, and a dueling room, all of which are virtual spaces created by memory magic combined with alchemy."

"Right now, you are merely a consciousness. When you enter the world of the book, your real body will fall asleep. When you awaken, everything that happened here will become a memory and return to your mind."

Virtual Nico gave a brief introduction to this fantasy book.

Loren was dumbfounded. What kind of futuristic thinking was this? Virtual space, realistic simulation. If they added an internet connection, Nicole would have created a metaverse.

Loren then asked the question that concerned him: "What about the flow of time? Is the time here the same as real time?"

Virtual Nico smiled: "You have a sharp mind, but everything here is just your imagination, or rather, this is your dream."

"Time and space do not exist here. When you read a book and wake up, a second may have passed in reality, or a whole night may have passed, depending on your state."

"Can I bring other people in?" Loren thought this question was also crucial.

"Loren, this is your dream. Nico only put things in; he didn't set the rules. Everything depends on you." The virtual Nico's voice became dazed. He didn't deny the possibility, "It's just that I'm only responsible for teaching; I can't tell you what to do."

Loren hated things without instructions, so he started wandering aimlessly through the library.

There are fewer books here than in the school library, but there are many books that are not in the Hogwarts library. The key is that some books in the restricted section can be freely browsed here.

"I really don't lack books!"

The books in the school library were enough to keep him busy for a long time, and there were all sorts of manuscripts in the Room of Requirement. Adding this to the situation here, Loren felt a deep sense of despair.

After wandering around for a while, he decided not to stay any longer: "I want to check out the other rooms."

"Of course!" Virtual Nico spread his hands.

Loren heard the sound of gears turning, and then the whole world changed like a slideshow, the bright library transforming into a classroom.

Like a regular classroom at Hogwarts, it had a high ceiling and gray stone walls, but the classroom was empty, without any desks or chairs.

The virtual Nico floated in mid-air and introduced to Loren: "This is the dueling room, a place to improve your combat skills. Nico believes that combat is a crucial ability for an alchemist."

"How do I practice? Will I be able to fight monsters?" Loren looked around. It was an enclosed space where you could see the whole thing at a glance.

The virtual Nico, floating in mid-air, became even more blurred, with red, yellow, blue, and green light flowing over him before transforming into familiar figures: Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape…

"Based on my impression of you and Nico's information, I can transform into anyone to duel you, and I can also..."

At this point, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell, and Professor Snape emerged from the halo one after another, floating around Loren expressionlessly.

To be honest, having four professors hovering around you with expressionless faces is very stressful, and Loren felt a little awkward.

"It can also simulate multiplayer battlefields." Virtual Nico seemed quite proud.

"A gang fight, is that it!" Loren immediately exposed him.

Afterwards, the virtual Nico took Loren to visit the potion room and the alchemy laboratory. These two places can simulate the preparation of potions and the conduct of alchemical experiments. The experimental materials are simulated based on Nico's memories and have corresponding properties and functions.

However, the things Loren created only exist in his memory; they don't actually exist.

"So, how should I address you?" Loren, having finished his exploration and preparing to exit the Book of Fantasy, turned to look at the figure floating in the air.

The virtual avatar smiled:

Call me Flamel.

(End of this chapter)