Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

At this moment, time seemed to stretch out endlessly. What was clearly only a few seconds felt like hours to Charlie.

A faint sound came from behind the door, like a soft mumble, mixed with the rustling of fabric and the scraping of chair legs against the floor.

Soon after, a slow, deliberate footstep gradually became clearer. It seemed to carry a natural steadiness and presence, with each step spaced about a second or two apart, and yet it felt like each footstep landed on Charlie's heart. Each time it fell again, getting closer, Charlie's heart couldn't help but thump.

"Hoo… calm down."

A sigh escaped his lips, and Charlie said to himself with some annoyance, while simultaneously reaching into the large pockets on either side of his coat.

The pockets contained two things, each the reason Charlie was able to stand here now: one was the Philosopher's Stone that Dumbledore had entrusted to him, and the other was the alchemical item he had been constantly fiddling with these past few days. After once again confirming the condition of both items, he relaxed his tense shoulders slightly, his gaze focused, and his eyes regained their usual confidence and brilliance. He waited calmly for the door to open…

Finally, the slow footsteps stopped at the doorway, and the owner of the house halted. In its place was the sound of metal clanking as the mechanisms within the door were triggered.

"When was the last time someone knocked? Thirty years ago, or forty years ago?"

The voice came from behind the door, and surprisingly, it wasn't the serious, intelligent voice Charlie had imagined. Instead, it was a woman's voice, gentle and with a world-weary kindness, like a grandmother nearing her twilight years, giving one an inexplicable sense of security and peace. Even Charlie didn't notice that the expression on his face had unconsciously softened.

Before Charlie could react further, the decaying bolts of the door creaked open, revealing a crack connecting the outside world to Nicolas Flamel's residence, slowly widening.

When the door was fully open, an old woman with long, graying hair, dressed plainly, with a dignified and kind demeanor, appeared before Charlie with a gentle smile.

Before Charlie could offer a greeting, the old woman looked him up and down carefully with eyes full of wisdom and insight. There seemed to be some kind of magic in her gaze, and for a moment, Charlie completely forgot the words he had prepared at the door, and could only stand there silently, allowing the kind old woman to observe him.

After looking at him for a good while, the old woman seemed to suddenly realize something, then raised her head, looked into Charlie's eyes, and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you…? Please don't mind, Charlie. I'm just too curious, after all, these days, whenever Albus and Nicolas are chatting, your name always comes up in their conversations. Please forgive an old woman's curiosity, but I can't imagine what kind of outstanding young man would receive such high praise from Albus Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel."

Charlie understood, and listening to the old woman's words, a relaxed smile appeared on his face. He said nothing, but first bowed deeply to the woman, showing the respect a young man should have for an elder. When he raised his head again, he said softly,

"It is an honor to meet you, Madam Perenelle Flamel. The story of you and Nicolas Flamel was told to me several times by elders when I was a child. To be able to come here today is an unforgettable honor…"

Perenelle chuckled, said nothing more, and stepped slightly to the side, making way to the inside of the house.

"Paris is still quite cold at this time of year. The fireplace in the house has just been warmed up, and Nicolas is waiting for you in the room. Come in!"

"Okay."

Charlie nodded, the smile on his face seeming to brighten even more. He pulled his thick robes tighter around him, without refusing or declining, and obediently walked into the stone building before him.

To Charlie's surprise, the air inside the room didn't have the "ancient smell" he had initially expected. Instead, it was filled with the faint fragrance of daisies and the faint smell of burning lamp oil, giving a strange sense of security and comfort.

Looking into the room, he saw various glass containers of different sizes, and many tools, pottery jars, or ancient books, neatly arranged in every part of the room. The huge long table was already covered with them, and the coffee table next to the sofa was also full of them. Various alchemical symbols were arranged in a chaotic but infinitely possible way on the drawings displayed on the walls, as if they were a highly decorative painting.

It was afternoon, and the sun was gradually setting. Although it was not yet sunset, it still cast long shadows of everything through the tall glass windows. Under the backdrop of the atmosphere, it revealed a full "knowledge" atmosphere from the inside out.

"This is really…"

Charlie widened his eyes and swept through every corner of the room with fascination. When his eyes lingered on every book he had never seen before, and every alchemical symbol he had never imagined, he couldn't help but feel a burst of fascination in his heart. It had to be said that Nicolas Flamel's home, as the legendary alchemist who was almost "alchemy" itself, was indeed full of ancient wisdom everywhere at first glance! He even couldn't help but suspect that the knowledge of alchemy here was far more than the content contained in the Hogwarts library.

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"…It's incredible."

After a long pause, until he had absorbed everything in front of him and his brain had barely calmed down, Charlie finally slowly exhaled, his eyes flickering with the light of his youth, and murmured.

"Don't be too restrained, dear child."

Behind him, Perenelle Flamel's kind voice sounded again. She waved her hand gently, causing the opened wooden door to close again, and layers of protective measures were reactivated, enveloping the small stone house.

"You are a friend of Dumbledore, then you are our friend, and besides, you helped us bring the Philosopher's Stone back here from afar. For your actions, I should express my gratitude to you."