Dumbledore nodded at Lucien's words and casually reminded him, "If you find any details unsatisfactory, you can use Transfiguration to modify them. The changes will be saved for your next visit."
Lucien then drew his wand and began Transfiguring a few facilities that would make brewing Potions and practicing Alchemy more convenient.
Watching Lucien's smooth and confident Transfiguration, Dumbledore smiled faintly, as if reminded of the trapdoor beneath the Cerberus's room—another example of clever Transfiguration.
"Aren't Cerberus bites rather difficult to treat," Dumbledore asked, "especially with Dark Arts lingering in the wounds?"
At that, Lucien didn't pause his movements.
Tsk. And he calls himself an old man with a bad memory.
He wasn't at all surprised that Dumbledore would bring it up.
There were countless ghosts and portraits in the castle. After Harry and his friends encountered the Cerberus, someone must have seen them as they fled.
Those ghosts and portraits all served the Headmaster, so Dumbledore likely knew that very night that Harry had been bitten.
And even if no one reported it, once Harry went to Hagrid's hut afterward, Dumbledore could have easily guessed who had treated him.
Lucien finally stopped his Transfiguration and lowered his wand.
"It's fine. With a special combination of Potions, the Dark Arts within the Cerberus's fangs can be removed. Treating the wound itself is actually quite simple."
Since Dumbledore already knew that he had healed Harry, there was no need to deliberately hide it.
Of course, there was also no need to reveal the existence of the little Quilin just yet.
Dumbledore likely wouldn't press further anyway.
As Lucien expected, Dumbledore merely nodded with a gentle smile.
"I heard Severus mention that your performance in Potions is quite outstanding," he said. "Oh, and although Cerberus is somewhat 'afraid of fire,' it's still a very dangerous magical creature. It's best not to approach it lightly."
Afraid of fire, yes—but dangerous?
Lucien recalled Fluffy's docile expression as it lay on its back, belly exposed.
Hmm, very dangerous indeed.
"I understand, Headmaster."
With the topic naturally dropped, the two chatted for a while longer before leaving the Room of Requirement.
…
Inside Hagrid's hut.
Harry was busy brewing a Potion.
Lucien was toying with a metal gourd, occasionally channeling magic through his wand to adjust the space inside it.
It was a newly crafted portable container enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, designed to house certain magical creatures.
Mooncalves would be the first priority—their droppings made excellent fertilizer and could greatly enhance the growth of Magical Chomping Cabbages.
The young cabbages were growing nicely; they should reach maturity within a month without issue.
Then, he could finally repay the loan from that diligent little gardener perk.
Hmm, he would make another container later, one dedicated solely to cultivating magical plants.
Newt had already explained in his letter how to provide the necessary elements for plant growth.
Besides Mooncalves, should he also keep a few Acromantulas?
After all, there were far too many of them in the Forbidden Forest, and they were disrupting the ecosystem.
Keeping a few himself would make it easier to extract venom—though, of course, it wouldn't be as potent as Aragog's.
Speaking of Acromantula venom, he also had Erumpent Exploding Fluid now.
He could finally begin refining the long-delayed Delayed Truth Serum, though not here—he couldn't risk blowing up Hagrid's hut.
Once he completed that Alchemical Potion, he could even experiment with forging special magical bullets.
The revolver, which had been Transfigured from a pocket watch, was still just an empty shell—ordinary gunpowder bullets had limited power against magical creatures.
Lucien thought he should prepare another container enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, one dedicated specifically to Alchemy experiments.
After finishing the adjustments on the metal gourd in his hand, he couldn't help but sigh at how convenient it was.
No wonder Newt had liked carrying a suitcase around the world back in the day.
"Lucien, the scar-healing paste is done. Do you want to check it?"
Lucien put away the small gourd and walked over to inspect Harry's Potion assignment.
"Hmm, overall it's fine, but it would be better if you brewed it for one minute less and added a bit more white-skinned…..."
Harry quickly jotted down notes as Lucien explained.
Once everything had been reviewed, Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, Lucien—we agreed last time that I'd repay you for the Potion you used to treat me. Hagrid already got me some new magic books. Wait here a second."
Harry rummaged through the storage chest Hagrid had mentioned, pulled out a book, and handed it to Lucien.
It was noticeably thinner—probably only a quarter or a fifth the thickness of the previous one.
Lucien glanced at the cover. It still bore the same gilded capital letter "P."
He opened the book and quickly skimmed through a few pages.
Oh—Alchemy that uses the bodily tissues of magical creatures as the main component, amplifying and harnessing their natural properties?
That was quite interesting.
Lucien's first thought was to apply this method to crafting special bullets.
But what kind of magical creature materials should he use?
Perhaps he could ask Hagrid. The man had plenty of items produced by magical creatures—surely something among them could yield extraordinary results…
Just as Lucien was about to continue reading—
Thump, thump, thump—!!
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
Who could it be?
Ron had gone out to walk the dog, and Hermione had said she was heading to the library to read.
Lucien stood up and walked over to open the door.
Standing at the door was a boy with glasses, his clothes impeccably neat and his demeanor precise.
Judging by his height, he was likely an upper-year student.
Lucien noticed the boy's fiery red hair and immediately had a guess.
"Are you looking for Ron?"
The boy was briefly startled, then nodded.
"Yes, hello. My name is Percy—Percy Weasley. Ron's my younger brother. I heard he's been here, and I have something to discuss with him."
Percy had received two letters from home—one addressed to Ron.
The other was from their mother, Molly, explaining that Ron had requested magic books from home because he wanted to learn Alchemical machinery with a classmate.
He had even offered to use some of the family's magic books as payment.
At first, Molly hadn't believed it.
A first-year student studying Alchemy? That alone was hard enough to imagine. But more importantly, she knew her youngest son far too well—Ron had never been this eager or proactive about magic before.
So she sent her most reliable son, Percy, to check on Ron—to make sure he wasn't being misled by some troublemaker.
Percy glanced at the younger boy before him, taking in his dark golden hair and deep green eyes.
"You must be Lucien Grafton, right?"
"That's right."
"It's like this," Percy began, his tone cautious. "My brother Ron is rather naive, and some things—"
"Percy? What are you doing here?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Percy turned around.
Ron stood there holding a rope in each hand.
The rope in his left hand was tied to a tall, fierce-looking black dog.
The one in his right was fastened to something entirely different—a white, metallic construct with exposed gears and blue light glowing from its crystal eyes…
"Wait—Ron, what on earth are you dragging along?"
__________
11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1