Antonius had already left.
But Sean still sat in his seat, holding a pencil in his hand, rapidly drawing various alchemical circles on the draft paper before him.
However, no matter how Sean drew, these alchemical circles could never be completed. He was always just a little short. Just that little bit. Yet the result was vastly different.
Crack...
The pencil tip snapped. Sean looked at the pencil that had punctured the draft paper. He took a deep breath, changed to another pencil, then looked at the draft paper before him, recalling Antonius's guidance from earlier. He exhaled, waited for his mind and body to calm, replaced the draft paper, then put pencil to paper.
The strokes were smooth, flowing without hindrance.
With one stroke, the simplest five-pointed star alchemical circle was complete.
In that instant, the alchemical circle Sean had drawn emitted a faint red glow. Soon the red light transformed into wisps of flame, instantly incinerating the draft paper with the alchemical circle.
Success!
Finally success!
Sean leaned back against his chair, finally showing a smile on his face.
In that moment just now, he had finally found what his teacher called the "feel" for drawing alchemical circles. Although this feeling was still very faint, it truly existed. It belonged to Sean. From now on, as long as he practiced diligently, there would no longer be any constraints when it came to drawing alchemical circles.
"Phew... finally succeeded.
Now, I need to deliver the letter to the headmaster and see if he can send it to Nicolas Flamel."
After tidying up his things, Sean left the third-floor classroom. He didn't return to the Slytherin common room but chose to go directly to the owl roost in the West Tower. He found a random owl and gave it the letter dictated by Antonius and written by Sean, asking it to deliver it to Headmaster Dumbledore.
The owl was somewhat puzzled but still followed Sean's instructions, flying out of the owl roost, circling around Hogwarts once, and landing outside the headmaster's office window.
When Dumbledore discovered the Hogwarts owl outside his window and retrieved the letter from it, Sean had already returned to the Slytherin common room and gone back to his room to wash up.
After sending the owl away, Dumbledore sat at his desk with the letter. He gently rubbed the letter with his hand, confirming there were no additional spells or curses on it, then opened and read it.
At this moment, the portraits of various former headmasters behind Dumbledore also looked at the letter in Dumbledore's hands. The most impatient, Phineas, immediately said to Dumbledore: "Dumbledore, who sent you this letter? A school owl delivered it to you. Is someone in the school writing to you?"
Opening the letter, Dumbledore smiled and said: "You're quite right, Phineas. This letter was indeed sent by someone in the school, though I don't know their purpose in sending it to me."
Hearing Dumbledore's words, Dilys Derwent, a Hogwarts headmaster from over a century ago who had once been associated with St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, immediately said: "Dumbledore, I think you should be more cautious. Your enemies hiding in the shadows might very well have placed curses or poison on the letter."
As soon as she finished speaking, Phineas immediately said loudly: "How could Dumbledore not know such things? If I'm not mistaken, Dumbledore has already tested this letter."
"Phineas, you really annoy me!"
"There are plenty of people who find me annoying. Who are you to judge?!"
"Alright, quiet down! Phineas, if you provoke others again, I'll have to confine you to your frame for a while."
Hearing Dumbledore's words, Phineas immediately backed down and fell silent.
The office returned to quiet, and only then did Dumbledore take the letter from the envelope. As he opened and read the contents, Dumbledore's expression began to change. Although he wasn't particularly skilled in alchemy, as a great wizard who had discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood, his academic abilities were naturally beyond question. Dumbledore could certainly see that the exposition on alchemy and understanding of Philosopher's Stone-related content in this letter was not something an ordinary alchemist could possess. This had to be from an alchemical master, and not an ordinary one at that.
Of course, there was another reason Dumbledore took this letter seriously. It was signed by Antonius Hopkins. If Dumbledore remembered correctly, this was the greatest alchemist of the era before Nicolas Flamel. Bar none!
"Dexter, if I remember correctly, there should have been an alchemist named Antonius Hopkins in your era, right?"
Dexter could be considered one of the most senior headmasters among the portraits. He had appeared drowsy, but suddenly hearing Dumbledore's words, he seemed to wake from a dream. When he understood what Dumbledore had said, he immediately replied: "That's right. In our era, alchemy had almost become independent from the magical world. Alchemy was very popular at that time. Many exceptionally intelligent wizards and Muggles devoted themselves to alchemy. It was a golden age of alchemy, and the only person universally recognized as the best alchemist of that era was Antonius Hopkins!"
"I see..." Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then raised the letter in his hand and spoke again: "This letter is signed by Antonius Hopkins. I suspect this letter might truly have some connection to him."
"That's impossible! The Philosopher's Stone didn't exist in that era, so it would have been impossible to create an Elixir of Life. He couldn't have lived this long! Moreover, his death was confirmed. There's no doubt about that!"
"It doesn't necessarily mean living until now. There are ghosts who can endure through long ages, aren't there, Dexter!"
"A ghost?" Dexter was silent for a while, then looked at Dumbledore again: "Dumbledore, what is the purpose of this letter being sent to you?"
"He wants me to forward the letter to Nicolas. It seems he wants to communicate with Nicolas."
"Dumbledore, are you certain this letter is safe?"
Nodding, Dumbledore said: "Of course, I'm quite certain there's no problem."
"Then give the letter to Nicolas Flamel! Perhaps we can't tell if it's genuine, but Nicolas Flamel certainly can. He'll be able to tell whether this person is truly that Antonius Hopkins. Everything about a person can be faked, but knowledge alone cannot be falsified."
Hearing Dexter's words, Dumbledore immediately nodded and readily agreed: "That's what we'll do. I'm very much looking forward to Nicolas's answer!"