After lunch Harry had retreated to his work shop with both books he'd received about Enchanting. He'd keep the 'Beginners Alchemy for Enchanters' inside his workshop until he could order the basic ingredients with which to practice the art. Padma's gift he'd start studying now and whenever he had some extra time. Devanagari would be a long process to learn but if he went at it a bit at a time he'd eventually be able to use it for his Enchanting just like Elder and Younger Futhark. In the mean time he'd spend the remainder of his free time during the break to work more on his Rune Safe's array. He'd practice a little with learning to play the flute Hagrid had made him too.
-Three Days Later-
Three days. Three bloody days! Why couldn't he figure out how to make the mana absorption sequence integrate with his multi-layered security array? He didn't want to remove any of the security sequences in the array when he'd finally gotten them to work together successfully! That accomplishment in and of itself had taken him the better part of a month. No way was he going to undo all of that work now! But he'd basically been bashing his head against a brick wall trying to figure this out. He'd rewritten the mana absorption sequence over a dozen times. Tweaking how fast it absorbed or how much it could absorb all at once. He'd even gone through the entirety of the security array and looked for any sections that would prevent an absorption sequence from working. He'd found nothing of the sort in the array. He'd tried integrating the absorption sequence into the security array half a dozen different ways; but the Runes needed to create the absorption sequence would interfere with the security array's Runes if he added them in at certain points so he was limited in where he could add the sequence. There had to be something he was missing! Theoretically this should be able to work, so why wasn't it? A rumbling from Harry's stomach alerted him that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. With a sigh he set down the papers and parchments he'd been testing sequences out on and left his workshop to get some lunch.
"Oh yeah, my order." Harry remembered as he saw a large Owl Order owl sitting at the head of the Ravenclaw Table. As soon as Harry got close the owl hooted at him and he approached it to relieve it of his package. After taking the package from the owl the bird left the Great Hall quickly. Harry kept his package next to himself while he ate and took it with him back to his workshop when he finished his lunch. Smiling giddily as he opened the package and removed everything inside of it, Harry couldn't help be pleased. After all, this Alchemist Starter Kit, as it was called in the Owl Order Catalogue had cost him six Galleons. But it truly did come with everything a beginner needed to start practicing the art. Base metals ground down into powder, a set of metal sheets on which basic alchemic transmutation circles had been perfectly etched, and a dozen other ingredients like reagents, catalysts, and stabilizers made from magical plants or ground up dragon bones.
As it turned out the reason that Alchemy was difficult to learn was because it required knowledge of multiple fields. Some Geology, some Herbology, Magical Theory, and even some knowledge about which parts of Magical Creatures were the most reactive. Harry already had some knowledge about stones from Primary school, his Herbology wasn't great but he didn't get below Exceeds Expectations on his work. Magical Theory he was rather ahead in and a good amount of book reading, plus some questions for Hagrid, should see his knowledge of Magical Creatures and their uses increase sufficiently. After reading through the first several chapters of his beginners alchemy book Harry felt confident that he could make the most basic alchemical compound he was interested in. Simply called 'Circuit Base' it was a compound that could channel mana through it and keep whatever effect the mana was producing while it travelled.
"Alright, let's follow the directions, step one is to melt copper in a vessel." Harry stated to himself as he got his blacksmithing tools ready and got a fire going. With some time the copper melted and Harry proceeded to the second step. "Mix in five units of powdered dragon bone and six units of Ugi Grass stabilizer to the molten copper." Measuring out the appropriate amounts of both materials with the provided scoops was easy enough and using a steel rod to stir them into the molten copper only took a few minutes. "The final step is to pour magic into the mixture until it glows. After the glow subsides it will be ready to use. The warning says that it will solidify if allowed to cool. That's obvious though." Harry added mana to the mixture continuously until it glowed like the sun was reflecting off of it. He quickly went to grab a few planks of wood and his Alchemic Rune Kit while he waited for the glow to subside.
Harry etched two simple runic sequences onto each end of the first piece of wood. Then he carved a line from each of them that met in the middle of the plank. If his 'Circuit Base' was made correctly it would spread the effect of each sequence to the middle of the plank and the two effects would both occur where the lines met. Noticing the glow had faded away Harry dipped the tip of a tool called an 'Alchemic Pen' into the 'Circuit Base' liquid and felt it pull the mixture into the compartment inside. With a steady hand Harry filled each Rune of both sequences with the circuit base and then filled in both lines. Setting the pen aside Harry placed a small metal bowl in the middle of the plank. Then he activated both runic sequences and watched the metal bowl eagerly hoping his first attempt worked. Seeing the bowl slowly fill with water made Harry grin, he outright cheered when that water started steaming and then boiling a moment later.
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