Professor Bones nodded. “Exactly. But that’s where things took a twist. After the Goblin Rebellions ended, when wizards tried to secure a steady supply of Lemay Alloy, Nick Fmel vanished. No one knew why, but occasionally, small amounts of the alloy would surface, proof that Fmel was still alive. Some say he kept the formu hidden because creating it was costly or required rare materials. Others specute it he Philosopher’s Stoself.”

  Bones chuckled, “But I may get my hands on a piece soon. Dumbledore promised me a sample of Lemay Alloy as part of my teag reward.”

  Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Dumbledore’s giving you something that rare?”

  “Yes,” Bones said with a mysterious smile. “Dumbledore and Fmel are friends. Few people know, but it’s said that Dumbledore is one of the few who knows Fmel’s whereabouts.”

  Alex found himself slightly puzzled. In this case why hadn’t anyone in the Order of the Phoenix thought to acquire some Lemay alloy from Nick? If it could enhaheir defense, wouldn't it be worth the effort? Was the process for making this alloy truly that difficult? Alex had no way to know, and these advanced materials were beyond his current uanding, only sparking more questions in his mind.

  Professor Bones, however, didn’t linger on Lemay alloy. He moved forward, introdug Alex to ical metals, each with unique properties and histories.

  “One example is Agrippa alloy,” Professor Bones said, his voice steady. “It’s a bit weaker than Ulim Steel but more on si was ied by the wizard elius Agrippa. Many alchemists know the formu.” He then paused, looking thoughtful, “And then there’s the Herpo alloy—a troversial material designed for curses and dark magic, developed by the Herpo the Foul. It has incredible transformative qualities, able to disguise itself as ical metals, making it an ideal choice for deceptive, cursed artifacts.”

  As Professor Bones described these materials, Alex couldn’t help but realize that the professor’s knowledge of alchemy was very vast. His uandi far beyond the basics, showing years of study and experience.

  Throughout the lecture, Professor Bones dispyed various alchemical items made from these materials, giving Alex a ce to observe them up close. Toug and examining eae, Alex began to grasp the fuals of these materials.

  After detailing different magical metals, Professor Bones shifted to the importance of wood in alchemy, and then onto the alchemical use of magical creature parts, expining how skins, hair, bones, and other remains held unique properties. “The most on alchemy items on the market today,” Professor Bones expined, “often e from these biological materials.”

  Suddenly, Alex had a realization—he’d been sitting on a wealth of resources without even realizing it! The very materials Professor Bones was introdug were things he’d seen around Hagrid’s hut. Uni hair, for example, wasn’t that the braided rope Hagrid used to hang up ba? And that plush cushion Hagrid had given him to sit on, it was manticore fur! He even remembered seeing a dragon skin as the footpad by Hagrid’s door.

  It hit him like a bolt—Hagrid was silently very rich, he was sitting on so many magical treasures. Alex would never see Hagrid in the same way again. Over the few days, Alex tinued learning with Professor Bones, familiarizing himself with more alchemical materials. Finally, Professor Bones introduced him to the tools of entment.

  “These,” Professor Bones said, spreading out a roll of tools, “are the essentials for alchemical enting.” Ihe tool set were fourteen carving knives, divided into two groups of seven, alongside a magnifying gss, scales, rulers, passes, and pliers.

  Professor Bones expihe two main entmehods. “First, there’s direct spell enting, like with an invisibility cloak, but it doesn’t st long—maybe a few years at best. The other method, engraving, is more durable. You inscribe the magical runes onto the material, and as long as you replenish its magic, the entment st much longer.”

  He poio two engraving teiques: clear engraving, where the runes are carved visibly onto the surface, and hidden engraving, a more advanced method that requires steady magitrol to invisibly inscribe runes by directly infusing them into the material.

  Alex leaned in, carefully iing the carving khe clear engraving knives were sharp, designed for cutting precise lines, while the hidden engraving knives were more delicate, with thin tubes that allowed for trolled magifusion.

  Professor Bones enced him to try hidden engraving first. Alex held the hidden carving knife over a small piece of wood, gathering his focus. Slowly, he began to el his magic through the knife, trolling his output to trace a floating spell ru was harder thahought; maintaining a steady flow of magic while carving was tricky. Halfway through, his trol slipped, and with a faint pop, the wood chip cracked.

  Watg closely, Professor Bones gave him a nod. “Not bad for your first try! Wood is more fragile with magic, but if this were metal, it would hahe stress much better. Keep practig.”

  Alex took another piece of wood, attempting the rune again, and again he faltered. Professor Bones atient, though, advid encement with each try. Finally, after four times, Alex pleted his first successful rune. Wheivated it with a bit of magic, the wood chip floated gently above the table.

  Professor Bones smiled broadly. “Excellent! One success out of five attempts is impressive, especially with a material as challenging as wood.”

  “Thank you, Professor,” Alex said, his voice bright with aplishment. He could now envisioential of alchemy in his hands.

  As a final gesture, Professor Bones handed Alex the hidden carving kake this with you to practice. Once you’re fortable, we’ll move on to testing your echolocation spell.”

  The day, Alex itted himself fully to his studies. He spent most of his time in the library, borrowing every book he could find about spells, charms, and entments. Ba his hut, he would bury himself in studying and practig inscription spells, determio get better.

  Charles tio train alongside him. Every m, they met up, and Alex led them through rigorous physical exercises. Charles struggled to keep up with Alex’s routines, which started with a five-kilometer run. At first, Charles could barely ha, feeling pletely drained by the end. But after a week, he was slowly starting to adapt, his stamina and endurance beginning to improve little by little.

  Iernoons, Charles joined Alex back at the hut he edge of the Forbidden Forest for spell practid time-focused training. Outside, Alex had set up wooden targets for Charles to practice spells like the Disarming Charm and the Stunning Spell, Stupefy. Each session, Charles gave it his all, putting in every ounce of effort. By the end of each day, he was exhausted but also satisfied, feeling himself grow stronger and more fident as he discovered this new world of magic.