The Pieced-Together Truth
A brand new soul... Sean unconsciously held his breath. He still remembered the terrifying, inhuman monsters described in the book he had bought, "Easy Introduction to Alchemy".
An incomplete newborn soul often signifies unpredictable changes; no wizard can foresee what kind of being that body will become.
"Fortunately, my previous research was somewhat useful. The new soul did not twist the body into a monster, but for some reason, I was separated from that newborn child... So much happened after that, please forgive me for not being able to explain it all to you—but we're doing alright now, aren't we?"
"How are you doing?" Sean pondered. He didn't know when Dumbledore this, but that didn't stop Sean from reasoning from the information he had.
First, there's the time factor. This incident must have happened quite some time ago. Sean has a good memory. During the Forbidden Forest incident when he first enrolled, he spoke with the then-Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, Kettleburn, who mentioned that "Albus has been hiding his Phoenix from me. I just wanted to study it."
It's worth noting that Kettleburn is a very experienced professor; he started teaching the Care of Magical Creatures during the time when Armando Dippet was the Hogwarts Headmaster.
That means this event must have happened before Dumbledore became the new headmaster.
Then there's Ariana, who suffered misfortune in her childhood, and Dumbledore mentioned that he had some experience with Obscurus — Sean could almost certainly conclude that Ariana was an Obscurial.
Meanwhile, Sean didn't forget another person, Aurelius Dumbledore, whose real Credence Barebone.
He was the first and only person Sean had ever met who could control the Obscurus, and Aurelius's power was undeniable.
When Dumbledore came to his dorm, he mentioned that Aurelius's method of suppressing the Obscurus didn't work on Daisy, and that Aurelius himself was quite special...
Dumbledore also mentioned that he was separated from the newborn child, Sean hadn't forgotten the plot of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in his head!
Long separated for many years, Obscurus, unique and powerful, and, in the memory of the letter, he did not see that Dumbledore had another brother besides Aberforth.
Does that mean that Aurelius is actually a body created from the Philosopher's Stone, and the Obscurus within him comes from Ariana?
Sean thought about it more and more and it made sense. Everything made sense. As for the gender, it was normal for a male soul to appear after Ariana's Residual Soul and the new soul merged. Historically, many alchemists had even changed their gender.
The "too many things that cannot be explained" that Dumbledore mentioned likely refers to his complicated relationship with Grindelwald.
Having figured all this out, Sean let out a long sigh of relief, feeling a sense of joy at discovering a secret.
It seems Snape was right; he naturally possessed a great curiosity about the unknown.
He braced himself on the bed and touched a gem, the one Dumbledore had kept in his bag.
Sean froze for a moment, his expression suddenly turning strange. He hadn't known what the gem was before, but now it seemed... it might be Philosopher's Stone!
He quickly picked up the parchment and read on.
"Parchment, like our lives, has a limited lifespan. I'll tell you more stories at a good time, and maybe we can even have a Butterbeer then."
"In my memory, you have always been a thoughtful child. I think—by now you should already be wondering if that gem is Philosopher's Stone, right? Unfortunately, it isn't."
Sean breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of regret lingering on his relaxed expression. He understood the saying "possessing a treasure invites trouble," and he admitted he didn't have a good way to study and protect the Philosopher's Stone. Of course, knowing that what he held wasn't Philosopher's Stone still Sean somewhat disappointed.
"That's a replica of a Philosopher's Stone. It possesses some of the Philosopher's Stone's abilities, such as: creating bodies—"
"Cough, cough!" Sean coughed violently. Why could a replica also create a body? And what use would this thing be to him?! Was he going to have me conduct human experiments on him too?!
Dumbledore's writing, like himself, often takes long breaths. "Just kidding, I don't think you'd really like human experimentation or anything like that... The real purpose of this replica is quite simple: to solidify magical effects."
"Sean, you should understand that the effects of a spell may be permanent, but the magic associated with it is not. The changes brought about by a spell will eventually wear off, which is the truly terrifying thing about the Philosopher's Stone —permanence."
"The changes brought about by the Philosopher's Stone are permanent. Turning lead into gold and achieving immortality are only some of its effects. I think you can understand why Tom Riddle wanted to obtain the Philosopher's Stone, right?"
Because he wanted to study the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone, to discover the mystery of 'permanence'... Sean nodded, that's so Voldemort.
"The origin of the Philosopher's Stone's mystery is unknown even to its creator Nicolas Flamel. I studied it for a while, but then gave up. However, I did make a batch of replicas, although Nicolas laughed at them as 'a pile of unwanted junk'—the real Alchemist Master are too strict."
"Consider this a small gift from me. Fill Golden Cup with water, submerge the replica, and soak it for twelve hours. After drinking the water, the magic attached to your spells will last longer for a period of time, and the magical effects you create will be harder to remove. This will be very beneficial for your practice of the Transfiguration spell. However, remember not to use it for pranks. There is a big difference between a pig tail growing on your butt lasting for a month and lasting for three years."
"Finally, I want to thank you again for your trust in me. You didn't treat me as some kind of mastermind behind the scenes—although my enemies always praise me for being 'cunning and shrewd.'"
"Given your trust in me, I'm willing to share some secrets to express my sincerity. I hope we can always maintain this mutual trust, which would bring a genuine sense of satisfaction to an old man."
"By the way, you can release that beetle with glasses. I have a good way to deal with her. Don't ask her about Animagus Transfiguration methods. You can go directly to Professor McGonagall for advice—there are differences between Animagus."
Sean scratched his head sheepishly. To be honest, his original plan was to threaten Rita Skeeter with his illegal Animagus identity in order to obtain the Animagus learning method.
Considering Dumbledore's brilliant mind, he still chose to tell the other party, which now seemed to be the right decision; learning from Professor McGonagall was far more reliable.