Chapter 161: Alchemy Plan

Change the world?

Wizard Sean doesn’t yet possess such grand ideals, but he has indeed begun preparing to make some special cookies.

【Create Animal Cookie Series】.

Wizard Sean wrote this on the first page of his notebook.

Alchemy combined with Transfiguration is undoubtedly fascinating, and the Animal Cookie Series is the full plan Wizard Sean intends to execute.

Its deepening direction has two foreseeable paths: one is to improve quality, crafting cookies that grant wizards clear willpower;

the other is to increase quantity, producing other animal cookies.

Studying Transfiguration will naturally improve the quality of Wizard Sean’s cookies, so what Wizard Sean needs to consider is which animal his next cookie should be.

【By crafting Animal Cookies, unlock the Master-level title in Alchemy】.

Wizard Sean wrote down the second step of his plan.

The 【Apprentice】 and 【Beginner】 titles grant minimal bonuses to Golden Talent, but once you reach the 【Master】 title, special talent bonuses emerge.

For example, the silent spell bonus in the Spellcraft field;

the advanced Transfiguration bonus from “object” to “magic” in the Transfiguration field;

and the brief burst power bonus in the Flight field.

These extra talent bonuses have all benefited Wizard Sean immensely.

Now examine the advancement requirements:

【Advancement: Three Beginner-level Alchemical creations and six Apprentice-level Alchemical creations unlock the Beginner-level title in Alchemy】.

The Howler, the Floating Quill, and the Owl Cookie are the three alchemical creations Wizard Sean has currently learned.

Next, Wizard Sean must decide which animal to choose.

It must exist within Hogwarts Castle, so Wizard Sean can observe it easily; and it must be sufficiently useful…

Make the biting vine sway inside the seedling box, emitting a faint, unobtrusive squeaking sound. Time passed amid these rustling noises.

Noon.

The Great Hall.

The enchanted ceiling showed snow. Amid a massive holly tree, countless wings flapped—brown, gray, and snowy-white feathers mixed with snowflakes—owl post was arriving.

Wizard Sean sat at his familiar table, beside Hermione, her book “Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century” open atop a milk jug.

She frowned, as if puzzled by something.

Neville, who had arrived earlier, cheerfully greeted Wizard Sean.

“The post owls are about to arrive—I think Grandma will send me a few things I forgot.”

Neville said shyly.

Wizard Sean had just begun eating his porridge when, sure enough, a commotion erupted overhead. Hundreds of owls burst in, circling the Great Hall and dropping letters and packages into the midst of chatting students.

A large, bulging package landed on Neville’s head, then a grayish giant swooped past Hermione’s jug, causing the silver pitcher to wobble and spill milk.

Christmas is near, and young witches and wizards heading home always have things to say—and so do their families.

Take Hermione: she kept writing letters, and whenever she read certain passages, she would sneak a cautious glance at Wizard Sean before continuing.

After the troll incident, Wizard Sean and Hermione had increased their exchanges, mostly because Wizard Sean shared some techniques on spell combinations.

Not just combinations and pairings of different spell types, but also Professor Flitwick’s theories on casting two spells simultaneously.

The Christmas gift Wizard Sean prepared for Hermione was precisely this notebook.

Then came Jia Jia Siting: Wizard Sean organized the Chinese recipes he remembered, had Yi La (the house-elf in the kitchen) test them, and the results were excellent.

He compiled them into a book.

After bustling about before meals, Wizard Sean hadn’t actually made much progress.

Sometimes he marveled: when had he started preparing so many Christmas gifts?

He even had to ask upperclassmen for help—some items couldn’t be obtained in Hogwarts and needed to be collected from Hogsmeade Village…

He wondered how Bruce was doing; last time he visited the hospital, he and the others had been thrown out by the furious Madam Pomfrey:

“I’ve never seen such a foolish wizard! Using his head to test the power of bumping vines!

And you fools—you didn’t even stop him!”

After lunch, Wizard Sean went to the hospital.

The hospital, on the second floor of the castle, was managed by Madam Pomfrey and provided basic medical care for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

During the school year, any student or staff member injured or ill was sent here for treatment.

Wizard Sean believed the hospital was no less remarkable than any other place in Hogwarts—it was legendary.

Its achievements included, but were not limited to: curing Colin Creevey’s petrification, healing Harry after his battle with Voldemort, and mending Draco after the Sectumsempra attack.

The more he thought about it, the more curious Wizard Sean became about the so-called healing magic.

Entering the hospital, Madam Pomfrey’s expression was still sour, but this time she didn’t throw Wizard Sean out—she allowed his visit.

“A story worthy of hanging on the hospital wall… foolish…”

Before reaching the bed, Wizard Sean heard Bruce’s voice.

“You provoked the bumping vines, then went to test Devil’s Snare—you thought they’d fight each other—what happened? They both attacked you, didn’t they? Idiot.”

Bruce’s upperclassman was furious again.

“Mmm…”

It seemed Bruce had been injured again, severely—so badly he could barely speak.

“He says practice yields truth, Leon.”

“Mmm!”

“He says Pistor was right.”

“No—you translate!”

The three upperclassmen were always quarreling.

“Green?”

At that moment, a voice suddenly came from the wall; Wizard Sean turned and noticed the portrait of a witch with long silver curls.

Below it read: Daisi Devant, St. Mungo Healer (1722–1741).

Wizard Sean had seen another inscription in the Headmaster’s office: Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (1741–1768).

“Delighted to see you, child.”

Daisi Devant, St. Mungo Healer, smiled and winked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and mischief.

“I heard, child, that something special happened today.”

Something special… a story?

Wizard Sean looked curiously at Daisi Devant, St. Mungo Healer, who shook her head with a smile:

“It’s a story of a beautiful ending… truly moving—fate flows like a flood; without islands or reefs, it cannot stir beautiful waves.”

Her gaze blurred through the falling snow, through abandoned streets, dilapidated houses, through London’s ever-present smog, to the place where greatness once was born:

“A resolute soul always carves out its own path.”