He reached the door to the innermost room and stood there for a while, but ultimately chose not to go in.
He did have some interest in the Philosopher's Stone-not in its value, but in studying the craftsmanship behind a finished Stone.
Old Percy had told him that the Philosopher's Stone contained the souls of millions of people. If Nicolas Flamel hadn't encountered the Black Death sweeping across Europe, even knowing the process wouldn't have enabled him to make one.
The process used to refine souls for the Philosopher's Stone was therefore extremely sophisticated. Although old Percy understood it, he had frankly told Shawn he wouldn't teach it to him lightly.
It went against the natural order.
But Shawn was now very interested in researching souls. Wenge had been doing his utmost for him, so Shawn had taken the task of breaking the blood curse to heart.
And right now, the curse on the soul was the sticking point.
Unless he resolved that, using the Invisibility Cloak to shield the curse and then removing it from the bloodline alone would be useless. He needed to remove the curse from the soul at the same time, without causing any damage.
The Longbottoms' shattered souls also involved soul repair and reconstruction.
He could learn something about all of these from the Philosopher's Stone.
After weighing it up for a while, Shawn decided the Philosopher's Stone probably wasn't at the final obstacle right now. He shook his head and turned to leave.
Just after he left the corridor and entered the stairway, Snape slowly emerged from the shadows in a corner of the Fourth Floor.
The Old Bat watched Shawn's translucent figure disappear into the stairwell, stroking his chin as he considered something.
Before long, another clear, sunny weekend arrived.
The fourth round-robin