YM778.TV Chapter 85 - Year Two: First Class
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Edward was standing in front of his class waiting for all his students to enter. As soon as they walked in, their eyes seemed to shine like anime characters after laying eyes on him. Once everybody was properly seated, Edward started class by first saying:
"I know all of you are excited to have such a smart, handsome, talented, and famous teacher as me, but this is not the time for any shenanigans."
The class laughed out.
"I promised all of you that after class is over if there is enough time, I will answer all the questions that you have. Understand?"
The students nodded.
"In that case, let\'s begin. Last semester, to get you guys interested in Alchemy, I taught you the fun aspect of it. This semester, I will teach you the boring and tiring aspects of it."
One student raised their hand.
"Yes, Mr. Diggory?"
"Professor, last semester, I thought you said that we were going to learn Amalgam Enchantment?"
"That is correct, but there are many other steps needed beforehand. Let me give you a demonstration first."
Edward then placed his wand on his temple to draw a silver-white string, then he waved into the air. Suddenly, a large image appeared in the classroom like a holographic device.
In the image, Edward was in a heated room full of different machines; he was wearing loose clothes and many metals were in front of him; he took two of them, melt them separately before mixing them with different ratios to create a new alloy.
After that, he then melts the new alloy again, placed it on a machine that shaped it in the form of a sword. After the sword cooled down, he hammered, then sharpened the edge, created a handle for it.
(AN: As you can see, I have very little understanding of how swords and different alloys are made, how metals are processed, and so on, so bear with it.)
Once everything was done, he used an Enchantment Pen to write the word "Incendio" on the finished swords. Unfortunately, after activating the enchantments, a massive fire appeared and instantly melted the sword.
Then, Edward went to work again. He used different metals with different combinations, and sometimes, he even used some weird potion when created the magical alloy for the sword.
However, the process failed each time. In the second attempt, the blade exploded into countless pieces, in the third attempt, the enchantment did not even work, in the fourth attempt, the fire could not be controlled almost burning Edward\'s hand. It took at least 8 tries before he succeeded.
"As you can see, this semester, we will learn about different metals--both magical and non-magical--and their properties. How to mix them to get the best alloy for an Alchemy item, which one has the best conductibility of magic, which is more durable, more ductile, etc…
"Through trial and error, you guys will have to learn the hard way how to make Alchemy items from scratch."
One student raised her hand and Edward identified her as one of the muggle-born students in his class.
"Yes, Ms. Klein!"
"Sir, why do you look like a muggle blacksmith during the entire process? Why didn\'t you use any magic?"
Of course, Ms. Klein was secretly complaining why the Professor was not shirtless during the process, and many of the witches were thinking the same thing. After all, all of them were now 15 years old--reaching the age when their adolescent hormones were in full motion. Luckily, Edward did not have the habit of using Legilimency on his students.
"Great question. Let me show you guys another demonstration."
Following this, another large image of Edward appeared in the class. This time, he was also forging a sword, but using magic.
With a wave of his wand, the metals in his possession melted, then he mixed them to create the appropriate alloy. Then, he controlled the magical alloy to turn in the shape of the sword, used another spell to cool it down. Afterward, used another spell to remove the impurity from the metals, and a final one to sharpen the edges.
Finally, he enchanted it with his pen.
The entire process only took about an hour.
"As you can see class," said Edward. "Relying on magic to complete make an Alchemy Item required a great deal of strength and ability for spell casting; something that many of you in the classroom currently lack. So, throughout this semester, while you learn the old fashion way, I will also be teaching you some of the spells essential to an Alchemist.
"Of course, this is not the main reason that I want you all to learn the ways of a blacksmith. It\'s because this method allows you to have a hands-on approach to the different metals; it allows you to personally experiment with different ores and learn about their properties through trial and error."
The students nodded, however, they do not think that class would be as boring as the Professor said if they have to do what he showed on these images. However, one student had a question.
"Yes, Mr. George Weasley."
"Professor, I\'m Fred."
"No, you\'re not," replied Edward calmly.
"How do you know?"
"I just know. What\'s your question, Mr. Weasley?"
"I have two questions: one is there an even better Alchemy Method than the one you just showed us? Secondly: where is our classroom going to get all these types of equipment to practice?"
"Ambitious aren\'t we, Mr. Weasley. Well, there is." Then, Edward showed them another image.
This time, Edward engraved a few Ancient Runes on two different metals, then used his wand to activate them. Following this, the two metals turned into a goo-like substance before blending into a brand new ore: the process only took a few seconds.
After that, Edward inscribed a few more runes before activating them. This time, the alloy instantly turned into a beautiful silver sword, glistening under the sun. For the last step, he placed enchantments on them. Just like that, in less than 15 minutes, an alchemy item was created.
"Professor, is that Transfiguration?"
"No, this kind of magic is called Transmutation."
"What\'s the difference?"
"Hmm, how do I explain this for you guys to completely understand," said Edward as he paused for a moment. "Okay, the material used to make the sword is called white silver. To make such a material, brown copper and ordinary silver need to be mix together.
"Using Transfiguration, I can directly turn the brown copper or ordinary silver into the white silver, or even directly into the sword. However, Transmutation needs to use both raw materials to first make the white silver, then transform it into the sword.
"More importantly, Transfiguration is not permanent, but Transmutation is."
"But, professor, I thought you said last year that you could turn base metal into gold, but only lasting for 6 months? And you also said that there was another Grand Alchemist who achieved a permanent change," said Fred Weasly.
"That\'s true. At the highest level, Transmutation can barely reach the level of Transfiguration. As for the permanent change of metals, that requires the Philosopher\'s Stone to achieve."
"And what is the Philosopher\'s Stone?" asked one student.
"Something that you will learn later on, but if any of you are curious, you are more than welcome to research it in the library," replied Edward calmly. "Now, back to Mr. George\'s question. I have modified one of the Hogwarts classrooms to include many blacksmith equipments, and this will be our classroom from now on.
"Professor, can we see it? The new classroom?"
"Sure, why not?" He then used the same previous method to show them their future classroom. Although some people were secretly dissatisfied that they did not directly go there, there was nothing that they could do.
In the classroom showed by Edward, there were many furnaces, ores lying everywhere, a powerful heat could be felt emanating inside. The size of the room was oddly too large as there was enough space for every student to have their equipment. Edward placed an Extension Charm in the classroom, hence the size.
"Now, as you can see, working in such an environment, accidents are prone to happen. As your professor, it is my job to guarantee your safety, but if an accident occurs because any of you decided not to follow the regulations, then I will kick you out of the classroom.
"After three repeated strikes, I will remove you from the entire course. Is that clear?
"Yes, Professor," responded all the students with a dignified look on their faces.
"Good. Now that we have a little time before the end of class, you can ask all the questions you were dying to ask me."
Following this, all the students raised their hands. With a sigh, Edward picked one at random, and the rest of the class was spent with him answering questions about either his personal life or about his recent accomplishments during the summer.
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Title: Small Confrontation