Death's Trap

Renovating a small house is a technical job.

The yard was nice, not too big or too small, just right for William, Hermione, and Anne to have afternoon tea.

It's more than enough to accommodate a few friends occasionally, like Luna and Cedric.

But the area outside the yard needs to be expanded, especially the stream.

William decided to remodel it, dividing it into inner and outer rivers.

The inner layer remains the same stream, teeming with various koi. The outer layer, however, becomes like a lake containing Horcrux... accessible only by a specific small boat.

This is only the internal defense perimeter; there are other defense mechanisms outside the river.

William needs to replicate that Restricted Section area on the fourth floor of the school building, at least in an enhanced version, right?

Look at Quirrell, he was bleeding profusely from his head and eventually died inside.

The renovation of the house is a major project, as it relates to future safety issues.

It will probably take at least a year and a half, so for a long time to come, William will have to bring Hermione back frequently.

Before this shameless and blissful life together was even halfway over, Nicolas came to visit the cabin.

This was a meeting that had been arranged long ago, and William and Hermione stood at the door waiting before the appointed time.

Soon, eddies appeared in the stream, followed by bubbles, like a fountain.

A moment later, the golden toad submarine jumped out of the water, landed in the yard, and then rapidly grew larger.

The hatch opened, Nicolas slowly stepped out.

He wore a charcoal black turtleneck sweater, a tweed jacket, yellow khaki trousers, and preppy Cordoba pirouettes.

Nicolas doesn't seem like a wizard at all; he's more like a refined old professor from a university.

Good afternoon, children.

Nicolas leaned on a cane made of green vines in his left hand and stretched out his withered right hand.

"Long time no see, Nicolas." William reached out and shook his hand.

Hermione stood beside William and smiled, "Hello, Nicolas."

"Oh, Hermione... you're becoming more and more radiant." Nicolas smiled. "William hasn't been bullying you, has he?"

"No... it's all because I bullied him!" Hermione said playfully.

"That's great, that's a really good hobby." Nicolas blinked and chuckled, "Keep it up."

Hermione raised her chin, looking at William with childlike smugness, and said, "Did you hear that?"

William just grinned.

Nicolas pulled out a black package.

"This is a Christmas present for you two... I put some thought into it."

William took the package, opened it, and found two pure black robes inside.

It feels cool and silky to the touch, like Invisibility Cloak.

"Flying Cloak? You've made it?" William asked in surprise, touching the robe.

"Yes." Nicolas looked at the two robes in his hands with satisfaction and said:

"Using the Dementor and Lethifold you gave me, following the steps in the Book of Alchemy, although the process was a bit tedious, I finally managed to create it."

Nicolas is indeed a master alchemist; given the materials, there's no magical item he can't create.

William is far from being as good at this.

Hermione held the Flying Cloak with obvious delight, preparing to take a low-altitude test flight in the courtyard.

William then led Nicolas into the study.

The study is on the third floor, and the room is divided into two sections.

The larger room was greatly expanded using Undetectable Extension Charm, resembling a small library.

The shelves inside were filled with numerous spellbooks, all of which William and Hermione had read or collected over the years.

Passing through an elegant double door, you enter another room, which is the study.

Three tree-shaped chandeliers hanging from the ceiling illuminated the room, which was beautifully decorated.

Hermione and Anne both added a lot of suggestions.

The most obvious sign is that a huge birchwood table is placed on the oak floor, with three seats.

They belong to William, Hermione, and Anne, respectively.

William originally thought one would be enough, but Hermione and Anne were not satisfied, so two more were added... resulting in this strange appearance.

A clock with colored light hangs on the table, calibrated to the second. The light source travels endlessly along a preset spectrum, completing a full circle every six hours, strictly following the planetary timetable.

On the wall of the room hung a framed picture. Soon, a portrait of Dumbledore appeared in it.

"Albus, Abus," Nicolas greeted casually.

The portrait in the painting looked Dumbledore, but his expression was somewhat blank. He simply nodded slightly and then turned and left.

"It doesn't quite look like it yet, does it?"

Nicolas said, sitting down on the velvet sofa by the window.

"The headmaster is too busy; he doesn't have time to properly train his portrait," William said, sitting down beside him.

For a portrait to resemble the person's temperament, it must be repeatedly trained by a wizard, year after year, through constant exposure and influence.

William poured Nicolas a cup of black tea, but the old man only took a sip before eagerly pulling out a book made of fine, smooth tree bark.

--The Book of Alchemy!

In fact, Nicolas had never taken the book out of the manor since it was built.

This is the first time.

With hands as smooth as tree bark, Nicolas opened the book, which contained three sections of content.

The first group contains all the alchemical items that have ever appeared in the Wizarding World.

The second group contains the method for crafting Deathly Hallows.

The third group will contain alchemical items that have never appeared in the Wizarding World before.

This book is divided into three groups of seven pages each.

On the seventh page of the first set, there is a drawing of a magic wand being swallowed by a giant python; on the seventh page of the second set, there is a drawing of a goblet.

Slytherin's Wand is still missing, waiting for Little Tom to lead the way.

William has already obtained the goblet— the Holy Grail —which unlocks the third set of content.

He gently took the heavy Goblet of Fire out of the box and slowly raised it.

"What do I need to do to get closer to the Book of Alchemy?"

"Yes, put it here." Nicolas turned to the page on the goblet in her Book of Alchemy.

William placed the Holy Grail on it, and when he released his grip, the goblet miraculously floated in mid-air, stable and unfallen.

The originally dark image suddenly brightened up and shone brightly.

The contents of the third volume unfold like a book of Death written by the Death Reaper.

Countless phantom images of alchemical items flickered in the air, each one lifelike, like a holographic projection.

Nicolas stared intently at the magnificent painting, his eyes burning with desire. He reached out and grabbed the Book of Alchemy, but as soon as the thought arose, the phantoms quickly overlapped.

The Book of Alchemy has returned to its original bark-like appearance.

He turned to the third volume again, silently reciting it in his mind, and saw a large amount of text appear, interspersed with many pictures.

Nicolas flipped through the book quickly, completely engrossed in it. He soon reached the end, but then paused, sighed in astonishment, and slumped back in his chair.

"Oh no, William, we've become... the eldest of the Three Brothers."

William frowned and took the book from Nicolas.

William already knew that the Philosopher's Stone could prolong life, but not grant immortality.

After all, flesh and blood... the mortal body cannot last forever.

Nicolas, who was over six hundred years old, was already as old as tree bark.

Given his condition, even if he were to forge a few more Philosopher's Stone, he could only live to be a thousand years old at most.

The Book of Alchemy created the Philosopher's Stone, which can be used to brew the Elixir of Life and prolong life.

Nicolas is attempting to create a new alchemical item that can reverse physical aging and restore youth.

With these two things, one can achieve immortality.

But this kind of thing doesn't exist in the Wizarding World, at least not before. Now, having opened the contents of the third volume, it's possible to create such a thing.

Did William and Nicolas succeed?

Of course it was successful.

The Book of Alchemy provides a new alchemical item, along with instructions on how to create it.

--Azoth.

The book was written in Ancient Runes, which William seemed to have little trouble with.

According to the book, Azoth corresponds to the Philosopher's Stone and is a universal solvent and elixir.

It makes material transformation possible, restores the body to youth, and heals all injuries.

But here's the problem... In the Tale of the Three Brothers, the eldest brother created the Philosopher's Stone.

The Book of Alchemy only tells him how to refine the Philosopher's Stone, but it doesn't tell him how to brew the Elixir of Life.

Even if William and Nicolas could concoct Azoth, they still wouldn't be able to brew the elixir of youth.

Because they didn't include the boiling step.

Death's trap... has appeared once again.

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