Regulus's Alchemy

The first chapter discusses the Magic Power affinity of matter, and each material is accompanied by an illustration.

The interiors of all substances possess natural Magic Power patterns, ranging from minerals to metals, from wood to biological tissues, from Dragon Scale to dragonfly wings, covering almost all categories of substances that may be encountered in Alchemy practice.

The illustrations make up nearly half of this textbook; they are dynamic and begin with the overall appearance.

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First, show them as they are, then zoom in, magnifying the surface details, peeling back layer by layer until the Magic Power patterns inside are revealed, each with its own unique direction.

Metals are linear, arranged along the crystal lattice, with a clear order; plants are network-like, with Magic Power flowing between the cellulose skeletons of the cell walls, branching haphazardly.

The patterns in minerals resemble cracks or swirls, and their direction depends on the Magic Power environment in which the minerals were formed. The patterns in animal materials have mostly disappeared, leaving only traces of primal life force.

From simple to complex, the patterns become increasingly dense and detailed.

The first step in Alchemy is to identify these patterns, understand their direction and density, before one can even begin to talk about altering them.

This step posed no obstacle for Regulus; the precision of his Magic Perception, honed through Star Orbit Meditation, was more than sufficient for him.

Things that beginners need to learn through experience and trial and error can be directly observed.

Chapter Two discusses basic alchemical circuits, which involve drawing specific Magic Power paths on or inside a material to guide externally inputted Magic Power to flow along the circuit and resonate with the material's natural internal texture, thereby altering the material's original structure.

The principle isn't difficult; it ultimately boils down to the Magic Manipulation, coupled with his Magic Perception —both of which are his strengths.

Chapter 3 discusses directional transformation, which uses loop guidance to change materials from state A to state B.

The transformation of lead into gold is the most classic example, but textbooks don't teach this; it's too advanced, and that's Flamel's domain.

The third-grade introductory textbook teaches more basic concepts, such as changing the Magic Power Conduction of metals, making metals that originally did not Conduction Magic Power able to Conduction Magic Power.

It alters the hardness and toughness of ores, turning brittle into tough and soft into hard.

All exercises are accompanied by standard circuit Bestiary, which indicate the location of Magic Power input, the direction of the circuit, and the spacing between nodes.

Regulus quickly grasped the basics, finishing the third and fourth grades in one afternoon.

I continued reading the fifth-grade material in the evening, but at a slower pace. The deep Magic Power structure of metals began to involve descriptions at the atomic level.

France Alchemy theory is far more profound than UK Magical Theory, attempting to explain what the most fundamental layer of matter is and why it can be transformed.

The sixth-grade material made him stop and think for a long time: the interaction and transformation of Magic Power and matter, changing the essence of matter, turning it into something else from the inside out.

Flamel once told him in his Paris living room, "Magic Power can be transformed into matter, and matter can be transformed into Magic Power; this is the foundation of Alchemy."

The textbook uses the same logic, just not as explicitly. Flamel looks back from the End six hundred years of practice, while the textbook explores forward from the starting point.

This chapter begins with a quote, lveeagula, meaning dissolution and condensation.

The textbook's explanation of this concept only stays at the material level: first, the old structure of the material is disassembled, and then a new structure is reassembled. The two steps combined are called transformation.

In the transformation process of advanced Alchemy, dismantling and reconstruction occur simultaneously; the old structure dissipates while the new structure is generated, and the two processes are intertwined.

He closed the book, leaned back, and stared at the ceiling.

He can dissolve and disassemble.

The Severing Charm dismantles living beings, breaking down a living thing into its most basic constituent units at the level of existence. The Disintegration Charm dismantles non-living matter, shattering its physical structure through resonance.

The two can be combined, organic or inorganic, living or dead, and they can all be disassembled.

As for cohesion and reconstruction, he won't do it; he'll only dismantle.

Professor McGonagall's words suddenly popped into my head.

After the object's true nature is stripped away, there is an extremely narrow window between it and its collapse back into a certain form.

"It's nothing, a state that can be shaped at will, leaving you no time to act calmly; it's just a narrow crack."

McGonagall concluded by saying, "Going further ahead, that's a question for other disciplines to answer."

Now I understand, the other discipline is Alchemy.

The path of Transfiguration is to change from the outside in, suppressing the old form or allowing the old form to accept the new form.

His third option was to use the Severing Charm to erase the old form, reshape it during the window, dissolve it, and then forcibly condense it in the cracks.

Do it in two separate steps. There's a window in the middle, but it's too narrow to grasp.

Alchemy doesn't have these two steps; there's no intermediate state where nothing exists.

If he can achieve synchronization, the window problem will not exist.

This certainly doesn't mean that Transfiguration is wrong.

Professor McGonagall taught him the identification of reality, the tendency to revert, repression, and transformation—these are the tools for understanding what is "itself."

Alchemy bypassed the window problem, but Transfiguration offered another angle, allowing the old self to become new without demolition or construction.

The two paths each have their own logic and lead to different the End; neither is inherently superior to the other.

He always wanted everything.

But right now he's only just learned how to draw basic alchemical circuits, so thinking that far ahead is pointless.

The textbook only mentions this one sentence in the introduction to the Emerald Tablet, but he knows much more, from From Hermes to Paracelsus.

A more complete discussion can be found there.

Aabve, belw, meaning "as above as below," is a phrase that Hermes tradition considers the foundation of all Alchemy.

The laws governing transformation in the material world and the Spiritual World are isomorphic. If lead can be transformed, then theoretically the physical body can be transformed; if the physical body can be transformed, then theoretically the soul can be transformed.

This is the oldest proposition in the Emerald Tablet.

The textbook doesn't teach this; it only covers the material aspects.

However, following Hermes ' logic, the transformation of matter is the first level, and the transformation of principles is the second level, which is the complete practice of dissolution and condensation, and mastering the rules of transformation itself.

Why can things change from one state to another? How is the transformation between Magic Power and matter achieved?

The concept of converting quality into Magic Power that he had previously envisioned likely falls within this scope.

The Disintegration Charm is not merely about physical pulverization; it transforms the target's mass directly into magical Magic Power that drives the vibrations, allowing the target to provide itself with the energy for destruction.

The ultimate form of the Disintegration Charm is also a direct application of Alchemy principles.

The life transmutation is the third level, the physical transmutation and the soul transmutation. Flamel lived for over six hundred years thanks to this; the life potion made from the Philosopher's Stone continuously repaired the aging of the body and maintained life.

He certainly didn't know the specific formula and principles; Flamel hadn't told him. But he knew Flamel had succeeded.

His thoughts skipped a beat at this thought.

Voldemort.

If you apply the framework of Alchemy to it, everything he did was in the opposite direction.

The Alchemy process of soul transmutation should be about purification, making the soul more complete; Voldemort's approach was tearing, forcibly breaking the soul into fragments and stuffing them into a container.

Alchemy's physical transformation should be about enhancement, allowing the body to bear more; Voldemort's transformation is about distortion, using Dark Arts to change the body into something inhuman.

However, saying it's the opposite is only a conclusion drawn within the framework of Alchemy.

The framework is set by people.

Voldemort's mastery of Dark Arts was unbelievably profound, unmatched by anyone throughout history.

He successfully tore his soul apart, successfully transformed his body, and successfully ripped a gash in the face of death.

His methods were violence, his direction was outward expansion, and the cost was the loss of the ability to empathize and connect, but he succeeded.

If someone successfully navigates a path that no one has ever walked before, then no one has the right to say it's crooked.

The positive and negative within the Alchemy framework is just one of many. Looking at it from a different perspective, if the essence of the soul can be split and the limits of the body can be broken, then what Voldemort did was pave the way forward.

Even in the realm of Magic, he is a great man.

Then Regulus thought of himself.

With each star illuminated Star Orbit Meditation, his mental structure was reshaped, and the precision of his Magic Manipulation and the depth of his Magic Perception rose to a new level.

In Alchemy terms, he was constantly engaged in Mental Layer transformation.

Flamel once told him, "You're already doing it, you just don't realize it; it's Alchemy."

Different paths lead to the same destination.

These paths may seem completely different, with different names, methods, and directions, but the underlying logic may be the same: transformation.

Alchemy may be the underlying language of the Magic world, describing all the possibilities of transformation, which everyone practices in their own way.

Voldemort sought Eternal Life, tearing apart his soul to defy death, and modifying his body beyond its limits, forging a path no one had ever walked before.

Flamel used the Philosopher's Stone to transform matter and life; after six hundred years of accumulation and refinement, he finally chose to abandon the Philosopher's Stone.

Dumbledore used Transfiguration to touch the boundaries of existence, believing in choice and in the light within people.

Grindelwald treated the entire world as the object of his Alchemy. For the Greater Good, perhaps what he sought to transform was order, becoming both the achiever and the achieved in an era.

And then there's himself, who tempers his spirit and body with Star Orbit Meditation, nourishes his soul with experiences and choices, dissects the world with reason, and understands the world with emotion.

Then let Magic, at the end of reason, return to the deeper realm of sensibility.

What will a wizard ultimately become?

There was no answer to this question, and he didn't intend to find one now.

"Just do it first, and we'll see what happens," was also what Flamel told him.

He snapped out of his reverie, looked at the copper coins he'd bought in Marseille on the corner of the table, and a word suddenly popped into his head: bistable.

A system switches between two stable states, each of which is stable. Switching requires an external input signal; when the signal arrives, the system switches; when the signal stops, the system stops.

The basic exercises in the textbook involve unidirectional transformation, changing a metal from A to B, which is one-way and irreversible.

But what if we draw two sets of circuits within the same piece of material?

They share a set of nodes but have different paths. Circuit A keeps the copper sheet in a normal metallic state, while circuit B rearranges the internal structure, giving it the ability to store Magic Power.

Input a little Magic Power to activate B, and A will go into hibernation. Input it again to activate A, and B will go into hibernation. You can switch between the two states at any time, and it is reversible.

This wasn't in the textbook, but he wanted to try it.

Regulus picked up the copper coin, cut off a palm-sized piece, and smoothed the edges.

First, do some basic exercises to change the Magic Power Conduction of the metal.

He placed the copper sheet on the table, touched its surface with his wand, and used his Magic Perception to penetrate deep inside, finding the natural Magic Power patterns. He then drew the first alchemical circuit along these patterns, guiding the Magic Power to change the internal structure.

The natural patterns of copper are linear, following the direction of the crystal lattice, and the Magic Power seeps in from the tip of the staff, leaving a luminous trail inside the copper sheet.

Once the drawing was finished, Magic Power was input, the circuit was activated, and the patterns inside the copper sheet began to rearrange under the drive of Magic Power. The ordinary copper sheet, which could not Conduction Magic Power before, now had a faint Silver Light appearing on its surface.

The copper sheet felt slightly warm to the touch, and I could feel the internal Conduction channels opening up.

It worked! It wasn't difficult at all.

His mental strength and Magic Manipulation are far superior to those of ordinary junior wizards, so he doesn't need to do these basic exercises a second time.

Then he made his own thing.

(And there's more!)