Behind the Scenes and Beneath the Surface

While those with ulterior motives searched the venue for Albert, he was taking Isobel through the display cases one by one to look at the "alchemical achievements," while seeing whether he could draw inspiration, ideas, or techniques from other alchemists.

The hundreds of alchemical creations left him dazzled. There was even a wand that supposedly allowed wizards with extremely poor magical control—even Squibs—to use magic successfully.

It was said that the wand's inventor had also entered this competition. As a result, it exploded while a staff member was testing it, leaving both the staff member and the unlucky onlookers nearby in a thoroughly sorry state.

What left Albert even more speechless was someone claiming to have created the Philosopher's Stone and displaying a red stone for everyone to see.

Naturally, no one took the Philosopher's Stone in the display case seriously. Everyone knew it was just a boring joke.

Someone else claimed to have invented a remedy that could remove the curse of unicorn blood, and had brewed unicorn blood into a miraculous potion capable of extending one's lifespan.

Albert thought it was just an ordinary bottle of unicorn blood, while the so-called remedy was merely a powerful restorative made from Mandrakes roots. Obviously, though, it could not remove the terrible curse caused by unicorn blood.

In a sense, unicorn blood really could prolong life, but its dreadful curse frightened people. Few wanted to end up half-dead.

What surprised Albert most was a lump of metal. The description on the parchment said it was Magic Iron, invented by a wizard himself, supposedly capable of making magic attached to it lasting and stable. To prove its effects, the inventor had cast a Levitation Charm on the piece of Magic Iron, leaving it floating in midair.

There were indeed some outstanding metalworkers