The Flamels at the Movies

This is an oval-shaped metal object engraved with runes, with its ends being slightly sharper than a regular oval.

Within this elliptical shape lies a full circle, with four short, curved lines forming the structure within the circle, slightly obscuring one of the eyes inside— the Eye of Agamotto!

Xiwen could sense a special power emanating from the eye inside the perfect circle—a power unique to time. After arriving in this world, he had sensed this power before, behind the black door of the Department of Mysteries at the end of the corridor on the ninth basement level of the Ministry of Magic.

This seems to confirm that this is indeed the true Eye of Agamotto.

But that doesn't make sense!

How could this precious magical artifact, which existed in two different worlds from Xiwen's, suddenly appear in this universe? And why was it wrapped in a tattered bag and sent to Xiwen as a Christmas present?

Xiwen still couldn't quite believe that this was the real Eye of Agamotto, and he was even less willing to wear or use an item with unknown risks. So, in order to confirm its authenticity, he used his alchemical knowledge to carefully examine this Eye of Agamotto, whose authenticity was uncertain.

Then he realized—he had absolutely no idea how this thing worked...

To this end, Xiwen picked up a bag of his family's treasured tea and opened the Dimensional Gate to the Flamel family's home.

It's not a big problem if you don't understand it yourself, as long as you have an expert around who can explain the principles behind it!

When Xiwen arrived at the Flamel family home, Flamel and his Madam Flamel were watching a movie on a screen. In front of the screen was an old-fashioned projector, and an Alchemical Automaton stood diligently behind it, turning the film reel to ensure a smooth playback.

Surprisingly, the movie was even in color! This Xiwen, who had been living in the Wizarding World since arriving in this world, feel quite unreal.

The Flamel were quite surprised by Xiwen's arrival, and asked with smiles, "Xiwen, what brings you to visit us two old folks at Christmas?"

"I only thought of visiting you two on Christmas Day because you've taken such good care of me today!" Xiwen put down the tea leaves in his hand and made up a lie without batting an eye, making the two old people very happy.

"Look at you, you've come all this way, and you even brought a gift?" Madam Flamel said reproachfully. "You little rascal, you're too formal."

"Isn't this Christmas?" Xiwen chuckled, then pretended not to know anything about movies and asked with feigned curiosity, "By the way, what is this? It looks interesting."

"Speaking of this, I have to commend the ingenuity of Muggle," Flamel said with a smile. "Look at this machine that projects images; it's a projector invented by Muggle. And this continuously playing image is called a movie."

"A little over a decade ago, Muggle could only project black and white images, but just three years ago, this machine could even play color images. It's unbelievable how fast things have changed!"

Xiwen nodded in agreement and sighed, "Speaking of which, Muggle have undergone two industrial revolutions in the last hundred years and have been developing rapidly. In contrast, wizards have long adhered to the Statute of Secrecy, remaining stagnant and relying on the convenience brought by magic for hundreds of years, living off their past achievements without much development or progress!"

"Perhaps in a few decades, life for Muggle will be more convenient than for wizards. If Muggle discover the Wizarding World with their technology then, there's a real possibility that the Wizarding World might go to war with the Muggle."

"When that time comes, and the wizards of this era look back on history, will they believe that Dumbledore or Grindelwald were on the side of justice?"

Xiwen's thoughts drifted far away.

"So that's why Grindelwald has so many followers." Flamel nodded slightly, then asked Xiwen, "So you believe that the Wizarding World will be completely exposed to Muggle, as Grindelwald claims?"

"Who knows what the future holds?" Xiwen shook his head slightly and replied. "Of course, if I had that ability, I might choose to do what Grindelwald did and nip any potential problems in the bud."

Hearing what Xiwen said, Flamel looked at him with some surprise and said, "Xiwen, what you just said sounds just like a real Slytherin."

"I always thought you were like a Ravenclaw when you were studying, and more like a Gryffindor when you were impulsive. I rarely saw the Slytherin ambition and ruthlessness in you."

"Perhaps I can't get over that mental hurdle, that I can't bring myself to achieve my goal at all costs." Xiwen paused for a moment, then chuckled softly. "Just as I don't approve of Grindelwald disregarding life for his own goals, I can't allow myself to be someone who disregards the safety of others."

"That's what makes you so valuable," Flamel said with a pleased smile.

"Alright, it's Christmas today, let's not talk about such profound topics." Madam Flamel noticed the odd nature of their conversation and interrupted them. "Why don't you tell me what brings little Xiwen here?"

"Ah? Actually, I'm fine..." Xiwen quickly said.

"Just relax in front of us, don't be shy. You looked so preoccupied when you came, how could you possibly fool anyone?" Madam Flamel said with a smile.

"Haha, you really do have a keen eye!" Xiwen laughed awkwardly and said to the Flamel couple. "You're right, I really did come here to ask Flamel for help because I couldn't figure out the principles behind an alchemical product at all."

Upon hearing Xiwen's words, Flamel immediately became interested and said excitedly, "Your alchemy skills are already quite advanced. The alchemical products that you don't even understand must be quite interesting."

"Then let's go take a look." With that, Flamel immediately prepared to take Xiwen to the workshop.

"Um, aren't you going to watch the movie first?" Xiwen pointed to the screen beside him and asked Flamel.

"It's alright, it's a movie from a few years ago." LeMay waved to Schwarzenegger, gesturing for him to follow. "This movie, Vanity Fair, is from the US three years ago. We've seen it many times already; we just wanted to rewatch it today for the holidays."

"Since you've brought something interesting, it's more important to study your alchemical products!"