First Contact

In the temporary dormitory that Beauxbatons arranged for the contestants in the exchange competition, the air was filled with the bitter and refreshing scent of potion ingredients.

On the workbench in front of Lucien, two crucibles were burning steadily with blue flames directly beneath them.

He had just precisely placed the processed Wolfsbane into the crucible on his left, and glanced at the notes next to him that automatically floated and recorded the refining steps and phenomena with a quill pen.

After finishing the written exam and receiving a perfect score, Lucien returned to his dormitory and immediately began experimenting with brewing Wolfsbane Potion. He was eager to put into practice the inspirations that had come to him while answering the questions.

Two crucibles were used; one was for refining standard Wolfsbane Potion, with the ingredients and steps exactly as described.

The other one is Lucien's attempt at improvement, with slight adjustments to the types and amounts of several ingredients.

The gurgling sound of the medicine liquid varied in volume.

As the medicinal liquid in the two crucibles reached a stable boiling stage, it exhibited different colors and textures.

Just as Lucien was observing the changes in the liquid and waiting for it to enter the final sedimentation stage --

"Bite!"

A crisp sound rang out.

But this was not a system notification sound.

Lucien pulled a notebook, slightly larger than the palm of his hand, from his pocket.

The cover is made of soft, dark blue fabric, with a crystal set in the center.

At this moment, faint green light spots are flashing regularly inside the crystal.

"A message has arrived," Lucien murmured to himself, tapping the crystal lightly with his fingertips.

He opened the notebook; it appeared very thin, but it made a soft "rustling" sound when he turned the pages, indicating that the number of papers inside far exceeded the space its size could hold.

It automatically stops on a certain page, and the blank paper ripples like water after a pebble has been thrown in.

A second or two later, a face emerged with difficulty from the ripples: messy black hair, round-framed glasses, and a pair of emerald green almond eyes.

It's Harry.

But Harry's image froze for three or four seconds, then the picture was suddenly blocked by a blurry hand, accompanied by a few slapping vibrations.

After another seven or eight seconds, a faint, intermittent sound, mixed with static, finally came from between the pages:

"Hello... Lucien... I can hear you..."

Lucien shook his head; once the distance increased, the "signal" problem became glaringly obvious.

The issue of the transit station needs to be addressed...

Lucien temporarily set aside his technical considerations, lightly tapped the paper with his wand, and Harry's image disappeared, replaced by a clear input box and cursor, switching to text message mode.

"Harry, send a text message first. Have you finished sending out the questionnaires?"

This time the reply was much faster; almost two or three seconds after Lucien finished writing, Harry's handwriting appeared below, the strokes slightly crooked but still legible:

OK! All sent!

Following the handwriting was a smiley face drawn with simple lines.

Immediately afterwards, new handwriting appeared, brimming with excitement:

"I also want to try out this magic notebook you gave me! It can really talk to people remotely?! Just like a telephone? That's so cool!"

This time, a surprised emoji with sparkling eyes followed.

Lucien looked at the words and emojis on the paper and couldn't help but laugh.

This kid's acceptance and mastery of the "magic phone" was surprisingly quick.

That's right, what they are using is the first-generation remote communication device that Lucien designed and manufactured using Alchemy during this period.

Within the same county, it can reliably support real-time communication of text and images.

However, in cross-border communications like this, image transmission suffers from severe delays and stutters. Text messaging is relatively better, but still experiences slight lag.

The greater the distance, the more pronounced this attenuation and delay become.

To achieve truly seamless magical communication, one approach is to continue improving and updating the laptop, while another is to establish a magical signal relay station, but that would be a massive and complex alchemical project...

Lucien looked at Harry's message on the paper and began to make plans in his mind.

However, simply using the current version of the "Magic Phone" is enough to win this Triwizard Tournament.