"That won't work! Anyway, don't let me catch you going out alone!" Irene warned.
Adrian had to abandon the idea of sneaking out solo. There were only two of them in the shop. If he went out for too long, Irene would notice.
Hoot~
After breakfast, two owls flew in through the door. Like last time, they both carried large packages, but these seemed particularly heavy.
George and Fred must have replied, Adrian guessed. He stepped forward to remove the packages from the owls.
Opening them, he found Extendable Ears and quills inside, along with a reply letter.
Adrian was a bit surprised after reading it. He hadn't expected Mrs. Weasley to actually agree to let George and Fred research joke magical merchandise.
In his impression, Mrs. Weasley hated their research into these prank items most of all.
Adrian smiled. It seemed the official Ministry order and fifty Galleons were quite convincing.
"A letter from your two classmates?" Irene, having cleared the dinner plates, walked out of the kitchen and saw the large packages on the table.
"Yeah, they delivered the first batch of finished goods," Adrian nodded.
"Their names are George and Fred? They're quite talented. You could have them work here after graduation," Irene said admiringly, looking at the joke items in the package.
Though these weren't difficult prank props, they were creative and should sell well.
"I'm afraid that'll be difficult. George and Fred have always wanted to open their own magical items shop. They've even figured out the name," Adrian shook his head and explained.
Irene was a bit disappointed, but she didn't care much, she'd only mentioned it casually.
After a pause, Irene continued. "Your wand is almost finished. I think it's better if you carve the runes yourself."
Hearing what Irene said, Adrian became interested. After using the Dragon Heartstring wand for so long, he'd almost forgotten about his previous Unicorn Hair wand.
Arriving in the basement, Adrian discovered his wand was immersed in a colorless liquid and looked somewhat soft.
Adrian looked at Irene in confusion.
"The wand wouldn't be able to accept the runic formula without this treatment," Irene explained.
Adrian nodded without fully understanding, then looked at the wand before him. Having a new idea, he asked curiously, "Besides the concealment runes, can I carve other runes on the wand? For example, enhancement runes?"
The enhancement runes were a special runic formula Adrian had researched with the Horcrux diary over recent days. For this, Adrian had to disclose more information to dispel the young Dark Lord's suspicions.
Irene thought for a moment. She'd never tried carving two sets of runic formulas on the same object before, and said hesitantly, "It's not impossible, but the difficulty is very high. Multiple runic formulas will conflict with each other, so a unique runic circuit might be required."
Adrian was very interested. Since he was transforming the wand, of course the stronger the better. Just being able to shield the Trace wouldn't satisfy his appetite.
Especially since in the near future, he was going to find the werewolf wizards in Knockturn Alley and get some werewolf blood back to make potions. It might be dangerous.
Thinking of this, Adrian and Irene discussed methods of resolving runic conflicts.
Unfortunately, Irene didn't know much. There hadn't been much time when making the Protective Ring, so after discussing for a while, they only sorted out some clues without a specific solution.
After returning to his room after dinner, Adrian opened the Horcrux diary again and wrote his question on it.
Tom, do you have a way to resolve the conflict between two runic formulas?
Yes! The black ink gradually disappeared from the diary, then new writing appeared.
Have you seen real alchemical items?
Real alchemical items?
Adrian's expression froze. He'd made Shield Gloves and Protective Rings, weren't those real?
The Invisibility Cloak? After hesitating, Adrian tentatively wrote in the diary with his quill.
The ink seemed a bit surprised. It stayed on the diary for a long time before slowly reorganizing into new text.
Since you've seen it, you should know real alchemical items don't need to be activated by magic power and can still function properly.
Adrian nodded. He hadn't noticed before, but now that Tom Riddle mentioned it, he saw the difference between the two.
The Shield Gloves and Protective Rings he'd produced replaced spellcasting steps with runic formulas, but essentially still needed the holder to provide magic power.
The Invisibility Cloak was different. It was always working and didn't need a trace of magic power. Even if a Muggle obtained it, they could become invisible when wearing it.
By that logic, the Sword of Gryffindor that automatically appeared in the hands of those who needed it, the Sorting Hat thinking up new songs all day, and even the treasures left by several other Founders should all be real alchemical items.
Adrian faintly felt he'd found a way to continue upgrading his alchemy. He quickly continued to ask, but unfortunately, the Horcrux diary didn't know how to make them.
Then why'd you say there was a solution? Adrian felt very speechless.
Perhaps sensing Adrian's resentment, handwriting gradually surfaced in the diary.
I mean, though we can't make alchemical items, we can learn from this method.
The key to runic formula conflict is that the magic power input by the holder stimulates two kinds of magic simultaneously. If one of the magics can operate independently without inputting magic power, this conflict can naturally be eliminated.
Then what should I do? Adrian thought for a moment. This method might actually work, so he wrote in the diary with his quill.
I don't have a clue yet, but we can work it out together. I think it's not hard for us, right? A series of handwriting appeared in the Horcrux diary, revealing strong confidence between the lines.
Adrian smiled seeing the handwriting displayed in the diary.
That's right. In a short time, they'd worked out numerous runic formulas together and created a miracle. Now creating another miracle wasn't impossible.
Thinking of this, Adrian no longer hesitated. Using his quill, he wrote down all kinds of theories about runic circuits and exchanged opinions with Tom Riddle.
Before long, system sounds rang out one after another.
[Ding!]
[After discussion, your Alchemy proficiency has improved!]
[Ding!]
[After discussion...]
...
[Ding!]
[After discussion, your Alchemy proficiency has declined...]
Huh? Declined?
Adrian, who was writing a new plan in the diary, was stunned. He carefully looked at the prompt information in the system bar and pursed his lips when he confirmed he hadn't heard wrong.
'Tom, you're messing around again!'