Standard Alchemy

William Harris's passionate opening was like a stone thrown into water, stirring up enthusiastic ripples at first. Every audience member wore an excited smile.

In most people's imaginations, what came next should have been as intense as the Quidditch World Cup or the Wizarding League;

Or like Wade Grey creating a Golem during a live competition broadcast—an incredibly intuitive process of wondrous creation, swift and direct, where a pile of junk turned into magical alchemical products in the blink of an eye, inspiring a powerful yearning for Alchemy before earning thunderous applause.

Yet the truth was that the atmosphere in the arena quickly settled. Within minutes, it began to feel dull and tedious.

None of the competitors immediately began waving their Wands or lighting furnaces. More than half of them even sat down without moving, clearly immersed in difficult thought.

Some competitors did come up with ideas quickly, but then they bent over parchment spread across their tables. Self-inking quills rapidly recorded their inspirations and trains of thought, followed by extraordinarily meticulous measurements and calculations using magical rulers and compasses.

A small number began drawing diagrams, sketching immensely complex, layered geometric patterns within the limited space. They endlessly wrote and adjusted Ancient Runes. The process was agonizingly slow, and the slightest error required extensive erasing before they could calculate everything again.

To knowledgeable Alchemists, those complicated diagrams were wondrous, profound, and full of ingenious ideas. The audience could see several judges walking among the competitors, sometimes showing approval or nodding with satisfaction.

The bluebirds filming the event deliberately flew over those competitors' heads, but the audience only saw overlapping, intersecting dots, lines, and circles on the Streaming Mirror screens. Their eyes were filled with confusion, as if they were looking at an incomprehensible heavenly script.

A very few competitors went