The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 92 The Difficult Art of Alchemy (Seeking all kinds of help!)

"Well done," Perenel nodded and smiled at Lilith. "What are you waiting for? Light the candle and try it! Observe how the candle burns; usually, further analysis is needed."

The students lit the candles, and soon they were surprised to find that the burning candles were in all sorts of ways.

Lilith's candle flame repeatedly showed flares and angles.

The candlelight from Tonks emitted hissing, crackling, and other noises.

Leon's candle burned too quickly; almost the instant it was lit, a third of it "whooshed" away.

Marcus's candle flickered, gradually forming a spiral-shaped flame.

Soldaya's candle wick was tied in a knot, forming a double flame.

Strange phenomena also occurred with the candles from other groups: Jericho's candle wax splattered and almost got into his eyes, and Cedric's candle wouldn't stand up and would fall over as soon as he let go of it.

Most of the young wizards' candles emitted large amounts of light smoke, some white, some black, some purple, and some even green.

The students were frantically struggling with their candles. Seeing this, Nicolas Flamel's eyes flashed with a touch of sentimentality. Who wasn't an alchemy apprentice at some point?

Until he saw Moriarty's candle standing steadily on the table, burning slowly, a smile appeared on his face: "Very good, Moriarty, we can see that your candle is different from others. Now, it's your turn to give me a reason."

"I think it's the result of mental strength," Moriarty replied in a deep voice. Among the students present were many young wizards whose magic was comparable to that of adult wizards. Compared to them, Moriarty's twenty years of magic was not outstanding, but only his candle was normal, which indicated that Moriarty possessed an ability that the other students did not have or lacked.

Nicolas Flamel affirmed Moriarty's answer: "It is spiritual power, children, remember this well! Spiritual power is one of the most fundamental elements in the alchemical formula."

"The reason Moriarty's candles function normally is related to his stable mental energy," Perenel explained to the students. "Through meditation, Moriarty developed a unique connection with his candles—and you do too, it's a gift from the universe to wizards!"

When Moriarty's stable mental energy enveloped the candle, lighting it was like giving the candle a new way of life. Although the candle burned and eventually disappeared, leaving only a pool of wax, in the concept of alchemy, it was simply transformed into another form.

Moriarty asked, "Gaseous?"

“Yes,” Nicolas Flamel looked at him. “Dumbledore told me about the three-state transformation theory you proposed in Transfiguration. With a slight modification, this theory can be transformed into a three-state transformation theory, which is also applicable to alchemy.”

However, this involves practical alchemical tools, which are obviously unrelated to our course. We'll discuss that after class.

After speaking, Nicolas Flamel walked to the podium and found Lilith raising her hand: "Professor, was Mr. Filch's kerosene lamp an alchemical prop you provided for him?"

Nicolas Flamel and Perenel exchanged a smile: "After we arrived at Hogwarts, Mr. Filch told me that he had a hard time catching the naughtiest among you."

He kept asking us for help, so—you know, I gave him an oil lamp to break his invisibility and immobilization abilities, and a pair of shoes so he could catch up with mischievous children wandering the night for a short time.

"So that's how it is!" The students suddenly realized, and then let out a sigh of relief. Now they knew why Li Jordan had been caught, and they would have to be careful of Filch when they sneaked out at night in the future.

"Alright, children, enough chit-chat." Perenel sat back in her recliner and had the students put the candles back on and then relight them until the burning candles were calm.

"Professor, I think I can move on to the next stage." Moriarty raised his hand to indicate this, and Nicolas Flamel said briefly, "Yes, let's begin to try shaping."

Moriarty closed his eyes again and meditated.

With his mind highly focused, Moriarty channeled his magic, and in his mind, the shapes of the candle and the corn gradually overlapped.

In less than five minutes, Moriarty had finished shaping it; a small piece of candle had become a small piece of corn.

Nicolas Flamel held Moriarty's experiment in his hand and squeezed it. "Your understanding of transfiguration helped you complete the shaping step quickly. Next, we need to transform it into real, edible corn."

Moriarty looked at him: "Is changing the essence the biggest difference between alchemy and transfiguration?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Moriarty tried to connect the message of the "magic moon" with corn.

Transforming candles into corn during the Corn Month seems like an easy task, but Moriarty discovered that there are countless ways to combine the four elements: magic, spiritual power, the natural power of the Magic Month, and the essence of corn and candles!

When he tries to introduce magic, it causes changes in the permutations and combinations. For alchemy, the method of controlling variables is not feasible. Only by simultaneously determining the quality, quantity, and energy of the above four elements to a certain value can the essential transformation be completed!

The alchemical formulas that Nicolas Flamel mentioned earlier were a calculation tool used to solve this problem.

For beginners, success requires repeated attempts to find the correct permutations and combinations of values.

Upon learning this, the students were devastated. How long would it take to try? If they were unlucky and failed to reach the correct value every time, wouldn't that mean wasting their entire lives on candles?

Is this alchemy? How ridiculous!

The students protested, and Jericho slammed the candle to the ground. "If my children ask me years from now what I learned at Hogwarts? Am I supposed to answer—'Dad spent his whole life studying how to turn candles into corn!' What utter nonsense! We had much better options! Why did we have to learn alchemy?"

Most students agreed, saying they couldn't accept that since there were alchemy formulas available, they weren't allowed to use them!

Nicolas Flamel and Perenel, however, lay leisurely on their deck chairs, gently rocking. A ball of light flew out from under the black cloth, hovering above their heads and radiating a light like a small sun. Soon, the two old men showed expressions of comfort and ease.

"Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore suddenly spoke up. "Could you conjure some candles for us? I'd like to conduct this alchemical experiment."

The Chamber of Secrets fell silent, and the students in front all turned to look at Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall conjured up more than a dozen small candles and distributed them to Dumbledore and the professors.

Dumbledore closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, lit the candle. The candle burned normally—all the professors had done the same.

Then came shaping, which was equally stress-free for Dumbledore and the professors.

"Ah, next comes the transformation of essence that will stump our Slytherin heirs, tsk tsk." Dumbledore picked up the candle and looked at it back and forth.

The young wizards were taken aback at first, but then they realized that Dumbledore was referring to all the students as the "Slytherin successor"!

The students, especially the little snakes, lowered their heads in shame. As heirs of Slytherin, they complained of hardship and feared difficulties in the Chamber of Secrets!

What would Salazar Slytherin think if he knew? What would Godric Gryffindor think if he knew?

"Hmm? Not simple, not simple..." Dumbledore exclaimed, adjusting his glasses as if it were an unusual occurrence, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

The students saw that the candle in Dumbledore's palm had developed many bumps on its surface, and then popped out a lot of popcorn!

Dumbledore picked up a piece of popcorn, put it in his mouth, and chewed it. "Hmm, it tastes like wax. If you ask me, it needs sugar!"

"Hahaha..." The students were amused. Dumbledore had obviously failed, but he had narrowed the distance between himself and the students. The students discovered that the professors had all made some small mistakes in the essential transformation step.

This made the students feel more relaxed and less afraid of failure.

Nicolas Flamel knew exactly where Dumbledore had gone wrong just by listening to the popcorn popping. He shook his head and laughed, "Albus, you still can't shake the habit of having magic power 4.56% greater than mental power. That was in 1950, when you poured magic power into a Hungarian wood bee, and dragon blood uncontrollably gushed from its mouth and nose."

Recalling his past research on dragon's blood, Dumbledore smiled and said, "What you're saying reminds me of Newt. He's always the opposite of me, that boy who firmly believes that the power of the mind is greater than magic."

Nicolas Flamel and Dumbledore began talking as if no one else was around, while the students listened in astonishment. Moriarty, however, managed to glean a few key words and details.

Dumbledore discovered 12 uses for dragon's blood.

Newt refers to Newt Scamander, Hufflepuff's senior.

Magic power is 4.56% greater than mental power.

At this moment, Dumbledore ended his conversation with Nicolas Flamel, stood up, and walked his tall figure into the Chamber of Secrets.

"Few people know that when Mr. Armando Dippet was the headmaster of Hogwarts, I, as the professor of Transfiguration, suggested that he offer a course in alchemy."

I remember when I knocked on the principal's office door and explained my purpose to Principal Armando, he stared at me for a minute. Then, he asked me to write a reply to the Ministry of Magic and the students' parents by hand, without using magic.

I naturally refused, but then I understood what he meant and never mentioned the word "alchemy" again.

The students pondered the story, but Dumbledore didn't give them time to think; he clapped his hands, drawing their attention.

"Listen carefully, children. The early stages of alchemy are bitter, troublesome, and full of difficulties. Our professors have good reason not to let you use formulas or other easy methods."

The two professors are doing this for your future—the alchemical experiment will only be complete when we persevere through countless failures and continue practicing until we succeed.

After a long process of experimentation, you will find that alchemical formulas and magical runes, and even the creation of an alchemical item, are all very easy.

Alchemy, and even mysticism, have broad prospects, and you too can have your own piece of land under this sky.

"Hogwarts' alchemy class isn't a crash course for alchemists, where knowledge is crammed into you and you're forced to memorize it. Believe me, that's not magic! If we did that, Merlin and the four great masters would be so angry they'd crawl out of their coffins and unleash a killing curse on me!"

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(End of this chapter)