"Magical power is quite marvelous. It possesses hereditary properties. As long as a wizard or Squib appears in a family's lineage, it will be contained within the magical genes, spreading outward as the family
Nicolas's understanding of the world, wizards, and magic was extremely profound.
"But in most Muggles, magical genes are in a recessive state. Only a very few descendants have a probability of possessing magical ability and becoming wizards."
"When wizards marry wizards, or wizards marry Muggles, the probability of the next generation being a wizard becomes very high."
"Magical genes are dominant. Magical power grows as a wizard ages. This growth is irreversible, but it generally has a limit. How far it grows depends on each wizard's innate talent."
"However, there is one exception." Nicolas looked at Severus, "This is also the most famous method of magical growth known in the Wizarding World where magical power exceeds the wizard's original talent, constantly soaring until it consumes the individual."
For some reason, Grindelwald suddenly laughed. He spoke up.
"You just said the word: Obscurial."
"Yes, the Obscurial!"
Nicolas said loudly.
"When some young wizards suffer great psychological trauma due to magic, their instinct for self-preservation leads them to suppress their magical power. But due to a lack of guidance, they do not learn to harness and control their own power, thus giving rise to a parasite… the dark magical force, the Obscurus!"
"The essence of this force is actually magical power expanding through suppression until it exceeds the soul power originally matched to the wizard. This is the opposite of how some Squibs appear but is far more damaging to the individual!"
Severus pondered, stroking his chin.
"Obscurial? Such magical growth usually only occurs in young wizards who cannot perform magic and deeply despise their own power. It generally doesn't work on adult wizards, right? And even if it did, the magical power expanded from an Obscurus is basically uncontrollable."
"Such a method certainly won't work on you. But from this typical example, we can see that the growth and decline of magical power, besides a wizard's personal talent, is also closely related to the soul itself."
Nicolas said seriously.
"If you want your magical power to grow to match your soul, you must find a way from this aspect."
"Negative emotions and suppression towards magical power cause it to grow in a negative form. So, if it's positive emotional stimulation, would it grow in a positive form?" Severus felt he was getting somewhere.
"This is actually the role schools like Hogwarts play…" Nicolas reminded him, "The stage starting from age 11 is when a wizard's magical power increases most actively. A good magical teaching environment is very beneficial for their magical growth."
"But you can't go back to Hogwarts to study now." Grindelwald said, telling a cold joke.
Severus shuddered. He couldn't imagine himself sitting in the Great Hall with Harry, waiting for the Sorting Hat to sort them.
Nicolas was still thinking. He seemed to recall something, pondering for a moment before speaking.
"Returning to school is just a joke. At your current stage, magical growth has long since stalled. Even if you really went back to Hogwarts, it wouldn't change much. But stimulating your own magical growth through positive and intense emotions is correct."
In Nicolas's hand, the silver-white snake kept transforming. It was like a liquid without a fixed form, constantly shifting into various runic symbols every second.
Each runic symbol seemed to represent an alchemical ritual Nicolas had invented and used. Soon, he found the one he wanted!
"Ha!"
He exclaimed excitedly, drawing the attention of both Severus and Grindelwald.
"I remember correctly. Two hundred and sixty-four years ago, I did indeed have relevant alchemical attempts."
The silver snake Abel returned to its original snake form. It wasn't just an extremely useful alchemical tool, it also functioned as storage for various potions, items, and even memories.
As Nicolas twirled his wand, guiding it towards Abel's head, a silvery thread of light was drawn from the snake and then injected back into Nicolas's mind.
Severus's eyes clearly showed anticipation.
"Have you discovered anything, Mr. Flamel?"
Nicolas began to explain patiently to Severus.
"Your body's magical power was basically set after graduating from Hogwarts. It's difficult to change, especially with emotions generated by yourself."
"Magical power generally only fluctuates violently when facing purer, newer emotions. That's why Obscurials only appear in children."
Severus blinked.
"So, you mean there's no other way?"
"Your own emotions won't work, but you can collect the emotions of others, especially various children's emotions! The purer, the more sincere, the more intense, the better!"
The answer Nicolas gave clearly left both Severus and Grindelwald momentarily speechless.
Seeing their confused expressions, Nicolas thought of a suitable analogy.
"You should know what Dementors like to eat, right?"
Severus's eyes widened.
"You want me to be a Dementor? Feed on children's positive emotions?"
"Of course not as evil as a Dementor…" Nicolas shook his head. He seemed invigorated, standing up and pacing back and forth, "But two hundred years ago, when I was researching that ritual, my inspiration also came from Dementors. The island had just been discovered not long before, and wizards were learning about Dementors for the first time. I went along to see the excitement."
"After returning to France, I had an inspiration! Emotion itself is an extremely crucial part of the soul. Dementors feed on positive emotions, which is essentially feeding on human souls."
"But Dementors consume them completely, like eating a piece of cake with a spoon. Every bite leaves a gap in the cake. I wondered then if I could create an alchemical art that also collects emotions, but not as brutally as Dementors. Continuing the cake analogy, it would only collect the aroma emitted by the cake. Because Dementors are dead, silent monsters, while humans can be infected by emotions!"
"So I began experiments at that time and eventually successfully developed something. To be precise, it was a scroll of paper refined using the phoenix-embossed book in my hand as a template!"
Severus clearly understood the key point.
"That thing can help me collect people's positive emotions without affecting them in the slightest?"
"Correct!" Nicolas was pleased with Severus's quick reaction. "But there's a precondition: you must obtain the person's consent! Only if they are willing to sign their name on it can their emotion at that moment be formally handed over to you."
"But after I obtain those positive emotions, what then? How do I use them?" Severus felt a glimmer of hope.
'Nicolas Flamel is indeed a great sage, a living fossil.'
'He could truly come up with ideas and produce results.'
"Eat it!" Nicolas said definitively, "Eat the harvested emotions! Your magical power will be stimulated by it!"
At this, he suddenly became worried again.
"But the magical power surge from this emotional stimulation can only be maintained at a certain level temporarily in most cases. Without external force to sustain it, it will eventually drop back down."
"Use external force to sustain it?" Severus also frowned.
This touched upon his blind spot in knowledge. He really didn't know if there was anything that could freeze the magical state and sustain a wizard's magic.
At this moment, Grindelwald, who had been mostly silent, suddenly looked at Severus and asked slowly, "I remember you mentioned during our conversation that you were previously the Potions Professor at Hogwarts?"
Hearing this question, Severus couldn't help but perk up.
He could sense that Grindelwald had an idea!
"Correct. I am the Head of House Slytherin and the Potions Professor."
"How good are your potion-making skills?" Grindelwald asked.
When it came to potion-making, Severus was very serious, not joking at all.
"If before, I only dared say I was among the top tier of potioneers, now, two Potions Masters combined might not necessarily match me!"
He was telling the truth.
With the complete potion memories of Ghost Snape, their combined thinking and brewing regarding potions was definitely more than two Potions Masters of the same level combined!
"In that case, I actually have a not very common potion recipe here."
Grindelwald smiled.
"It once belonged to my great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. She compiled the History of Magic textbook for students at Hogwarts. Among those historical materials, she discovered an ancient potion recipe created by early wizards to stabilize special changes in magical power within a wizard's body."
"That recipe seems useless now because wizards rarely have opportunities to change their own magical power. But for your current situation, it's clearly a good thing."
Severus met Grindelwald's gaze, his breath catching slightly.
He could tell Grindelwald wouldn't give this to him for free!
"What do you need from me in exchange?"