"The ritual would add the necessary genetic markers for being a wizard to a Muggle, but they wouldn't be active," Nicholas explained. "Genetically, they would be a witch or wizard, but would lack the spiritual component to perform active spells with a wand. Effectively, they would be Squibs, able to only harness or benefit from magic passively in the manner of potions, runes, and so on."
"And this other ritual here… it would… God and Merlin, it would mean… it would mean everyone in the world could have magic!"
"Yes. Exactly," Nicholas said, turning solemn. "Magic is dying, Edward. Bit by bit, the magic fades. And it is not because of some scarcity of magic as if it were akin to the Muggle's fossil fuels, but due to our own isolation. We are too limited in number to expand. All we can do is huddle together as we diminish."
"I am aware," I said, but he shook his head sharply.
"No. Not truly. In a century, there will half as many magicals as there are now. Assuming nothing like another war occurs," Nicholas declared. "Worse, the Statute of Secrecy won't last that long. Twenty years at least before the Muggles' technology is advanced enough to pierce the veil, so to speak."
He looked at the moon. "Will magic still survive without witches and wizards? Perhaps. The goblins and Veela and other, long sidelined creatures will continue to exist, but even they will dwindle as mankind pushes them further and further away. Eventually, there will be nothing left. Merely stories."
"I know," I replied softly, and he turned to look at me. And this time, he stared into my eyes for a long while before nodding.
"How odd… it seems you really do," he muttered, before shaking his head. "You see why I created that ritual, then."
"I do," I whispered, and looked down at what was likely Nicholas Flamel's Magnum Opus.
Because alongside his Squib-to-Magical Ritual was a second ritual. And not just any ritual, but one so great and powerful, it was on the same scale as the Memory Modification Ritual that had been created to hide the magical world during the Statute of Secrecy's implementation.
A truly global ritual that would impose Flamel's Squib-to-Wizard Ritual onto every living human being in the world.
In an instant, every single mundane human would become magical. They would become aware of magic, but lack the ability to use it. Yet their children! Their children would be able to wield magic! And their children's children!
Magic was a dominant trait. If a wizard married a witch, they would have a magical child. And yes, Squibs counted as magical. Even if just barely. Squibs who married magicals would produce magical children, and while I didn't know the exact odds, from my own research there was generally a one in ten chance of a Squib and Muggle producing a magical child. And if a wizard married a Muggle woman, their children would be magical as well, nine times out of ten. Same as if it were a witch and Muggle man.
Within a single generation after the ritual, everyone would be fully magical to some degree, and there would be no hiding it, as accidental magic would occur without warning among the young. The Statute of Secrecy would break apart under the strain. It already struggled to contain its own population. How the hell could it handle six-going-on-seven billion people?!
It wouldn't, that's what. Magic would be out in the open again, and with the ritual Flamel had devised, there was no longer any danger of people being born without magic.
And thus, magic would never die out. Humanity would be able to tame nature, and banish pollution. They'd cheat Death itself and solve the food, energy, and housing crises. Global warming? Bah! Space travel, here we come! Magic would save humanity, and the Earth itself!
Or maybe humanity would be unable to handle such power, and utterly destroy everything, leaving a charred, cursed husk of a planet in their wake. But I was willing to take the chance. If not for myself, then for every future child of the world.
I closed the journal reverently, and looked at Nicholas Flamel with respect.
"I will do it," I told him. He nodded, not needing me to explain what 'it' was.
"It won't be easy," he replied. "It'll take at least a decade to set up everything."
"It will be worth it," I vowed.
"So be it. Pear and I have made our mark on this world. We could have done more. Perhaps we should have. But hopefully, this ritual will be able to help you change the world in a way we never imagined," Nicholas declared. He then handed me a ring. It was made of pure gold, and set with a small red gemstone.
"Keep the journal, and use it for good. And take this ring as well. It is capable of creating a single dose of Elixir of Life. If you are ever dying or near death, it will activate and heal you completely."
"Thank you," I uttered gratefully, accepting both items.
"I am glad to have met you, Edward Rose. You're an interesting man. It almost makes me want to stick around for a few more years just to see what will happen," Nicholas chortled. "Now, we best go back inside before the wonder about where we are."
I nodded silently, clutching the book and ring to my chest.
As we walked back into the hut, I vowed to make the Flamels' dream a reality.
'Let there be light? HA! More like let there be magic!' I thought to myself, trying not to cackle. It was hard.
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