A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 658 Death's Trap

Renovating a small house is a technical job.

The yard was nice, not too big or too small, just right for William, Hermione, and Anne to have afternoon tea.

It's more than enough to accommodate a few friends occasionally, like Luna and Cedric.

But the area outside the yard needs to be expanded, especially the stream.

William decided to remodel it, dividing it into inner and outer rivers.

The inner layer remains the same stream, teeming with various koi. The outer layer, however, will resemble a lake containing a Horcrux... accessible only by a specific small boat.

This is only the internal defense perimeter; there are other defense mechanisms outside the river.

William has to replicate the setup in the restricted area on the fourth floor of the school, maybe even get an ultimate, enhanced version?

Look at Quirrell, he was bleeding profusely from his head and eventually died inside.

The renovation of the house is a major project, as it relates to future safety issues.

It will probably take at least a year and a half, so for a long time to come, William will have to bring Hermione back frequently.

Before this carefree and blissful life for the two of them was even halfway over, Nico came to visit the cabin.

This was a meeting that had been arranged long ago, and William and Hermione stood at the door waiting before the appointed time.

Soon, eddies appeared in the stream, and then bubbles rose up like a fountain.

A moment later, the golden toad submarine jumped out of the water, landed in the yard, and then quickly grew larger.

The hatch opened, and Nico slowly stepped out.

He was wearing a charcoal black turtleneck sweater, a tweed jacket, yellow khaki trousers, and preppy Cordoba pirouettes.

Nico doesn't seem like a wizard at all; he's more like a refined old professor from a university.

Good afternoon, children.

Nico leaned on a cane made of green vines in his left hand and stretched out his withered right hand.

"Long time no see, Nico." William reached out and shook hands with him.

Hermione stood beside William and smiled, "Hello, Nico."

"Oh, Hermione...you're becoming more and more radiant," Nicole smiled. "William hasn't been bullying you, has he?"

"No... I'm the one who bullies him!" Hermione said playfully.

"That's great, that's a really good hobby." Nico winked and chuckled. "Keep it up."

Hermione raised her chin, giving William a childlike, smug look, and said, "Did you hear that?"

William just grinned.

Nico pulled out a black package.

"This is a Christmas gift for you two... I put some thought into it."

William took the package, opened it, and found two pure black robes inside.

It feels cool and silky to the touch, like an invisible cloak.

"You've made a flying cloak?" William asked in surprise, touching the robe.

"Yes," Nico said, looking at the two robes in his hands with satisfaction.

"Using the Dementors and Groundbats you gave me, I followed the steps in the alchemy book. Although the process was a bit tedious, I finally managed to create it."

Nico is indeed a master alchemist; given the materials, there is no magical item he cannot create.

William is far from being good at this.

Hermione held the flight cloak with obvious delight, preparing to take a low-altitude test flight in the yard.

William then led Nico into the study.

The study is on the third floor, and the room is divided into two rooms.

The larger room was greatly expanded using the Seamless Stretch Spell, resembling a small library.

Inside, shelves were filled with numerous spellbooks—all of which William and Hermione had read or collected over the years.

Passing through an exquisite double door, you enter another room, which is the study.

Three tree-shaped chandeliers hanging from the ceiling illuminated the room, which was beautifully decorated.

Hermione and Anne both added a lot of suggestions.

The most obvious sign is that a huge birchwood table is placed on the oak floor, with three seats.

They belong to William, Hermione, and Anne, respectively.

William originally thought one would be enough, but Hermione and Anne were not satisfied, so two more were added... resulting in this strange appearance.

A clock with colored light hangs on the table, calibrated to the second with perfect precision. The light source travels endlessly along a preset color spectrum, completing a full circle every six hours, strictly adhering to planetary timekeeping.

On the wall of the room hung a framed picture. Soon, a portrait of Dumbledore appeared in it.

"Hello, Abus," Nico greeted casually.

The portrait in the painting looked exactly like Dumbledore, but his expression was somewhat blank. He simply nodded slightly and then turned and left.

"It doesn't quite look like it yet, does it?"

Nicole said, sitting down on the velvet sofa by the window.

"The headmaster is too busy; he doesn't have time to properly train his portrait," William said, sitting down beside him.

For a portrait to resemble the person's temperament, it must be repeatedly trained by a wizard, year after year, through constant exposure and influence.

William poured Nico a cup of black tea, but the old man only took a sip before eagerly pulling out a book made of fine, smooth tree bark.

—The Alchemy Book!

In fact, Nico had never taken the book out of the manor since it was built.

This is the first time.

Ni could use his hands, as smooth as tree bark, to open this ancient and simple book.

This book is divided into three groups of seven pages each.

The first group contains all the alchemical items that have ever appeared in the magical world.

The second group possesses the method for crafting the Deathly Hallows.

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

On the seventh page of the first set, there is a drawing of a magic wand being swallowed by a giant python; on the seventh page of the second set, there is a drawing of a goblet.

Slytherin's wand is still missing, waiting for Tom to lead the way.

William has already obtained the goblet—the Holy Grail—which unlocks the third set of content.

He gently took the heavy Goblet of Fire out of the box and slowly raised it.

"What do I need to do to get closer to the alchemy book?"

"Yes, put it here." Nico turned to the page on the goblet in his alchemy book.

William placed the Holy Grail on it, and when he released his grip, the goblet miraculously floated in mid-air, stable and not falling.

The originally dark picture suddenly lit up and shone brightly.

The contents of the third volume unfold like a book of death written by the Grim Reaper.

Countless phantom images of alchemical items flickered in the air, each one lifelike, like a holographic projection.

Nico stared at the magnificent painting with burning eyes. He reached out and grabbed the alchemy book, but as soon as he had the thought, the phantoms quickly overlapped.

The alchemy book has returned to its original bark appearance.

He flipped to the third volume again, silently reciting it in his mind, and saw a large amount of text appear, interspersed with many pictures.

Nico flipped through the book quickly, completely engrossed in it. He soon reached the end, but then paused, sighed deeply, and slumped back in his chair.

"Oh no, William, we've become... the eldest of the three brothers."

William frowned and took the book from Nicole's hand.

William already knew that the Philosopher's Stone could prolong life, but not grant immortality.

After all, flesh and blood... the mortal body cannot last forever.

Nico, who is over six hundred years old, is already as old as tree bark.

Given his condition, even if he were to forge a few more magic stones, he could only live to be a thousand years old at most.

The alchemy book created the Philosopher's Stone, which can be used to brew the Elixir of Immortality and prolong life.

Nico is attempting to forge a new alchemical item that can reverse physical aging and restore youth.

With these two things, one can achieve immortality.

But this kind of thing doesn't exist in the magical world, at least not before. Now, having opened the contents of the third volume, we can make this kind of thing.

Did William and Nicole succeed?

Of course it was successful.

The Alchemy Book provides a new alchemical item, as well as instructions on how to craft it.

——Azot.

The book was written in ancient runes, which William did not find too difficult to understand.

According to the book, Azot corresponds to the Philosopher's Stone and is a universal solvent and elixir.

It makes material transformation possible, restores the body to youth, and heals all injuries.

But here's the problem... In the story of the three brothers, the eldest brother created the Philosopher's Stone.

The alchemy book only tells him how to refine magic stones, but it doesn't tell him how to brew the elixir of immortality.

Even if William and Nicole could concoct Azot, they still wouldn't be able to brew the elixir of youth.

Because they didn't have a boiling process.

Death's trap... has appeared once again.

……

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(End of this chapter)