"He really did it..." Dumbledore shook his head with a bitter smile. He didn't expect Tom to actually achieve the ultimate alchemical feat, the Philosopher's Stone, and in less than half a year, no less.
Dumbledore was sure that Tom didn't discover it on his own; he must have received external help.
And he was right. If it weren't for the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, Tom would never have had a chance to achieve alchemy. But with the help of the Emerald Tablet, Tom turned the impossible into possible.
Tom and Hermione found a secluded corner to prepare to take the Philosopher's Stone.
Tom took out the mortar from their potions class and placed the Philosopher's Stone inside it. Then, with a strong pound of the mortar, the seemingly hard Philosopher's Stone shattered into several pieces.
After repeatedly striking the stone several times, the brilliant blood-red stone turned into a pile of crimson powder. Tom showed no intention of stopping and continued to pound and grind the powder, seeking to make it even finer.
"Do you regret it?" Hermione silently watched as Tom turned the Philosopher's Stone into powder and suddenly asked, "The Philosopher's Stone can turn things into gold."
"And so?" Tom looked puzzled.
"You can take a piece of the Philosopher's Stone and turn it into a pile of gold, and then, and then you could do many things..."
A question mark appeared in Tom's mind.
"Does it make any sense?"
"It's gold, after all!" When she mentioned it, Hermione's eyes seemed to gleam, "Aren't you interested in gold?"
Tom pondered seriously for a moment before replying, "I am interested. Love for gold seems to be imprinted in human genes; anyone who sees a large amount of gold stacked up will involuntarily get excited."
Without waiting for Hermione to say anything else, Tom continued, "But if I want gold, I don't need to use your Philosopher's Stone. I can ask Dumbledore for it, I can earn it with my alchemy skills, or I can even order Dementors to steal it. The only thing I don't need from the Philosopher's Stone is turning things into gold; from my perspective, selling it would be much more useful than using it for alchemy."
Tom was telling the truth. If he set aside his pride, he could amass astonishing wealth in no time. Not to mention anything else, just allowing the Dementors to plunder could bring him tons of gold.
"Alright, alright!" Hermione interrupted Tom's endless speech as if she had heard a satisfactory answer.
She pointed to the powder in the mortar and said, "Is it ready? I think we can add water and drink it."
The powder in the mortar had turned into fine dust.
Tom carefully poured the powder into a glass and then added a bit of water. The Philosopher's Stone powder instantly dissolved in the water, turning it a blood-red color.
Hermione took the glass from Tom's hand and drank the liquid in one gulp.
Tom anxiously watched her, and once she finished drinking, he couldn't wait and asked, "How do you feel? Do you feel better?"
Hermione made a face, indicating that it had no taste. That was good news, as Snape's potion had clearly not considered taste; it was terribly bitter, whereas the Philosopher's Stone potion was a better choice in that regard.
After taking the Philosopher's Stone, Hermione's complexion seemed to have improved quite a bit; she looked radiant, and her face appeared more filled with vitality.
But aside from that, there were no other changes.
Tom used his index finger to lift Hermione's face and observed her for a moment, finally laughing gently and saying, "In my eyes, you're worth more than all the gold in the world combined."
"Is that so? Then I think I should put on a little more weight," Hermione winked playfully.
They hugged each other and exchanged sweet words. When they were about to leave, Tom noticed that there was still Philosopher's Stone dust in the mortar.
Tom: ...
"Will there be any problem if I haven't eaten the entire Philosopher's Stone?" He was a bit unsure, but considering that the Philosopher's Stone was used to restore life energy, missing a few corners shouldn't have a significant impact.
"Wait a moment." Hermione suddenly remembered something and pulled out a pomade box from her pocket.
With a wave of her wand, the pomade in the box clustered together and floated out.
Tom: ???
He watched as Hermione spread the pomade on her mortar and pestle, absorbing the remaining Philosopher's Stone dust.
After sticking the dust into the pomade, Hermione placed it back in the box without any changes. At this point, the light yellow pomade had turned pink.
"Is this...?" Tom was a bit confused.
"I don't want to waste anything. Would you like to try some?" Hermione took some pomade from the box and generously offered it to Tom.
"So, this must be the most luxurious cosmetic in the world, right?" Tom couldn't help but tease. Common cosmetics were already considered luxurious when they added pearl powder, and here you are, Hermione, adding fragments of the Philosopher's Stone directly!
In the magical world, there was no one more extravagant than her!
He didn't know if it was suggestion or if it actually worked, but the pomade with Philosopher's Stone dust made Hermione's skin softer and more delicate. However, everything came at a price, and the price Tom paid was explaining to Professor Snape in potions class why the powder he had ground had a pleasant aroma.
Days passed, and the third task of the Triwizard Tournament and the final exams drew near.
To carry out the third task, Hogwarts transformed the Quidditch pitch into a maze. It was said that the champions had to navigate the maze and reach the Triwizard Cup located at the center of the labyrinth.
The champion who first touched the Cup would be the tournament winner and receive the highest honor and 800 Galleons as a prize.
Of course, this maze was no ordinary maze, and following Tom's suggestion, Dumbledore turned it into a three-dimensional labyrinth. The maze had 27 sections arranged like a Rubik's cube and changed position periodically. Its difficulty was enough to be a nightmare for the champions.
Of course, the champions didn't know these details; they only knew they had to navigate the maze.
On the day of the competition, high-ranking Ministry of Magic officials, led by Minister of Magic Bones, would come to visit. There would also be distinguished guests from the Far East; however, to ensure their safety, Hogwarts would implement strict security measures and confiscate their wands.
Originally, this was Dumbledore's excuse to prevent them from entering Hogwarts, but he never imagined that these Japanese wizards would readily accept and fully understand the college's measures. Their cooperative attitude made Dumbledore unable to reject their request to attend the tournament.
Furthermore, what could wizards do without their wands? Could they cause any trouble?