"Lucien, is the method you used to create that mechanical dog Alchemy?"
Hagrid and the four young Wizards sat around the dining table, enjoying dinner.
Hermione suddenly asked. Lucien swallowed the beef brisket in his mouth and replied,
"I used some Alchemy techniques."
Hermione nodded, then frowned in confusion.
"But I remember that Alchemy is only an elective in sixth year... In the library, I only found a few books on Alchemy, and most of them were just introductory texts. Lucien, your family doesn't happen to have magic books on this subject, do they?"
Hermione, of course, remembered that Lucien, like herself, came from a Muggle family. So what really piqued her curiosity wasn't that Lucien knew Alchemy, but where he had learned it.
Lucien found Hermione's reaction and curiosity perfectly normal.
This young girl, nicknamed Miss Know-It-All, was a top student herself, and her thirst for knowledge was completely understandable.
His sources of Alchemy knowledge mainly came from the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library, the Potter family's magical texts, and his analysis of the Transfiguration pocket watch.
Hmm… none of those were easy to explain to Hermione.
The pocket watch involved the system, and the books belonged to Harry's family—acquired in exchange for tutoring—so they couldn't be shared.
As for the books in the Restricted Section, they had been approved for him by old Dumbledore.
Hermione was eager to learn, but it was a bit too early for her to dive into Alchemy in her first year; building a solid foundation was more important.
"Headmaster Dumbledore recommended a few books to me, and they included information related to Alchemy."
Upon hearing this, Hermione understood what Lucien meant.
Those books must have been authorized by the Headmaster and couldn't be casually lent to others—otherwise, Lucien would've already offered to let her borrow them.
The little witch sighed helplessly and picked up a piece of potato stewed with beef brisket, looking disappointed.
"Lucien, you really are amazing. You haven't been enrolled for long and can already borrow books from the Headmaster."
"Whether it's Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, or even Herbology, you excel at everything. Even the food you cook is so delicious!"
Lucien set down his knife and fork—he still remembered the day eight-year-old him had declared he wanted to learn how to cook, only to be met with Gordon slapping two slices of bread on either side of his head and calling him an 'idiot sandwich' for the next 6 months before he mastered this dish...
Sob..
"Ehm.. Cooking is also a kind of knowledge, isn't it?"
"Right! Lucien, your food is seriously great!"
Ron's cheeks were puffed out like a hamster's. One hand gave Lucien a thumbs-up, while the other rapidly forked food into his mouth.
A piece of beef brisket, a piece of stir-fried chicken, a piece of steamed fish...
Seeing Ron's exaggerated, ravenous eating, Hermione showed a slightly disgusted look, though she had to admit Ron's assessment was accurate.
She also quickly forked another piece of potato—if she hesitated any longer, Ron and Harry would eat them all. It had to be said, the potatoes in the beef brisket stew were particularly rich in flavor.
Hagrid mostly stuck to eating his own cooking, occasionally tasting a bit of Lucien's dishes. Although his food was termed as 'mediocre' by Gordon, seeing the young Wizards enjoy themselves made him quite happy.
"Lucien, how come I haven't eaten something like this till now?" Ron commented.
"Mm, they're all because of Muggle cooking techniques perfected by a Michelin-starred chef. Seems like the taste is pretty well received by the Wizarding World."
Seeing the three young ones devour the food, Lucien began to feel bad for the students of Hogwarts.
Perhaps he could find an opportunity to speak with the House-elves and ask if these dishes could be added to the Great Hall's menu.
That way, he could enjoy the flavors of home anytime.
After dinner, Lucien walked over to the mechanical dog and began debugging some of its mechanisms.
He had noticed a few small flaws earlier.
Lucien disassembled and reassembled the dog's parts, carefully adjusting its shape with his wand and running multiple tests.
At first, Hagrid and the others gathered around, watching curiously.
But after seeing the complicated mechanical structure, their enthusiasm quickly waned.
Hagrid went to clear the dishes, Harry began reciting Potion knowledge, and Hermione found a quiet corner to read a book.
Only Ron remained, squatting beside Lucien.
He watched with great interest as Lucien disassembled and reassembled the mechanical dog, his eyes slightly gleaming as he stared at the gears and bearings.
Lucien didn't think much of it, assuming the boy was simply fascinated by mechanical structures.
While repairing the mechanical dog, Lucien contemplated his future plans.
The Transfiguration knowledge in the Chimera Manual would take a long time to fully study—at least until he reached the level of transforming living creatures into other living creatures. Until then, he had no need to worry about running out of material.
The next step would be the pinnacle of Transfiguration: becoming an Animagus.
When the time came, he would definitely need to seek guidance from Professor McGonagall. Ideally, she could help supervise his transformation attempts.
With her deep understanding of Transfiguration, she should agree to help—as long as he demonstrated sufficient mastery and familiarity with related disciplines.
He also needed to return to the Forbidden Forest once more to record one final magical creature, which would allow him to complete the Pet Growth loan.
Ideally, he'd find a Unicorn again. Even if he couldn't record every detail, sending the data to Newt would add significant credibility.
After that, he would begin crafting an Undetectable Extension Charm container large enough to hold living creatures.
Newt's last letter had filled in the final gaps. Lucien could now attempt the project.
Lucien closed the mechanical dog's outer casing, completing the final adjustments.
He then thought that he could visit Quirrell this week for his first individual tutoring session.
He had already read a little over half of The Identification of Dark Arts, and he aimed to finish it before the lesson—at least the sections dealing with influence over the mind and body, as well as poisons and curses.
After the tutoring session, he planned to go directly to Dumbledore for afternoon tea, giving the old Headmaster a chance to check him for any lingering traces of Dark Arts influence.
Lucien collected his thoughts, restarted the mechanical dog, and sent it off to play with Fang.
Stepping out of the cabin, Lucien fertilized the Biting Cabbages and chased away some pests like Flobberworms.
He glanced at the nearly empty bag of Mooncalf dung.
Perfect. He'd look for Mooncalves and collect more dung when he went to the Forbidden Forest.
Once he finished crafting the Undetectable Extension Charm container capable of housing living creatures, he would raise a few Mooncalves himself.
That way, he'd have a stable source of fertilizer and wouldn't need to keep searching for it.
Hmm, he should also ask Newt about how to care for magical creatures when he wrote to him.
Maybe he could even open up some fields inside the container—but he wasn't sure what kind of magic would be needed to provide sunlight and other conditions.
He'd ask Newt about all of it in the letter.
Just as Lucien was about to head off to the Forbidden Forest, a voice called out from behind:
"Lucien, can I learn from you how to make those mechanical animals?"
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11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1