Chapter 245: Exchange Between Alchemy Masters
Pushing open the door to the innermost classroom, Sean had Lisa wheel Nicolas Flamel inside. Under Sean's guidance, she pushed Nicolas Flamel to the table where he and Antonius usually had their lessons.
"Mr. Flamel, the teacher will appear in less than five minutes. Please wait a moment."
"Sean, you don't need to be so formal with me. Just call me Nicolas."
Hearing Nicolas Flamel's words, Sean readily nodded: "Alright, Nicolas."
Smiling and nodding, Nicolas Flamel looked around the classroom and asked: "Sean, how did you meet your teacher?"
"Initially, I was preparing a thesis related to Transfiguration and Alchemy. Since Hogwarts doesn't teach Alchemy, I was self-studying in the library, but I couldn't get the hang of it. Self-learning was very difficult. Later, our school's librarian, Madam Pince, told me that if I really wanted to learn Alchemy, I could try my luck here and perhaps earn the teacher's recognition to become his apprentice. So I gave it a try and barely succeeded."
"You didn't barely succeed. Though I've never said it before, if you didn't have sufficient talent, I wouldn't have taken you on."
Hearing this voice, Sean was startled and turned toward the classroom door. He saw that Antonius had somehow already appeared there. Instinctively checking his pocket watch, he discovered that time had already arrived without him noticing.
Standing up, Sean bowed slightly to Antonius: "Teacher, you're here."
Antonius walked to Sean's side and looked at Sean, who had grown quite tall. He felt somewhat emotional. Now that he was just a ghost, he could never touch his student, and even something as simple as patting his student's shoulder was beyond reach.
With this thought, Antonius immediately collected himself and turned to look at Nicolas Flamel: "Nicolas, I am Antonius."
"Antonius..." Nicolas Flamel raised his hand, and Lisa immediately walked to his side to support him, helping Nicolas Flamel slowly stand up. He reached out and virtually shook hands with Antonius, nodding with a smile: "Antonius, I'm Nicolas Flamel. Very pleased to meet you."
"Nicolas, my time is limited. Brief pleasantries will suffice. Shall we begin the main topic?"
"Of course, I've been eagerly waiting."
The man and ghost sat down one after another. They truly engaged in no further courtesies and began their alchemy-related exchange.
At first, Sean could barely understand what they were saying, but as their discussion progressed, Sean could no longer comprehend their content. Finally, he resigned himself to taking out the books he had retrieved from Gringotts the second time and sat aside quietly reading.
While reading, he noticed that Nicolas Flamel's alchemical puppet was sitting to the side, rapidly writing something. However, the distance was too great for Sean to see what she was writing, though he could roughly guess it was probably something like conversation records.
Perhaps when their exchange ended, he could ask Nicolas for a copy to transcribe?
The alchemy exchange between Antonius and Nicolas was probably the most profound discussion in the history of the magical world. If their conversation were compiled into a book, it could probably be serialised directly in the premier alchemy journal The Philosopher's Stone.
During the discussion, Sean occasionally listened in. Things like the principles of the Philosopher's Stone, animation of alchemical puppets, and alchemical transformation of elements were all subjects that sounded profound just from their names. For the first time, Sean wondered if his previous alchemy studies had been in vain.
Two hours was hardly long at all for the two alchemy masters, Antonius and Nicolas. When the time reached 8:50, Antonius proactively ended the exchange, saying with regret and emotion: "Time is almost up. It's a pity I only have two hours today; otherwise..."
Having said this, Antonius turned to look at Sean and said with some apology: "Sean, I'm sorry. Meeting Nicolas just now, there was so much I wanted to discuss that I neglected you. We'll continue learning tomorrow, alright?"
Looking at Antonius, Sean had actually long felt that his teacher seemed somewhat urgent about things. Now hearing these words, this feeling became even more apparent.
"Teacher, don't worry. I can learn some things through self-study now and won't waste time. You've finally encountered someone you can exchange ideas with. You don't need to worry about me for now. I'm fine."
"I..."
Before Antonius could speak, Nicolas Flamel suddenly said: "Antonius, if you're comfortable with it, I could teach Sean some alchemy-related knowledge in your place. I have teaching experience from Beauxbatons Academy. I shouldn't delay Sean's learning.
In exchange, during this period when you're recently awakened, please spend some time exchanging alchemy knowledge with me. Would that be possible?"
Antonius looked at Nicolas Flamel, then at Sean, asking with some anticipation: "Sean, what do you think?"
"Of course that's fine. I'd be very happy to learn from Mr. Flamel."
"I see..." Antonius thought briefly, then looked at Nicolas Flamel and nodded: "Then I'll trouble you, Nicolas."
"I'm very willing to teach a young person alchemy. Don't worry about it."
Nodding gratefully to Nicolas Flamel, Antonius looked at Sean: "Sean, my time is almost up. Well then, see you tomorrow."
As his words fell, Nicolas Flamel was about to say something when he saw Antonius suddenly become vacant. He slowly stood up, walked to the classroom door, and disappeared there.
Watching Antonius disappear at the doorway, Nicolas Flamel's face showed a trace of regret, though he hid it well. This regret went unnoticed by Sean. He felt that some matters were better left for Antonius to discuss with Sean himself.
It was already quite late. Sean and Nicolas Flamel agreed to meet here at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon to study alchemy. Nicolas Flamel would continue based on Antonius's progress. Sean personally looked forward to seeing what Nicolas Flamel's teaching would be like and what style he would have.
Meanwhile, Sean's new thesis was once again featured in The Golden Cauldron, preparing for publication.
And a discussion and storm surrounding his new thesis was gradually brewing.
Fenrir led a large group of Greyback pack werewolves, gathering in the mountain forests near Hogsmeade, quietly waiting for an opportunity to arise.