In the time that followed, Adrian told Dumbledore about his encounter with Nicolas Flamel in Paris.
"So, you found Nicolas Flamel using the Felix Felicis, I gave you?" Dumbledore said in surprise. "Luck alone cannot bring one person to another who is completely unknown to them."
"That's exactly what I said," Nicolas laughed. "There must be some kind of connection between me and this child."
Adrian still didn't know why Dumbledore had given him that Felix Felicis in the first place.
But whatever the reason, it had served its purpose well.
As Adrian reached for a scone on the table, his arm accidentally bumped the crystal ball.
The crystal ball came off its base and rolled across the table.
"Ah, sorry."
Adrian quickly stopped the crystal ball's movement and placed it back on its base.
Nicolas was an extremely powerful and accomplished wizard.
He had achieved extraordinary feats in many areas, including but not limited to: alchemy, charms, potions, divination, and more.
And the crystal ball in front of Adrian was one of Nicolas's divination tools.
Gifted seers could glimpse future events through a crystal ball.
Of course, Adrian knew he didn't have that talent; usually when he looked into a crystal ball, he could only see...
Wait!
Adrian froze, staring intently at the crystal ball.
The silvery mist inside suddenly churned violently, condensing into the clear face of a woman.
Adrian didn't know how to describe the witch's appearance. She looked beautiful yet stern, with long black hair and black eyes that instilled a sense of fear.
Moreover, the environment behind the woman appeared to be a forest.
Adrian was stunned.
The face seemed strangely familiar, yet he couldn't recall where he had seen it before.
By this time, Dumbledore and Nicolas had also noticed something happening.
They realized the crystal ball was active, but by the time they looked toward it, the woman's face had vanished, leaving only a mass of silvery-white mist.
"Are you a seer?" Nicolas's voice brought Adrian back to reality.
"No, I've never shown any talent for divination," Adrian shook his head, frowning slightly. "In fact, this is the first time I've seen such a clear image in a crystal ball."
Dumbledore thoughtfully stroked his beard.
"Very interesting," he looked at Nicolas. "Nicolas, does your crystal ball usually respond to non-seers?"
"It does not," Nicolas's expression became serious as he asked Adrian, "What did you see in there?"
Seeing Nicolas so serious, Adrian sat up straight.
"A woman's face, with black eyes and hair," Adrian replied. "However, I don't think I know that person."
"You don't?" Nicolas gave a puzzled look and said, "If you don't have the gift of prophecy, you shouldn't have seen any image at all."
"But I did see something," Adrian responded.
"Then the issue lies with the woman you saw in the crystal ball," Nicolas nodded and explained, "That woman must be a master at manipulating prophetic crystal balls. You and that woman definitely have some kind of connection, which is why she was able to locate your position through the crystal ball in reverse."
Now Adrian was even more confused. He truly didn't recognize the woman in the crystal ball.
And connection?
What connection?
He was completely lost.
Adrian looked back into the crystal ball, but this time nothing appeared.
It was as if the woman's face he had seen in the crystal ball was just an illusion.
"Why... why would that woman do this?" Adrian couldn't help but look toward Dumbledore and Nicolas.
However, both Dumbledore and Nicolas shook their heads.
"That's for you to find out," Dumbledore said. "Nobody else knows."
Adrian recalled the vision he had just seen.
The woman seemed to be standing in front of a forest.
Forest...
Adrian suddenly remembered the prophecy that Professor Trelawney had made for him earlier, in which he would travel to the Black Forest in Albania.
Could there be a connection between these two things?
For Adrian, Nicolas Flamel was a wise old man with a good sense of humor.
And he was very kind-hearted as well.
He answered many of Adrian's random questions.
Alchemy, potions, divination, recipes...
He seemed to know almost everything.
However, before answering each question, Nicolas Flamel always took some time to search through his vast memory—which was understandable, given that his mind contained over six hundred years of memories.
Although it was possible to extract memories that were no longer useful and store them elsewhere,
Nicolas rarely did so.
When Adrian asked why,
"It would be too much of a waste to put memories away," Nicolas said with a smile. "Whether sad or happy, memories are precious things."
"I wholeheartedly agree," Dumbledore said softly.
"By the way," Adrian suddenly said, "Mr. Flamel, what do you plan to do now that you no longer have the Philosopher's Stone? Don't you need it to brew the Elixir of Life?"
Upon hearing this question, Nicolas Flamel's silvery eyebrows relaxed, and he revealed a relieved smile: "Ah, Perenelle and I have discussed this question many times. Although we've been extending our lives with the Elixir of Life, our bodies have become very fragile. I can barely walk for long periods now—it would cause severe fractures."
Adrian looked at Nicolas, realizing that his physical condition was worse than he had imagined.
Nicolas picked up his teacup and took a sip, slowly saying, "Six hundred years is already a very long time. Death is merely another great adventure..."
Just as Adrian thought Nicolas was ready for that "great adventure,"
Nicolas suddenly smiled slightly and changed his tone, "We've prepared plenty of Elixir of Life. After we've witnessed all the interesting events, then we'll be on our way."
So that was it, Adrian nodded to himself.
He remembered that in the original storyline, Nicolas Flamel was supposed to have died in 1992.
It seemed that information couldn't be trusted.
However, Adrian became curious about the "interesting events" Nicolas mentioned.
"Interesting events?" he asked curiously. "What are those?"
Nicolas gently put down his teacup and said casually, "This world is about to undergo tremendous changes, perhaps in twenty years, or maybe thirty."
His eyes sparkled with childlike curiosity, "We will all witness the beginning of this revolution."
"I didn't know about this; you never mentioned it to me," Dumbledore said.
"Ah, yes," Nicolas nodded, looking at his old friend. "I truly hope you'll be able to see it."
However, Dumbledore only slowly shook his head.
Twenty or thirty years, for him...
It was simply too long.
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