The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 292 A One-Man Alchemy Factory

Sometimes not everyone loves being alone.

Most of them, perhaps out of necessity, have trained themselves to be used to solitude.

……

Hogsmeade Cottage.

In the bedroom on the second floor, Ino used her shapeshifting magic to make a life-sized bed for the little doll, along with some matching miniature furniture.

After doing all this, he opened the other briefcase that Nico had given him.

The trunk is made from the skin of a Teppo warthog. Although it looks very retro, even dating back to the Middle Ages, it is quite practical.

The Tepbo warthog is a magical animal highly valued by wizards. Its skin is not only often used to make shields, but it is also one of the materials used to make invisibility cloaks.

Compared to the invisibility cloak made by the stealth beast, the Tepo Warthog is more precious, probably because of its extremely strong defensive properties.

Perhaps because it was just a briefcase, Nico didn't utilize the cloaking ability of the Tepo Warthog.

However, these were minor issues, and Ino didn't care; they were things she could easily take care of at any given time.

Besides, he had already planned to switch to a different suitcase.

Now there is such a ready-made high-end product that only needs a little modification, and its concealment and defense are incomparable to the original suitcases.

But that's a story for later; right now, he's planning to see what Nicole left in the box.

……

Open the suitcase.

Ino followed the ladder and entered the seamless, extended space inside the box.

The space is not large, estimated to be only a few dozen square meters, about the size of a room.

The interior layout was rather empty, with only two pieces of furniture: a walnut bookshelf placed against the wall.

A ten-foot-tall bookshelf, one of which is filled with books of all kinds of old covers; while the bookshelf next to it is filled with dozens of small figurines of various shapes.

Ino was familiar with these dolls; they were the little guys who used to serve tea and water.

But their role is not limited to this.

He also knew about the little guy's abilities from his previous conversations with Nico.

Not only can they handle household chores like house-elves, doing laundry, cooking, and more, they can also become excellent alchemy assistants and even independently create alchemical items.

But what's puzzling is that they are now lying quietly on the bookshelf.

……

seem.

Nico had taken this into account, so he placed an unopened letter next to the bookshelf.

A few minutes later.

Ino reluctantly put down the letter in his hand; he now understood what Nico meant.

Similarly, it became clear why these alchemist-like figurines appeared here instead of being donated to Beauxbatons as an inheritance.

"It really is an equal exchange..." Ino sighed wistfully.

These little puppets, unlike Wizard's Chess or other alchemical artifacts, are not driven solely by magic.

They rely on magic stones, or rather, life force.

The wizard trades a year of his own life for a year of the puppet's vitality.

With such stringent conditions, it's easy to understand why Nicolas Flamel was unwilling to leave them in Beauxbatons.

Trading one's life for another is a price not everyone can afford.

If they were just small toys, that would be fine, since they have little value and no one would be foolish enough to waste their life on them. But these little dolls are almost equivalent to alchemists.

If this stuff were to leak out, the number of missing wizards would probably at least double every year.

However, Ino was happy and even excited about these harsh conditions, as if they were tailor-made for her.

There's no other reason than the nature of fantasy worlds, and the ability to rewind time.

Once they enter the fantasy world, even if these dozens of little puppets are given full of vitality, their lifespan will only be a few decades.

Once the story ends, it will return to the state it was in before entering.

It's like a card loop; he can do it even more effortlessly than Nicolas Flamel, allowing the little doll to exist permanently without any damage.

"Why bother with an alchemy factory! I am a mobile factory..."

Ino looked at the little doll in front of her with delight.

With these little guys around, why bother hiring an alchemist?

Even setting aside the mass production of video mirrors, if he really had the idea, he could even seize any other alchemy market, including the wand market.

However, this is just wishful thinking.

Just like his research on film mirrors, his initial goal was simply to make the magical world more colorful.

If it were simply for Galon, they wouldn't have recruited so many people in the first place.

……

Half an hour later.

Ino emerged from the seamlessly extending suitcase; the sky outside the window was already pitch black.

Under the cover of night, Hogsmeade appeared very peaceful.

The rows of houses, with only a few lights on occasionally, make this place look really cozy.

After glancing one last time at the view outside the window, Ino turned her gaze away and went straight to her bed.

After living away from home for more than half a month, he missed the feeling of sleeping at home.

……

early morning.

With a series of crisp knocking sounds, Ino slowly opened her eyes.

What came into view was an unfamiliar owl.

Although he didn't know him, he still opened the window and let the messenger from afar in.

Only after opening the window did I realize with surprise that several letters had already piled up on the windowsill.

It must have been a product of the time I spent living in France.

After tidying up the letters scattered on the windowsill, Ino brought over a bowl of water and some nuts to entertain this special guest.

As the owl happily enjoyed his food, he also noticed the letter wrapped in sealing wax tied to the other's leg, with a large "H" on it, making it clear where the letter came from.

But perhaps because the current headmaster is from Gryffindor, the sealing wax seal was chosen to be a bright red.

Upon opening the envelope, as expected, it contained an application form for fourth-grade enrollment. Most of the textbooks hadn't been changed much, but some of the main subject materials had been upgraded.

Such as: "Standard Spells - Intermediate", "Intermediate Transfiguration Guide", "Intermediate Potion Making", etc.

"I'm in fourth grade now..."

Looking at the letter in his hand, Ino felt a little dazed; three whole years had passed without him realizing it.

It seems like just yesterday that I secretly practiced the fire-starting spell while hiding in a bridge arch.

A feeling of time passing and things changing has arisen spontaneously.

……

After a brief reminiscence.

Ino's gaze shifted to the few letters that had been scattered on the windowsill.

One letter was from Newt, and it mostly discussed academic feedback on the idea of ​​the phoenix's birth, with some even starting to research it.

However, Ino completely scoffed at such an idea.

With such deliberate intent, let alone the birth of a phoenix, simply condensing the core emotion of flames has already blocked all paths.

The known phoenixes are inspired by the Quidditch players' unwavering perseverance; Foxy's is due to the great sacrifice of Dumbledore's ancestor; Fiddlesticks' is because of the ultimate curse of the Snowdrifts; and Cripples represents the yearning for peace among the more than ten thousand people of Rohan...

All of the above are purely emotional.

Even the slightest other distraction will prevent the flame from solidifying at its core.

After putting down Newt's letter, Ino looked at the next one and was surprised to find it was from Harry.

Harry's letter was short, and it only described the contents of a dream:

A dark wizard whose face was obscured killed a Muggle, who was then swallowed by a python.

(End of this chapter)