Chapter 435: Across the Wizarding World
The various eccentric instruments in the office continued to click and whirr, but Sean could only experience them through sound.
Professor Terra had cast a specialized obscuring spell, effectively blindfolding him. By preventing him from meeting her eyes, she allowed his overstimulated mental energy a chance to recover.
"Refrain from eye contact for the time being, my dear apprentice...
"But then, it has always been thus. Groping in the blind dark, pioneering through ignorance—that is the mission of an Alchemy Master. The magic we touch is more potent than any common spell; the knowledge we inherit is more grueling than any textbook, for we stand face-to-face with the heaviest portions of the magical realm. Have I ever told you the story of how I nearly leveled Uagadou with a paper airplane?"
Professor Terra spoke with an unhurried, steady composure.
"I don't believe so, Professor," Sean replied, his curiosity piqued despite his lack of sight.
A paper airplane? A seven-second messenger? He had seen them bypass spatial barriers to deliver intelligence at high speeds, but to topple an entire school seemed like a staggering escalation.
"It is a fascinating tale. I was exiled from Uagadou for six months. If my mentor hadn't exhausted every resource to save me, I likely would have ended up in a prison cell. That is the true purpose of a teacher, child."
Terra's voice took on a dreamy, echoing quality.
"To solve a student's... er, 'complications'?" Sean asked.
"Why would you think that? Complications? No. It is to preserve the precious seeds of the alchemical arts. In our field, the vast majority of wizards are merely there to make up the numbers. Only three percent possess a modicum of talent. And of that three percent, only one in ten has the potential to actually change the face of the Wizarding World. Those few are granted the opportunity to look up at the true Masters.
"Wizards like myself. And wizards like you."
Sean couldn't see Professor Terra's eyes, but he could hear the ambitious, playful smile in her voice.
"Righting a tilted school building is a trivial matter. Threatening—er, persuading—a group of professors is also simple. But the magic required to create a construct capable of upending a castle... that is precious. Now, tell me: what did you add to the Wampus Biscuit to produce such an amplification?"
Sean felt her presence draw closer.
"Partial animal transformation is theoretically viable," Sean explained, focusing on the mechanics. "I redesigned the ritual and adjusted the magical circuitry to allow a wizard to manifest a specific attribute of a magical beast. But the hurdle remains compatibility. Wizarding magic and creature magic are not naturally bridged. A wizard cannot easily command a bestial limb unless their soul is already aligned with that species."
Sean frowned behind his magical blindfold. This problem had plagued him for weeks. The Fairy Tale Biscuits effectively presented a binary choice: wield the magic of the beast, or wield the magic of the wizard. They couldn't yet be used in tandem—except in Sean's specific case.
"A castle isn't built in a day," Terra noted, her tone approving. "You have already made a historical breakthrough."
"Did you place a protective charm on me?" Sean asked suddenly. It was the only logical explanation for how she had arrived to intervene in the corridor so quickly.
The whirring of the instruments in the room slowed to a stop.
"I merely placed a few 'alchemical curiosities' on your person, my apprentice. You must learn to get used to it. Besides, I am not the only one watching over you..."
Sean still couldn't see her face, but the air was thick with her amusement.
"Now then," Terra said, her tone shifting to one of business-like gravity. "Let us discuss the future. Are you prepared to open a Fairy Tale Workshop in every corner of the Wizarding World?"
Sean blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"My dear apprentice, you are on the verge of revolutionizing the way the entire magical world communicates. Do you truly not see it?"
Terra leaned against an ancient magical gramophone, standing directly before him.
"Remember what I told you? Only a handful of alchemists are ever qualified to define the world. Now, I tell you: you are about to define how wizards speak to one another. The Magic Hand Mirror is going to transform the entire field of magical communication."
Terra moved to the window. Outside, the last of the winter snow was melting from the mountains.
"But Professor, the materials for the mirrors are still quite expensive, and..." Sean's mind whirred.
He understood the potential. Currently, the Wizarding World relied on fireplaces and owls. A few organizations, like the Ministry, used enchanted paper airplanes. But not every home was connected to the Floo Network, and a fireplace was a fixed location—essentially a landline.
Sean knew the difference between a landline and a mobile phone perfectly. The latter was destined to make the former obsolete.
Why did wizards still use owls when they had the Floo? Because fireplaces couldn't transmit physical objects easily, and they were inconvenient for travel. Owls were better, but they were slow, prone to error, and easily intercepted.
Now, imagine a device capable of real-time, responsive communication that could transmit vital information instantly in an emergency. Would wizards be interested? Sean was certain that groups like the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters would buy out the entire stock in an hour. In the original history, Voldemort had successfully used false information to lure Harry into a trap—an outcome that would have been impossible with a reliable, instant communication link.
"Expensive? There is no such thing as absolute cost, Sean. There is only value, and whether the price is matched by it."
Professor Terra gave a slight wave of her hand. Sean's vision returned instantly.
A cold, heavy object dropped into his hand. He looked down at the Magic Hand Mirror. It had been refined since his last prototype.
"Using your original manuscripts, I located several material suppliers who were more than happy to offer us their stock at the lowest possible wholesale rates," Terra said with a sharp, conspiratorial wink.
Sean realized the Professor had likely "persuaded" them with her usual heavy-handed grace.
"A pair of Magic Hand Mirrors can now be produced for roughly seven Galleons," she added calmly.
Sean's head snapped up. "Seven?!"
He remembered his own calculations: even after optimizing the rarest materials, the cost had been dozens of Galleons. To slash the price to seven meant one of two things: either Terra had held a very "persuasive" discussion with the merchants, or the merchants had been overcharging for centuries. Or, more likely, both.
"The Easter holidays are approaching. It is time to contact your business agent, my dear apprentice. On that day, we shall begin our expansion across the world."
[End of Chapter 435]
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