Wade paused for a moment before nodding. "Of course. Are you an Alchemist too?"
"It's too early to call myself an Alchemist. I'm just studying under my teacher; I haven't produced anything original yet."
Natalia smiled, her lips curving. "I've bought every single one of your Alchemy products, especially the Magic Golems. In our Alchemy class, the very first lesson had the professor start us off by observing the Alchemy on the Magic Golems…"
"But there's one regrettable thing," Ryan, another blond Ilvermorny student, walked over and said, "Gray, it seems you've never published a single paper in any magazine?"
He smiled and said, "I have an uncle who works in the editorial department of Alchemy Frontiers. If you need to publish a paper, I can help."
His tone was friendly, but his eyes held a subtle hint of doubt—
The more one understood Alchemy, the harder it was to believe that the inventions that had appeared in the last two years were all the work of a teenage boy.
They preferred to believe certain rumors, such as Wade Gray actually being Murray's illegitimate son, and the Alchemist Murray attributing all his inventions to Gray, helping the boy steal fame that didn't belong to him, and so on.
Naturally, Ryan wasn't foolish enough to voice these doubts directly. He merely subtly reminded his companion—if Wade Gray was truly that capable, why hadn't he published even one paper to date?
But Natalia immediately pouted. "Gray could just write a paper based on his work and get it published in any magazine he wants. Does he really need your help?"
Ryan: "…"
He helplessly smoothed things over. "I just thought it would be more convenient with an acquaintance, right?"
"Thank you for your kind offer," Wade said. "For now, I don't have a need to publish a paper."
"Understandable. Preparing for the competition is already busy enough."
Natalia nodded in agreement and added, "I've actually always been curious, your method of imbuing Magic Golems with thought seems to differ somewhat from the way Wizard's Chess is made?"
"Indeed. When creating Magic Golems, I incorporated some theories from Transfiguration, allowing inorganic matter to tend towards transformation into living beings, enhancing their logic and ability to learn and grow…"
Wade didn't mind discussing Alchemy with her. The things he spoke of, a mature Alchemist could derive themselves. However, understanding these theories didn't mean they could produce the same Magic Golems.
More importantly, discussing such profound and abstruse topics would make him appear more like a "Ravenclaw bookworm" in the eyes of others.
Upon hearing this, Natalia's eyes immediately lit up. It felt as if a crack had opened in the palace of knowledge, allowing her to see the dazzling light behind it, and the confusion that had long plagued her was finally resolved.
"Yes, I've long felt that these Magic Golems are so intelligent they seem to possess souls. Your method is almost equivalent to creating Alchemical life forms…"
"It hasn't reached that point yet. Magic Golems are just smarter Wizard's Chess, really," Wade said modestly.
The Magic Golems sold on the market indeed had limited intelligence, roughly equivalent to a slightly smarter AI assistant, completely different from the Magic Golems Wade kept by his side.
He explained, "Their consciousness substratum is too basic. They primarily rely on composite layer manufacturing techniques and Spell superposition. For Magical Power conduction, I borrowed a formula once proposed by Mr. Nicolas Flamel…"
"Ah, I've read that paper too!" Natalia said happily. "Mr. Flamel once mentioned discussing matter transformation and energy conservation with his Muggle scientist friend, which led him to propose the concept of Magical efficacy…"
The more they talked, the more compatible they seemed, but for those who didn't understand Alchemy, these theoretical discussions were akin to a lullaby.
Less than three minutes into their conversation, Ryan's gaze began to wander.
Though he couldn't understand, from Natalia's expression, he could confirm that Wade had real substance. So, he found an excuse and escaped from their side.
Most of the other contestants also shifted their gaze, uninterested. However, three students from Salem Institute walked over and, after listening for a while, joined the conversation.
"Gray, it seems your works also incorporate some Muggle technological concepts?" Abby asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Wade admitted frankly. "I've learned a lot from them."
"I can see that. I imagine you can also see that our school places a lot of emphasis on the integration of Magic and technology."
Abby said, "At Salem, besides Muggle Studies, we also offer several Muggle-related courses, including Muggle Mechanical Engineering, Weapon Development, War History, and so on."
"Salem's helicopters are indeed impressive," Wade said. "Did you modify them yourselves?"
"Yes, they were just recently completed," Abby said proudly. "We removed parts of the traditional aircraft structure and modified the engine, propeller, and fuel tank. Of course, the cabin also uses an Undetectable Extension Charm."
The founders of their school had suffered much persecution from Muggles, but Salem Institute did not, because of this, completely isolate itself from Muggle society. On the contrary, they might be the Magic School that understood Muggles best.
Because of animosity and fear, Salem's research into Muggles was the most in-depth. They were able to humble themselves to learn from them and discard their prejudices, actively absorbing the beneficial aspects of Muggle technology.
While Wade was discussing Alchemy with the others, Harry stormed out of the broom closet nearby. Rita Skeeter hastily snapped her crocodile-skin handbag shut, ran a hand through her hair, and then strutted out on her high heels.
"What's wrong?"
Cedric, who had been talking to Fleur, noticed Harry's distressed expression and walked over to ask with concern.
"Now I see why everyone hates that woman Skeeter," Harry muttered, gritting his teeth. "She wasn't interviewing at all; she was just trying to fabricate things."
Cedric's father worked at the Ministry of Magic, so he had naturally heard of Rita Skeeter's style long ago. He sympathetically patted Harry's shoulder and said,
"Every Wizard in Britain knows Skeeter loves to spout nonsense. The more you care, the more she thrives. The best thing to do is not let her steal any of your attention."
"I understand. I'll stay far away from her from now on."
Harry nodded, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in his gut and forget the words Skeeter's Quill had written—
Those astonishingly green eyes were filled with tears or something similar; just thinking about it sent chills down his spine, not to mention she mentioned his parents with utter disrespect…
Suddenly, the classroom door was pushed open, and Barty Crouch, Ollivander, and the Headmasters all walked in from outside.
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