Following the stairs down from the top of the case, it wasn't long before the group entered the interior.
The small Chimaera had been following at Hagrid's feet. As a Chimaera, it could sense that this very old-looking human wizard contained an extremely vast magical power, which made it very afraid.
But Hagrid had previously reassured it, saying this wizard had come to help treat its mother, which put it slightly at ease.
After reaching the bottom of the case, Flamel immediately saw the Chimaera lying on the ground. Evans, who hadn't seen it for several days, also carefully observed the creature's condition.
The flame at its tail was still very weak, its body emanated a faint cursed aura, and the giant beast that should have been fearsome had lost all its strength—even its imposing presence was very feeble.
After so many days had passed, having been lying on the ground continuously, the fur beneath the Chimaera had lost its lustre. If not for the vitality potion sustaining its last breath, it would probably have already left this world.
Smelling the scent of strangers, the Chimaera alertly opened its eyes, looked toward Nicolas Flamel, and let out a series of weak growls from its mouth.
Seeing the giant beast's wary appearance, Flamel stepped back two paces, one hand stroking his chin as he lowered his head in thought.
Looking at the Chimaera lying on the ground, a flash of heartache passed through Hagrid's eyes. "How is it, Mr Flamel? Have you seen this kind of curse before?"
"Let me think..."
Without answering directly, Nicolas Flamel pondered for a long time before slowly speaking:
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a very ancient curse. During the Black Death period, it once broke out in a city, turning the entire place into a dead zone."
Having said this, he looked at the two people beside him:
"You didn't try to break this curse, did you?"
"No." Evans shook his head. "At the time I sensed this curse was very dangerous, so I didn't act rashly."
If the method of breaking it was wrong, it could very likely cause the curse to explode, directly taking the Chimaera's life.
"That's good." Nicolas Flamel breathed a sigh of relief. "This curse's nature isn't just cursing the victim—if you had rashly tried to break it, it could very likely cause it to spread outward."
"At that time, all life in the surrounding area would be eroded by this curse, slowly weakening until death."
Hearing Nicolas Flamel's words, Evans couldn't help but shudder.
So if they had been careless at the time, they might already be several corpses?
After describing the curse's properties, Nicolas Flamel pondered again for a while, then said softly:
"I know of a ritual that can try to suppress this curse, but to completely resolve it, we still need to find the curse's source."
"But after suppression, this Chimaera's condition should be much better—it might even be able to clear the curse from its body by itself."
The Fiendfyre on a Chimaera's tail wasn't just for show. If its condition could recover to its peak, knowing it was under a severe curse, it might really be able to burn away the curse on its body by itself.
However, judging from Nicolas Flamel's meaning, his ritual probably couldn't restore the Chimaera's condition to its peak—it could only suppress the curse and prevent it from continuing to weaken like this.
But this was already very good. Being able to move freely meant it could speak and describe the experience of being cursed at the time.
This could provide them with very valuable clues. After all, there was less than a month left until Christmas, when they would head to the Forbidden Forest to explore that legendary great lake.
"This ritual requires quite a few materials. We may need to prepare." Nicolas Flamel said slowly.
"What materials?" Evans asked.
"Although not particularly precious, those materials are somewhat difficult to obtain, and the quantity isn't small." After pondering for a moment, Nicolas Flamel began slowly reciting material names one by one.
"One drop of phoenix tears, two phoenix tail feathers, unicorn horn powder, white fresh sprouts—"
After reciting several materials, Nicolas Flamel's gaze turned toward that young man, and he suddenly froze, stopping his recitation.
Because that young man was continuously pulling out different materials from his pocket—exactly the things he had just named.
But—this ritual was very ancient. Even he had only seen it in ancient texts. Why would this young man's pocket be prepared with so many materials?
Hearing the voice stop, Evans paused his actions and looked at Nicolas Flamel in confusion:
"Just this much?"
Logically speaking, a ritual shouldn't only need these materials. Could it be that Mr Flamel's ritual was a simplified version?
But such a strong curse—a simplified version probably wouldn't be enough, right?
"No—there's more." Shaking his head, Nicolas Flamel continued: "Dragon scale powder—"
Material names continued flowing from Nicolas Flamel's mouth. As more and more materials were named, the corner of Nicolas's mouth gradually began twitching.
Because that young man was still pulling materials from his pocket, and those materials had already formed a small mountain on the ground.
After watching the young man pull out an apple tree root the size of a washbasin from that pocket that was only slightly larger than his palm, Nicolas Flamel could no longer hold back and asked somewhat puzzledly:
"Did you cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on your pocket?"
As far as he knew, Undetectable Extension Charms had to be cast on containers with locks to work properly. Things like pockets shouldn't be able to have such magic cast on them.
Moreover, besides this, if an Undetectable Extension Charm wanted to bring out things larger than the container, it should require a living being to enter inside and operate.
This pocket somewhat overturned his impression of Undetectable Extension Charms.
"Oh? This?"
Seeing Nicolas Flamel's puzzled expression, Evans smiled:
"This is a Niffler's pouch talent. If you're interested, I can give you some materials—this magic isn't too difficult to learn."
"A Niffler's pouch..." A flash of interest appeared in Nicolas Flamel's eyes.
He had indeed heard Albus mention before that this Professor Kahn had very peculiar talents regarding magical creatures. But he hadn't expected this talent could be so impressive.
Space magic that could hold so many items and was so convenient—if combined with other magical creature abilities, this Professor Kahn's strength was not to be underestimated.
If those animals' abilities could complement each other, it should be possible to create countless unimaginable combat methods.
After Nicolas Flamel finished reciting everything, a small mountain had formed on the ground in front of Evans.
"We're still missing Devil's Snare remnants, Bubotuber pus, silk thread—"
After checking through the things on the ground, Evans looked up and asked: "Is there anything else we're missing?"
"No, we're just missing these few things. We just need to look around—" Before Nicolas Flamel could finish speaking, Evans transformed into a silver-white arc of light and disappeared from the spot.
Nicolas Flamel: "..."
Was that Swooping Evil transportation?
Half a minute later, Evans returned to the case carrying several plants, smiling: "I asked Professor Sprout—she has all these things."
"When shall we begin?"