The Philosopher's Stone by Nicolas Flamel

Chapter 73 The Philosopher's Stone by Nicolas Flamel

Avada smiled but didn't speak, though inwardly he sighed—this was the only way to escape the vicious cycle of trust.

At first, he wanted to use Voldemort as a cover, saying that he came to the forbidden section to complete the homework assigned by Voldemort... But after thinking about it, Voldemort is now the professor. If there is really a need for homework, he can just give him a note. Why should he sneak into the forbidden section?

In desperation, he had no choice but to reveal his identity as a "prophet," claiming that he was waiting for Harry. Otherwise, he couldn't explain why he would secretly browse the forbidden section and study dark magic—his magical senses were his biggest secret, and he absolutely could not expose them at this time.

By perusing the books left by Professor Baker, he had come to understand the significance of his abilities and what a true dark wizard was like. If his ability to directly sense magic were leaked… he couldn't even imagine what awaited him.

Professor Baker seems to have become aware of his secret. Although he has clearly underestimated himself and is bound by the contract, he is still a potential threat—this is his biggest pressure besides Voldemort, and also the main motivation for his development of the Boundless Charm.

However, claiming to be a prophet would bring another problem: it would greatly weaken the trust he had built with Dumbledore. Dumbledore originally thought that he had chosen to trust him under Voldemort's influence, but the nature of the matter changed after the prophet's identity was exposed: maybe you saw the future and knew for sure that I, Dumbledore, would not harm you, so you confidently came to me to inform me?

Moreover, given the current situation, Dumbledore might be reminded of some unpleasant things: a natural prophet, with astonishing talent, frequently exposed to and studying dark magic... Who was the last person like that?

What's more, he's currently learning from Voldemort, the modern-day Dark Lord.

Therefore, what Avada Kedavra had to say had to revolve around one purpose: to assure Dumbledore that he would not follow the path of the Dark Lord and fall into becoming a dark wizard.

Therefore, he chose to make Dumbledore notice his similarities to Grindelwald, and then explicitly let him confirm that he and Grindelwald were different.

By using this short-term contrast, the preconceived notion in Dumbledore's mind can be completely erased.

"Let me tell you about yourself first."

Ignoring Harry's astonished question, Avada smiled and asked, "Can you tell me why you're suddenly so curious about Nicolas Flamel, even going so far as to sneak into the Forbidden Section?"

"Besides, you didn't even ask anyone—every fourth-year student who passed the history of magic can recite Nicolas Flamel's contributions to alchemy fluently. If you had just asked around, you wouldn't have ended up in the forbidden section."

"I……"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to tell his kind senior, "I suspect Snape is trying to steal something kept in the fourth-floor hallway, and that thing is related to Nicolas Flamel... So who is he?"

"Those things in the fourth-floor corridor belong to Nicolas Flamel?!"

Avada exclaimed, then frowned and muttered to himself, "So that's what he was planning..."

Now it was Harry's turn to be confused: "What?"

"Nicolas Flamel was a French wizard who lived for over six hundred years and made groundbreaking contributions to the field of alchemy. He was also an old friend of our headmaster, Dumbledore, and they collaborated on some research projects."

"His most famous contribution was the successful creation of the Philosopher's Stone, or Sorcerer's Stone, the pinnacle of alchemy, which had previously only existed in theory. That stone could turn lead into gold and could also assist in the creation of the elixir of immortality, which is why he himself lived to be six hundred years old..."

"I see!"

Harry, upon hearing Avada Kedavra's words, became excited as well: "That big dog must be guarding the Philosopher's Stone! Nicolas Flamel entrusted the Philosopher's Stone to Dumbledore for safekeeping, and then Snape tried to steal it! Who wouldn't want to live forever and have endless gold?"

"Not Professor Snape."

"Um?"

"I can't tell you why, Harry, but I can assure you that Professor Snape was definitely not the one who wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone."

"Good heavens, you think every professor is a saint, just like Hermione... I saw it with my own eyes! On Halloween, Snape sneaked into the fourth-floor corridor while the trolls were causing chaos, and he even got bitten on the leg by that dog!"

"...Let's stop discussing this, Harry. I'm still certain that Professor Snape wasn't the one trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but I can't convince you otherwise, because I can't tell you why I'm so sure. This discussion is pointless; let's leave it at that."

"You knew all along that someone was going to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but you couldn't tell anyone? Were you being threatened?"

Harry's eyes were suddenly filled with worry and anger.

"..."

Although he was grateful that Harry cared about him, Avada rolled his eyes at Harry's outrageous ideas—who would be so stupid as to forcibly coerce a student in the territory of the most powerful white wizard, Dumbledore? Even the Horcruxes and the Diary only dared to lure people in slowly!

"There's no threat involved, it's just too dangerous. I got involved unintentionally, so there's no need to spread the risk... In this matter, sharing the risk doesn't reduce the danger for everyone, so one person is enough."

"Professor Dumbledore knew I was involved and gave my consent. He can also guarantee my safety."

Ultimately, it was the powerful leverage of "Dumbledore's guarantee" that finally stopped Harry from asking further questions.

"And to be honest, participating in this has actually brought me some benefits. For example, I learned how to become invisible and how to read normally in the dark while participating in this..." Avada added with a smile.

Yes, all these forbidden spells are from Voldemort's cult, and have nothing to do with any kind of magical sense.

Seeing that Nicolas Flamel's message had been delivered, Avada steered the conversation back to the main topic: "Back to my thoughts on the secrecy law... Ha, actually, it's just a thought. Changing such a deeply ingrained law would definitely cause violent chaos and disorder, which is not what I want to see."

"However, I still can't help but imagine the scene of Muggles and wizards walking together in the same world."

Why is that?

A hint of curiosity flickered in Harry's eyes—he knew far too little about this senior whose name he didn't even know.

Upon hearing Harry's question, a hint of reminiscence flickered in Avada's eyes:

"When I first discovered I had magical talent, I was only six or seven years old. At that time, I was introverted and timid. After discovering that I was different from others, I didn't dare to reveal this ability to others, afraid of being treated as a monster, rejected, and isolated... At that time, magic was so mysterious and interesting to me, so I often secretly practiced magic to see if I could do more interesting things..."

"Then one day, while I was practicing magic, I was caught by three guys. I panicked, thinking that the day I had been dreading for so long was finally coming... and then guess what?"

They crowded around me with curious eyes, begging me to show them a few more; and after I carefully confirmed that they didn't reject me at all, I suddenly made three new friends!

Avada could almost hear Dumbledore breathing.

"What impressed me most was that when I asked them not to spread the word that I could use magic, one of them said this."

He curled the corners of his lips into a smile and murmured, "Why would you think that? Having magic is such a wonderful thing! If I could easily help everyone, make everyone happy, and be thanked by everyone, I would be ecstatic!"

"Even after I grew up and realized that people's hearts were not as pure as we imagined when we were children, and after I came into contact with the magical world and learned about the Law of Secrecy... I have always kept this sentence in my heart."

(End of this chapter)