"Achoo!"
Returning to his temporary dormitory, Lucien had just sat down on the sofa when he let out a loud sneeze without warning.
He rubbed his nose, took out his wand with some confusion, and whispered a few diagnostic healing spells on himself.
Soft magical light flowed over his body for a moment before dissipating.
"Strange. I haven't caught a cold."
Shaking his head and tossing this small interlude to the back of his mind, Lucien relaxed his body, leaning into the soft cushions. The tension that had been pulled taut for days finally faded slightly.
After the award ceremony the day after tomorrow, this Tri-Wizard Tournament would officially come to a close.
Mm, the first thing to do after returning to Hogwarts would be to find Dumbledore and cash in on the "reward" they had agreed upon earlier—entering the castle's magical core to absorb the emotional energy and dissipated magic that had settled there over the years, preparing the materials to refine a Sorcerer's Stone.
Of course, not the "complete version" of the Sorcerer's Stone that could turn stone into gold and create the Elixir of Life.
That supreme alchemical achievement, involving the essence of life and eternal transmutation of matter, was currently beyond Lucien's reach. It still required long periods of study and accumulation.
However, Nicolas had long ago taught him a method to refine a simplified version of the Sorcerer's Stone.
This was a milestone result from Nicolas's journey to create the real stone years ago. It couldn't achieve those two legendary functions, but its core value lay in providing a pure and massive source of magical power, as well as accelerating the reaction and completion speed of conventional alchemical steps.
For the current Lucien, this was enough.
He didn't lack money, he was in the prime of his youth, and in the future, he would harvest the "Youth Apples" which offered even better longevity effects.
The magical energy source and alchemy acceleration provided by the simplified Sorcerer's Stone were exactly what was practical for Lucien right now.
Moreover, its refining requirements—whether materials or technique—were more than a tier lower than the complete version.
Picking up the teacup at his hand and taking a sip, the warm liquid brought a bit of warmth, yet Lucien couldn't help but sigh lightly. "I just can't stay idle."
Even if his body wanted to relax, his brain felt like it was wound up, uncontrollably starting to sort through the plans weaving together like a spiderweb for the future.
In the long term, naturally, it was searching for the Horcruxes Voldemort had scattered, attempting to eliminate this massive trouble that would sooner or later sweep through the magical world from the root.
Lucien had always yearned for quiet study, and the resurrection of that Dark Lord was undoubtedly the biggest source of interference.
A bit closer in time was the Year-Loan he had just shouldered: the Seed of Idun's Apple.
The repayment task required curing three types of Blood Maledictions, which almost inevitably meant delving deep into the fields of Dark Magic and Curses.
Currently, there was a "ready-made patient": Nagini, who was cursed to turn into a great snake.
At the same time, the massive amount of magical materials needed to cultivate the Youth Apple was also a headache-inducing long-term project, especially since the list included rare or even potentially extinct materials.
Relatively right in front of him, however, was the Valentine's Day event he needed to initiate after returning to Hogwarts. He needed to boost the festive atmosphere to pay off the loan for the Fire Element Rune.
Thinking of this, Lucien's mind moved slightly. With a whoosh, a ball of steadily burning flame rose from the palm of his right hand.
He lifted his hand, watching the flame-shaped rune on the tip of his middle finger flicker in and out of existence.
"Magic related to the Fire Element..."
Elemental runes, especially those corresponding to the four basic elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, were of immense help to Alchemy.
But their most direct, most intuitive manifestation was still amplifying the power of magic of the same element.
When mentioning powerful fire magic, two names leapt into Lucien's mind almost instantly:
Firestorm, and Fiendfyre.
And the representative figures who had mastered these two spells to the peak of perfection happened to be:
Albus Dumbledore, and Gellert Grindelwald.
"Tsk, tsk," a playful look flashed in Lucien's eyes. "I wonder what kind of marvelous 'reaction' would occur if 'Firestorm' and 'Fiendfyre' clashed?"
This sudden association made him chuckle involuntarily.
Firestorm belonged to profound, but not forbidden, White Magic.
After returning to school, if he brought it up with Dumbledore, he might be able to learn it directly.
After all, winning the championship this time had earned plenty of face for Hogwarts. Mooching an extra spell was quite reasonable, right?
As for Fiendfyre...
This definitely fell into the category of Dark Magic, and it was one of the most famous and difficult to control among them.
If Lucien wanted to learn it, there were actually ways.
In fact, asking Dumbledore directly for instruction was theoretically feasible. After all, the two had long discussed their attitudes toward Dark Magic. Dumbledore knew Lucien's view well: magic is a tool; good and evil depend on the wizard.
Perhaps proactively learning under Dumbledore's witness and guidance would actually make that old man, who always had a sense of impending crisis, feel a bit more "at ease"?
It was just that the image was a bit bizarre to think about.
The greatest White Wizard of the century, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the leader of the righteous path, personally teaching a student Dark Magic?
Lucien smiled and shook his head, tossing this slightly mischievous imagination out of his mind.
Besides, the Fiendfyre he really wanted to learn was Grindelwald's "Fiendfyre."
The flames that man released could burn down all of Paris!
But how to learn it?
He couldn't exactly run to Dumbledore and say he wanted to learn his ex-'best friend's' signature Dark Magic, could he?
This thought made even Lucien find it funny.
Heh, did he have to run to Nurmengard, sneak into one of the most famous prisons in the magical world, and secretly find Grindelwald to learn it? Or maybe shove a copy of "SwiftSpeak" into his hands and have a few online classes?