Hogwarts doesn't need a savior

"It's not about being good or not." Nicol smiled. "The pattern you see is the quality of the soul. You are a pure wizard, just like an old friend of mine."

"Old friends?" Lynn was a little curious. Nico seldom talked about his old friends, and when he did, it was only brief.

"That was when I was about 20 or 30 years old." The old man's eyes suddenly became distant. "I wasn't married at the time. I traveled around like you did when you were young. I met a lot of people. One of them was very powerful and I had a good relationship with him."

He pointed to the pattern in the book and said, "This is what we copied from a cave in Greece. It is well protected by the locals. He can also see the wizard above."

"Isn't that a wizard you see?" Lynn asked.

"What I saw... I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but what I saw was mountains of gold." Talking about the anecdotes from his youth, Nico laughed so hard that his wrinkles smoothed out.

"This is really surprising, but it also seems to make sense." Lin En said with a smile, "You are an alchemist."

"That's not entirely true." Nico shook his head. "I haven't seen the golden mountain up there for many years, since I was about... fifty or sixty years old."

"why is that?"

"Because I didn't lack money at that time."

"what?"

"Well, a simple reason, right?"

"Very simple, or rather too simple." Lin En was very surprised. "Were you short of money when you were young?"

"We were very short of money, because Beauxbatons was almost unable to continue. We didn't even have a school site, and one or two hundred students were staying in a magic carriage."

“This is too difficult.”

"So when I was young, I just wanted to make money and support our school - by the way, Perenelle was a teacher at the school at that time."

"I see."

Lynn, who had eaten the melon, smiled mischievously.

"That's a bit off topic, let's get back to the point." Old Nico remained calm, even slightly pleased with himself. "You know, alchemy is not just a skill of wizards. In ancient times, there were even many Muggle alchemists. It's hard to tell who the origins of many ancient rumors are."

"It seems to include the rumor of turning everything he touches into gold."

"Indeed, Lynn." Nico nodded. "My friend is a genius. Of course, he's not as good as you, but he's also very good. We've worked together for many years, including exploring the legend of the Philosopher's Stone."

He flipped through a few more pages in the ancient book, revealing blurry ink marks. "I designed hundreds of formulas and traveled around with him to find the necessary ingredients. It took about forty years, but unfortunately I didn't succeed in the end."

Lynn’s eyes widened: “Forty years?!”

"It sounds like a long journey, right? I think so too," Nicol said softly. "Actually, I didn't need money at that time, but I still wanted to explore as an alchemist."

Lin En didn't say anything. He could understand this persistence very well.

"When he was about seventy years old, my friend reached your level - probably about the same as you are now. He was especially good at elemental magic. Perhaps it was due to my influence. After all, alchemy cannot be separated from them."

Nico continued to speak slowly, his fingers moving across the paper intentionally or unintentionally, stroking the mottled ink stains, and turning over a few pages from time to time, although the marks inside were basically the same.

This is a notebook, and most of the ink has been lost due to the baptism of time.

"In fact, we all thought we had no chance at that time. In countless experiments, we made many gems with magical powers, but none of them were the Philosopher's Stone. They were far from it."

"So how did you find a solution in the end?"

"Don't worry, we'll get to it soon."

Nico waved his hand, and a faint magic power lifted the pages of the book. With a "swish" sound, it was turned to the end, revealing a pattern that was so complex and exquisite that it was difficult to describe.

"It was a coincidence. When we had almost given up on this idea, an accident happened."

Nico had a nostalgic look on his face, as if he was reminiscing about the most glorious moment of his life.

"At that time, our two families went on vacation to the Alps. There was something strange about the wizarding town at the foot of the mountain. My friend is a kind-hearted person, and he caught a weird guy during the investigation."

He took out a silver iron box from his arms and placed it on the table. Lin En certainly would not feel unfamiliar with it, because this was what he had given to Nico half a year ago.

The remains of the thousand-legged monster in the Kushan ruins.

"For many years, I thought that monster was unique, until you told me about Helbo."

"That is to say, you have also dealt with these monsters." Lin En felt goose bumps on his arms, "But what do these monsters have to do with the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Now it seems that we have also made a contribution." Nico laughed dumbly, "Just like your situation, we also found that we couldn't kill it, but I thought of a way."

"any solution?"

"A very simple and crude method." Nico snapped his fingers cheerfully, and several gems containing rich magical power suddenly appeared on the table. "Just use them."

He pulled out the magic wand that had not been used for a long time and lightly tapped it. The gems on the table immediately floated up, and countless dense magic patterns connected in the middle to form an invisible magic circle.

It's just a shadow, but it seems extremely real.

"I have never seen such an evil and powerful soul. In order to completely erase and purify it, I spent half a year designing and carving this magic circle."

Nico's tone was full of emotion, "The real thing is much more complicated than it is now... It's not something I can handle. The magic power it requires is too huge, and there are countless details. Only wizards like you can complete it."

"And it was your friend who finally finished it?"

"Since we can't destroy it directly physically, we have to introduce the spiritual dimension." Nico said with a smile, "Fortunately, we succeeded, although it was a little dangerous for me."

"Danger?"

"Yes... It was a huge explosion that gave me nightmares for years. The mountain was flattened. Fortunately, I was prepared, otherwise I would have lost my life. But this is normal. After all, a lot of gems were used. They are our savings of several decades."

"You guys are really generous. What next?"

"And then... nothing happened. The monster was completely destroyed, and only this magic stone remained at the scene."

"Huh?! What are you talking about?" Although he guessed that the Philosopher's Stone was probably related to the false god, Lin En was still shocked and stood up when he heard this answer.

“Don’t be so impetuous.” Nico’s smile was inexplicably cunning, as if he was taking revenge on Lin’s hidden strength. “Don’t forget that every gem we use is made with the goal of the Philosopher’s Stone, even though it is a failed product.”

"Even if that's the case, it's still too outrageous..."

Lin En held the fragments in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.

"Just with this explosion, they became like this?!"

"Of course it's not that simple." Nico leaned back with a cheerful smile, "In fact, they turned into liquid."

The fragments in Lynn's hands suddenly began to melt and turned into blood-drop-like liquid.

The lustrous brilliance reappeared, but it no longer flowed inside, but covered the outside, conspicuous and bright, making people's heart beat.

Even if it is just a fragment that no longer has any magic.

"At first, I had no idea what it was. I just thought it was the remnants of an explosion. When I studied it, I found that my magic circle unexpectedly activated a more advanced alchemy - not only the magic of damage, but also equivalent exchange."

"Bioalchemy?" Lynn made a vague guess.

"To be precise, it is the soul, or spirit of the monster - it is also one of the ingredients of immortality."

"The sixth element of Hermes, the immortal spirit."

"That's right, but we never found the key to open it - until that accidental coincidence. Since then, we have gradually found the answer to break through that barrier, and then we have the Philosopher's Stone."

Nico is like a mentor who guides Lynn step by step to uncover the veil surrounding the truth.

What creates the pinnacle of alchemy is neither a genius idea nor decades of hard work, but a coincidence based on both.

After a moment's silence, Lin En suddenly thought of another deeper meaning of this story.

"Since you mentioned spiritual elements, then the soul used to make the Philosopher's Stone may not necessarily be a monster's. Instead, it only needs to be strong enough to be placed on the alchemical equivalence scale. Am I right?"

Although he asked a question, his tone was calm and firm - he had no intention of getting an answer from Nico.

After a short pause, he continued, "This is probably why you hid all the methods of making the Philosopher's Stone. Just like you said when you first taught me, alchemy has never been good or evil. Only the people who use alchemy can determine its good or evil."

He looked into Nico's eyes and found the message he wanted in them.

All the secrets were connected at this moment and the truth came to light.

Chapter 332 Choice

"You're still so sharp, Lynn."

In response to Lynn's question, Nicolas Flamel did not show any surprise or astonishment, but nodded calmly.

"Just as you guessed, although there is no chance to experiment again, this truth does not need to be verified. All its principles are engraved in my mind and have been deduced countless times. Alchemy never distinguishes between the good and evil of the soul, especially biological alchemy."

He pointed to the notebook spread out on the table. "This originally recorded all my thoughts. About five hundred years ago, I had planned to re-transcribe them every once in a while, but I didn't do it the last time, so only the last pattern remains."

"You want to take it to your grave with you, don't you?"

"That's right, because it is very easy to be led astray by human desires and go astray to a very terrible point. No one knows where the limit of "strong enough" is, and there will always be people who are blinded by wealth and eternal life, which will bring about a huge disaster."

Nico didn't mention the name, but from his tone alone he could tell that it was Voldemort, the culprit who had forced him to remain even more anonymous for many years.

Of course, it's not just Voldemort. Hundreds of years are enough to create countless ambitious people like him. The only difference is that the strength they have varies, and the harm they cause varies in size.

For example, the black wizard hummingbird who was once bewitched by the false god Les and was eventually ruthlessly abandoned by it.

Another example is the lunatic who burned down his house in Paris in order to obtain the Philosopher's Stone and its formula.

All these factors forced him to keep a low profile and gradually fade out of people's sight as time went by.

Even Lin En himself felt that it would not be a bad thing to let this powerful and dangerous treasure be completely forgotten by history.

But no one can say no so readily to almost eternal life, especially when you have a lover with whom you hope to be together for life, or other ties that are difficult to give up.

He doesn't think of himself as a man of high moral character, but of course he is no exception.

He lowered his head silently, struggling and calculating fiercely in his heart.

It would be best if one could live as freely and easily as Nico, still full of grace and vitality of youth even when old.

But Lynn knew that the reason why the Flamels could achieve what they had today was not only because of the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life, but also because of their noble and pure personality that was almost impossible to replicate. This was a treasure more precious than the Elixir of Life.

More people - perhaps including many outstanding wizards with lofty ideals and talents, the passage of time has subtly rewritten everything about them, turning them into ugly aliens, from their physical form to their inner souls, becoming what they once hated the most.

This was the alienation of time that was difficult for him to accept.

Nico also noticed his dilemma and asked with a smile: "Do you know why I asked you to see that pattern?"

"Why?" Lin En raised his eyebrows, "Does it have any special function?"

"Many people have seen that pattern, but including you, there are only five people who have seen the image of "Wizard". Nico said with a smile, "From the beginning, I believed that you would not be dominated by desire, but would be its master. Facts have proved that I was right."

"Because I'm a pure wizard? I remember you were never superstitious, Nico."

"This is not superstition, but mysterious magic. It is not only a pure wizard, but also a pure human being." Nico said seriously, "You can regard it as the final test."

"I should feel honored, but I want to clarify one question now - what happened to your friend in the end?" Lynn asked.

"Half a month ago was the 300th anniversary of their death," Nico said with emotion. "We have been neighbors for many years, from Paris to Lyon, and then to Provence. We have always lived not far from each other. His apple pie is delicious."

"Three hundred years..."

The inexplicable sense of historical heaviness quietly comes over us, making our scalps tighten and our hearts feel heavy.

"I understand your concerns. In fact, not many people can accept such a long lifespan. Although many people desire longevity or even immortality, most of them do not consider their tolerance."

Nico smiled and said, "People who live too long often have problems of one kind or another - they may find that they can't adapt to the times, or they can't find fun, or they don't want to experience the pain of separation anymore... But at that time, some people will find that they dare not die."

"Are you suggesting that I simply not make the Philosopher's Stone?" Lin En sensed something strange in his voice. "Or... just use your stock to survive for a few hundred years and see what happens?"

He knew how many elixirs of immortality Old Nico had hidden, and he was sure that the fact that he could hide a warehouse meant that there must be more than one place to store these things. This was a necessary skill for wizards in the "pre-Statute of Secrecy era".

"I don't have any attitude or position. I just support your decision." The old man smiled and brushed off the loose dirt on his hands. "Although I often tell you the benefits of longevity, I am not you."

"I also find immortality attractive now," Lynn agreed, "especially when I'm with Fei."

"It's up to you to choose. I can be sure that you won't do anything out of line, and that's enough to reassure me."

The old man, who hadn't been so busy for a long time, slowly stood up and walked outside slowly, dragging his body that looked like it would fall apart at the slightest gust of wind but was actually still able to fight.

"There is a piece of parchment in the third drawer on the left side of your dedicated workbench. Use No. 5 developing ink to paint it and you will see the complete formula and gem material list."

"No one knows when we will encounter a monster like that again, so you don't have to rush to make a choice."

"But remember, burn it before you leave, so as not to leave any traces. You don't need to prepare anything, because I have almost everything..."

The light sound spread farther and farther away, gradually dissipating in the empty corridor.

Under the bright warm light, Lynn turned his head, thought for a moment, and took out the two-way mirror from his pocket.

Survival and death, this is an eternal choice and also a puzzle with no easy answer.

It should not be decided hastily and individually.