Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy Chapter 41 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy! Harry and Fleur have some time before the Yule Ball, still a few months before the Second Task. How do they spend their time aside from puzzling out the mysterious language within the Egg?

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 41 – Alchemy Questions, Foci, Tests

It was the first of December and unbeknownst to most of the students, Hogwarts was playing guest to one of the most famous Wizards of all time. Sitting in one of the meeting rooms for guests, much like the first time they’d met, Harry Potter and Nicholas Flamel met once again. This time though, Harry had a guest with him in the form of Fleur. The French Witch was so excited to be meeting the living legend that she was visibly holding back from asking questions.

“It’s is good to see you again, Artificer Potter.” Nicholas smiled pleasantly to the teen. “I’ve noticed you’ve made some waves in the Enchanting community lately. Four Artifacts in as many years, was it?”

“Yes, I’ve found many ideas and realized them since I began down this path, thank you.” Harry gave a polite nod to the ancient Alchemist.

“Who might your lovely, young lady friend be?” Nicholas gave Fleur a polite smile.

“I am Fleur Delacour, Mr. Flamel,” Fleur gave the man a short bow from her seated position. “It is an honor to meet the only Wizard to have achieved the pinnacle of the Alchemic Arts.”

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Delacour.” Nicholas chuckled at the excitement that the young woman practically radiated.

“I have the Dragon Blood you requested,” Harry pulled a large glass jar that was charmed unbreakable from within his black cloak. A second jar of the same size followed it and both were placed on the short table between them. “Seven and a half liters, as you requested.”

“I have your gold, of course.” Nicholas placed a large, jiggling money pouch on the table. Both Wizards began to inspect the other’s offering as Magic made trying to swindle people so very easy. Neither of them truly believed that the other was trying to cheat them, but it was practically a tradition to inspect all goods and payments in any non-professional transaction. Once they were both satisfied with what they’d received, the pouch of gold disappeared into Harry’s black cloak while both large jars of Dragon Blood seemingly fit into a small satchel that shouldn’t be able to hold them.

“Sir, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble” Fleur began though she looked slightly hesitant. “Could I perhaps ask you a few questions in regards to Magic that a long-lived Academic such as yourself might know?”

“Aiming to be a Scholar, I see.” Nicholas chuckled for a moment. “Feel free to ask a few things that have your curiosity, Miss Delacour, I have some time.”

“In relation to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration, how does Alchemy seemingly create new Elements when Gamp’s Law states that nothing new can be made from disparate parts?” Fleur’s first question was merely on how Alchemy created new things rather than turning one thing into another. Ever since she’d witnessed Harry use Alchemy and a Transmutation Circle for the first time, she’d been immensely curious.

“Transfiguration can make many drastic changes to an object; but aside from say changing the shape of a stone while keeping its size and weight the same, it is all superficial and will fade away in a short time depending on the complexity of the Transfiguration.” Nicholas began his explanation with a grin. “Alchemy takes two different items and breaks them down on both a physical level and a Magical one. The items’ very essence is taken and merged together to form the new material. Nothing is left of the old material when Transmutation is performed properly. All of the base material is now the new material once the process is complete.”

“There is Alchemy that specializes in breaking down and separating Alchemic Compounds though, right?” Harry spoke up and Nicholas nodded in response.

“Indeed there is, Artificer Potter,” Nicholas acknowledged with a smile. “Separation and Restoration is a Branch of the Alchemical Arts aimed at returning transmuted material back to its base elements.”

“I have been having a bit of trouble progressing my own Alchemy further lately.” Harry admitted to the Immortal Master. “I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong though. Every line, angle, and symbol is as perfect as I can make it and yet I only get striated failures each time.”

“What material are you aiming to transmute, if I may ask?” Nicholas looked curious as to what the teen Artificer was attempting to create through Alchemy.

“Adamantite, but I’ve failed dozens of times already.” Harry sighed with a grimace.

“What are you using to draw the Transmutation Circle?” Nicholas asked the teen with a glint in his eyes.

“Chalk, the same kind that I’ve used for any of the Transmutation Circles I’ve drawn in the past.” Harry informed with ease. Chalk was the easiest medium to use for Transmutation Circles after all. It wasn’t permanent, and if you made a mistake while transcribing the Circle, you could erase it with just a little water.

“What kind of chalk?” Nicholas had a small smile on his face as he led the teen towards his answer.

“Just regular chalk…” Harry trailed off as the gears began to turn in his mind.

“Therein lays your problem, young Artificer.” Nicholas chuckled as Harry’s eyes widened behind his glasses and the light of realization began to shine. “You’re using a non-Magical component in a Transmutation Circle that requires all parts to have a base Magical nature.”

“Of course!” Harry looked like he’d just had an epiphany, making both Nicholas and Fleur chuckle at him. “Would powdered Dragon Bone work?”

“It’s what I use more often than not.” Nicholas admitted and Harry pulled a notebook and pen from within the interesting black cloak he wore. While Harry got lost in his planning and note taking, Nicholas and Fleur resumed their conversation to sate the Veela Witch’s insatiable curiosity.

It was quite the informative visit for both Harry and Fleur, and Nicholas enjoyed having such a stimulating conversation with two that were so young. So many of his fellow Wizards and Witches took Magic for granted. To see such curiosity and excitement for the Art that Magic was brought a warm smile to the ancient Alchemist’s face.

-Saturday, December 3rd-

“Carefully…” Harry was finishing up the last symbol of the Transmutation Circle that he’d become very familiar with due to his many, many failures. Using what amounted to Dragon Chalk, Harry was confident that he could make this work. The Transmutation Circle was perfect. The chalk he’d drawn it with was Magical in nature. He had the materials ready to be transmuted and had plenty of experience with using Transmutation Circles. This was it! He’d get it right and create Adamantite for the first time!

Carefully stepping back from his work, Harry looked over the three meter diameter circle again. One last check to make sure everything was correct. When he was satisfied with his checks, Harry gave Fleur a smile as she sat off to the side to observe. Fleur beamed back with the bright and warm smile he adored as he kneeled down at the edge of the circle. He carefully placed his hands down, the tips of his middle fingers the only things making contact with the most outer lines of the array. With one more moment to focus his concentration, Harry began to pour his mana into the Transmutation Circle.

The lines and symbols began to glow blue as his mana reacted with the Magic of the circle. He felt the difference immediately as his mana flowed through the array much more easily now. The sparks of Magic formed as normal, but this time they were directed almost entirely towards his materials in the center. He only had to adjust his mana flow a bit to have all of the Magic flowing into the center. Harry and Fleur watched on as all of the materials glowed before merging together slowly. Harry continued to feed his mana into the circle until he saw the material in the center stop changing and felt the slight kickback form the Transmutation Circle.

“Done.” Harry cut his mana flow and pulled his hands back from the floor. The light died down near instantly and Harry gave it a second before he stood up. Carefully walking into the circle, taking great care not to step on the lines or symbols, Harry picked up the transmuted material and stepped out of the circle.

“Did it work, Harry?” Fleur was very curious to see if her boyfriend’s Alchemy had succeeded after so many failures.

“No striations this time, that’s already a good sign.” Harry smiled as he began to channel his mana into the large ingot of dull -almost black- metal. He kept pouring more and more of his mana into the ingot, but nothing visibly happened. The ingot took as much as he gave with no reaction. Harry tested it directly by dropping a substantial amount of his mana into the ingot all at once. For a long moment the ingot glowed with a slight blue shine before it faded completely. “It worked…its Adamantite…it’s really Adamantite! I did it!”

“Congratulations Harry!” Fleur hugged him while Harry held the ingot in his hands.

“I can’t believe it,” Harry chuckled as he leaned into Fleur’s embrace. “After all of those tries, all of the failures, I finally got it right thanks to a change in material. How could I have been so blind?”

“None of that, Harry,” Fleur shook her head, sending her lovely silvery locks swaying with the motion. “Nicholas Flamel is the pinnacle of Alchemy and has literal centuries of experience to work with. You’ve made this with only a single bit of help; the rest was all your hard work. I won’t hear you belittling yourself over succeeding.”

“You’re right, you’re right, I shouldn’t complain about succeeding at this.” Harry shook his head before turning to kiss Fleur’s cheek. “You’re good at keeping me on track.”

“Someone has to be,” Fleur giggled as she held him. “Usually me or Penny, we certainly can’t trust Tonks to do so.”

“Tonks is fun though.” Harry teased and Fleur pinched him slightly for his joke.

“You two would end up doing something absolutely crazy if we left you to your own devices.” Fleur stated plainly, her blue-eyes looking deeply into his green.

“Oh absolutely, no doubt in my mind about that.” Harry chuckled and Fleur shook her head before squeezing him gently. Their group was full of love, so what was a bit of eccentricity too?

“I’m still looking through various Magical Scripts to try and identify the language inside the Egg.” Fleur informed him as they separated and Harry went to place his ingot of Adamantite on his work desk. “So far I’ve not had much luck. It’s not Rune-based and it doesn’t match any ancient script that I’ve checked so far either.”

“How many more scripts are there to check it against?” Harry questioned his girlfriend with a tilt of his head.

“Dozens upon dozens,” Fleur informed him with a shrug. “I’ll figure it out, one way or another. It’s just stressful while also politely refusing half the boys in the castle asking me to the Yule Ball.”

“Hmm,” Harry looked towards his shelf of various objects he’d made. Fleur, catching where his eyes were looking, broke out into a melodious laughter.

“No, Harry, you don’t have to do anything to them, I’m more than used to this.” Fleur continued to laugh and the sound brought a smile to Harry’s face. He moved over to pull her into a hug and just held her close. “Mmm, I could use foot rub though, and my shoulders do get stiff carrying those heavy books across the library.”

“I think I can help with that.” Harry smiled just before their lips met again for a gentle kiss.

-Monday, December 5th-

“Sage Quartz and Dragon Bone Focus, test one.” Harry dictated to the Dicta-Quill hovering over his notebook. He’d decided to try the Magical Quill out while testing his Items so that he could write down his thoughts in real time. After casting a Protego Totalum around the area he was planning to use, he’d sent all of the snow that had fallen last night out of his protected space with a wave of his hand. Harry had attached the shaved down and shaped Dragon Bone to some simple leather. This leather was made into two straps to attach the Focus onto his right forearm. A chunk of the Sage Quartz was implanted into the center of the bone. Harry was no Jeweler, but he’d done the best he could to shape the fragment of crystal into a rough square shaped gem.

Using the bone focus on his forearm was a bit different then a wand. Without the ability to make the wand motions, Harry had to supplement the mnemonic motions with his arm. The Sage Quartz gave off a slight shine as mana flowed into the focus. With an image in mind, Harry willed the ground in front of him to rise up into a wall. The dirt rose up and made a slightly misshapen earthen wall. Looking over it, Harry determined that it was close to what he’d wanted, but the shape was wrong. He’d been going for a square, but had gotten a more rhombus-like shape.

“Control is rough, either due to the item’s construction or imprecise power output.” Harry spoke and the Dicta-Quill wrote down his words. “I wonder…” Harry looked at the misshapen earth wall and then at his prototype Focus.

Holding his right arm out, Harry focused on the wall. He wanted it to come apart. He desired to separate the soil from the clay and rock, to keep all parts of the ‘earth’ separate from each other. Harry directed his mana into the prototype and the Sage Quarts glowed with a dim green light. The wall burst apart and Harry jerked back instinctively. The lapse in concentration stopped the effect and Harry was left with a mess of earth all over the grass.

“Separation of types of ‘Earth’ results in the material in question bursting apart.” Harry had the Dicta-Quill mark the note. Looking over the remains of the wall, he noted a pattern to the apparent mess. Soil made up one part of the area almost exclusively, likewise clay was off to one side, and the stones from the wall had fallen in a group. There was still mixture among the three materials, but they’d partially separated as he’d wanted them to, so that was a good sign.

‘Huh, so it tried to work, but was it my loss of focus or the Item’s limited design that failed?’ Harry pondered before looking over his Focus. With a shrug, Harry held his right arm over the mess of earth and finished separating the materials without much effort. So far, this prototype was performing mostly as expected. If he could refine it a bit more, then he’d have some gifts to give to his Sworn Brothers of Erdunn.

Harry was sure the Dwarves would love any item that made their mining more efficient.

-Thursday, December 8th-

“Harry, what are you doing?” Fleur questioned as she watched Harry fill a stone box with Dragon Blood. It wasn’t like he’d run out any time soon with how much he had, and it did lose potency over time, but to see a stone box the size of a cooking pot filled with Dragon Blood was odd.

“I’m playing a hunch while also running some tests.” Harry grinned at her in the way he did when he was excited about a new Artifice idea.

“What hunch are you testing?” Fleur had to admit that watching Harry work always sparked her curiosity.

“Symbolic Restoration in Creature Craft.” Harry replied as he continued to set up his smithy for work. “I’m also testing the amount of control I have when imparting my mana into my creations.”

“Isn’t more mana better for your creations though?” Fleur was fairly certain that Artifice required an immense amount of mana to produce a True Artifact.

“In theory, yes. In practice, not always.” Harry shook his head as he headed over to the forge. “I may not always want to produce a powerful Item. Having control of just how powerful every Item that I forge or craft is; will go a long way to me being willing to take on commissions in the future.”

“You’re thinking ahead,” Fleur nodded in understanding. “I do like that intelligence of yours, mon amour.”

“Aside from my devilish good looks, it is one of my best traits.” Harry shot her a smirk and Fleur chuckled at her boyfriend. With a deep breath, Harry exhaled flames into the forge to ignite it. As he worked to raise the temperature Fleur retreated to the work table to sit on the stool and watch. The Veela teen was convinced that one day she’d make some remarkable insight into Magic simply by watching Harry work.

Once Harry had the flames in the forge where he wanted them temperature-wise, he placed an ingot of Magical Iron into the forge with one of the smaller fangs from the Horntail. Heating them up until they both glowed a bright yellow, Harry removed them and set to work with his Basilisk Steel tools, not the Rune-Inscribed ones, just the basic tools made from Basilisk Carbon Steel. He would start at the lowest level of his tools and materials and work up to his higher levels over time. He needed to both test his control of the imparting process as well as test his hunch on as many materials as possible.

Fleur watched on as Harry hammered away at the billet of Dragon Carbon Steel. The strikes of the hammer melded the Magical Iron and the Dragon Fang into the combined material and each fold of the billet evened out the carbon content of the new steel. As a Veela, heat didn’t bother her up to a point. But even she could admit that the smithy was very warm. Still she watched on as the billet was carefully shaped into the form that Harry wanted.

Once the billet had been shaped into a knife, Harry picked it up with his tongs and quenched it in the Dragon Blood. The hiss and smell both made Fleur scrunch up her nose. When Harry pulled the knife out of the blood, he looked it over and gave it a small nod. Setting it aside to let it cool, he placed down another ingot, this time one of Oulm. He began the process again, heating both the fang and the ingot up until they were a bright yellow. This time around he did the two separately and only brought them together in the forge when both were already yellow hot. Fleur wasn’t even sure what to call the fused material of Oulm and Dragon Fang, it certainly wasn’t steel.

Harry beat the fused material into shape with his hammer. Little by little it conformed to his desires and soon took on the simple design of a knife. Once he was satisfied with its form, he quenched it in the Dragon Blood. Harry examined this knife with the same scrutiny as the first. Apparently seeing what he wanted to, he set it near the first knife to let it cool. The next ingot was Sylvuan and it went into the forge with the fang. The process repeated until the two were brought out, hammered, folded, hammered, folded, and then put back into the forge. The shaping went smoothly, though Fleur thought she noticed Harry striking this material a bit harder than the previous two. The Veela teen covered her nose as the third knife was quenched in Dragon Blood.

“That smells awful, you know that, right?” Fleur looked at her boyfriend as he inspected the third knife.

“I’m aware,” Harry gave her a grin as he set the third knife to the side to cool. “But that’s it for today. I’ll let these three cool and then test them out. If I’ve done this properly, then all three should be endowed with the ability to conjure fire. The real test is how much and if I’ve managed to control exactly how much mana I imparted to them during the forging.

“You could use a shower too.” Fleur motioned to the bathroom in the smithy. “While watching you work is interesting and seeing you all sweaty is nice, the smell is not as pleasant.” She giggled at him.

“Alright then,” Harry shrugged as he pulled off his leather apron and then his sweat-soaked shirt too. Fleur ran her eyes over his torso with a pleased grin. His work with forging his creations had gifted him with quite the musculature over the years. “Would you like to join me? I could use some help washing my back.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Harry?” Fleur teased him while pretending to consider the option.

“I’ll wash your back in return, I promise.” Harry grinned at her while wiggling his eyebrows.

“Go shower, Mister.” Fleur laughed as she waved him towards the bathroom.

“Can’t blame a bloke for trying.” Harry laughed too as he headed into the bathroom. It was a good thing he stashed some spare clothes in here now days. The shower was helpful but having to try and charm your clothes clean when you were tired was not an experience Harry wanted to have to repeat.

When Harry emerged from the shower clean and redressed, Fleur kissed his cheek before leading him back out into the classroom part of the hidden workshop. She took his left hand in her right, placed his left hand on her waist, and then began to lead him. The two had taken up dance practice when Harry admitted to not knowing how to dance. Fleur was all too eager to teach him and so the two practiced frequently during the weeks leading up to the Yule Ball. The Waltz was easy enough, Harry had picked it up fairly quickly, but they always started with it regardless.

“Ballroom dancing is still not my forte.” Harry remarked with a grin.

“We’ll make you at least passable.” Fleur shrugged with a chuckle.

“I have the strangest feeling that most of the guys in attendance aren’t going to be noticing me beyond the fact that I’m with you.” Harry mused as they moved into slightly more complex moves.

“Unfortunately, I will indeed be spending the night being drooled over.” Fleur sighed dramatically. “Such is the curse of being a Veela.”

“You could just stay close to me all night.” Harry suggested as he twirled her.

“I could do that,” Fleur agreed as she pressed herself against him and they stepped to the right together. “You do make for a good shield against the drooling boys.”

“Happy to be of service, My Lady.” Harry snarked and Fleur pulled his lips to hers. Harry’s hands took hold of her waist as they kissed before Fleur gently moved them down to cup her ass. With her permission, Harry indulged and deepened their kiss while he explored her marvelous bottom.

The Yule Ball was looking to be a very memorable evening.

-Flint Manor-

“My Lord, I’m afraid that Borgin doesn’t have a copy of the tome you desire.” Barty informed Voldemort while kneeling.

“Doesn’t have it, or doesn’t wish to part with it?” Voldemort looked up from the old tome he was slowly deciphering. His red-eyes glared at his kneeling follower.

“He claims that he can get it, if we give him enough time.” Barty explained what the unscrupulous shopkeeper had told him.

“Platitudes are not the knowledge I seek,” Voldemort hissed out and Barty bowed his head lower. “Inform Borgin that he has until summer to procure a readable copy, or I will personally pay him a visit.”

“Yes My Lord, I shall inform him at once.” Barty declared and only stood to leave when Voldemort waved him away.

‘This tome is barely legible and having to decipher it is taking too long.’ The Dark Lord’s frustration with his current task was almost palpable. ‘The next book Borgin procures had best be legible if he wants to see the next day! I am Lord Voldemort, not some Hogwarts student trying to complete an assignment in the library!’

At the very least, the tomes he was looking into would provide insurance against any more accidents, no prophecy, no fate or chance would keep him from his goal. He was the greatest Wizard to ever live and he would stand on top of the world as he remade it in his image. Those who did not kneel would be wiped from the earth. These ancient tomes would be the insurance to his ascension to his rightful throne. If they thought the Dark Magics that he’d shown them back in the Seventies were terrible, then he’d happily show them what True Dark Magic was capable of when wielded by a Master such as himself.

-End Chapter-

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Testing, experimenting, learning, keep moving forward, young Harry, you may need all of it far sooner than you know!

We see some more crafting, just what can Harry do when he’s focusing on limiting power, or giving and taking away various attributes of his creations. He has plenty of parts to experiment with, so why not make the most of it?

Not to mention, that with a little advice from Flamel, Harry has succeeded in transmuting Adamantite for the first time! One of the upper tier Alchemical Metals, just what will Harry do with such a material?

There’s also the problem of the Lich-like Dark Lord that won’t leave everyone else alone. What exactly is Voldemort delving into? It can’t be anything good, of course.

What is True Dark Magic?

What will happen next?

Keep reading to find out!

Current Mana Levels

Harry – 17,028

Tonks – 11,346

Penelope – 9,962

Fleur – 10,114

Until I get your reviews, later!