After participating in the International Wizard Chess Championship, Alaric withdrew to the village of St. Catchpole as if he were hiding away, no longer concerned with the outside world.
However, through wizard broadcasts and the daily headlines of "The Daily Prophet," he could still somewhat understand the situation outside.
In fact, after Alaric made his shocking champion award speech, the media went crazy reporting about him, and topics related to him became widely discussed.
It's not an exaggeration to say that in the wizarding world, he completely dominated the front pages of all newspapers.
Just take a look at these headlines:
- "International Wizard Chess Championship Winner Crowned at Just Twelve Years Old"
- "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Regains Chess Glory After Thirty Years"
- "Dark Lord Descends! Will Rule Wizard Chess World for Fifty Years?"
- "Champion Declares No More Competitions? The Uncrowned King Proves Worthy!"
- "Unprecedented! Watch Twelve-Year-Old Chess King Push Limits"
- "Shocking! This Wizard Achieved What at Twelve..."
It seems like there are some strange titles mixed in.
Nevertheless, this indeed proved that Alaric had become famous.
He and his declaration became the hottest topic in the entire wizarding world in mid-July, and everyone was very interested in this young champion, hoping to learn more about him.
Now, reporters were constantly trying to interview him, learn everything about him, and dig into the story behind him.
However, Alaric wisely hid in the remote village of St. Catchpole.
Currently, the only ones who knew his location were Dumbledore and the Weasley family, but they were reliable enough not to leak this information to reporters.
So far, no newspaper has been able to get an interview with Alaric.
Even the local newspapers in Britain were no exception.
Barnabas Cuffe, the editor-in-chief of "The Daily Prophet," personally visited Hogwarts several times but still couldn't find out Alaric's location from Dumbledore.
This frustrated him greatly, so he had to settle for interviewing Alaric's professors and classmates.
It should be fortunate that it's currently summer vacation, and all students have returned home.
Otherwise, Hogwarts would surely be inundated by reporters from around the world, possibly even affecting normal classes.
And Alaric's popularity reached its peak after the latest issue of "Innovations in Magic" was released.
Normally, academic publications like "Innovations in Magic" didn't receive much attention.
Only true researchers and professors would subscribe to it, and most wizards preferred to focus on entertainment publications, with even "The Quibbler" having more readers than it.
But this time, when someone noticed Alaric's name appearing in "Innovations in Magic," everything changed.
The youngest champion in the history of the International Wizard Chess Championship actually published a paper in a journal like "Innovations in Magic"? And it was even placed on the first page!
A wizard chess master actually had such achievements in magic!
This is simply a legend; it seems like a figure akin to Dumbledore, Grindelwald, or Voldemort in their prime is rising.
Alaric became even more famous; even Dark Wizards in Romania knew his name.
His professors and classmates couldn't help but feel proud of him.
At this moment, FlyPowder Corporation timely announced Alaric's new invention – the Mobile Fireplace, a revolutionary invention that allowed wizards to enter the Floo network anytime, anywhere.
Simply put, it was a movable teleportation array. By establishing a teleportation array, one could use it anywhere with the use of FlyPowder Corporation's Floo Powder.
This technology not only made it convenient for ordinary wizards but also reduced the workload of the Ministry of Magic's Floo Network Management Department. It was indeed a groundbreaking invention.
The Mobile Fireplace quickly gained popularity, and countless wizards expressed that it would change their travel patterns upon learning about Alaric's new invention.
The Mobile Fireplace spell began to be a required subject in many magical academies, and Floo Powder companies from various countries sought cooperation with FlyPowder Corporation – otherwise, they might face bankruptcy.
Both FlyPowder Corporation and Alaric profited immensely.
However, that's all for the future.
...
In reality, after returning to the village of St. Catchpole, the outside world's noise became irrelevant to Alaric.
Now, he spent his days in the rooftop greenhouse, becoming a green thumb.
Wearing dragonhide gloves every day, he worked with dragon dung, busy planting bubotuber tubers, mandrake roots, venomous tentacula, and more into the fertile soil.
In a corner of the greenhouse, he even planted some Devil's Snare, Venomous Tentacula, and Puffapod.
He even transplanted a small Whomping Willow sapling, which would become his automatic defense force when it grew.
...
After completing the construction of the greenhouse garden, Alaric no longer spent too much time on it.
Orianna took care of the daily maintenance. After waiting for some time, the greenhouse garden would continuously provide Alaric with a large number of magical materials.
Of course, for some precious materials, he still needed to purchase them in the market or collect them in the Forbidden Forest.
But in most cases, the greenhouse garden could meet his needs.
Now, it was time to shift his focus to more important matters.
The first goal in front of him was the Philosopher's Stone.
The Philosopher's Stone is a mythical substance, the long-time Holy Grail of alchemists, believed to be able to turn base metals into precious ones or create the Elixir of Life, granting eternal youth.
The Philosopher's Stone is the pinnacle of human alchemy.
Countless great alchemists have spoken highly of the Philosopher's Stone:
- "Alchemy Museum" says: This is the oldest, most mysterious, or least known substance, inexplicable by nature, and is heaven's blessing and sacred.
- In the 9th century, the Persian alchemist master Raz said: It is a substance composed of four homogeneous properties and three homogeneous forces, which do not offset each other.
It can make it noble... It is spiritual in its effect and delicacy, and it is metal in its strength and solidity.
In various magical worlds, the Philosopher's Stone is the greatest treasure: Diablo, World of Warcraft, Fullmetal Alchemist, Slayers, Touhou Project, The Irregular at Magic High School, Rozen Maiden, TYPE-MOON world...
Now, this treasure is in front of Alaric. Although it may not be perfect, it can indeed be considered a Philosopher's Stone.
He hopes that through the study of the Philosopher's Stone, he can understand the true method of creating the Philosopher's Stone. However, this would undoubtedly be a lengthy project.
After all, even a great alchemist like Nicolas Flamel only had one Philosopher's Stone, and no one before him could create it.
Alaric hopes that his research on the Philosopher's Stone will yield fruitful results.
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