The Alchemy Professor and the Preliminary Round
Alchemy Classroom.
Lucien knocked on the door. The Hogwarts preliminary rounds were being held here, selecting two student representatives to go to Beauxbatons for Triwizard Tournament on the theme of alchemy.
"Enter."
A soft, lazy voice came from behind.
Lucien pushed open the door and entered, immediately drawing all eyes to him.
"Everyone's here. The competition begins. Within three hours, you must balance the Elemental Balancer, craft Water-and-Fire-Proof Robe, and improve the Emotion-Sensing Color-Changing Badge."
Lucien instinctively looked toward the source of the sound. Behind the podium was a luxurious sofa that seemed completely out of place with the surroundings, and a woman was lounging on it.
Wearing a simple gray robe, with her thick black curly hair casually cascading down, she quickly put on a pure black blindfold after announcing the start of the competition. Under the cover of her hair and the blindfold, her face was obscured.
"Alright, you guys compete on your own, be careful, I'm going to take a nap."
After saying that, the woman fell silent.
Lucien blinked; it was the first time he'd ever seen a professor with this kind of style.
Yes, the lady reclining on the sofa at this moment is Angela Shafiq, the Hogwarts Alchemy Professor.
Born into the Shafiq Family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, she was rarely seen at school and only appeared on important occasions.
"Grafton..."
Out of the corner of his eye, Lucien noticed that among the students who were preparing, one was waving at him and calling out softly.
That was a Ravenclaw senior, Ellie Yaxley, in seventh grade.
Lucien nodded in greeting as he walked to the alchemy table next to Senior Ellie.
Ellie: "You haven't taken the alchemy course yet, so you're not familiar with it. But that's Professor Shafiq's style; he values students' self-learning ability. You'll get used to it."
Self-taught?
Lucien felt it was more like free-range farming.
Ellie turned her head and whispered to Lucien, pointing to the equipment on the alchemy table.
"Just follow the professor's instructions. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
She had a very good impression of this junior; he was handsome and knowledgeable, so she was happy to show him kindness.
Lucien nodded.
"Understood, thank you, senior."
Ellie then fell silent and focused on her game.
In fact, through the magical items invented by Lucien, students skilled in alchemy could see his remarkable level of expertise. Therefore, the contestants were not surprised when Lucien appeared, and no one dared to question his qualifications.
The competition was in full swing.
Lucien first focused his attention on the Elemental Balancer, a device shaped like a balance scale. At the top were four rhomboid crystals, each containing one of the four basic elements: water, fire, earth, and wind. These elements were connected by pipes made of white crystal, and the four elements eventually converged on both sides of the scale.
At this point, the proportions of the four elements in the Elemental Balancer are disordered. Balancing the Elemental Balancer tests the student's control over the four elements, which is a fundamental skill in Alchemy.
As he drew his wand, delicate magical threads extended from its tip, and as they touched the elemental crystals, wavy patterns simultaneously appeared on Lucien's fingers.
It immediately resonated with the water element in the crystal, and the feeling of direct connection was much clearer than with the other three elements.
In just two or three breaths, the water element was fully regulated.
While Lucien continued to adjust the other elements, he also manipulated the water element to react with those elements, thus achieving balance more quickly.
This technique is definitely not a standard operation in Alchemy; it is only possible with exceptional control over a particular element.
The enhancement that elemental runes provide to Alchemy is immense. If one could collect runes of all four basic elements, it would likely bring about a qualitative leap.
Lucien completed the Elemental Balancer balance in a very short time, and without much effort, he didn't need to rest before moving on to the next project.
"Professor, I'm done."
Upon hearing this, Professor Shafiq removed his blindfold, but his pale gray eyes, still heavy with drowsiness, didn't look at Lucien. Instead, he immediately glanced at the classroom clock.
"... I'm going to sleep. Oh, only half an hour has passed in the competition, and you've finished all three events?"
Lucien nodded slightly. The Elemental Balancer was a given, and as for crafting and improving magical items, practice makes perfect.
With the blessing of the Emerald Tablet Fragment, his alchemy talent had already reached SS+. For the past six months, he had focused on Alchemy, spending his days either designing or creating alchemical items.
Today's assessment was just an appetizer, a purely relaxing session.
With a wave of his wand, he sent three items floating in front of Professor Shafiq for his inspection.
Despite finding it unbelievable, Shafiq rallied his spirits, pulled out his thick-rimmed glasses from his pocket, and clipped them onto his nose.
"Hmm, the balance between the elements is practically perfect..."
"Water-and-Fire-Proof Robe is the ultimate effect achievable with materials available for the competition..."
"Emotion-Sensing Color-Changing Badge, wow, how did you come up with this improvement?"
Upon hearing this, Lucien was about to explain, but then he heard Shafiq say:
"Wait, no need to explain. You young people are so quick-witted. Old people like me should rest more..."
Professor Shafiq narrowed his eyes, his pale gray pupils, hidden behind thick glasses, scrutinizing Lucien.
"You're the kid who received the award the other day? Amazing!"
Suddenly, Professor Shafiq stood up abruptly and walked straight out of the classroom, but stopped as if he remembered something when he was almost at the door.
She took out her wand and tapped it lightly; the single sofa rapidly shrank and flew into her pocket.
"Lucien Grafton, right? You've made it through the qualifiers. You can keep an eye on things from here and choose the second representative. I'm going to catch up on some sleep... um, no, I still have alchemy experiments to do. Good luck, Lucien!"
Professor Shafiq, like a woman swift as the wind, vanished in a flash, her voice trailing off into the distance.
Uh, I've gone from being a player to a referee?
That Professor Shafiq is so easygoing...
No, the evaluation criteria weren't explained either. Are we going to have to set them ourselves? Is this being exploited as hard labor?
A bewildered Lucien stood before the podium, slowly turning his head to look at the other contestants. He noticed that the upperclassmen were also looking at him, exchanging silent glances, their heads practically drooling.
???