Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 159 Nick LeMay
Like a dark phantom flashing past, the door of the ordinary house was opened and then gently closed, without any passerby noticing.

Toby was wearing a large pitch-black witch robe, the hood had not been taken off, and he was holding a wand. He had already appeared in the hall, and his every move revealed a sense of caution.

After walking out of the foyer, Toby came to the large living room. It could be seen that this place was once used to study alchemy. Various instruments were placed everywhere, and smoke was slowly rising.

There is more than one living room, and there is no doubt that the house has been cast with a traceless stretching spell.Toby walked vigilantly and slowly through the long corridor, when he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the end of the corridor, and immediately pointed his wand over.

A wizard all in white slowly poked his head out. He was very old, his eyebrows and hair were all white, and his skin was paler than a dead man.

"Coffee? Or tea?"

Nick Flamel asked with a smile, as if he was talking to a familiar friend, rather than facing an intruder who might kill him at any time.

Toby remained silent for a while. He saw the tea bag in Flamel's hand from a distance, slowly put down his wand, and strode towards another small and comfortable living room. I have a cup of tea and two snacks.

"You knew I was coming?" Toby asked, turning his head.

The extra snack was obviously prepared for him.

Flamel helped Toby make a decision without authorization. He put the tea bag in a teacup filled with hot water and lifted it up little by little. The movement was very slow, and it was estimated that it would take 10 minutes to put it on the coffee table.

Toby simply took over the teacup, and by the way helped the old LeMay to sit on the sofa.

"When Albus gave me back the Philosopher's Stone, I knew that one day you would come to me."

Flamel smiled and said, his eyes flickering with inquiry: "What did you do to the Philosopher's Stone? I can't detect it anyway."

"It's Bone Age Algae."

Toby sat on the seat on the other side of the coffee table, and stared at Flamel with his eyes under the hood: "I got it in the city of Loch Ness, it must have been extinct in the wizarding world long ago, it is very good The tracking method used."

"So that's it." Flame said with satisfaction, he slowly stretched out an arm, trying to raise the teacup in front of him to take a sip, but was held down by Toby across the coffee table.

"Mr. Flamel." Toby said in a low tone: "I'm not here to chat with you, nor to answer your questions. I want to know why you and Principal Dumbledore insist on destroying the Sorcerer's Stone ?”

Flamel's temper was still so good, he simply retracted his arms and stopped drinking tea.

"Oh, you're exactly what Albus said."

"The principal mentioned me?"

"Yeah, a student who gave him such a headache, that's how Albus usually describes you."

When it came to Dumbledore, Toby was less eager.

He was silent for a while.

"Is it just a headache?" He said, "If you have to make such a comparison, the headmaster is indeed a headache. In order to avoid arousing the headmaster's suspicion, I held back the whole vacation and didn't come to you until today. The timing was right, a perfect chance to get away."

LeMay asked with interest: "Can you tell me in detail?"

"Forget it." Toby said: "After all, I don't know many clues, I just saw a pair of eyes. But I am really interested in the heir of Slytherin. After finishing these things, I will find a way Go figure it out. The Slytherin Chamber of Secrets sounds tempting."

"So you really plan to do archaeology at Hogwarts?" LeMay seemed to know Toby very well, and he asked with a smile: "I've heard that part of your experience is mixed with ancient ruins, including ancient magic, And magic circles, and ritual magic—can you help me?"

Toby did not refuse, he followed Flamel's sight to the bookshelf, some of which were books he was familiar with - including "Ancient Magic" he had written, and various magazines where he had published articles, and many places They've all been flagged, obviously read more than once.

"I have a very interesting discovery." Flame turned the pages of the book with great difficulty, but his tone seemed a little excited: "I have carefully read your research on magic circles and ritual magic, and found that it has a lot in common with alchemy. It can also be said that they all have a profound impact on alchemy, perhaps in the distant ages, before alchemy appeared, there were already magic circles and ritual magic."

This speculation immediately aroused Toby's interest.

"You mean they're older than alchemy? You mean the ancient Greeks?"

The ancient Greek period was from 800 BC to 146 BC. It was the earliest period in the magic world that could be traced back. Many famous wizards appeared at that time, and they are still preserved on chocolate frog cards. For example, they can summon The patron saint of giant size [Andros the Invincible], the prophet [Karkas] and [Mopsos], and the famous black wizard [Helbo the Despicable].

"No," Flamel said. "Maybe it's older than that, maybe it's from the dark ages."

The Dark Ages are much older than the ancient Greek period, from about the twelfth century BC to the ninth century BC.

This time, Toby was not so excited. He quickly calmed down, turned his eyes away from the books, and focused on Nick Flamel.

"But you haven't answered my question yet." He said, "Even if you want to refuse, you don't need to fool me with the dark age. It was a blank period in the magic world, and there is no written record handed down."

Flame met Toby's gaze, and even though it was covered by a hood, he still accurately found the deepest darkness under the hood and looked straight at him.

"Yes, there is no written record." Flamel said: "But there are still magic handed down. I believe you have seen it with your own eyes, whether it is a magic circle or ritual magic."

"Or... the Philosopher's Stone."

There was a brief silence.

"What did you say?"

Toby's tone became more serious in an instant: "Didn't you make the Philosopher's Stone yourself?"

"Oh, it's not that serious." Flame shook his head and said, "I made the Sorcerer's Stone. But few people know the connection between it and ancient magic. In other words, if you look at it from the current point of view, even I can be regarded as an iconic figure of ancient magic, after all, I have lived for too long."

"But the Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed," said Toby.

"That's right." Flamel nodded: "But don't you want to know how the Sorcerer's Stone was made? Don't say you're not interested in the Sorcerer's Stone, even the mysterious people want it."

"But I also believe that the Sorcerer's Stone cannot be copied." Toby's tone contained vigilance: "And I vaguely feel that you seem to be setting a trap for me. Although I don't know the reason yet. I am very sorry Willing to say so, Monsieur Flamel, but my patience has a limit."

Nick Flamel sighed, as if he felt sorry for Toby's choice.

"Okay." He compromised, and said slowly: "All this comes from part of my previous experience. I was not very young at that time, and I was nearly four hundred years old. I received a commission, and this commission Something to do with a fearsome dark wizard, Extis."

After hearing the name, Toby said in a low tone: "I've heard of him"

"Then it should be easier for you to understand the story." Flamel continued: "I came to a small island with some people. Extis lived there, and it is said that he was insane in his later years. Insanity—I have no doubt about it, I have never seen so close to hell, it is terrible. Please forgive me for not telling you too much, but before going to that island, I set an unbreakable oath."

"All in all, in the process of searching, the clues left by Extis made me feel extremely disturbed. I knew that one day I would destroy the Philosopher's Stone with my own hands, and I couldn't let it continue to exist. Otherwise, There is a good chance that I will become a lunatic who cannot die. That would be too tortured."

After listening to all the narrations, Toby asked, "Do you know the exact location of that small island?"

"Almost no one knows." Le May was not disappointed or frustrated by this, but expressed a feeling of gratitude: "I believe you already understand the reason why I would say that."

"Of course." Toby whispered, "Of course I know why."

"Azkaban."

"I didn't expect you to have been to Azkaban."

Under Ruoyou Ruowu's gaze, Flamel said: "So you should know why Albus didn't tell you why he destroyed the Philosopher's Stone. He didn't want you to cause trouble. The marking spell, floating alone in the sea, is extremely difficult to find."

"Yes, I know very well." Toby said, but his tone did not loosen at all.

Flamel sighed again.

"It seems that my persuasion is useless. So what are we going to do next, erase my memory? Or—"

He deliberately left a blank space, symbolizing the ending that he no longer cared about.

"No, let's forget it." Toby stood up, making a gesture to leave: "Your body is too weak to withstand any spells. I don't want my soul to be polluted because of this, it is already fragile enough, So fragile."

Before Toby really left, LeMay took the time to ask: "Is this also related to the reason why you don't want to take off your hood?"

Toby stood up suddenly, he turned around slowly, and lifted his hood to disperse the smoke surrounding his face.

"I don't like to show my true face, it will leave clues and memories. But this time, I just hope to be polite and not want to scare the owner of the house."

Under the hood is a golden mask that vaguely blends with the face. The two faces are intertwined and overlapped. Black fine lines spread to the entire face, beating like blood vessels, faintly revealing some unknown law. It's like a magic circle.

In the face, dark eyes looked at a startled Nick Flamel.Pointing to his face, Toby asked, "Do you think this is also the magic of the Dark Ages?"

Flamel observed carefully for a long time. If it wasn't because he couldn't move freely, he would have walked over to take a closer look.

He finally asked: "What dark ages are you referring to? The mask? Or the face under the mask?"

Toby put the hood back on, and the black smoke gathered again, covering his face.

"I think, masks from the dark ages, and darker souls than that."

Toby left, as silently as he had come.

Flamel finally had time to enjoy his tea, but his expression was worried.

"What a pity, what a stubborn man. I've tried my best to persuade him, but he still refuses the Philosopher's Stone, which is really strange. Is it really a student you taught, Albus?"

A figure slowly descended from the attic of the house, and Albus Dumbledore appeared with a tired Fox. He looked in the direction Toby left, walked across to Flamel, and sat in the chair Toby had sat on before. Going up, he picked up a sip of untouched tea and took a sip.

"It tastes good." Dumbledore smiled, "Perhaps I should come here more often."

"If you want, you are welcome at any time." LeMay asked curiously: "But how do you know that he will come today? You should understand what I mean. After the end of Hogwarts last semester, any day He might come."

Dumbledore gently put Fox on the coffee table, and he said: "Because I know my student very well. When Toby was a student, he has been vigilant against me, very vigilant. If there is no guarantee , he will not take the risk to come to you. Not long ago, the vice-principal of Waggadu came to teach at Hogwarts. In this situation where the school is inclined to communicate, the principal of the school must be present .”

"Poor Angela, it is estimated that she is still kept in the dark by Toby, thinking that Toby asked her to help with other things, but she doesn't know that her role is only to keep an eye on me. "

During Dumbledore's explanation, Nick Flamel finally picked up the tea. He took a sip comfortably and let out a comfortable breath.

"But what now?" Flamel asked, after spending the same amount of time putting down his teacup. "Honestly, I thought he'd do it. He looks so scary. But he doesn't worry about me." Will I tell you about it?"

Dumbledore maintained the same smile: "This is the genius of my student. He cares more about the result than the process. Toby has already got the answer and knows where to go next. As for the rest It doesn't matter to him, and he may even find an excuse to fool it-this is his usual style."

"You really think so?" Flamel asked suspiciously, "Haven't you noticed his current state? It looks very dangerous. Even if he is a dark wizard, someone will believe it immediately."

"Seriously, how can you still laugh now?"

Dumbledore put down his empty teacup, his blue eyes sparkled, and he said in a tone of great sincerity——

"Yes, I don't want Toby to continue to ask why the Sorcerer's Stone was destroyed, but many times things don't develop in the direction we want, forcing us to make a choice."

"And I haven't been this happy for a long time. Even in those years when he left the UK, even when he was out of school, Toby still didn't ruin his soul."

(End of this chapter)