r18novel Chapter 89 What is alchemy?
Chapter 89 What is alchemy?
Chapter 89 What is alchemy?
Dumbledore was already there at the entrance of Hogwarts Castle.
Ryan assumed that among the people Dumbledore wrote to, some wanted to see his magical abilities firsthand before deciding whether or not to recommend him for the Order of Merlin.
So he only asked Dumbledore where he was going next.
"Alright, I know you learned Apparition ahead of time," Dumbledore said, handing over a small piece of paper. "Remember this." Ryan took it and looked at it; it had an address written on it.
When he saw the address, he didn't understand why. But after he memorized the address, he suddenly had a strange feeling, as if some kind of barrier had been suddenly broken through.
"This is the 'Loyalty and Devotion Mantra'!" He was extremely surprised. What normal person would add a "Loyalty and Devotion Mantra" to their house?
Don't they have any neighborly relations? No childhood friends or acquaintances to visit each other on the streets?
He felt that the person he was about to visit might be an extreme case of social anxiety disorder, to the point that he had very few close friends and even fewer wizards who knew his home address.
"I've got the address. Let's go," Dumbledore said, and then vanished.
Ryan also Apparated.
The next moment they found themselves in an open space. There stood a strangely shaped house in the open space, and it seemed that no one else could see it except for the two of them.
At this moment, a passerby saw them and muttered something to himself:
Ryan glanced back before Dumbledore called him into the house, barely able to make out who he was. He seemed to be saying something about hallucinating again, and even swore he would never give up working overtime?
There are still people who don't give up working overtime—Ryan thinks they must be idiots.
With this thought in mind, he entered the room and saw an old man, pale to the point of being almost transparent, standing next to Dumbledore.
The old man walked towards him, raised his hand as if to shake it, and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lane. My name is Nicolas Flamel."
You may have heard of me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lemaître." Ryan's eyes widened suddenly. The old man in front of him was the most outstanding alchemist in the wizarding world for hundreds of years!
Nicolas Flamel!
It seems that Dumbledore's letter of recommendation had worked; Ryan was genuinely a little excited at this point.
After all, someone who has lived for over 600 years, let alone in this life, has never seen such a person before.
"It's an honor to meet you, Master Lemaître," Ryan said, his tone becoming unusually respectful.
Because people like Nicolas Flamel are truly capable.
"Please have a seat." As the host, Nicolas Flamel invited the two to sit down.
After the three of them sat down, he said, "Abbus wrote me several letters, saying he hoped I could give you some pointers on alchemy."
"I haven't been paying much attention to the wizarding world for a while. After receiving Albus's letter, I asked around about you."
His tone was slightly unusual: "Mr. Lane Wells, the greatest prophet of this century. Today, on our first meeting, I have a question for you: what do you consider alchemy to be?"
"Getting straight to the point, huh? Are all these old folks cut from the same cloth? Dumbledore asked him what magic was back then, and here it's become what alchemy is. Can I even answer a question that gets to the heart of the matter?" Ryan thought to himself. If he could accurately answer to the heart of the matter...
He doesn't need to come here to seek guidance from teachers.
But since the senior had asked, he couldn't refuse to answer. After much thought, he carefully chose his words: "In my view, alchemy is the process of using existing substances to synthesize and extract things that don't exist. Or it's about transforming existing things into the creations that the alchemist wants to achieve."
"Or you could say that alchemy is, to some extent, an equivalent exchange."
Nicolas Flamel's tone was as if he were a novice alchemist, receiving such instructions from his master on his first day, sounding puzzled and confused: "A certain degree of equivalent exchange?"
Seeing Dumbledore's expression, which was neither sad nor happy, Ryan knew he couldn't get any outside help from the headmaster, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and respond to Nicolas Flamel's questioning.
"That's right, Mr. Lemaître. Before seeing your Philosopher's Stone, I also thought alchemy was a matter of equivalent exchange, which may be related to my lack of expertise in alchemy."
"But after seeing your Philosopher's Stone, I can hardly imagine how the magic within it is generated, or what could possibly be exchanged for such a vast source of magic?"
Nicolas Flamel turned to Dumbledore: "This child also knows about the Philosopher's Stone."
"He deserves it, doesn't he?" Dumbledore teased the small instrument that was constantly rolling on the table.
"This child is indeed qualified."
Many alchemists have seen the Philosopher's Stone, but his first reaction was that it violated the principle of equivalent exchange. He was the first,” Nicolas Flamel said.
Then he turned back to face Ryan, his gaze shifting between the silver chain and armband on Ryan's wrist: "To be able to hear about equivalent exchange. To understand equivalent exchange. To be able to apply equivalent exchange. That's already quite remarkable. In the current wizarding world, your alchemy skills have surpassed the vast majority of alchemists."
"Master Lemaître is joking. Before fifth grade, I had never studied alchemy in depth. It was only after fifth grade, with the guidance and help of my professors and some knowledge I gained from my adventures, that I began to study alchemy."
"Ordinary alchemy is nothing special," Lemaître said. He took out a piece of gold from somewhere, and flames rose from his fingertips, melting and transforming the gold into a lifelike, flying golden bird.
"What comes to mind when you see this little bird?"
"Transfiguration?" Ryan asked uncertainly.
"You're really talented. You're right, Ryan. To permanently deform an object and give it the desired properties—that's the similarity between alchemy and transmutation."
This is why I say that ordinary alchemy is not wondrous. It is merely a routine transformation, or a long-lasting equivalent exchange, requiring materials and ritual procedures to become an alchemist.
Nicolas Flamel stated that he was unaware of the existence of alchemy in his youth until one day he flipped through a book describing alchemy and suddenly found himself having an instinctive reaction to this knowledge.
After that, he became adept at all the alchemy techniques, including materials, matrices, timing, and so on, earning the reputation of an alchemy master. Very well, the Versailles time for the predecessors has come again. Ryan knew what was going to happen next when he heard this. He found that these predecessors always liked to regard him as a person with the same extraordinary talent as them.
For example, regarding Nicolas Flamel's concept of sensing the timing and materials during the alchemy process, he never actually experienced that feeling.
"Alchemy requires talent, but it doesn't place that much emphasis on talent. Any wizard who can use magic can become an alchemist." Nicolas Flamel said earnestly, "However, Ryan, both I and Albus have higher expectations for you than for ordinary alchemists, so you need to come to me to learn."
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