A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 447 An Irreparable Crown

A tall obelisk stands on the horizon, like the pointer of a sundial.

The entire manor's architecture radiates outwards from this stone monument as its center.

On one side of the obelisk stands a beautiful cubic building, which remains brightly lit at night.

Chopin's Nocturne echoed in the room, its slow tempo and melancholic melody resonating throughout.

Nico, wearing a dragon-skin apron and white gloves woven from the silk of the eight-eyed giant spider, hunched over, staring at the Ravenclaw crown floating on the lab table.

William, who had been at the manor for several days, was dressed similarly.

He stood aside, taking over Hercules's duties as Nico's experimental assistant for the time being.

William wasn't of much use; he just occasionally handed over some strange and unusual tools.

Pliers, tweezers, test tubes, a gold compass, and even welding torches and laser pointers.

By the way, learn some real skills.

This study has been going on for a full day.

Nico's expression shifted between excitement, dejection, anger, and despair.

William was familiar with that look; he had seen it in his past life... well, when he was doing a math test!

If I had to describe it, it would be something like: I can't do this problem, it's too hard!!

"This melody is no good, it's so depressing, it makes me want to kill myself," Nico said without looking up.

"William, play some upbeat music!"

William nodded and snapped his fingers.

Chopin, seemingly reluctant to leave, was replaced by a young Richard Clayderman.

Richard Clayderman sat down at a piano and began to play "Ballade pour Adeline".

"That's more like it." Nicole stretched out as well.

He lowered his hands, and the crown, which was suspended in mid-air, gently spun around once.

From William's angle, he can perfectly see the Ravenclaw quote on the crown:

Exceptional wisdom is humanity's greatest treasure!

The walls of the room were surrounded by six portraits of Nicole, and the portraits were all disregarding their image, using binoculars or monocles to try to spy on him.

As night deepened, Nicole finally completed all the checks.

"How is it?" William asked impatiently. "Can the crown still be repaired?"

Ravenclaw's crown is rusty and worn on the head, and it has no ability to increase wisdom.

It's completely different from what I've heard.

It seems to be completely ruined.

"With my current abilities, it's difficult to carry out repairs," Nico said, shaking her head regretfully.

He took off the black-rimmed glasses made from the horn of a horned beast, casually tossed them aside, and the glasses flew back to the stand.

William found it hard to accept; could the Deathly Hallows really be destroyed?

It's very scientific, but it's not magical at all, is it?

"Was it because Voldemort turned it into a Horcrux?" William wondered.

That shouldn't be the case.

Even the diary is intact, so there's no reason why the crown would rust.

"Voldemort's Horcruxes?" Nico's tone carried a hint of disdain.

"William, it has nothing to do with that... The crown bears traces of prehistoric mysteries."

"Prehistoric mysteries?" William said in surprise.

"That's right." Nico sighed softly. "I've deconstructed the entire process of the crown's destruction. Take a look."

The old man beckoned, and a delicate silver instrument emerged with four legs, darting out from the corner like a crab.

Nikolai tapped the silver instrument lightly with the tip of his wand.

The instrument immediately started operating, emitting a rhythmic "beep beep beep" sound.

Wisps of pale white smoke billowed from the small silver tube at the top, gathering and swirling in the air.

A few seconds later, the wisps of smoke turned into a steady plume of smoke, growing thicker and thicker, swirling in the air... transforming into the Ravenclaw tiara.

The crown was gleaming, especially the lettering, which shone brightly.

"This is a crown under normal circumstances."

Nico calmly raised his hand and flicked his sleeve, causing a gentle breeze to stir up the smoke. It then flowed slowly, like a babbling brook.

"Next, we will discuss the entire process of change."

William stared intently, but after thirty seconds, the crown remained unchanged.

He thought it was a still image and was about to point it out when the crown's dazzling luster suddenly dimmed.

As if someone had turned on eight times the speed, the crown slowly dimmed in an eerie way.

During the slow process, a natural rusting process occurs.

The entire process lasted one minute.

In the end, it became exactly the same as the crown on the platform.

"What's going on?" William was taken aback.

"The power of time."

Nico raised his withered arm and said calmly, "Time can destroy everything. Look at my hands, they're already as old as tree bark."

William, I have lived for over six hundred years, and my body has aged for six hundred years as well.

"I have said that flesh and blood... the mortal body will not last forever."

"Given my current condition, even if I were to forge a few more magic stones, I could only live to be a thousand years old at most."

Nico chuckled softly, "This body can't support me seeing any more scenery. My final fate... may only be to return to the embrace of death."

Nicole spoke in a relaxed tone, without much annoyance.

William had long known that the Philosopher's Stone could not grant immortality.

The magic stone can only prolong life, but the body is constantly aging.

This is an irreversible process!

Nico is searching for the other two Deathly Hallows in order to completely unlock the Alchemy Book.

The latter two volumes may contain his desired way of prolonging life.

"Time can destroy me, it can destroy anything, including Ravenclaw's crown," Nico continued.

William pondered for a moment, then asked in confusion, "But it has only been a thousand years since Ravenclaw lost its crown."

"A crown couldn't possibly be rusty so quickly, could it?"

The Ravenclaw ring was still perfectly intact. Nico's alchemy book also showed no signs of damage.

Nico laughed. "Who told you it was a thousand years?"

William frowned, staring at the crown.

"This crown has been weathered for at least tens of thousands of years."

Nico paced around the experimental table. "Ravenclaw, one of the Big Four, is an expert in the prehistoric mysteries of time."

She applied powerful time magic to the crown, allowing it to undergo ten thousand years of transformation over a thousand years, eventually becoming what it is today.

"So..." he paused, then abruptly turned to William, "by the time Voldemort found the Ravenclaw tiara, it was certainly no longer of any use."

He probably discovered that, contrary to the legends, the crown could not increase wisdom, so he created it as a Horcrux.

"Ravenclaw...why would she do something like this?" William was utterly bewildered. "Why would she destroy a Deathly Hallow in this way?"

This is completely illogical!

"You'll have to ask Ravenclaw himself," Nico shook his head, seemingly puzzled as well.

"Ravenclaw may have discovered something, but we don't know for sure."

"Is there no possibility of fixing it?" William persisted.

"Of course!" Nico waved his wand, and the Book of Abraham appeared in William's hand.

William gently opened the alchemy book, which was divided into three sections.

"When I discovered the alchemy book, its original owner, Abraham, had left behind a parchment scroll," Nico said.

"The first set of contents contains all the alchemical items that have ever appeared in the magical world."

The second set of content contains the method for crafting the Deathly Hallows.

The third group will feature alchemical items that have never appeared in the magical world before.

"Once the second set of content is unlocked, the Ravenclaw tiara should be repaired."

"So... I guess I'll just have to get Slytherin's wand after all," William muttered to himself.

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(End of this chapter)