"...The entire magical world thinks that my master has been missing all year round, and there are rumors that he is living in seclusion in England. But in fact, he spends a lot of time in the same place, and that is his laboratory."
By this time, it was already dark. Maka and the old housekeeper walked together on the dark streets, with only the street lights that turned on at night illuminating their progress.
In fact, Madame Maxime also wants to come together, but as the principal of Beauxbatons, she is still busy with things at the moment, and it will probably take some time before she comes over.
Maka and the old housekeeper walked side by side and exchanged words from time to time. Naturally, what they said was tonight's destination.
"Oh, I really want to hear this rumor..." Maka thought for a moment and said, "I remember that Dumbledore really wanted to mention that Mr. Flamel once lived in Devon County for a period of time?"
"Yes, there was a short period of time," Old Edward nodded, "but it was only a year or two-at that time, the master went to visit Mr. Dumbledore, and the two of them exchanged some ideas about magic together. "
"Then..." Maka said curiously, "Sir, do you know why Mr. Nico Flamel wanted to give up immortality suddenly? As far as I know, before he lent the Philosopher's Stone to Professor Dumbledore, he had The decision has been made.”
And he also took his 658-year-old wife with him to death. Although Maka didn't ask this question, what he wanted to know most was this decision. Could it be that, as other wizards had guessed, he felt that living for too long was no longer interesting
"Oh, I don't know about that," Old Edward shook his head when he heard this. "I haven't quite understood the master's thoughts since I was young, let alone at this age. But I'm thinking , given the master’s temperament, it’s probably only death that can help him progress further in his alchemy research, right?”
As we all know, Nico Flamel was also a famous research madman. He lived for 665 years, most of which was devoted to research. Although in addition to research, he also donated and built a lot of infrastructure in the wizarding world and even the Muggle world, most of it was done by his wife, but in his name.
It is not clear whether Nico Flamel is a so-called "good man". Anyway, his wife must be a great philanthropist, which is always true.
"Mr. MacLean, this way—"
When passing an intersection, the old housekeeper reached out and signaled, telling Maka that it was time to turn.
"Sir, just call me Maka," Maka waved her hand as she followed him and turned around and walked into a side road, "You know, I'm old enough to be your grandson, so you don't have to be so polite to me. of."
But the old housekeeper shook his head, obviously he still had some different persistence.
"I am the butler of the Flamel family. Ever since my family rescued me in the Egyptian desert, I have been a butler all my life. And a butler should have the rules of a housekeeper. Regarding this, Mr. MacLean, you can Don’t worry too much…”
"Okay?" Maka shrugged and did not continue to struggle with a title.
"...Okay, we're here!"
The two of them walked along a stone path in a Muggle town for a while, and soon the old housekeeper stopped in front of an ordinary house.
Maka discovered that this was a rather old brick house with a red roof. There were some large floor-to-ceiling flowerpots placed at the base of the wall near the roadside, and there were some lush plants living in them. The brickwork marks on the walls are uneven and covered with footprints left by time.
Of course, this is definitely not as old as Nico Flamel, and this house probably only looks like it has gone through ten or twenty years of history.
In this residential area of townspeople that stretches along the alleys, this small house looks extremely inconspicuous. No one would think that this would be the home of a great alchemist.
"Mr. Flamel has always lived here?" Maka looked at the house and asked casually.
"No," the old housekeeper smiled and said, "This is actually where I live, but the entrance to my master's laboratory can only be found here - if you have to say it, I am equivalent to guarding the door for my master. .”
As he spoke, he took out an ordinary key and unlocked the door, then walked in with some nostalgia.
"After the master and his wife passed away, I haven't been back for a while," the old housekeeper said sadly as he greeted Maka to come in. "It's really strange when you think about it. The master and his wife went there before me. One step... If this was done a few years ago, I wouldn't have believed it."
It can be seen that what he misses is not the memory of living here, but the years when his master, Mr. Nico Flamel, was still there.
"My master would often suddenly say he was going out, and then I would have to stop what I was doing and pack my luggage with him to get ready to go."
The old butler recounted his past with nostalgia, and almost his whole life revolved around Mr. Nico Flamel. So much so that the things he remembers most are all related to his master.
"You don't know, my master never pays attention to the time when doing things. There are many times he wakes me up in the middle of the night. But he is so old, and he is still full of energy, like he is in his twenties or thirties. A 20-year-old young man! It’s incredible to think about it... "
Maka didn't know whether this kind of life was considered happiness, but looking at the old housekeeper's expression and words, he felt a sincere sense of peace.
Perhaps some people's lives do not need to be too eventful. As long as they can live a stable life, that is usually enough.
The house where the old housekeeper lives is not very spacious, whether from the outside or from the inside. In fact, this is just an ordinary house in a Muggle town. Following Edward all the way through the living room and up the stairs, the ceiling on the second floor seemed a bit low—this was a bedroom.
But old Edward did not stop here, but stretched out his hand and pulled an old hemp rope hanging from the wall. With a soft "click", a wooden board on the ceiling was pulled open, which was a trap door leading to the attic.
"Help me reach for it!" The old housekeeper looked up and said, "Originally I should have used the hook to pull down the stairs, but since you are here today, I can enjoy the rare privileges of the elderly."
Perhaps because Maka mentioned her age before, the old housekeeper also made a little joke. But this is indeed the case. The old housekeeper is very old, at least seventy or eighty years old.
Of course, the most important thing is to be cautious. You must know that there is a risk of being discovered by using magic spells. Tonight, they came hand in hand without anyone noticing, and naturally they didn't want others to know.
As mentioned earlier, the second floor of this house is relatively low, and the ceiling is almost within reach. After taking a look, Maka just jumped slightly and grabbed the wooden ladder placed next to the attic trap door.
"Whoop-boom!"
The wooden ladder slid down along the edge of the trap door and was firmly placed between the floor and the ceiling. Can we go up and take a look
"Mr. McLean," the old butler spoke, "before I go up, I still want a word from you - please tell me that you will indeed help us and disclose my master's legacy to the entire magical world, right? ?”
Maka nodded matter-of-factly after hearing this.
Tonight's actions were discussed in advance between him and Madam Maxime, and it was Madam Maxime who negotiated for the old housekeeper Edward. In fact, there are so many people who covet this alchemical legacy. Just looking at how many people gathered in Beauxbatons, you know that sooner or later, this pool of water will be completely muddied.
In this case, old Edward is the only one left to act in order to fulfill his master's wishes. Well, maybe we can also count Mrs. Maxim, the headmistress who puts all her thoughts on education, but it seems that there is no one else who can be trusted.
However, Nico Flamel's alchemical legacy was beyond the reach of these two people. Madame Maxime has actually been here to see it a long time ago, but it seems she can't even get in, let alone get the inheritance.
The only one to blame is Nico Flamel, who was full of research. He didn't seem to have used too much thought on the messy matter of distributing the inheritance, so he left the old butler with a rather contradictory problem. .
In short, they need a wizard with enough knowledge to hold that legacy in their hands first. Only by mastering it itself can we talk about finding a reasonable way to distribute it to achieve the ultimate goal.
Originally, this task should have fallen on Dumbledore, but obviously, he has passed away. Therefore, this responsible task finally fell on Maka's head.
"Sorry, this matter is too important. I just want to make myself more at ease." After hearing Maca's decisive answer, the wrinkles on Old Edward's face gradually relaxed, "McLean Sir—please!”
At the old housekeeper's signal, Maka nodded solemnly and then took the lead in climbing up the wooden ladder.
With the old ladder creaking and groaning, Maka quickly climbed to the attic on the top floor of the house. It was quite dark here, and through the faint light coming from under the trap door, he could vaguely see some piles of debris.
He didn't look around in a hurry, but turned back and stretched out his hand under the trap door, giving the old housekeeper a hand.
"I'm really old..." Old Edward sighed, "Mr. MacLean, there is an oil lamp on the pillar next to you. You can take it off first to get some light."