"I'm willing!"
Looking at Sean, who agreed, Antonius didn't immediately show joy but continued to say to Sean: "I hope you answer carefully. If you learn my knowledge but don't help me complete this task, I always have ways to reclaim my knowledge."
"Mr. Antonius, although alchemy differs considerably from Potions, I believe my three papers published in the Potions journal The Golden Cauldron should be sufficient to prove my prudence and ability. I'm already very familiar with research and papers."
"You've published papers in The Golden Cauldron?" Antonius's expression obviously became more animated. He looked at Sean, his gentle voice taking on a note of urgency: "If it's convenient, could you show me your papers?"
"Of course."
Sean took out the Golden Cauldron journals containing his two papers from his Undetectable Extension Bag and placed them before Antonius: "Mr. Antonius, The Golden Cauldron containing my third paper hasn't been officially published yet, so there are only these two here now."
"That's fine; two are enough."
Sitting beside Sean, Antonius did the same as before, reaching out to lightly touch the journal, which then turned its pages automatically.
Antonius quietly read Sean's papers in the two Golden Cauldron issues, while Sean steadied his mind and continued reading the book in his hands.
About half an hour later, Antonius looked up at Sean: "Sean, I now have some understanding of your research abilities. You're in sixth year now, or seventh... hmm, could you possibly be in fifth year? Your height has certainly grown quickly."
"Mr. Antonius, I'm in third year this year, in Slytherin House."
"Third year..."
Antonius was silent for a while, then nodded in admiration: "In that case, I'm even more convinced that you can fulfill my wish."
"Then..."
"From now on, you can call me Teacher Antonius. One student, one teacher. Not the relationship between a Hogwarts professor and student. Now we two are part of the apprenticeship system."
"Yes, Teacher Antonius."
"Today's time..." Antonius seemed to estimate briefly, then continued: "Today's time is almost up, and today happens to be Sunday. Starting next Saturday, come to me every Saturday and Sunday evening at seven o'clock until nine o'clock. I will teach you knowledge related to alchemy. When your alchemy level reaches a certain degree, I will guide you to begin conducting alchemical research.
Besides this, I will also assign you some content to study during ordinary times. I think for you, I won't need to urge you to study seriously, right?"
Having said this, Sean and Antonius smiled at each other.
Just then, Sean suddenly thought of something. He looked at Antonius: "Teacher, if Hogwarts goes on holiday, how will I study with you?"
"Then there's no way around it. Students aren't allowed to stay at Hogwarts during holidays. Before that, I'll give you enough study material for an entire holiday. You can combine it with books..." Speaking of books, Antonius seemed to suddenly remember something and immediately said to Sean: "Sean, before next week's class, you can go to Gringotts and find my vault. There are books I've stored inside. I'll give you a password. You can go there and take out some of the books. Those will be your textbooks for my classes. The books you're reading now aren't suitable for learning alchemy from basic to advanced levels."
"Yes, teacher. I'll retrieve those books as soon as possible."
"Mm." Antonius nodded. He estimated the time and, confirming there was still some left, said to Sean again: "Recently in the field of alchemy, have there been any particularly outstanding people or achievements? I haven't had contact with the outside world for a very long time and am somewhat curious."
How would Sean know about any famous people in alchemy? In fact, he had been exposed to alchemy for just over a year at most, and even that was intermittent without serious study.
But since his teacher asked, Sean had to give some answer.
"Teacher, do you know Nicolas Flamel?"
Shaking his head, Antonius said: "Sorry, I don't know him. In my era when I was alive, I never heard of such an alchemical master."
It's a good thing that he doesn't know.
Then there's something to talk about.
"Teacher, he is the most famous alchemical master in the current magical world. His most famous achievement is creating the legendary Philosopher's Stone!"
"The Philosopher's Stone?!"
Even as a ghost, Sean could clearly see Antonius's eyes immediately brighten.
"In my era, the Philosopher's Stone was just a conjecture. No one even had a real direction for creating the Philosopher's Stone. I never expected that someone in this era had already created one!"
"Teacher, hasn't the Philosopher's Stone existed for a very long time?"
"That's not wrong, but in my era, the Philosopher's Stone was already a very ancient legend. In the circle of alchemists, many people's dream was to create the Philosopher's Stone. It's just that in my era, we didn't even have a clue. Everyone had their own research, so very few people were actually willing to research the Philosopher's Stone for what seemed like an illusory legend."
A smile appeared on Antonius's face. The kind of joy one feels knowing that the career they devoted their life to continued to flourish after their death.
"I really want to chat with him, this Nicolas Flamel."
Sean looked at his teacher. He hesitated for a moment: "Teacher, although I don't know Mr. Nicolas Flamel personally and have no way to correspond with him, I do know a friend of Mr. Nicolas Flamel. He must certainly know how to contact Mr. Nicolas Flamel."
"I see..." Antonius nodded, preparing to have Sean help him write a letter to Nicolas Flamel.
But just then, the expression on Antonius's face instantly disappeared, replaced by a somewhat vacant look. He slowly stood up, showing no response to Sean's calls, just walking step by step to the classroom door, passing through it, and completely disappearing.
Seeing this, Sean hurriedly opened the classroom door but didn't see his teacher's figure.
Standing in place and pondering for a while, Sean sighed, then took his things and left. He would have to wait until next Saturday to come again.