The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 90 Alchemy Lesson

"Candle?"

The little snakes and the little badgers looked at each other in bewilderment. They had been discussing what they needed to bring to class while eating.

Wands, stones, crystals... everyone thought of one alchemical material after another that could become teaching aids, but candles were definitely not on everyone's radar.

Moriarty's eyes lit up. He took out the corn candle he had just signed in and compared it with the candle Nicolas Flamel had given him. He found that apart from the color, there was no difference.

"Place the candle in the upper left corner of the table. It's the alchemy material for this lesson; we'll use it later." Nicolas Flamel walked to the podium and began slowly. The students did as he was told. He continued, "People's concept of alchemy is limited to turning lead into gold—I know that's tempting, like this—"

Nicolas Flamel took out a red gem the size of a child's palm and gently tapped it on a stone table.

In the blink of an eye, the stone table transformed into a golden table, gleaming with a bright, golden light. The six little badgers sitting in the first row were stunned. They bent their fingers and carefully tapped the tabletop, producing a somewhat dull sound.

"It really is gold!" Some pure-blooded snakes judged by the sound. "And it's pure gold!"

"Wow--"

The students stood up and applauded, their eyes burning with admiration for the ruby ​​in Nicolas Flamel's hand. Needless to say, everyone knew its name—the Philosopher's Stone, or rather, the Sorcerer's Stone.

Several Ministry of Magic officials craned their necks, seemingly wanting to climb onto the golden table and smell the gold, while several reporters tried to take out their magical cameras to take pictures, but Dumbledore stopped them.

Nicolas Flamel gestured for the students to sit down, and he casually tossed the Philosopher's Stone aside. The stone landed right in the pile of alchemical artifacts, and the students gasped in amazement. The treasure that could turn stones into gold was thrown away by Nicolas Flamel like trash!

"Don't be surprised, children," Nicolas Flamel said, his voice always very soft, but everyone could hear him—no one made a sound.

"Do you remember what I said? People's concept of alchemy is limited to turning stones into gold."

For centuries, people believed that alchemy was about turning stones, wood, leaves, crystal, or whatever random things into gold.

The idea itself isn't wrong, but the attempt to turn lead into gold is too simplistic and foolish.

Nicolas Flamel smiled slightly: "I see longing and expectation in your eyes. Your eyes are burning, but not greedy. That's a good thing."

“Yes, that’s a good thing!” Perenel said, exchanging a glance with her lover and smiling. “Children, when you overcome greed, you’ve already succeeded halfway in the course of alchemy.”

Tonks raised his hand: "Professor Perenel, do you mean that advanced alchemy can teach us magic even more powerful than turning lead into gold?"

"You're only half right, child," Perenel said, leaning back in her chaise lounge with her eyes closed. "Strictly speaking, alchemy and magic are on the same level, because alchemy can do everything magic can do. And it can do things that magic can't."

No one cared about her posture; after all, she was over six hundred years old, and people were pondering her words.

Moriarty said in a deep voice, "Like, overcoming death, right?"

"Yes, child." Perenel opened his eyes. "Nico has produced a large quantity of the elixir of immortality, enough for us to live for many years."

The students' breathing quickened. They asked anyone on the street—Muggles or wizards alike—if they wanted to turn stones into gold or achieve immortality.

Without a doubt, the answer is yes.

Wealth and immortality are two things that many people dream of, but for Nicolas Flamel and Perenel, they are readily available, as commonplace as drinking water when thirsty or eating when hungry.

Most importantly, there was not a trace of pride or ostentation on the faces of the two elderly people because of their wealth and immortality.

"Professors, are you trying to tell us that the essential quality for learning alchemy is perspective?" Moriarty asked the two old men.

"You could say that, Moriarty," Nicolas Flamel nodded. "For those of you who are just beginning to learn alchemy, vision, breadth of mind, and perspective are indeed very important. But as you delve deeper into your studies, you will find that your vision will expand without you even realizing it, which is one of the reasons why alchemy has gradually declined."

Nicolas Flamel smiled wryly; he couldn't expect all wizards to set aside worldly concerns and seek the truth.

"It's too early for you to talk about these things now," Perenel continued. "Children, as you know, turning lead into gold and immortality are indeed the two most prominent and famous alchemy techniques."

Now let's talk about some lesser-known, real alchemy techniques.

Nicolas Flamel slowly walked to the center of the classroom and looked at the students: "Alchemy originated in the Middle Ages, and its main goal was to transform base metals into precious metals. Of course, producing gold was indeed a major objective, but it is not comprehensive to simply understand it as metallurgy, refining, or metalworking."

"Does anyone know which country alchemy originated in?" Perenel asked.

Tonks raised his hand and spoke: "Ancient Egypt, Professor."

"Then you must know the earliest book that records alchemy, right?"

"Yes, Professor, the Emerald Book is one of the earliest records and most important legends of alchemy," Tonks replied loudly.

"Very good, child." Perenel asked Tonks for his name and house, and added twenty points to Hufflepuff's score.

"When it comes to alchemy, one cannot help but mention ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, ancient India, China, Japan, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome..." Nicolas Flamel rattled off a series of place names. "If you have time, you can go and take a look. Young people are always full of energy, but a friendly reminder: it's best to go in groups."

"Alchemy has been circulating around the world for at least several hundred years, finally flourishing in Europe." Perenel stepped down from his chair and scanned the students. "Does anyone know who the founder of alchemy is?"

It's Tonks again.

She pulled a blue sheet of parchment from the parchment she had brought and read aloud the notes on it: In Hermeticism, alchemy, along with astrology and supernatural powers, is considered one of the "three great wisdoms of the universe," founded by a legendary figure named Hermes Trismegistes.

Therefore, Hermes is regarded as the progenitor of alchemists.

"Perfect answer, Tonks. Hufflepuff, add ten points." Perenel smiled at Tonks.

Lilith pursed her lips. Needless to say, Tonks and Moriarty must have done their homework in the Room of Requirement beforehand.

The students took notes of all these points, and the Ministry of Magic officials and reporters recorded every word the two professors said, including their praise of Tonks.

"As I mentioned earlier, the initial goal of alchemy was to transform base metals into precious metals," Nicolas Flamel said, perhaps tired from walking, as he sat back in his chair. "Well, now that alchemy has developed to this point, we can redefine it: to transform what we don't need for the time being into what we do need!"

Moriarty noted down this sentence and raised his hand to ask, "Professor, since it's a transformation, there must be a transformation formula?"

"That's right! Alchemy has formulas!" Nicolas Flamel said confidently. "Most people only know that alchemy uses magic and runes, but the formulas are little known."

Many young wizards raised in Muggle families let out a wail; the Muggle fear of formulas was etched into their DNA and passed down to the next generation.

The pure-blooded wizards looked at these people with a mixture of bewilderment and disdain. Could a mere formula be more terrifying than brewing potions?

Lilith is a prime example. She believes that no matter how complex or obscure a formula may be, it can never compare to the lengthy and clichéd rules of magic.

However, Moriarty disagreed. He raised another question: "Professor, if the formula is close to reality, then alchemy such as turning lead into gold and immortality is obviously beyond reality. I think the formula does not apply to all alchemy."

"Very good," Nicolas Flamel seemed to be in a good mood, and he rocked gently in his deck chair. "You know, Moriarty, magic is called a miracle produced by the interference of will with reality."

Alchemy can also be called a miracle, but it is not a miracle produced by the interference of will with reality; it is a miracle produced by the interference of the mysterious with reality.

"mystery?"

Everyone, including Moriarty, repeated it in unison.

Even Dumbledore muttered under his breath, "Mystery... Occultism?"

"The Department of Mysteries!?" Lilith raised her hand.

"I know that the British Ministry of Magic has a Department of Mysteries, and in fact, many countries have such departments. As far as I know, France has one," Nicolas Flamel said casually. "However, the Department of Mysteries, or even mystery itself, has nothing to do with the lesson we're going to talk about today."

"Let's go back to the first understanding of alchemy." Perenel raised his voice slightly: "We talked about formulas, but this lesson won't cover formulas. Alchemy contains far too many obscure and vague concepts."

These areas of knowledge include, but are not limited to, constellations, oil paintings, ancient symbols, magical runes, cones, celestial phenomena, knots, flowers and plants, stones, seashells, dreams, emotions, natural scenery, natural disasters, magic circles, crystals, mythology, animals, metals…

Perenel continued, and the students were already getting goosebumps. No wonder all the students were studying in the same classroom, because no matter what grade they were in, none of them had ever been exposed to alchemy before!

In the face of alchemy, age truly means nothing!

"Today, we'll begin with a simple alchemical material: candles. We'll try to learn how to shape and transform them, and then turn them into something you need." Nicolas Flamel stood up from his chaise longue, as if suddenly remembering something, and smiled slightly: "Ah, it's September..."

I currently have 4422 favorites, and I'm 518 away from 5000 favorites. It seems I won't be able to reach that number before 23:59. But I really want to give everyone a treat and I really want to advance (although it seems impossible to advance now).

I've tried three times to organize this event but failed. This time, I'm extending the time to 23:59 on Sunday. I'll add two more days to reach 5000 favorites and then add another chapter!

(End of this chapter)