Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 94 The old man never does anything wrong
As the saying goes: A fisherman is good at everything except fishing.

The old man standing in front of Bourne and Horace is the best example.

Perhaps, he may be too old to have a real physical contest with the big guy in the pond, but he can't help but have the tools at his disposal.

The self-retractable alchemical fishing rod enchanted with the floating spell is hovering under the shade of a weeping willow in the pond, waiting motionless for the fish to take the bait.

An alchemy doll, about the size of a human being, was holding a basin of bait that looked like undercooked black pudding and was constantly stirring it to ensure that the bait had the best consistency before being hung on the fishhook.

There is also an alchemy object that looks like a golden snitch, flapping its wings and constantly passing over the pond. It is the old fisherman's "see-through hanger", which can detect the position of the big fish through the water surface, and can communicate with that Used in conjunction with an auto-retractable alchemical fishing rod with a levitating spell attached.

Bourne took a closer look and discovered that the semi-floating "fishing chair" under the old man's butt was actually modified from a flying magic carpet.

You know, because the British Ministry of Magic prohibits wizards from using magic carpets, you can basically only buy them through "special channels" at a premium of three to four times. A magic carpet may cost more than two or three broomsticks!

Not counting the expensive enchanted clothes this man wears, just the alchemy equipment he uses for fishing. After converting it into gold galleons, it costs 2000 to equip each player of the Gryffindor Quidditch team with a standard version of the Nimbus. enough.

Looking at this old man who seemed to have the word "trench" written on his body, coupled with Grandpa Horace's French pronunciation of "Nicola" just now, the melody of a song immediately jumped out of Bourne's mind.

It's him, it's him, it's him...

He is Nick Flamel!
Maybe the older you get, the more like a child you become. Being disturbed by Horace, a dignified master of alchemy actually put his hands on his hips angrily and accused angrily: "Little Slughorn, you came at the wrong time to take my big stuff." 'They all ran away!"

Facing "Little Slughorn" whom he had not heard for a long time, Horace's face was slightly embarrassed, but considering that the person who said this was Nick Flamel - a man who has lived for more than six hundred years - This "young man" who is only in his eighties really has no reason to refute this old man.

He could only smile, and then introduced the real "Little Slughorn" to Nick Flamel, that is, Bourne who was squatting on the edge of the pond and had already put his hand into the water.

At this moment, Bourne suddenly reached out and grabbed a small thing, and then thought about it and lifted it out of the water.

"Why is there still a Kabbah in this pond?"

This thing looks like a scaly monkey with webbed hands, so it is generally called a "water monkey" in Eastern folklore.

There is a hollow filled with water on the top of Kaba's head. The water inside can provide energy for this magical animal. It is said that this magical animal likes to suck human blood and will try to strangle those who are unprepared when wading through the pond. people.

Although the word "kaba" is a neon name, they are actually more common in Mongolia's rivers and lakes.

"Then why don't you try feeding it a cucumber?" Nick Flamel made a suggestion to Bourne with a smile.

It was precisely because of what the old man said that Horace, who had already taken out his wand and wanted to deal with this water monkey, which was a little dangerous to ordinary little wizards, put his wand back again.

Kaba punched and kicked in Bourne's hands, but could not break free from his restraints.

"The alchemy doll won't eat cucumbers." Bourne shrugged and said, "Although I don't know why it relies on the water in the depression on its head to stay alive like the real Kabbah?"

Then, he put the 'Kaba' into the water. As the concave bowl on top of its head fills with water, it can dive freely underwater again.

"In fact, the reason why it can move is because I feed it some magic power regularly."

Nick Flamel sat down in his fishing chair.

Obviously, for Bourne, who could tell at a glance that Kabbah was just an alchemy doll, his answer this time was not to fool a child.

Moreover, after he finished speaking, he turned around and asked Horace: "Little Slughorn, have you ever mentioned something about me to this 'little Mr. Slughorn'?" ?”

After receiving a negative reply from Horace, Nick Flamel became even more curious, so he asked Bourne: "So little wizard, how did you tell that 'Kaba' is an alchemy doll? If I remember correctly In other words, its skin does not have any of the ancient magic scripts that are commonly found on alchemical items. I have hidden those ancient magic words in its body."

Originally, Nick Flamel thought that Bourne would take out a magnet or something, or tell him the difference between the Kabbah alchemy doll and the real Kabbah from the perspective of magical zoology morphology - Nick Most of Flamel's knowledge about magical animals is based on books, and there are inevitably some errors and omissions. Originally, when he was young, he preferred to stay comfortably at home instead of venturing into the wild. Now at this age, his physical condition is even worse. Not allowed anymore.

However, what he didn't expect was that the little wizard actually took out a deformed lizard wallet, and then took out a chainsaw sword that looked like a "utilitarian style" from the wallet.

"Excellent alchemical creations can give birth to organic souls, just like this loyal chain sword." When he said this, the chain sword in his hand immediately buzzed in conjunction with Bourne's words. "The Kaaba was held in my hand, and I could feel its displeasure."

Nick Flamel's eyes lit up

Immediately afterwards, the old man with an overly fair complexion sat upright from the fishing chair and continued to ask: "Can you tell me more carefully?"

Thanks to participating in Professor McGonagall's Saturday club, he has a full understanding of the differences and differences between alchemy and transfiguration. In addition, he had experience in using alchemy to transform and repair chain swords, so Bourne was not afraid to express some of his opinions.

Even alchemy masters like Nick Flamel kept nodding their heads after listening to part of what Byrne said. However, some old men gave "three consecutive denials" after listening to it - I'm not, I'm not, Don't talk nonsense...

"Then there's no way to explain it. If you hadn't let it lurk on the shore, and if you really couldn't catch any fish, just let it hang one on the hook for you, the machine soul of the Kabbah Alchemy Doll wouldn't have thought it was possible. It’s overkill, so I’m not happy.”

Bourne spread his hands.

┑(￣Д￣)┍

"It's not cute for a child to talk like this. What's more, at your age, how can you know anything about fishing?" Nick Flamel retorted angrily.

So, Bourne simply showed off his cards and stopped pretending...

Of all of you present, there is probably no one who knows how to fish better than him. After all, a real fisherman doesn't play with mysteries and always judges heroes based on big stuff.

And for Bourne, who has fished for blade fish, rip fish, captured Valu whales on the planet Fenris, and even participated in Kraken hunting activities, fishing in this small pond is not too easy.

Byrne began his performance.

"First of all, let me give you a famous saying: fishing without making a nest will end in nothing."

"Then, fish in the shade in the summer and in the bright light in the winter. Although the water surface does not freeze in the winter in Devonshire, but you are still setting down your pole under the shade of the tree, isn't it appropriate to fish in loneliness?"

"Third, we are wizards... You have used so many fishing tackle modified by alchemy, why can't you use magic?"

After saying the last words, Bourne took out his wand, pointed it at the surface of the pond, and read a spell loudly: "Petrify them all!"

And as his spell was successfully cast, ripples suddenly appeared in the calm water.

At the same time, the rod of the self-retractable alchemical fishing rod floating in the air was pressed down slightly, and the fish shaft began to rotate automatically. A bass that had been hit by a petrification spell and had no time to loosen its mouth from the bait was just like this. Brought out of the water.

Anglers will never be in the air force!
In this way, the master of alchemy, who had followed the fish in the pond to battle wits and courage for more than two hours without achieving anything, witnessed with his own eyes the famous scene of a young wizard starting to deliver goods within ten minutes of arriving here.

I'm always worried.

"This must be the luck of the novice." Nick Flamel was a little unconvinced, and he was going to use his familiar method to find the reason for Bourne.

So, half a minute later, the fish float that was just thrown off trembled again, and the extremely advanced alchemy fishing rod once again caught a rainbow trout.

Then, tench, barracuda, carp, catfish... This time even Bourne was a little surprised.

At first, he just thought that Nick Flamel's fishing gear was luxurious, but who would have thought that the small pond he chose, which looked like a wild pit, had obviously spent a lot of money and undergone artificial intervention.

Otherwise, how could these Devon-specific fishes all appear in this small broken pond?

Seeing this, Nico Flamel hurriedly said respectfully: "Forget it, forget it, it is not suitable to continue fishing today, and I also promised Perenal that I must go back early today."

In one sentence, two "todays" indicate a guilty conscience.

Horace burst out laughing.

He gave Bourne a secret thumbs up. Then he used the wand to turn a branch near the pond into a small fish basket, and asked Bourne to collect all the fish and then carry it himself.

The final scene became: Nico Flamel was sitting on a suspended fishing chair, followed by an alchemy doll servant holding various alchemy (krypton) equipment and an empty suspended fish box, and walking aside A certain little wizard, although wearing whiteboard equipment, was carrying a basket of live fish that was about to overflow.

Nico Flamel was almost furious with the grandfather and grandson who deliberately caused trouble. Fortunately, Ms. Perenal was very good at comforting the old child, and a plate of chocolate-filled croissants put the great alchemist back into a happy mood.

"The old man never does anything wrong."

Madam Perenal is a lady who is somewhat similar to Madam Pomfrey. They look equally kind-hearted, but this lady is older and her dressing style is more primitive.

In other words, it is still stuck in the fourteenth/fifth century. She only wears a plain cotton dress at home, and does not wear any decorations except for the linen headscarf called "Borgos" on her head.

This is very un-French. At least, that's how it seems to Bourne, but in fact this is the traditional French dressing style of the 17th/th century. The so-called Rococo style and Belle Époque style actually only gradually evolved after the th century. Become popular.

Even the long whalebone skirt, which many people later regarded as the representative dress of ancient European ladies, was actually not accepted by the French aristocrats who later led the European fashion trend for hundreds of years when it was first born. .

Because in the eyes of the French aristocrats at that time, floor-length skirts were just a thing, and meaningless clothing like whalebone skirts were somewhat too exaggerated.

Ms. Perenal's daily habits that keep pace with the times are not mainly reflected in her dressing, but mainly in the way she prepares food.

Although she is too old to do many kitchen tasks herself, there must be several hard-working and capable house elves hidden in the kitchen of this typical Devon country house with a thatched roof.

Even if he didn't see them (this is a very traditional rule that elves will abide by, trying their best not to let the master and his guests notice them), Bourne can still guess this.

Because the dinner prepared by Perenal was really too rich, more than thirty dishes were put in various containers and put on the table.

Including: Breton crepe, confit duck, Burgundy red wine braised beef, chilled oysters, Provence vegetable chowder, French BBQ steak, sausage sauerkraut, bouillabaisse...

In addition, there are a variety of desserts and drinks. Among them, the only dish that still retains the characteristics of ancient France is a plate of charcoal-grilled quail.

These quails are sprinkled with the powder of expensive spices such as nutmeg, saffron, and cloves. The color is beautiful, and the aroma can penetrate people's noses from a long distance, and go straight to the top of the head along the nasal cavity.

(Around the 16th/17th century, the French (or the aristocracy) carried out a major reform of French cuisine, almost completely abandoning the cooking methods that used a lot of expensive spices in the past, and instead using much cheaper local materials) Parsley and mint began to be used in large quantities), which promoted the spread of cooking methods to the bourgeoisie and common people below the nobility, and gradually developed today's French cuisine.)
"Nico, why did you invite so many guests to today's Christmas Eve party?"

Seeing the food and plates on the long table, Horace couldn't help but asked curiously.

As far as he knew, the great alchemist rarely held such large gatherings. He and Peverell were like a pair of hermits, only contacting acquaintances after a long time and organizing a small gathering.

(End of this chapter)