Blue Crystal Shard
In Nicolas's private library, Kyle, as usual, sat at the table quietly flipping through a book about alchemy.
House-elf Tata, stood quietly to the side and, just as Kyle finished reading the last page, promptly offered him a glass of freshly made lemonade.
"Thanks."
Kyle finished his lemonade and then let out a satisfied sigh.
He had been here for a month, and during that time he had practically lived in this library. Sometimes, Tata even brought him his meals.
Although Nicolas Flamel didn't teach him anything about alchemy, he recommended many books suitable for beginners, which greatly benefited Kyle and led to a qualitative leap in his alchemical skills.
This visible progress filled Kyle with immense satisfaction.
Unfortunately, today is the day I have to leave.
Kyle reluctantly handed the book to Tata and walked out of the library alone.
In the hall, Nicolas Flamel was still enjoying a performance of an opera from his memory.
By the time Kyle arrived, the band had just finished playing the last note.
"I was just wondering when you'd come out."
Nicolas put away her memories and slowly stood up from the beach chair. "Perenelle has been urging us several times; we have to go back."
Perenelle is Nicolas's wife, but she prefers to stay in Devon and tend to the plants in the garden, so she didn't come to Paris with him this time.
"Shall we set off now?" Kyle asked.
"No rush," Nicolas said with a chuckle. "Before that, I need to check if you've been slacking off."
"Alright then... Professor Nicolas."
Kyle took a folded piece of parchment from his pocket and unfolded it in front of Nicolas.
The parchment detailed every room, and Kyle's name was also written in the main hall.
"Is this a map?" Nicolas asked with interest.
"Yes," Kyle said. "The original map was drawn by Tata. I studied the trajectory magic of the Summoning Charm, as well as some other interesting things, and finally created this one."
Kyle took out his wand, tapped it on the map, and whispered:
"The library!"
On the parchment, a clear dotted line appears between Kyle's name and the library.
Nicolas's eyes flickered, but he didn't speak; he simply moved his fingers slightly.
In an instant, the hall seemed to come alive, and the corridor behind Kyle began to slowly close, quickly shutting down and becoming a wall.
Not only that, but other places such as doors and windows also disappeared, turning the hall into a closed space with no exit.
Nicolas looked at the parchment again.
The room locations on the map have also changed, but strangely, the dotted line connecting Kyle and the library still exists, only in a different direction.
The dotted line bends before the original corridor and disappears into the wall on the left.
"It seems your work has failed."
Nicolas looked up at Kyle, pointed in the direction the dotted line extended, and laughed, "There's no exit there."
"Not necessarily, Nicolas." Kyle smiled as well.
He followed the map to the wall, took a deep breath, and crashed straight into it.
Nothing happened. Just like at Platform 9, Kyle passed through the wall and arrived in that familiar corridor.
Nicolas then followed her out.
"Please allow me to retract my previous assessment," he said with a smile. "Great work, you certainly didn't slack off."
"Can we go back now?"
"Of course." Nicolas took out two crystal shards, one blue and one red. "These are the Portkey. You can use it by simply channeling magic into them using alchemy."
Kyle stared intently at the blue crystal that was exactly the same as the Philosopher's Stone fragment, opened his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately asked nothing.
Nicolas continued, "The red one can take you home, while the blue one can let you return to that library someday when you need to."
"Back here again?" Kyle instinctively looked up.
"Yes," Nicolas said. "I imagine you've wondered why I invited you here."
Kyle was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.
At first, he thought it was because of the Order of Merlin, but if that were all, it shouldn't have warranted him staying for so long.
Especially since Nicolas's wife Perenelle, had started urging him to go back home during a meal ten days ago.
Kyle was all ready to go home, but surprisingly, Nicolas declined, citing an opera performance as an excuse.
However, he hasn't left the house at all these days.
"Because I saw you would come here, I saw it two months ago," Nicolas said.
Two months ago... Hogwarts wasn't on holiday yet, right?
Kyle thought for a moment, "Is it Prophecy?"
"Strictly speaking, no, but you could interpret it that way." Nicolas smiled and winked. "Want to know what I saw?"
"No!" Kyle immediately shook his head.
Prophecy in the Wizarding World are very strange. If you don't know about them, there might be a chance to change the outcome, but once you know about them, they will definitely happen one day.
"Don't be so nervous."
Nicolas waved his finger, restoring the room to its original state.
"In fact, I only saw you come here twice, and I didn't see anything else."
However, a voice in my head was telling me that I needed that knowledge, and that I should help me."
Hearing Nicolas Flamel say that, Kyle's expression relaxed considerably.
As long as they're not looking for Nicolas Flamel, it shouldn't be a big deal.
What was he doing last time...? Oh right, saving Paris.
The two returned to the hall together.
"Well then, there's one last thing..."
Nicolas pointed to a box on the table next to him.
"Happy birthday, my child, even though it's a few days late."
Kyle suddenly remembered that today was August 5th, five days after his birthday.
"Thank you, Nicolas. What is this?"
"Didn't you say before that you wanted a box to store magical items?" Nicolas said. "I made one for you while I was listening to opera."
Kyle picked up the box and examined it carefully.
The box was heavy, with a dark gold surface and several gold symbols at the opening... Kyle quickly recognized them as symbols used to store magic.
"That's great, this is exactly what I needed," Kyle said happily.
"I'm glad you like it."