Clang clang.
Harry rubbed his hair and casually picked up the glasses on the table.
"That damn Ghoul!" Ron mumbled, burying his face in the pillow.
The attic is located above the sloping ceiling of Ron's bedroom.
There's a Ghoul inside. Whenever he feels the house is too quiet, he howls loudly and bangs on the pipes.
"We really should get up, shouldn't we?" Harry's words carried a hint of pleasure.
Because he had long been tired of the Dursley family lifestyle.
He was practically obsessed with the surprises and unexpected events that happened to the Weasley family.
A mirror that yells, "Tuck your shirt in, you're so sloppy!"; a bedroom that occasionally explodes as if hiding a Seamus, Fred, and George; Gnome in the garden that looks like a potato; and everyone here loves him.
Of course, this doesn't include Bill and Charlie, whom we only heard about from Ron and his friends; they didn't have the chance to like Harry.
After finishing his lessons, Percy would take him for a walk in White Stalk Mountain. He said it was another trick to hone his magic skills—to cultivate willpower through physical exercise. This was also why Quidditch players' spellcasting proficiency was never low.
Fred and George allowed him into their bedroom to see their various inventions—a privilege Ron never received.
Mrs. Weasley mended his socks and forced him to have four refills at every meal.
Mr. Weasley liked to have Harry sit next to him at meals and would constantly ask Harry about Muggle life, such as what plugs and the post office were all about. Sometimes he would also ask him about Basil.
Mr. Weasley once exclaimed, "His money-saving tips are so useful! Now our family can take every member on a trip every three months!"
Harry: "."
As for Ginny, they only met in the kitchen. Every time he entered the house, Ginny would always knock something over. She would crawl under the table to pick up the bowls, and when she came out, her face was as red as the evening glow.
This could be considered liking someone, I suppose. He was very familiar with her, but in the past, it had always been Basil. Every time Basil appeared, something unexpected would happen. The girls always hoped to get his attention this way.
Thinking of Basil, Harry sighed, "If only Basil could come to your house too."
Ron yawned. "And then my sister falls for him and stops making a fuss about you? I don't want that."
"You may be excellent, but Ginny can find someone better. But if it's Basil Ginny, then it's all over."
Harry rolled his eyes. "What do you mean, 'find someone better than me'? Draco?"
"Ouch!" Startled, Ron bumped his head against the ceiling. "How could you think of him? I've read Romeo and Juliet too! If it's him, their story will be playing out in our house!"
Harry teased, "What, you don't deny that he's excellent anymore?"
Ron's ears turned red. "He's really good at Quidditch, isn't he? And Old Malfoy is dead. Now he's getting close to your godfather."
"Enough! Let's change the subject! You're saying... Basil really went to see Nick Flume in France?"
"But this was reported by Rita Skeeter. You'd be better off believing Snape washing his hair than believing her news."
"But isn't that too dangerous? Not to mention Voldemort. My dad told me that when the Philosopher's Stone was in Dumbledore's hands, many wizards took the risk."
"If they hadn't all inexplicably failed at Hogsmeade, Hogwarts might have had to close temporarily."
"Ever since Nick Flume Philosopher's Stone, any news related to him has always attracted a Legion wizards who swarm around it like flies to carrion."
"Many wizarding families even left their homes and moved to France. Beauxbatons also went from being unknown to becoming one of the three major wizarding cities in Europe."
"I'm worried now that Basil is involved with him."
"Basil is indeed very talented, but he's just a student, isn't he?"
Harry frowned as well. "But there's Dumbledore, isn't there? He wouldn't let his students be in danger. And if Nick Flume really takes Basil as his student, he's lived for over six hundred years, so he must have considered everything."
"Basil isn't in any real danger, but... what if he stays in France and doesn't come back? For his safety."
On the other side, on a vast, boundless grassland.
Nick Flume also said to Basil, "You should stay in France for your own safety."
Phoebe: What a wonderful thing!
"What?" Ariana exclaimed, dropping the twig she was holding and looking at her brother. "Albus, is it you again?!" She pounced on him.
Dumbledore looked distressed. "What do you mean, 'again'?"
He was happy to be close to his sister, but the thought of who it was for made him unhappy.
Basil waved his hand. "Alright, Ariana. I know what's going on. You should know this is a small matter for me."
Nick Flume looked at Basil with interest. "You know all this? You know about things happening in England, thousands of miles away, while you're in France? Was that also through a dream?"
"Now—" Basil drawled, "Perhaps everyone knows that I came here to study with you."
"Considering your earlier mention of the future master of the British Wizarding World, is this Dumbledore trying to warm me up in advance?"
"Incidentally, we can attract a group of unstable factors in advance and then eliminate or subdue them."
"To make my future path smoother."
Everyone around looked on in surprise.
Dumbledore blue eyes sparkled. "You didn't enter my dream, did you?"
Aberforth frowned. "I think Ariana's husband should be more ordinary."
Phoebe: Is this something I can hear?!!!!∑(Дノ)ノ
Ariana (*▽): "Husband or something."
For the first time, emotion appeared in Nicolas Flamel's grey eyes, and he no longer resembled a cold and ruthless robot.
His gaze in the cabin earlier was an illusion created by the warm light emanating from it, which, combined with his vivid expressions, created a false sense of warmth.
But now that he's alive, he says, "You actually knew! Then do you know what his purpose was in bringing you here?"
Everyone else around, seeing that the lesson seemed to be officially starting, remained quiet.
Basil stroked his chin. "As a king, especially a king of wizards, one must possess the power to subdue all wizards. And for wizards, knowledge is power. And you are the most learned wizard in the world."
Nick Flume laughed. "Not entirely. After all, if knowledge truly is power, then the most powerful wizard would be Ravenclaw."
"Our racial characteristics dictate one thing: Mind Stone strength is far more important than any knowledge."
"Physical training, self-reflection, learning, and even falling in love are all ways to strengthen the Mind Stone, or willpower."
"Only in this way can a wizard become Archmage."
"The Mind Stone is so powerful that its magic becomes tangible, thus truly existing, capable of transcending the capacity of the physical body and soul, and constantly growing."
"Unlike me, my magic is asking me if I reached my limit at 237 years old."
Dumbledore smile, "Growing beyond capacity only sounds nice. The lifespan of a normal wizard and Archmage are the same."
"Most wizards die before they reach the limit of their magic power."
Flume countered, "Wizards typically live to be around 150 years old, and as long as their Mind Stone are pure, they still want to live."
"Most wizards are mediocre; they are not good enough to expand their capabilities."
"Therefore, most of them will hit the ceiling by the age of 50 to 60, and their magical power will no longer be able to improve."
"The magic of Archmage is not simple either. With the same spell and the same amount of magic, the magic of Archmage is more personalized and more powerful."
"It is also easier to personalize the spell itself, that is, to make it into a talisman."
He looked at Basil: "You should have a feeling, right? Any spell can be learned quickly and mastered in no time."
"After studying a spell in depth, you'll discover that it can come to life on its own and develop in the direction you want."
The fake Archmage Basil: Damn, I'm no different from the real one now!
Seeing that Basil did not answer, Flume continued, "For a wizard, a strong Mind Stone equals a strong magic."
Basil: So as my spirituality increases, my magic also increases.
"Therefore, only wizards with strong magic power are truly powerful. Even if you don't know a single spell, a simple outburst of emotion is still better than a well-trained wizard with low magic power."
"Spells and magical knowledge themselves possess magic power; they will actively seek out wizards with powerful magic."
"Once you know a spell, it's Expelliarmus."
"When facing a low-magic wizard who has learned more spells than you, as long as you don't give up, your chances of winning are much greater than his."
Basil suddenly thought of Harry from the original book; was he like that?
Flume continued, "Magic is not the supernatural energy that exists solely in fantasy novels. That's just Muggle's imagination."
"It is eternal and will not be consumed."
"Its increase is not simply an accumulation of energy."
"The more of it you have, the more efficient you are at learning magic, the more affinity you have for spells, and the stronger your magic resistance will be."
"Basil, as Archmage, increasing your magic power is not difficult for you."
"If you want, you can accelerate the process of accumulating magic power through the Killing Curse."
Dumbledore: "Nick! This is not the kind of person you should be teaching!"
Flume shook his head. "The killing magic brought by the Killing Curse is not a problem for Archmage."
"You don't need to worry about him becoming addicted to the desire to kill."
"Moreover, the killing magic is not as effective for Archmage as it is for ordinary wizards."
"Otherwise, Voldemort, who also has no limit to magic power and is Archmage, would be invincible."
"Knowledge itself is not wrong."
"Albus, your secretive ways will only arouse curiosity and lead people astray."
Ariana added, "Yes, being a riddle-maker is bad."
Having read the novels, she always felt that if Albus honest with everyone else and hadn't been the riddle teller, the Harry Potter series wouldn't have reached seven books.
Dumbledore shut his mouth. His sister's finishing blow had hit him hard.
Aberforth watched with glee.
Basil asked, "So what are you going to teach me today? To take advantage of my high magic power? And why did you choose this place?"
Flume laughed. "I'm going to teach you some ancient magic. What Durmstrang called war magic, something that modern magic has relegated to the dustbin."
"If all goes well, you will create an unprecedented Stormfront here."
"And let's test your magic power."
Phoebe's eyes showed some worry.
He added, "Don't worry, I contacted the weather bureau in advance—through the French Ministry of Magic."
"This is necessary and a common practice to let the Muggle government know about the power of wizards."
"Durmstrang did the same when he taught war magic."
"Let them know the immense power of wizards, so they mistakenly believe that wizards are all so powerful, like walking natural disasters, thus preventing them from acting rashly and targeting wizards."
"The Muggle Protection Act exists for this reason. It is not for protecting Muggle, nor for protecting wizards."
"To avoid those incompetent wizards who are not proficient in Shield Charm and Apparition appearing before Muggle."
"While you in Britain don't have this, those who connect with the Muggle World are often elite wizards who can Transfiguration and transform at will, and who understand Muggle society. This is also very common among Muggle. It's called military exercises."
Basil frowned. "If that's the case, then ancient magic can create natural disasters. So why will it no longer be popular?"
How did modern magic defeat it?
Flume replied, "That's where Elizabeth Smachlin comes in."
"She was born in England, so she was from the same generation as me."
"In 1379, when I was in my fifties, I participated in a dueling tournament held in Dartmoor, which was attended by wizards and sorceresses from all over Europe."
"She participated at that time, when she was only in her twenties."
"To my shame, I wasn't one of the four wizards who made it to the semifinals, including Smachlin."
"The first two wizards were both Animagus."
"The sorceress who turned into a venomous snake defeated the Animagus, who was the bull witch, by biting her leg."
"And the third wizard. You know her too. She is my lover— Perenelle."
"She is very skilled in ancient magic."
"The serpent Animagus conjured up a huge storm cloud in the sky, drenching her in the cold rain and forcing her to constantly dodge the lightning strikes."
"But that didn't faze her. She conjured up a powerful whirlwind that not only blew away the Wind and Rain, but also the judges, most of the audience, and a few trees."
"That includes me, and Smachlin."
"Fortunately, everyone here is a wizard, so no one lost their life."
"It took people several hours to regroup."
"Almost everyone agrees that the title of 'Best Duelist' should belong to Perenelle."
"They were all afraid she would do all of the same things again. Even the judges tried to persuade Smachlin not to challenge him anymore, telling her it would be easier to just give the trophy to a third person before more people get hurt."
"But Smachlin refused."
"The final showdown began. As he counted to three, Perenelle began to recite a long and complex incantation."
"If she had the chance to finish reciting it, the spell would cause a mountain to rise from the ground and fall on Smachlin's head."
"But Smachlin struck first, quickly casting the Expelliarmus spell, which sent his opponent's wand flying."
"Thus, she earned the title of 'Best Duelist,' and the Expelliarmus became one of the most useful spells for duelists."
"All spells that followed also became shorter, and ancient magic with its long spells was no longer favored by duelists and gradually faded into history."