All sorts of strange instruments were clicking and whirring in the office, and Sean had nothing to do but listen to them.
Professor Tyra had cast some kind of spell to blindfold him.
Unable to see the Alchemy Professor's eyes, he actually felt his energy coming back a bit.
"Don't look anyone in the eye for a while, my dear apprentice..."
Professor Tyra spoke calmly, "But, it's always like this... groping in the dark, blazing trails through ignorance. That is the mission of an Alchemy Master. The magic we touch is stronger than any other, and the knowledge we pass down is more difficult than any other, because we are dealing with the weightiest part of the magical field. Did I ever tell you the story of how Uagadou was flipped over by a paper airplane?"
"No, Professor."
Sean was a little curious.
Paper airplanes? Those interdepartmental memos?
He'd seen them ignore spatial barriers to deliver intel at high speeds, but flipping over a whole school? That seemed a bit excessive no matter how you looked at it.
"It's a fun story. I was expelled from Uagadou for six months. If my teacher hadn't pulled some strings to save me, I might have ended up in prison. That's the meaning of a teacher's existence, kid."
Professor Tyra's voice sounded drifty and ethereal.
"To solve potential problems for students?" Sean asked.
"Why would you think that? Problems? No, to preserve the precious seeds of the alchemy world. In this field, the vast majority of wizards are just filling space. Only about three percent are even passable."
"And among that three percent, only one in ten has the chance to change the wizarding world. So, these few rare individuals get the opportunity to look up to true Alchemy Masters. Like me. And like you."
Sean couldn't see Tyra's eyes, but he figured they were full of teasing ambition.
"Tilting a school isn't hard... Threatening—I mean, persuading—the professors isn't hard either. Creating the magic that can flip a castle construct? Now that is precious. So, tell me, what did you add to the Wampus Cat biscuits to make them produce that effect?"
Professor Tyra leaned in closer.
"Incomplete Human Transfiguration is feasible. I adjusted some of the magical pathways and redesigned the ritual. This way, a wizard can transform just a part of themselves into a magical creature. The hard part is that wizard magic and creature magic aren't naturally compatible, which makes it impossible to control the creature's body parts freely. Only wizards whose souls possess a certain affinity with the creature can control it."
Sean frowned; this point had bothered him for a long time.
The Fairy Tale Biscuits seemed to give wizards two choices: use the creature's magic, or use the wizard's magic. But in reality, it was an "either/or" situation—you couldn't use both simultaneously.
"Rome wasn't built in a day. You've already made a historic breakthrough."
Tyra seemed to be nodding.
"Did you put a protective charm on me?" Sean asked suddenly.
Otherwise, it didn't explain why the Professor had shown up so fast.
Every instrument in the Alchemy office paused for a beat.
"I just placed a few small alchemy gadgets on you. You need to learn to get used to it, my dear apprentice. Besides, it's not just me..."
Sean still couldn't see the Professor's face, but her tone was full of amusement.
"Alright then, let's chat. Are you ready to open Fairy Tale Shops all over the wizarding world?"
Professor Tyra's tone turned serious.
"Excuse me?" Sean was a bit lost.
"My dear apprentice, you are about to revolutionize the way the entire magical world communicates, and you don't even know it?"
Professor Tyra stood before Sean, leaning her hand on an antique magical phonograph.
"Remember what I said? Only a very, very small number of Alchemists are qualified to define this world. Now I'm telling you: you are about to define how wizards communicate. The Magic Hand Mirror is going to revolutionize the field."
Tyra stood by the window, overlooking the mountains where the snow was melting.
"But, Professor, the materials for the Magic Hand Mirror are still expensive, and..."
Sean's mind raced.
He knew the Magic Hand Mirror was enough to change communication in the wizarding world. Right now, most people used fireplaces and owls. A few, like the Ministry, used paper airplanes.
But not every wizarding family was connected to the Floo Network. A fireplace was fixed in place—it was basically a landline.
And Sean knew exactly how big the difference was between a landline and a cell phone. Cell phones were destined to wipe out most landlines.
Why did wizards still use owls when they had fireplaces? First, you can't easily send items through a fireplace chat. Second, fireplaces are inconvenient. That's why owl post exists. But owls have plenty of downsides: they take a long time, they make mistakes, and they can be intercepted.
Now, if there was a magical device that offered real-time communication, rapid response, and the ability to instantly convey key info in an emergency... would wizards not want that?
Sean figured the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters would be buying these things in bulk. In the stories, Voldemort used fake intel to lure Harry, and Harry paid the price for rushing into action. That just proved how precious "fast, accurate information" was.
"Expensive? There is no absolute expensive or cheap in this world, only value that matches the price."
The corners of Tyra's mouth curved up slightly, and she waved her hand.
Sean found he could see again.
At the same time, a cold object dropped into his hand. He looked at the Magic Hand Mirror the Professor had passed him; it seemed to have been modified again.
"Based on your original manuscript, I found some material suppliers. They were very happy to offer us their lowest purchase price."
Professor Tyra winked her narrow eyes.
Sean immediately understood that the Professor's heavy-handed influence had come into play.
"For a pair of Magic Hand Mirrors, we can control the manufacturing cost at seven Galleons."
The Professor said it casually, but Sean jerked his head up.
He remembered the original cost was dozens of Galleons, and that was after he had optimized the rarest materials. To suppress the price to this level, Sean could only think of two possibilities: Either Professor Tyra had a "friendly chat" with the merchants, or the merchants' markup had been insane from the start.
Or maybe both?
"The Easter holiday is coming up. It's time to contact your agent, my dear apprentice. On that day, we need the Fairy Tale Shop to be everywhere in the wizarding world."
Professor Tyra said with a beaming smile.