Dumbledore's willingness to hand over the Philosopher's Stone to Regulus Black wasn't without its own intentions.
To explain, we have to start with the nature of the Philosopher's Stone. Simply put, after Nicolas Flamel created the Stone, he, as its master, was also bound by its power. He could only feel positive emotions like joy and happiness. Even when he clearly knew he should be feeling pain or sorrow, he was unable to truly experience them. Additionally, he could only perform actions that brought joy to others or neutral acts—he was unable to commit wrongdoing, or even harbor evil thoughts.
The benefit of such restrictions, however, was that he could harness the joy of all those whose fates he had altered using the Stone—including the poor he had helped, the sick he had cured, the students he had taught, and the general public who had benefited from his alchemical inventions.
Perhaps if the Philosopher's Stone were to fall into Voldemort's hands, these constraints might be broken. Even Dumbledore himself could potentially remove them. But when it came to Regulus Black—though Dumbledore couldn't see through him completely—he believed Regulus lacked that ability. Nicolas Flamel, as the creator, was naturally bound by this constraint and had no way to break free from it.
Simply put: joy shared is better than joy hoarded. Since Nicolas Flamel was able to bring happiness to those around him, Dumbledore also hoped that Regulus Black could become the same—a good man filled with joy, transformed by the Philosopher's Stone.
[Philosopher's Stone]Crafted by Master Nicolas FlamelKeeping it in the inventory grants various extra benefits.
100% chance to obtain Elixir of Life by immersing it in liquid.
100% chance to transmute metal into gold by direct contact.Note: Anyone who uses the elixir or gold created by the Stone will be permanently filled with joy.
Regulus Black placed the Philosopher's Stone into his system space and saw the above properties. To avoid being affected by the Stone's restraints, he would either need to alter its attributes or refine it into another object and reconfigure its properties.
After sweeping through the entire clearance process, the only thing Regulus had actually refined was Professor Flitwick's flying keys—at most, you could add the partial integration of Snape's Firebrand Curse into Trevor as a half-finished product.
[Firebrand Toad]Keeping it in the inventory grants various extra benefits.
100% chance to devour any type of flame.
100% chance to refine devoured substances and expel them from the body.Note: Refined materials can be configured to transform according to the user's preference.
Regulus immediately thought of combining the Philosopher's Stone with Trevor—to forge an immortal toad.
"Come on, Trevor, be a good boy and swallow the Philosopher's Stone."
Though both the Stone and Trevor were in the system space, Regulus Black still muttered to himself excitedly.
Trevor swallowed the Stone, and under Regulus Black's magical influence, his body began to grow. By the time Regulus brought him out, Trevor had reached the size of a circular tabletop—two meters in diameter.
[Black Lotus Sacred Flame Three-Legged Treasure Golden Toad]Keeping it in the inventory grants various extra benefits.
+77% alchemy success rate
77% chance to be immune to fire
77% chance to devour flames
77% chance that consumed liquids are expelled as eggs
77% chance that consumed metals are expelled as goldNote 1: Capable of refining any object or creature through alchemy.Note 2: Consuming the eggs laid by the Three-Legged Treasure Golden Toad grants immortality—each egg provides one year of life.
At this point, Trevor bore a black lotus symbol on his head, with seven red gemstones arranged in a star pattern across his back, his body cloaked in cold black sacred flames. His hind legs had fused into a single massive limb. Regulus casually tossed him a Knut, which Trevor swallowed. Not long after, a blister on his back squeezed out a gold coin. Though the pattern was still that of a Knut, the material had completely transformed into gold—even the magic goblins had infused into the currency couldn't withstand Trevor's refining ability.
Having confirmed the metal refinement, it was time to test his ability to "spit pearls from water." Previously, many student-brewed potions had failed miserably. Regulus Black had kept them all—and what better time to use them than now?
Barrel after barrel of failed potions was poured in, and Trevor's body swelled to twice its size.
Not long after, its size returned to normal, and then from its abdomen, it produced an egg of the Three-Legged Treasure Golden Toad.
Under magical scrutiny, this egg was shown to be alive, but Regulus Black knew it would never hatch.
Still, it represented a full year of life. On the black market of Diagon Alley, it would surely fetch a high price.
The House Cup was ultimately awarded to Gryffindor. Dumbledore, through unreasonable point additions to Harry Potter, Ron, and the brave Neville, caused Slytherin to lose this year's victory. As for Hermione, despite Regulus Black having discussed it with Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick, she wasn't mentioned, which left the young girl a little disappointed.
As the end of term approached, all students had already left the school. Only staff members like Regulus Black remained on campus—which, for him, was quite a pleasant experience. After all, a school without noisy children was a quiet haven for studying.
Other than occasionally heading out to handle his family business, Regulus Black spent most of his time in the library, sometimes reading in Ravenclaw's common room.
Today, Regulus Black was studying the "Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," a topic covered in the seventh-year curriculum.
The Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration was a major thesis proposed by the famous wizard C.C. Gamp three centuries ago, after a long career of experimentation. It outlines five key impossibilities in the field of Transfiguration.
The first is the limitation on conjuring food. A wizard cannot create delicious meals from nothing, nor can they transform other items into real food. Even if you ate such transformed food, you wouldn't be able to absorb any nutrients and would likely suffer indigestion. However, if you already have some food, you can transfigure it to make it larger.
At Hogwarts, the food that appears on the dining plates isn't conjured; it is prepared by house-elves and transported to the plates via "Apparition Charms."
The second point is that living and non-living things cannot be permanently transformed into one another. For instance, you can transfigure a button into a beetle, but it won't stay alive forever. Once the magical energy fades, it will revert back into a button. Furthermore, even if the beetle seems to be alive, its essence remains that of a button. If you feed it to a bird, it won't provide sustenance—instead, it might choke the bird.
The third point is that Transfiguration cannot create magical objects, such as self-inking quills or self-heating cauldrons. Even Galleons fall into this category. Wizarding currency is enchanted by goblins, making it resistant to oxidation and damage, and capable of automatic identification and counting.
The fourth point is that Transfiguration cannot change quantity. You cannot turn one table into two deer, or three quills into a shovel. However, there is an exception: if the connected objects are treated as a single whole, then "Composite Transfiguration" can be applied to change them collectively. When reversed, the original configuration and attachments remain unaffected.
In other words, if someone wearing clothes is transfigured into a deer and then returned to human form, their clothes won't be stuck to their skin like fur.
The fifth and most important point is that Transfiguration cannot create something from nothing. You may have seen a wizard use a wand to conjure a flock of birds or a bouquet of flowers, but these aren't results of Transfiguration. They are likely temporary physical projections summoned by spells, or objects hidden in the hand and transformed in appearance.
Thinking it over carefully, Regulus Black was quite certain that he had never gone beyond these five exceptions before. However, alchemical creations sometimes do surpass these rules.
For instance, bestowing magical energy upon certain objects to produce spirits—like the Tsukumogami of Japanese folklore—raises a paradox: does the object itself possess life? If transfigured into another creature or object, would the magical effect persist?
Or take the Black Lotus Sacred Fire Three-Legged Treasure Golden Toad—an alchemical creation. After swallowing the Philosopher's Stone and fusing with it, it produced an egg that was alive yet could never hatch. Situations like this become impossible to explain.
That's why, in the world of wizards, so much is driven by belief. If you believe something cannot be done, then it truly can't be done.
Immersed in the sea of knowledge, Regulus Black had already forgotten about the troubles that awaited Harry Potter.
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