"Let's not talk about the solution just yet!"
Nicolas looked at Severus, his eyes shining as if he had seen some rare treasure.
"How were you admitted to Hogwarts in the first place? Or rather, how did the magical precursor manifest in you?"
Grindelwald's gaze grew even more intense.
He hadn't shown such emotion when his old followers came to find him, but upon discovering the disparity between Severus's soul and body, he was clearly captivated!
"It was a very ordinary precursor." Severus recalled, "When I was little, I was afraid my father would hit me, so I climbed onto the roof chimney. I accidentally fell down the chimney but instantly reappeared back on the roof. That's when my mother confirmed I was a wizard."
He was recounting Snape's personal experience.
This made Nicolas even more astonished.
"Incredible! If some people at St. Mungo's learned what happened to you, they would definitely beg you to join their hospital's laboratory. Many there are researching how to solve the Squib problem. You are a living miracle to them!"
"It should be the only case in the entire history of magic." Grindelwald interjected, "I spent three to five years studying how wizards appear and delving into the existence of Squibs. Since the Wizarding World began keeping written records, no Squib has ever broken the curse of being unable to perform magic. He is the first case, and the only one!"
Hearing him speak, Severus couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Why did you also research this kind of thing?"
Grindelwald just said coldly, "Because there are many directions to breaking the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Revealing everything about magic to the world without changing the current situation between wizards and Muggles is one direction."
"Investigating the origin of wizards, spreading magical genes to all of humanity, eliminating the barrier between wizards and Muggles, so the world only has wizards and Squibs… that is also a direction."
"If magic could appear on a large scale in anyone's body, the Statute would collapse by itself. Then, whoever masters more magical knowledge would have the power to rule the world!"
His words horrified Nicolas Flamel, as if he had never imagined someone in the world could have such thoughts.
Seeing his reaction, Grindelwald chuckled lightly.
"Surprised? Such ideas weren't just mine in the past… your friend across the ages, Albus Dumbledore, was also involved."
"Not just that, we once fantasized about using a special magic to divide the world into two identical sides: one side for those with magical ability to live, the other for those without."
Nicolas shuddered. He couldn't help shaking his head.
"Impossible... Both ideas are unrealistic. Whether it's spreading magical genes to all humanity or partitioning space, neither is something magic can achieve!"
"You've been a great alchemist for so long, so you should understand a principle better than any wizard."
Grindelwald stared at him impassively.
"If you don't even dare to think about it, you will absolutely never achieve it. For most magic, many times, those miracles are just one idea away."
"But you've let it all go now, haven't you?" Nicolas continued shaking his head.
"That's because of an accident, the death of one person, which made Albus betray the original common purpose we shared. He moved to the opposite side from me."
Grindelwald said mockingly, ridiculing himself.
"We actually set our goals from the beginning. No matter which way we chose to realize our ideal, power was indispensable. So, we set our first goal as finding the three Deathly Hallows. After mastering the power of Death, we would proceed with further plans."
"If that accident had had a different outcome, if Albus hadn't broken with me, do you think the two of us wouldn't have had a chance of success?"
Nicolas avoided Grindelwald's question. He even avoided meeting Grindelwald's gaze, instead changing the subject and actively addressing Severus's request.
"You should have been a Squib unable to perform magic, but now you've become a powerful wizard. Isn't that enough?"
Severus shook his head decisively.
"This isn't a question of enough or not. I can feel that disparity between magic and spirit every time I cast a spell. It feels very wrong. I definitely want to pursue something better."
"Moreover, if there's a way to solve this problem, becoming stronger is, of course, something I'd be happy to see."
Nicolas frowned. He wasn't troubled by Severus's refusal to be dissuaded, as he was already seriously considering how to solve the problem with Severus.
"Fundamentally, the problem arises because your soul's strength exceeds the original strength of your magical power, causing this dissonance when casting spells. To solve it, we must approach it from both aspects: the soul and magical power."
"Regarding the soul: if the soul is too strong, then find a way to weaken it. This should be the easiest method."
Guiding the silver snake named Abel back onto his hand, Nicolas stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Magic targeting the soul, while rare, does exist. It's just... those spells mostly have significant side effects..."
Hearing this, Severus immediately understood what Nicolas was referring to.
'Isn't the most typical example of magic that weakens the soul the creation of Horcruxes?'
'Splitting one's soul, cutting it into pieces, storing them in different vessels to achieve immortality… that's Voldemort's trump card.'
But the consequences of doing so are already very clear.
It's not about losing one's nose, as that was a negative effect after Voldemort's resurrection, but rather, the splitting of the soul subtly influences one's thoughts!
It imperceptibly makes the soul-splitter extreme, insane, and lowers their intelligence.
This is clearly unacceptable to Severus!
Even if he never solved his spellcasting problem and remained like this for life, he could never turn himself into that state.
"No!" Severus rejected, "I can't accept those side effects. Weakening the soul is not an option."
Nicolas seemed to anticipate his answer, as many people simply couldn't bear that cost.
"If you're not considering the soul aspect, then we can only try to approach it from the magical power side."