Ms. Jenkins was indeed swamped at the moment, as numerous incidents of Wizards harming Muggles had occurred, causing widespread panic in Britain's Muggle world. To mitigate the negative impact, she even had to meet with the Muggle Prime Minister.
Lord Voldemort had made his stance clear: Pure-blood restoration. Not only the Minister for Magic, but even the subordinate staff had to be Pure-blood.
Anyone with eyes could see that a major war was not far off.
Gary received replies from his companions in the evening. Ms. Jenkins had sent gifts and messages to every member, and everyone was very happy. They knew that the Quidditch trial rules were almost certain to be approved by the Ministry of Magic.
Gary spent the rest of the Christmas holiday holed up at home, catching up on homework. Dumbledore had assigned a task in the Alchemy class before Christmas.
He gave each student a small Alchemy item and asked them to dismantle the engraved runic array and then re-engineer it. If the re-engineered array could function normally, there would be an additional reward.
Gary received a ring, and whether it was intentional or merely the passage of time leaving its mark, he couldn't discern the ring's original appearance at all.
The ring was just the right size for Gary to wear. Its style was very old-fashioned, with severe surface damage, faintly revealing a bronze color intermingled with the remaining silver on its surface.
"Hmm, Revelio." Gary pointed his dragonhide wand at the ring.
There was no reaction whatsoever.
"For such a small object, where would the Alchemy array be engraved?" Gary frowned, staring at the ring's bezel setting. Logically, this spot should have held a precious item like a gemstone or diamond, but now the center of the bezel setting was empty.
Gary had a sudden thought. He turned the ring around and looked into the concave groove within the bezel setting.
Sure enough, there were two rows of densely packed runes inside. The light was too dim, and Gary couldn't see them clearly at all.
He used his wand to cast light, then painstakingly copied the runes inside with a quill.
This Alchemy array was engraved with runes. Gary only truly began to learn runic grammar in his third year, so he didn't understand much of the content. He could only huddle in his room, poring over runic material.
Fortunately, his parents were at work, so there was no one to disturb him at home, allowing Gary to calm down and translate this array properly.
The runes on the ring were, to be precise, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. Being relatively recent, their textual system was quite complete. It only took Gary two days to translate the two rows of runes.
"I, with my body... resist strong enemies..." Gary compared the text he had translated, word by word, only feeling relieved after confirming its accuracy.
He cast Diffindo at the ring. The old-fashioned ring seemed to suddenly come alive, vibrating on the table. A transparent barrier emerged from the bezel setting, blocking Gary's spell.
Just as he thought, the spell hidden within the ring was indeed Protego.
So, what should he transform this array into?
Gary knew the difficulty of this task. Dumbledore offering a reward to students who successfully re-engineered it meant that this job would definitely not be easy.
He retrieved several Alchemy books he had found in his parents' bedroom. "Detailed Alchemy Methods" provided a comprehensive explanation of the number of array layers in Alchemy products.
Gary's heart skipped a beat when he read this. He quickly pulled out the ring to compare, repeatedly confirming that this ring only had one layer of Alchemy array.
Are you kidding? A two-layer Alchemy array would require additional consideration for compatibility between arrays, and the difficulty would increase exponentially.
After reading the book thoroughly, Gary began the first step: destroying the original Alchemy array.
He used a specialized silver engraving knife, dipped in dragon's blood ink, to firmly scratch a rune representing "person" in the second line of the array. He felt a residual magic dissipate from the ring, and the entire array became ineffective.
The ring, already dull, now looked even more ancient, as if it had lost another layer of luster.
Gary wanted to transform the array in this ring into the simplest kind—an automatic warming charm. Many warming robes at the Elegant Attire clothing store already incorporated this kind of Alchemy array, selling for a hefty price.
No sooner said than done, Gary immediately began his experiment.
Of course, he couldn't directly try it on the ring. He rummaged through his previous Christmas gifts for a long time and found a bracelet. It was a gift from Lovegood, and it actually had several carrot ornaments on it; he couldn't figure out what he was trying to express.
Gary decided to start with this bracelet.
He dipped a quill in dragon's blood ink and thoroughly brushed the inner circle of this bracelet. Then, he began engraving with a silver engraving knife on the bracelet's inner circle.
Engraving an Alchemy array only requires various metal engraving knives and the essential dragon's blood ink.
Dragon's blood ink can carry the engraver's magic. The magical shelf life of a single-layer array in an Alchemy item depends on the concentration of the dragon's blood ink; the higher the ink's concentration, the longer the magic can be preserved.
Gary used the most common ink sold in Diagon Alley. If a single-layer array were engraved, the magic would probably only last for about a month.
If one wanted the magic to last longer, they would need to use higher concentration dragon's blood ink or lock the magic using multiple Alchemy arrays.
However, there is no clear standard for the runes required to engrave different arrays. Different people have different understandings of runes, and of course, the effects also vary. But this kind of knowledge is akin to "teaching the apprentice starves the master"; most Alchemists keep their methods secret and do not pass them on. For beginner students, it is enough to ensure that the engraved Alchemy array is effective.
Gary carefully engraved the runes on the inner circle of the bracelet: "Warm as spring... always accompanying... protecting my body... from severe cold."
While engraving, Gary imagined the feeling of being protected by the warming charm, a warm current flowing through his body until the warmth reached his limbs and bones.
Then he channeled the magic within his body through his palm into the engraving knife, and then attached it to the bracelet.
The moment the last rune was engraved, the dragon's blood ink successfully sealed the magic within these runes. The carrot bracelet vibrated sharply on the table, making a jingling sound. Gary put on the bracelet and indeed felt a warmth emanating from it, enveloping his body.
"Did it just succeed?" Gary found it somewhat hard to believe that an Alchemy array could be so simple.
Little did he know that due to his long-term active output of magic into his wand, he had made significant progress in magic transmission, and the difficulty in the process of engraving an Alchemy array lay precisely in how to transmit and attach magic to the container.
Although only two lines of runes were engraved, the time spent was by no means short. Gary heard the sound of unlocking downstairs, knowing his parents were back, and began tidying up the clutter on his desk, planning to go downstairs for dinner.
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