harry potter book of crimes

"...The entire magical world thinks that my master has been missing all year round, and there are rumors that he is living in seclusion in England. But in fact, he spends a lot of time in the same place, and that is his laboratory."

At this time, it was already dark. Maka and the old housekeeper were walking together on the dark streets, with only the street lights that turned on at night illuminating their progress.

In fact, Madame Maxime also wants to come together, but as the principal of Beauxbatons, she has other things to be busy with right now, so it will probably take some time before she comes over.

Maka and the old housekeeper walked side by side, chatting a few words from time to time, and what they said was naturally their destination tonight.

"Oh, I really want to hear this rumor..." Maka thought for a while and said, "I remember that Dumbledore really wanted to mention that Mr. Flamel once lived in Devon County for a period of time?"

"Yes, there was a short period of time," Old Edward nodded, "but it was only a year or two - at that time, the master went to visit Mr. Dumbledore, and the two of them exchanged some experiences about magic.

.”

"Then..." Maka said curiously, "Sir, do you know why Mr. Nico Flamel wanted to give up immortality suddenly? As far as I know, before he lent the Philosopher's Stone to Professor Dumbledore, he

This decision has been made."

And he also took his 658-year-old wife with him to death. Although Maka didn't ask this, what he wanted to know most was this decision. Could it be that, as other wizards had guessed, he felt that he had lived too long.

No fun anymore?

"Oh, I don't know about that," Old Edward shook his head when he heard this. "I haven't really understood the master's thoughts since I was young, let alone at this age. But I'm thinking

, given the master’s temperament, it’s probably only death that can help him progress further in his research on alchemy, right?”

As we all know, Nico Flamel was also a famous research madman. He lived for 665 years, and spent most of that time immersed in research. Although apart from research, he also donated a lot to the magical world, and even to the magical world.

Most of the infrastructure of Gua World was built by his wife, but in his name.

It is not clear whether Nico Flamel is a so-called "good man". Anyway, his wife must be a great philanthropist, which is always true.

"Mr. MacLean, this way—"

When passing an intersection, the old housekeeper reached out and signaled, telling Maka that it was time to turn.

"Sir, just call me Maka," Maka waved her hand as she followed him and turned around and walked into a side road, "You know, I'm old enough to be your grandson, so you don't have to be so polite to me.

of."

But the old housekeeper shook his head, obviously he still had some different persistence.

"I am the butler of the Flamel family. Ever since my family rescued me in the Egyptian desert, I have been a butler all my life. And a butler should have the rules of a housekeeper. Regarding this, Mr. MacLean, you can

Don’t worry too much…”

"Okay?" Maka shrugged and did not continue to struggle with a title.

"...Okay, we're here!"

The two of them walked along a stone path in a Muggle town for a while, and soon the old housekeeper stopped in front of an ordinary house.

Maka discovered that this was a rather old brick house with a red roof. There were some large floor-to-ceiling flower pots placed at the base of the wall near the roadside, and there were some lush plants living in them. The bricks on the walls had uneven marks.

It is uneven and full of footprints left by the years.

Of course, this is certainly not as old as Nico Flamel. This house probably only has a history of more than ten or twenty years.

In this residential area of ​​townspeople that stretches along alleys and paths, this small house looks extremely inconspicuous. No one would have thought that this would be the home of a great alchemist.

"Mr. Flamel has always lived here?" Maka looked at the house and asked casually.

"No," the old housekeeper smiled and said, "This is actually where I live, but the entrance to my master's laboratory can only be found here - if you have to say it, I am equivalent to guarding the door for my master.

Already."

As he spoke, he took out an ordinary key and unlocked the door, then walked in with some nostalgia.

"After the master and his wife passed away, I haven't been back for a while," the old housekeeper said sadly as he greeted Maka to come in. "It's really strange when you think about it. The master and his wife went there before me.

One step... If this was done a few years ago, I wouldn't have believed it."

It can be seen that what he misses is not the memory of living here, but the years when his master, Mr. Nico Flamel, was still there.

"My master would often suddenly say he was going out, and then I would have to stop what I was doing and pack my luggage with him to get ready to go."

The old butler recounted his past with nostalgia, and his whole life almost revolved around Mr. Nico Flamel. So that the most memorable things for him were all related to his master.

"You don't know, my master never pays attention to the time when doing things. There are many times he wakes me up in the middle of the night. But he is so old and full of energy, like he is in his twenties or thirties.

A young man who is 20 years old! It’s incredible to think about it..."

Maka didn't know whether this kind of life was considered happiness, but looking at the old housekeeper's expressions and words, he felt a sincere sense of peace.

Maybe some people's lives don't need to be too eventful. As long as they can live a stable life, that's usually enough.

The house where the old housekeeper lives is not very spacious, either from the outside or from the inside. In fact, it is just an ordinary house in a Muggle town. Follow Edward all the way through the living room.

After walking up the stairs, the ceiling on the second floor seems a bit low - this is a bedroom.

But Old Edward did not stop here, but stretched out his hand and pulled an old hemp rope hanging from the wall. With a soft "click", a wooden board on the ceiling was pulled open, and it was a square.

Trap door leading to attic.

"Help me reach for it!" The old housekeeper looked up and said, "Originally I should have used the hook to pull down the stairs, but since you are here today, I can enjoy the rare privileges of the elderly."

Perhaps it was because Maka had mentioned her age before, so the old housekeeper also made a little joke. But it was indeed the case. The old housekeeper was quite old, at least seventy or eighty years old.

Already.

Of course, the most important thing is to be cautious. You must know that there is a risk of being discovered by using magic spells. Tonight, they came hand in hand to avoid being noticed, and naturally they didn't want others to know.

As I said just now, the second floor of this house is relatively low, and the ceiling is almost within reach. After taking a look, Maka just jumped slightly and grabbed the wooden ladder placed next to the attic trap door.

.

"Whoa-boom!"

The wooden ladder slid down along the edge of the trap door and was firmly placed between the floor and ceiling. Can we go up and take a look?

"Mr. McLean," the old butler spoke, "before I go up, I still want a word from you - please tell me that you will indeed help us to disclose my master's inheritance to the entire magical world.

?"

When Maka heard this, she nodded naturally.

Tonight's action was discussed in advance between him and Madam Maxime, and it was Madam Maxime who negotiated the old housekeeper Edward. In fact, there are too many people who covet this alchemical inheritance.

Just look at how many people gathered in Beauxbatons and you will know that sooner or later this pool of water will be completely muddied.

In this case, the only one left to act in order to fulfill the master's wishes is old Edward. Well, maybe we can also count Madame Maxime, the headmistress who puts all her thoughts on education, but

It seems like there is no one else you can trust anymore.

However, Nico Flamel's alchemical legacy was beyond the reach of these two people. Madame Maxime had actually come here to see it a long time ago, but it seemed that she couldn't even get in, let alone obtain the inheritance.

It's over.

The only one to blame is Nico Flamel, who was full of research. He didn't seem to have used too much thought on the messy matter of distributing the inheritance, so he left the old butler with a rather contradictory problem.

.

In short, they need a wizard with enough knowledge to hold the inheritance in their hands. Only by mastering it itself can they find a reasonable way to distribute it to achieve the ultimate goal.

Originally, this task should have fallen on Dumbledore, but obviously, he has passed away. Therefore, this responsible task finally fell on Maka's head.

"Sorry, this matter is too important. I just want to make myself more at ease." After hearing Maca's decisive answer, the wrinkles on Old Edward's face gradually relaxed, "McLean

Sir—please!”

At the old housekeeper's signal, Maka nodded solemnly and then took the lead in climbing up the wooden ladder.

With the creaking groan of the old ladder, Maka quickly climbed to the attic on the top floor of the house. It was quite dark inside, and through the faint light coming from under the trap door, he could vaguely see some things.

Piles of clutter.

He did not look around in a hurry, but turned back and stretched out his hand under the trap door, giving the old housekeeper a hand.

"I'm really old..." Old Edward sighed, "Mr. MacLean, there is an oil lamp on the pillar next to you. You can take it off first to get some light."