10 We make potions with a half-dead man

After we haved finished caring for the beast, we went to the dungeons under the mansion. There were many rooms there, but I guess there is only one wide room that was fit for potion making.

As we entered, we saw a creepy old man, he looked like a skeleton, and more of a ghost. He had white somehow long hair. He wore a white long robe.

He noticed us and said in an hoarse voice, "Welcome, children. I am Nicolas Flamel, an alchemist and a potion master. I will be teaching you the path of alchemy here".

"Umm... Sorry to be rude but ", I said hesitantly, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"That is what known to the outer world my child. I gained immortality through a stone a I created. However, when I became a Dao lord, my connection to the stone was severed".

"Oh".

"Your first lesson will be the Boil Cure potion.Being an effective remedie against pustules, hives, boils and many other scrofulous conditions. This is a robust potion of powerful character. Care should be taken when brewing. Prepared incorrectly this potion has been known to cause boils, rather than cure them. So when brewing the potion, the cauldron must be taken off the fire before adding the porcupine quills , or the cauldron will melt and create a horrid odour, and if it spills will cause the skin to erupt in vicious boils. Bring your cauldrons from the closet and start brewing".

We did as he told us to do. After a while, the alchemist said, " In order to make this potion, first add crushed snake fangs to your cauldron and stir it. Slice your Pungous Onions finely and place in cauldron, then heat the mixture. Add dried nettles. Add a dash of  Flobberworm mucus and stir vigourously. Add a sprinkle of powdered ginger root and stir vigourously again. Add pickled Shrake spines. Stir gently, so as not to overexcite the Shrake spines. Add a glug of stewed horned slugs. Add porcupine quills. Finally, wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion".

Putting and cutting the ingredients took at least half an hour. As for the brewing, it took from an hour and half to 2 hours.

After the brewing finished, the potion was blue colored, and pink smoke rose from the cauldron.

Nicolas examined Tulip's potion, then mine and said, "Your potions were made successfully. Though I must note that Miss Karasu's potion is better than yours, Mr Awada".

At least, Tulip looked pleasedwith herself, and smiled her teasing smile at me.

"Tomorrow, you will learn how to make a Wiggenweld potion. Class dismissed".

And then, he returned to his cauldron not bothering with us anymore.

I went to the library in order to study some spells, though I prefer not to blow anything up. I picked up a book labeled as the Book of Spells. I searched for the levitation charm.

And read:"The Levitation Charm was first developed in the sixteenth century, and warlock Jarleth Hobart is credited with its creation.

On 16 July, Hobart invited a large crowd of wizards, among which was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, to witness his 'maiden flight' — a public demonstration of his own revolutionary charm on himself. He climbed onto the roof of his local church and, after several speeches and a rousing performance of the national anthem he leapt and, having cast the spell, was left hovering in mid-air. At first, he seemed to have succeeded but, after having spent nearly three minutes watching him hanging in mid-air, the crowd grew impatient to see him move somewhere, and booed him.

In response to the catcalls, Hobart tried to move in midair, and started performing vigorous swimming movements, which produced no effect. Mistakenly believing that his clothes were making him heavier and impeding his movement, Hobart stripped thus making him fall ten feet onto the ground below, as it were the clothes that were holding him up in the air — they had been charmed by the Levitation Charm, not Hobart himself. He fell completely naked on the ground, breaking sixteen bones, and received a fine for 'outrageous silliness' from the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot in 1544".

Typical. I just flied yesterday without even the help of a spell. And I am a wizard. I continued reading how this warlock Hobart had spent his time in analyzing his new created spell:"He eventually realised that he had invented a spell that would lift objects into the air and could cause them to hover for varying lengths of time, depending on their weight, and the skill of the spellcaster. Despite its strengths, however, the Levitation Charm has one fatal flaw: it does not work on  human beings. Though a human can be levitated using this charm, it is actually their clothing that is being affected. The charm is apparently not strong enough to allow a human to do anything more that float a few feet off the air using this method, and therefore does not allow the true flight afforded to most other objects".

I brought a feather and said the incantation of the charm while pointing my wand at the item, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather started to float in the air, and I directed it through my wand.

I kept practising for a while then shifted for another spell.