"I'm François Waryn Mauriac."

Mr. Mauriac bowed gracefully.

"Now, I'm going to test your wand, who is going to start?"

He turned around with a light movement.

"Oh, Miss Delacour, let's start with you, okay?"

"Of course, Mr. Mauriac." Fleur smiled slightly, took out her wand and handed it to him with both hands, "Please." ”

"Oh!"

Mauriac reached out his hands and took the wand with extraordinarily slender fingers.

"I remember, this is my work, and you specially asked me to customize it, yes."

He stroked the shaft of his wand with his fingers.

"24.13 centimeters long, made of maple wood, containing a girl's hair."

"Yes." Fleur said, "It was my grandmother's hair." ”

"That's right." Mr. Mauriac was a little excited, "Magical material combination, I've never tried it before that, but it suits you perfectly, doesn't it?" ”

"Yes, I love it." Fleur said.

"It is my pleasure to be satisfied, Miss Delacour."

Mr. Mauriac waved his wand slightly, and many pink and gold sparks erupted from the wand.

Then he whispered, "Orchids are blooming!" ”

A bouquet of flowers blooms on the wand head.

"It's done, no problem." He shook his wand to make the flowers disappear, then handed it to Fleur with both hands, "You take good care of it." ”

Fleur smiled, took the wand in both hands as well, and then returned to Madame Maxim and sat down with a light step.

"Next ......"

Mr. Mauriac raised his hands and turned lightly again to look at Krum.

"Oh, come on, show me your wand, boy."

Victor Krum stood up, drooping his round shoulders and stubbing his feet, took two listless steps, and held out a hand to hand his wand to Mr. Mauriac.

"Oh! Boy! Mr. Mauriac looked at Krum as if he were looking at a monster, "I don't accept anything that anyone hands me with one hand!" ”

"My name is Victor Krum."

Krum's brow furrowed, as if he didn't like to be called a "boy."

But he turned his wand around and held out his other hand.

"You don't like me to call you a boy? I must say that I am also forcing myself to call you by this word. ”

Mr. Mauriac took the wand with both hands and glanced at Krum with sympathy.

He shook his head, "To be honest, you are too old, you are only 17 years old, but you have a 30-year-old face. ”

Krum, who was already a little bitter-looking, had a complicated expression at the moment, and looked even older.

But he didn't have a chance with Mr. Mauriac's poisonous tongue, and still maintained his taciturn nature.

Mr. Mauriac received no response, gave him a blank look, and focused on the wand in his hand.

"Oh!"

Just one glance at the wand, he immediately showed a look of disgust.

"This original style, devoid of beauty, must be the product of that old guy Grigovich!"

He glanced at Krum again with disgust.

"But it's obviously perfect for you, Krum, bulky, stout, stiff, 26 centimeters long."

Krum still drooped his eyes, keeping a wooden expression, and did not respond to him.

"Hmph, hornbeam wood, containing the tendon cord of the dragon's heart, a flock of birds."

Mr. Mauriac pursed his lips and waved his wand.

Krum's wand thumped like a pistol, and a flock of birds flapped their wings out of the wand head and flew out of the open window.

"No problem."

He passed the wand with both hands.

"Thank you."

Krum took his wand with both hands, and turned to walk, his steps quick, as if fleeing some terrible germ or poison gas.

Mr. Mauriac was unimpressed, and turned to look at Scott with another delicate movement.

"Oh, you're the only one left, English boy from Hogwarts."

He stretched out his hands directly.

"Hello, Mr. Mauriac."

Scott pulled out his wand and consciously placed both hands on his.

"Very well, you are very polite, boy." Mr. Mauriac nodded in satisfaction, "I look like I was 17 years old, and I was as handsome and charming as I was when I was younger. ”

Scott twitched the corners of his mouth, "Thank you." ”

Mister Mauriac began to examine his wand.

"Well, no doubt it's the product of that old guy at Ollivander." He muttered, "It's gratifying, Ollivander knows at least a little bit of basic aesthetics compared to Grigovich's old-fashioned one." ”

He still ran his fingers over the shaft of the staff.

"Ebony, inside is the dragon's nerves, it's a reasonable match." "At 31.115 centimeters long, it's longer than most wands," he commented. ”

He waved his wand slightly.

"Fluorescent flicker!"

A cloud of white light lit up at the tip of the wand.

"It's in great condition, no problem."

He returned the wand to Scott with both hands.

Scott hurriedly stretched out his hands to take it.

"Good!" Mr. Mauriac raised his hands again, "My work is undoubtedly done, so please allow me to take my leave." ”

He looked at some of the furnishings in the room, especially the asymmetrical ones, and made no secret of his dislike.

"For the sake of my fragile nerves, I will not allow myself to stay in such an unaesthetic place for a long time, goodbye!"

As he spoke, he didn't care about Madame Maxim's ugly face at all, and couldn't wait to leave quickly.

Scott noticed that while he left in a hurry, the distance he took was almost the same with each step.

The fragile "Mr. Symmetry" said he would go, but he had clearly annoyed Madame Maxim, and the rest of the people had to innocently endure the low pressure of the plus-sized lady.

"Oh, don't worry, Mauriac is such a weirdo!" Mr. Jolly awkwardly rounded, "The next step is the interview and photo session." ”

He clapped his hands, and two reporters walked in from outside the door, one of them still holding a magic camera.

"Hello, we are reporters for the Verstenberg Zeitung, I'm Alain Martin, and I'm Bar Masson, and I'm taking pictures."

The gaze of these two French journalists was very clear that they had come mainly for Hibiscus.

This was also confirmed by the subsequent visit and photographing.

They only asked a few simple questions during their visit to Scott and Krum, but several times more questions during their visit to Fleur.

Scott was happy to sit and watch Fleur deal with the reporters' endless questions, but he could only suppress his impatience.

It was Krum's performance that surprised him a little, Scott thought that as a star, Krum was used to facing the media, but Krum was uncomfortable in the interview.

When it was time to take pictures, Mr. Reporter also made sure that Furong stood in the middle position, and took a lot of solo photos for her.

Scott noticed that Krum, who had been subconsciously avoiding the camera, was visibly relieved.

At breakfast the next day, Scott saw the Faustenberg Daily, France's magic newspaper, in Lucio's hands.

"It's a pity." Lucio, who had dark circles around his face, yawned and handed the newspaper to Scott, "They didn't give you and Krum much space. ”

Instead of reading the newspaper first, Scott asked, "You didn't sleep well last night?" ”

"What do you say?"

Lucio pursed his lips, pulled a small leather bag out of his pocket, and poured a bunch of headphones onto the table.

"Translation headset, optimized version, I and a few classmates rushed to make it overnight."

"Oh!" Scott laughed, picked up one of the headphones, and handed the others to the Hogwarts classmates, "Well done, Lucio." ”

Lucio yawned again, "You guys try it first, and we'll adjust it if there's a problem." ”

Scott looked at the [R] logo on the headset and said very respectfully, "No problem, it is produced by Russell Alchemy Classroom, and it should be better than the previous one." ”

Hearing his words, a tired Lucio smiled with satisfaction.

At this moment, several students happened to pass by, and when they heard this, they immediately stopped and looked at Scott and them with unkind eyes.

"How dare you say it." The tall boy in the lead spoke, "Do you dare to slander our Girard Alchemy Classroom without knowing anything, from Hogwarts." ”

Before Scott could respond, Lucio immediately stood up.

At this moment, the tiredness on his face had been swept away, and he had obviously entered a fighting state.

"What do you mean by slander?" He glanced at the boy, "The truth is that all the guests were unhappy with your Giral's translation headphones, and we Russell have made amends for your mistakes!" ”

The other party's face immediately turned gloomy, "Don't do anything superfluous, Lucio." Dissatisfied? Why are they dissatisfied? The fact that they can sit in on all the lessons without paying anything is already a great blessing! ”

This time, Lucio's face changed.

"You did it on purpose, Waldo." He said, "I should have doubted that although your Girard's alchemy level is not as good as our Russell, but it's just a mere translation headset, how can there be such a low-level mistake......

The more he spoke, the more gloomy the faces of the other party became.

Obviously, he was right.

The tall boy in the lead wanted to say something, but his face suddenly changed, and he turned around and left.

"Let's go!"

Under his leadership, several other people who followed him also left in a hurry.

"What happened?"

That's when Fleur walked over.

She glanced at the backs of the group of students in the Girard's Alchemy Classroom and looked at Lucio with a frown.

She lowered her voice, "Lucio, I thought you understood, at the very least, you shouldn't ...... in front of guests."

"Oh, you must have no idea what those guys did." Lucio pursed his lips and told Fleur about the translation headphones.

Fleur's face changed.

"You don't care." She said coldly, "I will tell Madame Maxim what you say." ”

Lucio nodded in agreement.

"That's fine, I'm too lazy to care about these troubles."

"I'm sorry." Fleur smiled apologetically at Scott, "Let you see the joke, we'll take care of this matter, I wish you a happy meal, goodbye." ”

With that, she turned and walked away with graceful and light steps.

Her smile was visibly murderous, and most of Scott's companions had almost forgotten what had happened, just staring at her back in a daze.

Scott glanced at the newspaper in his hand.

He discovers that the photos published in the newspaper are all photos of Fleur alone, except for a group photo.

A lot of praise was also spent on Fleur's beauty and talent, but only a passing mention of Scott and Krum.

Seeing this, Scott smiled with satisfaction.

He felt that getting too much attention was not a good thing.

He was glad that the Triwizard Tournament was not held at Hogwarts this time, and that he could avoid a lot of trouble.

Otherwise, it is undoubtedly that as an Englishman, he is more noticeable.

After breakfast, Scott, Fred and Cedric followed Lucio to Russell's alchemy classroom.

Among the students of the Hogwarts delegation, only Scott, Fred and Cedric were interested in alchemy and chose this course.

On the way to the classroom, Lucio told them something that was why the students of the Girard's Alchemy Classroom did what they did.

It was a decision led by Madame Maxime to open all Beauxbatons classes during the Triwizard Tournament, but the decision did not gain everyone's support.

Some of the professors, led by Professor Veronica Girard, the owner of the Girard's Alchemy Classroom, did not agree to make all courses public, especially alchemy, which Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft and Wizardry regarded as a traditional strength and core competency.

But with the support of the other professors, especially Professor August Russell, the owner of the Rosell's alchemy classroom, Madame Maxim's decision was confirmed by a show of hands.

"I'm afraid even Professor Girard herself didn't expect her apprentices to make such a small gesture to express their protest." Lucio shook his head, "If she knew, I'm afraid she would be even angrier than Madame Maxim." ”

Scott nodded in agreement.

It's too hard to make such a small move.

It's simply discrediting the names of Beauxbatons and Girard.

"It must be Valdo's own thing, he's not very smart all along." Lucio said with some schadenfreude.

Hearing this, Fred said curiously: "But those students, I mean, those people in the Girard Alchemy Classroom, seem to be headed by him. ”

Lucio scoffed, "Because his surname is Girard, and he is Professor Girard's nephew, even if he is a little stupid, those people always think of him as the leader." ”

Lucio tells them more of the backstory.

The two alchemy classrooms of Russell and Girard have been opened in Beauxbatons for hundreds of years, and have always been controlled by the two families.

Probably because of the lack of peers, the two families who are both studying alchemy have accumulated many contradictions due to long-standing comparisons, which has made the apprentices in the two classrooms hostile to each other for a long time.

Of course, the styles of the two families are also different.

The Russell family is more open, advocating communication, and is not stingy in teaching others.

The Girard family is very conservative, and has always liked to cherish the broom for themselves, and will not easily pass on knowledge.

"In short, Professor Girard and Professor Russell are both the best alchemists of Beauxbatons' time, but she is far less popular than Professor Russell."

Lucio whispered.

"It's all because of the consistent style of the Girard family, she recruits very few apprentices, basically all of them are the descendants of the family who are good friends with the Girard family, and among those apprentices, she always values the nephew who has the same surname as her."

He gloated again.

"This time Waldo is in trouble, and Madame Maxim will definitely use this as a name to get Professor Girard to lower his standards and admit a few more students. Professor Girard also had to compromise. In short, even if she loves Valdo again, she will definitely punish him severely. ”

Cedric asked, "Why do you want to be a professor at a school of witchcraft and magic if you don't want to recruit students?" ”

"Of course, it's because it gives them status and prestige, as well as an exchange of interests with other families." Lucio replied without thinking.

Scott: They were all thoughtful.

But all three of them thought they had heard a story about these things, and they didn't make any comments on them.

Only Cedric asked concernedly, "Is it okay, tell us all this?" ”

"It's okay." Lucio didn't care too much, "These things are open secrets, everyone knows about them, it's just that no one will talk about them publicly." ”

He suddenly smiled slyly.

"Besides, I'm a Spaniard, and I'm talking a few words about the French with the English, what's the problem?"

"No problem at all!"

Both Scott and Fred gave him a thumbs up.

With a smile, they arrived at their destination.

"We're here."

Lucio pointed to a metal door in the hallway ahead.

This door looks like gold and not gold, silver and not silver, with a variety of patterns, and it is also engraved with dense ancient magic scripts, inlaid with several huge gems.

A beautifully carved wooden plaque hangs horizontally above the door.

[Russell Alchemy Classroom]

[——Since 1535]

"The material of this door is an alchemical transformed alloy, known as Russell Alloy, and it is said that no wizard can break it and cannot apply any magic to it," Lucio said. ”

As he spoke, he placed his hand in the circular pattern in the center of the door.

Drops.

The gem flickered a few times, and the door opened.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come to class with me in the future, because you can't open this door yourself."

Lucio pushed the door open and walked in, and Scott and the others followed him.

"It's huge." Cedric whispered.

The interior of the classroom was surprisingly large, almost half the size of a Quidditch pitch.

Although the space is large, it does not seem empty, but rather a little crowded.

Huge workbenches, soaring shelves and shelves, as well as some oddly shaped specimens and instruments, fill the space.

Lucio said, "The professor hasn't come yet, so follow me." ”

He walked over to a workbench near the window.

"This is my territory." He turned his head and said, "Because you're auditors, so, probably, you can only borrow our things to operate......

He looked at the things on the workbench with some reluctance.

"Everyone looks at these very preciously, and they may not be willing to let you borrow them, and it's just me."

He sighed.

"In short, you must be careful not to break anything of mine, and of course, please pay me the corresponding gold galleon for the materials consumed."

Scott and the three of them looked at each other, then nodded.

Soon, other students walked into the classroom one after another.

"Lucio, I heard you had a fight with Valdo?"

"What happened...... Oh! ”

A few of the students came straight to Lucio as soon as they entered, but quickly shut up when they saw Scott and the three of them.

"You know, translating the headphones, Valdo warned us not to do anything superfluous, and then I found out that their mistake was deliberate," said Lucio. ”

"Oh my God......"

The others opened their mouths wide in surprise and then laughed again.

Probably because of Scott's presence, the men began to get together and whisper.

"I didn't expect ......"

"He's still that stupid......"

"This time it will be ......"

"Professor Girard......"

Scott couldn't really hear it, but he was sure they were just as gloating as Lucio.

Just then, the closed door opened again, and a wizard dressed in a white robe with long black hair walked in.

"Professor Russell is here." Lucio whispered.

To Scott's surprise, Professor Russell looked very young, no more than 35 years old.

He has an exceptionally handsome face, with deep eyebrows, sharp edges and an excellent temperament.

The apprentices immediately stopped whispering and all stood up, including Lucio, who greeted the wizard respectfully.

"Mentor."

Scott and the three of them bowed.

"Professor Russell."

"Hmm."

Professor Russell nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the three Scotts.

"Only three guests have chosen my class, and they are all Hogwarts students, in short, you are welcome."

He said welcome, but the professor's expression and tone of voice were cold.

He strode over to the largest workbench at the front of the classroom, took off his pure white gloves and put them away, then looked at Scott and the three of them again.

"As far as I know, Hogwarts doesn't offer alchemy, so you may not be able to keep up with us."

As he spoke, he leaned forward with his hands on the workbench.

"But I'm sorry, I can't change my lesson plan for you, so I can't guarantee that you will get something out of my class......"

With that, he straightened up again.

"So, I won't have any requirements for your learning progress, you can leave my class at any time without explaining it to me."

When he said this, his expression was still cold and indifferent, but his eyes were always calm to look at Scott and them.

"If I had to say, I would suggest that you go and audit the lessons of Duran's Alchemy Classroom, where together with the third-year students, Professor Duran will start teaching from the most basic knowledge."

Hearing this, Scott and the three of them all turned their heads to look at Lucio.

They came here, but he suggested it.

Before that, they didn't know that the alchemy classroom was divided into advanced and elementary, and it was not written on the curriculum or the door number.

Lucio responded to them with an innocent look.

Scott thought for a moment and held up a hand.

Professor Russell's eyebrows moved slightly, "Is there a problem?" You are...... Oh, the warriors of Hogwarts, Mr. Trolop? ”

"Yes, Professor." Scott said, "Excuse me, can we ask you questions and read the books in this classroom?" ”

"Oh?"

Professor Russell seemed a little surprised.

But he quickly nodded, "Yes, as long as you don't interfere with our teaching, of course, books can't be taken out of this classroom." ”

"Thank you for your generosity."

Scott bowed politely.

Fred and Cedric bowed after him.

Professor Russell nodded, motioned for them to sit down, and began teaching.

"Today's theories are not distinguished, and we continue to delve into the book of Raymonds Lule, The Book of Nature's Mysteries: The Fifth Element, on page 236......"

Scott and the three of them sat next to Lucio, listening attentively with the book in his hand.

Anyway, let's finish this lesson first.

Soon, Fred began to wander, and Cedric had a blank look on his face.

Scott listened for a while, and soon realized that he didn't understand it either.

At the end of the day, there is an essential difference between Scott's path and alchemy.

The material transformation involved in alchemy is a real transformation, while transfiguration is a temporary transformation that is achieved through the magical effect of magic.

In comparison, the former is undoubtedly more complicated.

Converting one substance into another through alchemy requires a very cumbersome process and a very large reserve of knowledge.

However, Transfiguration can be done with "I believe" and sufficient mana reserves.

Of course, alchemy has its irreplaceable place.

Transfiguration requires mana to be maintained, and if the mana dissipates, it will return to its original state, and it will not be able to conjure substances that the wizard himself cannot comprehend.

Whether it's crafting high-level magical items, developing new materials, or exploring the mysteries of new substances, alchemy is an indispensable magical discipline.

But for Scott, alchemy was only a reference to his magic system.

So all along, he didn't study this subject in particular depth.

As for Fred, although he and George are very good at inventing, they rely on the Weasley family inheritance of magical items to make them, which is somewhat different from orthodox alchemy.

And Cedric, he doesn't have any foundation at all.

It was only because of his love for Transfiguration and seeing Scott integrate the concept of alchemy into Transfiguration that he became interested in auditing the class.

In short, Scott and Fred are "wild people", and Cedric is Xiaobai, and the three of them came to this advanced alchemy classroom, obviously in the wrong place.

It's all Lucio's fault.

Scott never felt that a class was that long.

Whether it was out of respect or for the sake of Hogwarts' reputation, neither he nor Fred could sit obediently, for fear of disturbing others, and could not doze off.

Not to mention Cedric, an exemplary good student.

It wasn't until Fred kept moving his ass and writhed like a bound flea that the theory part was finally over.

Professor Russell gave the students an experimental operation, and Scott could talk.

"I thought you would have some foundation, especially Scott." Lucio grinned as he fiddled with the magic instruments on the countertop, "Looks like I'm overestimating your skills. ”

Scott said angrily, "Well, I'm only good at the inscription and activation part of the magic circuit. ”

"So your alchemy is to activate the magic circuit?" Lucio shook his head, "That's just one part of the work of making magical items, and it's the most rigid and simple part of the alchemy system. ”

"Simple...... Is it simple? Cedric's eyes were full of doubt.

"Oh, the ancient magic script is not simple at all." Fred said with some dissatisfaction, "That's the most serious class I've ever taken." ”

Lucio glanced at him.

"Ancient magic is not the same as alchemy." He kept moving, "Oh...... Scott surely understands, you can say it. ”

Both Fred and Cedric looked at Scott.

"How so?"

Scott thought for a moment.

"The ancient magic language course itself is a language course, and this language contains magic power, the complexity can be imagined, and it is undoubtedly very difficult to learn it well."

Fred and Cedric nodded their heads.

Scott continued, "Although the use of alchemy to create magical objects also involves knowledge of ancient magic texts, unless you want to become a great alchemist like Nicol Lemay, you don't really need to delve too deeply into ancient magic texts. ”

Lucio interjected, "Alchemy itself contains a series of knowledge such as material transformation, magical rituals, and elemental symbols, which are large enough, and for alchemy, material transformation is the most important thing. ”

He placed a special crucible on a flat stone slab, threw a few pieces of metal of different colors into it, and picked up a few test tubes to drip into the liquid of different colors.

"The alchemist's main quest is not to make magical items, it is just a means of earning gold gallons and arming oneself. So ......"

He picked up the crucible with pliers, moved the crucible away, picked up another piece of ore, and quickly drew a very beautiful but very regular pattern on the stone slab.

"For the use of ancient scripts, in most cases, they are copies of existing scripts. So, I would say that's the simplest part, and the most rigid part. ”

He picked up a few more small crystal bottles and poured some different colors of powder into the pattern on the slate.

"Of course, only if you are proficient in ancient magic texts and have the ability to create new magic circuits, it is possible to make unique and powerful magic items."

He took the crucible in his pliers again and lowered it back into the center of the slate.

"Alright."

He stood up and motioned to Scott and them.

"You'd better stay away."

Scott and the others got up and took a few steps back.

Lucio drew his wand and waved it lightly with the slate.

Boom.

In the pattern on the slate, the small piles of powder immediately burst into flames, forming several flames of different colors.

Lucio waved his wand again, and the tiny flames began to spread along the pattern he had drawn.

When the flames of different colors met, they fused and became pure white, and they gathered together towards the crucible in the center of the stone slab.

White flames burned, scorching the cauldron.

Lucio swung his wand into the inside of the cauldron.

Grunt.

The metal inside the crucible seemed to melt immediately, turning into liquid.

Lucio had a satisfied smile on his face.

"I'm a genius......"

He had only been smug for a second when sparks erupted from the cauldron.

"Not good!"

Lucio slapped his palm on the side of the workbench and pressed a metal button.

Boom!

The cauldron exploded violently, and smoke billowed at the same time.

But the explosion was firmly locked in the magic barrier that suddenly appeared, and did not affect anything outside of the slate's surroundings.

Followed by......

Boom! Boom! Boom......

Explosions rang out everywhere.

"Looks like everyone has failed." Lucio said with a grin.