Looking at the small mountain of materials on the ground, Nicolas Flamel remained silent for a long time before slowly nodding his head.
"We can begin now."
Originally, he had prepared himself for needing two days to gather materials. After all, although these materials weren't particularly precious—even the rarest phoenix tears could be easily obtained at Hogwarts—the other various tedious components would still need to be collected from different sources.
He hadn't expected this young man to have everything readily available!
Was his pocket some kind of magical treasure chest? Keeping so many strange and unusual materials?
Just how much space was inside that so-called Niffler pouch?
Shaking his head slightly, Nicolas Flamel pointed his wand, and the materials piled like a small mountain on the ground flew up, arranging themselves around the Chimaera according to some intricate pattern.
Then, light green magical markings began slowly appearing on the ground. Those symbols intertwined with each other, quickly forming a dense, complex magical array so intricate that just looking at it made one dizzy.
After completing all this, Nicolas Flamel closed his eyes, paused for a moment, then spoke softly:
"Phoenix tail feather, bearer of life, may you no longer suffer torment."
The phoenix tail feather in the centre floated up, emanating an orange-red glow filled with vitality.
"Dragon scale, symbol of flame, burn away all impurities from your body."
The dragon scale nearby also slowly rose, with a flame quietly burning on its surface.
"Remnants of plants, old moults of creatures, horn of eternal life, tears of rebirth—in nature's name, may this curse be dispelled, may all things be reborn in flame—"
Nicolas Flamel recited the ritual incantations one by one in his aged voice. The materials that had been arranged in strange patterns gradually floated up, circling around the Chimaera.
The emerald magical array lit up with waves of light. Moments later, centred on the phoenix tail feather and dragon scale, orange-red flames surged forth, completely enveloping the Chimaera lying on the ground.
"Roar!"
Seeing its mother covered in flames, the small creature at Hagrid's feet let out an angry cry, clawing and trying to rush over to fight that spell-casting old man desperately.
Even if this person contained vast magical power, he couldn't be allowed to harm Mother!
But before it could rush away from Hagrid's side, Evans quickly scooped it up.
Several semi-transparent fluffy feathers appeared behind him as Evans gently soothed: "Be good, this is treating your mother. Stay still."
Perhaps sensing something unusual, Nicolas Flamel, who was reciting incantations, tilted his head slightly, glanced at the feathers behind Evans, then turned his head back to continue his ritual.
At this moment, watching those flickering flames with feathers floating behind him, Evans suddenly had a strange sensation.
The feeling was as if the flames before him had suddenly become something of the same origin as himself—they wouldn't harm him in the slightest, even making him feel comfortable and warm.
Turning to look at Hagrid, then at the still-snarling small creature in his arms, confusion flashed in Evans's eyes.
Neither Hagrid nor the small Chimaera showed any signs of comfort. Perhaps feeling the flame's intense temperature, Hagrid had even stepped back two paces, fine sweat appearing on his forehead.
Nicolas Flamel conducting the ritual was somewhat better, but his expression was also extremely serious. Occasionally flames would dart toward him, which he would block with protective spells, not letting any touch his body.
It seemed only he had this peculiar feeling?
In his confusion, Evans dispersed his Swooping Evil talent, and the next second, a wave of heat struck him, forcing Evans to cast a Fire-Resistance Charm before the suffocating heat wave slowly dissipated.
This deepened his confusion even more.
Thinking carefully, when he'd had that feeling earlier, it seemed to be when he'd just fully activated his Swooping Evil talent?
But he'd used this talent plenty before and never experienced such an effect.
Was there something unusual about the flames before him, or was it because of this specific ritual?
Or perhaps his talent had some wonderful magical reaction with the ancient magic being performed?
Just as Evans was about to experiment with other talents, the flames that had been enveloping the Chimaera suddenly dissipated into the air, revealing the mother beast that had been lying on the ground.
All her fur had been burnt away, but there were no burn marks on her body. She looked completely bald, having lost her former majesty and intimidating presence.
Seeing the flames recede, the small creature in Evans's arms began struggling violently, wanting to approach its mother. At this moment, the mother beast lying on the ground suddenly trembled her eyelids and slowly opened her eyes.
Then, an extremely bright orange-red flame ignited at her tail tip. Her four hooves moved briefly as she struggled to half-kneel on the ground, slowly standing up.
Her movements were somewhat laboured, but looking at the vibrant flame on her tail tip, one could tell she was no longer in that half-dead state from before.
Although she might still be somewhat weak, this was because she had been lying down for too long. In a few days, she should be able to return to normal strength.
Though the curse still existed within her body, at least normal movement wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Watching the giant beast slowly stand up, a relieved smile appeared on Hagrid's weathered face.
Evans also temporarily buried his confusion and placed the small Chimaera in his arms on the ground.
"Your fur is like a phoenix's—it'll probably take two months to grow back. This is a characteristic of the ritual flames that I can't change." Nicolas Flamel's body trembled somewhat from the magical exertion, but his wrinkled face showed deep satisfaction. "However, the curse in your body should now be suppressed."
Closing her eyes slightly, the flame at the Chimaera's tail tip flickered for a moment. Opening her eyes again with obvious gratitude, she spoke human words in a somewhat deep female voice:
"Thank you."
She had witnessed these wizards' efforts over this past month. Without them, she would probably have already died silently in her nest, her corpse completely devoured by those trolls.
And her child would have had little chance of surviving in that perilous forest.
"Since we encountered you, there was no reason not to help." Evans crossed his arms, accepting the Chimaera's gratitude with dignity.
These creatures were always proud. Despite his long efforts in Egypt, he had never managed to befriend a Chimaera, making it very difficult even to study this species' habits properly.
But this time, he should be able to carefully research this magnificent magical creature.
Shaking his head, Evans looked toward Nicolas Flamel beside him.
He wanted to understand why his talent had shown such strange changes during the ritual just now.
But before he could ask, a loud explosion suddenly came from outside the case.
"BANG!"
The deafening explosion reached everyone's ears, then echoed within the case before slowly fading away.