Chapter 400 Chapter Title: An Uncertain Future

Evan gazed at the smoke in front of him, slightly distracted.

Amidst the rising smoke, Flamel's words seemed to come from a distant place.

In fact, he did not grasp the specific operational principle of the silverware.

'Through the smoke, he could envision a certain range of scenes…'

This transcended his knowledge of magic and required the combination of many spells.

He then thought of the Marauder's Map, being the closest thing to the alchemical instrument before him.

Evan once questioned Sirius in detail, knowing that in creating the Marauder's Map, they not only utilized the magic of names and Transfiguration, but also many principles of alchemy, crucial to the map's success.

As Flamel stated, alchemy was truly astonishing.

"Alchemy can assist you in achieving many things, but it is not omnipotent. No matter how powerful the objects may be, they must adhere to the basic rules of magic." Eyeing Evan with surprise, Flamel cautioned, "Like this object before you, for instance. If the person on the other side is prepared, they can thwart your attempts to spy. There are many other magically protected places you cannot see."

He tapped the silverware, and once again, a sizable amount of smoke billowed forth.

But this time, the smoke was so murky that nothing could be discerned amidst the vast whiteness.

"This is the girls' dormitory at Beauxbatons. The protective magic outside the room interferes with its workings." Flamel continued. "So, regrettably, I cannot assist you in glimpsing that Veela fourth-year girl in the dormitory now."

Evan was left speechless, but his silence was not of remorse.

He had no intention whatsoever of spying on Gabrielle, let alone sneaking into the girls' dormitory with Flamel. Such behavior was far too lurid.

However, Flamel's remarks were rather impressive.

If not in a magically protected place like Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, it seemed there was much to see with an alchemical product like that...

"Well, if you have nothing else you wish to see, we can proceed and review my next creation." Flamel led Evan forward.

Next, under Flamel's presentation, Evan beheld a statue of a wizard spouting colorful bubbles.

These bubbles floated around. All you had to do was pop one, and there would be a classical opera resounding throughout the hallway.

Indeed, Nicolas Flamel was the most ardent opera lover.

Driven by this hobby, it was only natural for him to create a magical product like that.

Furthermore, there was Flamel's piece of crystal called the "Stellar Antimony."

It was said to be able to alter the composition of substances it touched, causing a stone to constantly shift between gold, silver, black iron, brass, wood, and so forth.

However, in this process, it required unimaginable amounts of magic!

Evan suspected that even Dumbledore might not be able to wield the crystal at will.

Walking down the hallway, Evan saw numerous magical artifacts.

Among the many alchemical products, the magical artifact that intrigued him the most allegedly assisted in divination and prophecy.

It was a large stone bowl filled with silver liquid, intricate magical symbols etched on it. It resembled the Pensieve.

"This is the latest creation I have been perfecting. Like entering a dream, it can help you clearly see the future, instead of those vague omens." With his distinctive aged voice, Flamel spoke slowly, "The wondrous combination of alchemy and divination, though the predictions may not be precise, but divination is inherently elusive, very few individuals can make true prophecies."

Evan nodded and thought of Professor Trelawney.

At times, she could genuinely foresee the future, but if one placed too much belief in such things, madness would likely be the first consequence.

"Very well, do you want to give it a try?" Flamel gestured for Evan to stand in front of the stone basin, "look at the liquid inside, relax, relax..."

Flamel waved his wand and murmured a spell that Evan couldn't comprehend.

A flickering dark gray light emerged from the end of his wand, and the silvery liquid in the stone basin in front of him began to swirl rapidly into a vortex.

Evan felt like his soul was being sucked in. There was a blur in his eyes, and he blinked vigorously.

In the next second, he saw a vast space in the stone basin, covered with huge, rough black stones, with the surrounding area shrouded in mist.

Evan didn't understand. What on earth was happening? Was that his future?

Just as he was about to ask Flamel, the scene in front of him began to change rapidly.

In the stone basin, he was running forward with all his might, and his vision was moving swiftly.

Then, as the image rotated, Evan saw the figure of a man appear in the stone basin.

This man was so imposing that he couldn't see his face clearly.

Watching from afar, the details of what was happening were elusive to sight.

The opaque mist grew denser. With intuition, Evan could sense that the man was up to something dreadful, but he couldn't see it clearly.

He could only vaguely see that the man's head seemed to be changing.

It seemed like he had done something, and then he slowly turned around...

At the most critical moment, the image abruptly stopped.

The liquid in the stone basin returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

"The man who just appeared seems to be preparing to perform some dark magic. You should be careful." Flamel looked up and said slowly, "Of course, you shouldn't worry too much. As I said before, this is very imprecise. It cannot achieve real divination. It only shows what is in your mind."

"But I'm sure I've never seen that man before!"

"Who knows?" Flamel didn't stop in front of the stone basin and kept moving forward. It seemed he didn't care much about Evan's future. "Maybe it failed. That's normal. Using an alchemical product to speculate on fate, that's madness in itself; an unreal chimera of an elderly man who has lived too long."

Nicolas Flamel stopped and turned to look at Evan.

"But you know, when this object was first refined, it consumed many of my efforts. It was the final crystallization of my alchemical knowledge." He paused and continued, "Although I'm not very adept at divination, I would say it might work occasionally."

This statement sounded truly unpleasant. Flamel seemed to be telling Evan to accept his grim future in a euphemistic manner.

"Who else has used the stone basin?" he hurriedly asked, "What did they see?"

"Besides me, you are the second person to use it." Flamel looked at Evan, "and I saw..."

Under the silvery moonlight, Evan couldn't help but squint.

He silently gazed at the old wizard in front of him and the deep wrinkles on his face.

He didn't know what Flamel had seen, but from his solemn expression, it definitely wasn't something to rejoice about.