Hogwarts Archaeologist Toby

Like a dark phantom flashing past, the door of an ordinary house was opened and then closed gently without attracting the attention of any passerby.

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 was more than one living room, and there was no doubt that the house was under a traceless stretching spell. Toby walked through the long corridor cautiously and slowly. He suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the end of the corridor and immediately pointed his wand there.

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. He slowly put down the wand and strode towards another small and comfortable living room. He saw that tea bags had been brewed on the retro-style coffee table. I had a cup of tea and two snacks.

"Did you know I was coming?" Toby turned around and asked.

The extra snack was obviously prepared for him.

Flamel took it upon himself to help Toby make the decision. He put the tea bag in the teacup filled with hot water and lifted it up little by little. He moved very slowly. It was estimated that it would take ten minutes before he could 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 am I here to answer your questions. I want to know why you and Principal Dumbledore insisted on destroying the Philosopher's Stone. ?”

Flamel's temper was still so good that he simply took his arm back and stopped drinking tea.

"Oh, you did 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 Dumbledore was mentioned, Toby became 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."

Flamel asked with interest: "Can you tell me more about it?"

"Forget it." Toby said: "After all, I don't know many clues, I just saw a pair of eyes. But I am indeed very interested in the heir of Slytherin. I will find a way after finishing these things Go figure it out. Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets... sounds very 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, there is no need to fool me with the Dark Ages. It was a blank period in the magic world, and there is no written record that has been 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... it's 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." Flamel shook his head and said, "I made the magic stone. But few people know its connection with ancient magic. In other words, if you look at it from today's perspective, even I can be considered an iconic figure in 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 Philosopher's Stone is made? Don't say you are not interested in the Philosopher's Stone, even the mysterious man wants to get it."

"But I also believe that the Philosopher's Stone cannot be copied." There was caution in Toby's tone: "And I vaguely feel that you seem to be setting a trap for me... although I don't know yet yet. Reason. I hate to say this, Mr. Flamel, but my patience has its limits."

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

"Okay." He compromised and slowly said: "All this comes from part of my past experience. I was not that young at that time, almost four hundred years old. I received a commission. This commission It’s related to a terrible 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 this story." Flamel continued: "I and some people came to a small island, where Extis once lived. It is said that he became mentally ill in the later years of his life. Abnormality - I have no doubt about this. I have never seen a place so close to hell. It is really terrible. Please forgive me for not telling you too much truth. Before going to the island, I made a decision. An unbreakable oath."

"All in all, during the process of exploration, the clues left by Axtis made me feel extremely uneasy. I know that one day I will destroy the Magic Stone with my own hands and cannot let it continue to exist. Otherwise, There’s a good chance I’d turn into a lunatic who wouldn’t die…that would be too torturous.”

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

"Almost no one knows." LeMay was not disappointed or frustrated by this, but expressed joy: "I believe you already know why I said this."

"Of course..." Toby whispered: "Of course...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 his hood back on, and the black smoke gathered again, covering his face.

"I think it's a mask from the Dark Ages, and a soul darker 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. He is such a stubborn person. I have tried my best to persuade him, but he still refused the Sorcerer's Stone. This is really strange. Do I really deserve to be a student taught by you, Albus?"

A figure slowly walked down from the attic of the house, and Albus Dumbledore appeared with a tired Fawkes. He looked at the direction Toby left, walked to the opposite side of Flamel, and sat on the chair where Toby had sat before. Go up, pick up a mouthful of untouched tea, and take 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. "

While Dumbledore was explaining, Nick Flamel finally brought up the tea. He took a pleasant sip and exhaled comfortably.

"But what should we do now?" Flamel asked after spending the same time putting the tea cup down: "To be honest, I thought he would do it. He looks really scary. But he is not worried about me. Will I tell you this?"

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."