When Sagreles returned to the Safe House, the heated discussion inside came to an abrupt halt.
The members of Bronze Feather sat around the table, flickering candlelight casting shadows of varying depths across their faces.
"You're back?" Nightingale looked up from the pile of potions, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes beneath her wide cloak. "Did you find anything else?"
Sagreles smiled meaningfully and casually tossed a stack of yellowed parchment onto the table.
Everyone immediately reached for it without prompting. The only sound left in the stone house was the rustle of turning pages.
As they read further, everyone's expressions grew grave—some fingers trembled slightly, some brows knotted tightly, and some breaths quickened.
"Book of Abraham?" Stork's voice tightened. "The forbidden book that Nicolas Flamel supposedly consulted when creating the Philosopher's Stone?"
Sagreles did not answer immediately. He slowly withdrew something else from the inner pocket of his wizard's robes—a stone as scarlet as blood, its strange sheen flowing beneath the candlelight.
"This is...?"
"The Philosopher's Stone." Sagreles's voice was calm and solemn.
Only the crackle of sparks remained in the stone house. Everyone stared fixedly at that legendary alchemical relic.
"So those ruins were..." Swift swallowed with difficulty. "An alchemical laboratory for creating the Philosopher's Stone?"
"But the manuscript records nothing but evil Dark Arts!" Thunderbird slapped the parchment back onto the table, making the silver cup rattle. "Using powdered infant bones as a catalyst, a virgin's blood..."
"Are you sure this really is the Philosopher's Stone?" Lady Snow Owl interrupted, gripping her quill tightly. "Where is its owner?"
Sagreles gazed at the red stone in his palm, feeling the familiar pulse of magic within it—identical to the one he had seen at Hogwarts.
"The structure and magical characteristics match perfectly." He raised his eyes. "As