Professor Babbling disappeared outside the Ancient Runes classroom with visible resentment.
At this point, Sean had basically confirmed that this Ancient Runes professor was not a human wizard. However, he still had no clue about what exactly she was. She wasn't a ghost, yet she was even more elusive than ghosts and possessed wisdom sufficient to serve as a professor at Hogwarts. Such non-human beings were not common.
Moreover, it seemed this professor should be native to Britain, which narrowed the scope even further.
Of course, if he were bored, Sean wouldn't mind spending time figuring out what race Professor Babbling actually belonged to. But currently, Sean had three high-difficulty papers weighing on him while also needing to maintain his studies. In this state, if Sean didn't have a troll's physical constitution and large quantities of potions as supplements, he would have collapsed long ago. Naturally, he had no extra time to continue investigating what race the professor truly was.
Taking his things, he walked out of the Ancient Runes classroom.
Regarding Ancient Runes, Sean now had some understanding and had gained some knowledge about ancient magic. It could roughly be understood as programming, with each Ancient Rune being individual letters and symbols. First-level Ancient Runes, second-level Ancient Runes, third-level Ancient Runes... layer upon layer building up to ultimately achieve the desired effect. This was the mechanism of ancient magic.
Alchemy often had quite deep connections with Ancient Runes. The decline of Ancient Runes was also a major reason for alchemy's decline. Of course, the present wasn't necessarily inferior to ancient times. At least in terms of alchemy, Nicolas Flamel's recreation of the Philosopher's Stone proved that modern magic and modern alchemy had also forged a path comparable to, or even surpassing, ancient magic and ancient alchemy.
The clash between ancient and modern was the main content of correspondence between Antonius and Nicolas Flamel.
Through Sean and Dumbledore, the two had now corresponded three times. Except for the first time, the second and third letters from both sides had written out their understanding of and questions about alchemy, as well as questions for each other and debates about different understandings of alchemy.
Through the exchange of letters, Nicolas Flamel had also confirmed Antonius's identity. After all, knowledge couldn't be faked. Even taking the most extreme view, if someone were impersonating Antonius to write to him, as long as the writer possessed such alchemical knowledge, whether or not it was actually Antonius wasn't that important anymore.
Both Sean and Dumbledore, as intermediaries, had essentially read all the letters. Needless to say, for Sean, the full-throttle exchange between Antonius and Nicolas Flamel was completely beyond what he could currently keep up with. While Dumbledore could understand most of it, he also had some areas of confusion.
Dumbledore was indeed the greatest wizard in today's magical world, but he wasn't the greatest alchemist.
Regarding the correspondence between his teacher and Nicolas Flamel, Sean naturally knew it still had to pass through Dumbledore's hands once. Sean had once asked his teacher why he didn't choose to contact Nicolas Flamel directly. Antonius answered that he didn't want people to know he existed as a ghost at Hogwarts. Nicolas Flamel also had no intention of revealing his address to others. Their way of communicating was actually quite good. Although it went through Dumbledore's and Sean's hands, neither felt this was bad. Instead, they felt having witnesses to their exchange was quite a good thing.
Christmas Day.
When Sean woke up, there were already many gifts in front of his room door. Compared to last year's sparse few, this year there were obviously many, many more. Moreover, Sean didn't even know who had sent some of the gifts until he opened a letter and learned these gifts were all forwarded by The Golden Cauldron editorial department. They were all sent by readers of his papers.
Although The Golden Cauldron editorial department guaranteed their safety, Sean still vigilantly checked each gift and only unwrapped them after confirming there were no problems.
These gifts were all very respectable presents that definitely wouldn't make anyone angry or feel offended, but they also wouldn't make anyone feel surprised. Overall, Sean was quite satisfied. After all, they were free.
Additionally, it must be mentioned that yesterday Sean had sent Aldrich a real Christmas gift. A small device that could make one's mind clearer. It was something Sean had made himself, though it couldn't yet be called a magical item. Money, of course, couldn't possibly count as a proper Christmas gift.
Besides this, Blaise, Jansen, and Andy had also received gifts from Sean. Similarly, this morning's gifts also included items belonging to them. All things Sean could use.
After organizing the gifts, Sean looked at Kulkan: "I'm planning to start the plan tonight."
Hearing this, Kulkan immediately said: "Are you going to do it yourself?"
Sean glanced at Kulkan with disdain: "If I don't do it myself, should I rely on someone who's been deployed several times but achieved nothing?"
"You know I'm just a poor, weak little snake. That rat has been staying in the Gryffindor common room and always staying with that Gryffindor called Ron. I haven't had any opportunities."
"Fine, whatever I say, you have excuses. This time I'll do it myself. You just need to keep close to that guy when the time comes. You can at least accomplish this much, right?"
Kulkan looked at Sean, raised her tail to her head, and used her tail to give Sean a saluting gesture, then said confidently: "Trust me, there definitely won't be any problems this time. Absolutely!"
"I should have done it myself from the beginning. Might have been less trouble."
Seeing Sean's doubtful look, Kulkan immediately bristled... oh, bristled her scales and strongly protested Sean's attitude of not trusting her: "I already said absolutely! What kind of look is that!"
"A look doubting you'll drop the ball!"
"Sean! I'll fight you!"
Hearing a knock at the door, Sean casually pulled Kulkan, who was wrapped around his neck and bumping his cheek with her head, off and placed her on the bed. Looking at the still huffing Kulkan, Sean smiled and opened the door, saying to the three people standing outside: "Alright, I'm ready. Let's go to the Great Hall."
Blaise nodded, then looked at Kulkan on the bed and asked: "Sean, why do I feel like Kulkan is angry?"
"You're not wrong. This guy is mad at me."