Harry Potter: I Get Stronger by Taking Loans - 174

Chapter 174: Vitality Renewed Potion, Visiting the Burrow

The faint white beam of light dispersed.

Maxime and Fleur stepped out and walked toward a carriage. The horses drawing it were enormous, their coats a gleaming gold with silver manes, their eyes a fierce red, each as big as an elephant. They were Abraxans, a branch of winged horse.

Once they were seated, Maxime could see the discouragement Fleur was trying to hide. She soothed her gently.

“This is not your fault. We came too late.”

Fleur steadied herself and lifted her chin again, regaining her usual confidence.

“Mr Flamel finding a student he likes is a good thing. But that boy… he did not look very old.”

Maxime glanced at the ground dropping away outside the window.

“He did look young. Still in school, most likely. If not Hogwarts, then Durmstrang…”

She turned her head slightly.

“What, you want to meet him?”

Fleur did not deny it. She truly did want to see for herself what kind of prodigy could be accepted as Nicolas Flamel’s final student.

Maxime patted Fleur’s head with a warm, reassuring hand.

“There will be a chance. He will be an exceptional young wizard, and he is very likely to take part in that old tournament.”

“And since that is the case, preparations can begin early…”

…

After seeing Maxime and Fleur off, Nicolas rubbed his stiff neck and sighed.

“Even older…”

To be fair, that girl, Fleur Delacour, was excellent. She really was suited to the path of alchemy.

If Nicolas had not met Leonardo, he might well have been tempted.

But there were no ifs. As he taught Leonardo formally, Nicolas became more and more certain he had chosen correctly.

Leonardo’s ability to learn was astonishing, and he had absorbed an immense amount from him.

“Master, Mr Leonardo left some things in his room, and a letter,” Kewby said, Apparating to Nicolas’ side with his usual respectful precision.

“Oh?”

Leonardo had not mentioned it at all. Nicolas crossed to the room at once.

Two crystal vials sat on the desk, along with a thick pile of papers.

With a gesture, Nicolas summoned the letter that had been pinned beneath the vials.

“Teacher, these papers contain some aerospace materials from an Eastern European country before it fell apart. My family collected them bit by bit, and I thought they might offer a few grains of reference for your great endeavour…”

Reading Leonardo’s handwriting, Nicolas’ brow jumped. He had not expected his student to leave a gift like this.

He read on.

“Teacher, what is sealed inside the crystal vials is a potion I have only just succeeded in developing. Vitality Renewed. It can replenish life force. I hope you and Mistress enjoy it…”

The parchment trembled sharply between Nicolas’ fingers.

For a moment, he almost thought his ancient eyes had finally begun to play tricks on him after six hundred years.

Replenish life force.

Five simple words, spoken lightly, yet heavy enough to shake a heart that had endured centuries.

Nicolas knew Leonardo’s temperament. The boy was not one for empty boasting.

He set the letter down, unable to stop himself as he moved closer to the desk.

With every step, a craving that had long been silent stirred deep in his decayed bones, waking softly, calling to him without sound.

He reached out with a withered, wrinkled hand and lifted one crystal vial. His fingers shook as he eased the stopper free.

At once, a clean fragrance spilled out, like grass after rainfall, fresh and bright.

Then something vast yet intangible rippled from the mouth of the vial, like a living tide. Even the still air seemed to draw breath.

Nicolas inhaled deeply, hungrily. Every dried-out cell in his body seemed to cry out and sing, as if it had caught the scent of life itself—the sweet, dreamlike essence it could never forget.

He didn’t even need to taste it.

Nicolas could tell at once that this potion would do exactly what Leonardo claimed.

Life force. Abundant life force.

“That boy… what exactly…”

His bony fingers tightened around the crystal vial.

He had, truly, accepted everything that came with age. He had learned to remain optimistic even inside a fragile shell.

But who could truly forget the days of strength and overflowing energy?

His and Perenelle’s bodies had grown frighteningly old.

Their bones were as brittle as dead branches. One wrong move and something could crack. Even normal eating had become a luxury. They relied on specially prepared liquids.

It meant Kewby’s inherited culinary skill, passed down since his great-grandfather, a mastery that could put many famous chefs to shame, had nowhere to go.

Leonardo’s arrival had brought more life into this place and had given Kewby a chance to shine again.

Nicolas suddenly remembered a dinner one night, when he had joked that watching a young man eat with such appetite made even his own stomach feel livelier.

At the time, Leonardo had worn a thoughtful look.

Lowering his gaze, Nicolas noticed a final line written small at the bottom of the letter.

“Teacher, Kewby’s cooking is superb, and he also regrets that he cannot serve you and Mistress the delicious food his elders once could.

“And a body full of vitality might be better suited to exploring the wonders of the world.”

Those last words made Nicolas murmur softly.

“The wonders of the world…”

Then he laughed, loud and open.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…”

“Cough, cough, cough…”

…

Nicolas rarely laughed like that. Even when it tugged at his ruined lungs and set off a harsh fit of coughing, he did not care.

The next moment, he tipped his head back and drank the vial in one go.

In an instant, a surging yet unbelievably gentle vitality bloomed in his stomach, like a warm wave washing over the marks that time had carved into his body.

…

Elsewhere, Leonardo was considering how to arrange the rest of the summer.

Right — by now, his teacher should’ve seen what he’d left behind.  

Muggle aerospace technology was a world apart from magic, but even a spark of inspiration would be enough.  

Good thing he’d asked his aunt to keep an eye on that side — a small “inheritance” was already in place.

“Thanks for the hard work, Aurelius.”

Leonardo rubbed the shrunken Aurelius, curled in his arms. To brew Vitality Renewed, the little Qilin had contributed a bit of blood.

“Master, can I eat more sweets?” Aurelius asked. “The ones from Headmaster Grandfather, lemon sherbets, Liquorice Wands, Cockroach Clusters…”

Hearing the little Qilin list them like a menu, Leonardo shook his head helplessly, but still pulled out a large handful of sweets.

“A little of each. Do not eat too much, or you will get toothache. That hurts.”

The little Qilin probably didn’t get cavities, but it was still worth warning. Scaring children was oddly entertaining.

“Heh heh, all right, Master.”

Aurelius nuzzled against him, then sprang up and snatched the sweets away.

After his Potions aptitude improved, and after reading a great many Potions texts in Nicolas’ library, Leonardo could now brew potions that truly used Qilin blood.

It was no longer crude ingredient mixing. He could amplify the life-rich qualities of the blood itself.

Nicolas had poured everything into teaching him. As a student, Leonardo wanted to repay that.

Tomorrow, he would send a dose to Newt and Tina as well.

Especially Newt, who travelled the world year-round, constantly battered by magical creatures. He really did deserve something restorative.

Newt valued him deeply — guiding him without hesitation, even entrusting him with a suitcase.

Leonardo did not short change friends or family.

“By the way, System, Vitality Renewed is a potion I invented too. If I sell it, can it count toward the loan task?”

A rare treasure that replenished vitality and prolonged life. No matter the price, someone would buy it.

Never mind the sales count; the revenue alone could be met quickly.

[…]

[Er, well, host, er, so, you see…]

The system’s hesitating tone told Leonardo everything.

It was only an idle question anyway. Once quantity went up, the money would not be far behind. They moved together.

“Fine. Do whatever you like. I have work to do.”

During this period, he had already designed and planned many alchemical tools and potions, and made some prototypes.

“Next is finding sales agents.”

…

Grafton Manor.

Leonardo checked the first drafts of two Transfiguration papers again:

Transfiguration Layering: On the Construction and Maintenance of Composite Biological Structures
A Study of Transfiguration Based on Magic Circuit Theory

Then he made three copies of each, preparing to send one set to Dumbledore and one set to Professor McGonagall. He had been corresponding with them all summer on the topic.

One remaining set would go to his teacher, Nicolas. When Nicolas learned he was preparing papers, he had mentioned casually that he wanted a copy when it was done. Leonardo had not forgotten.

He had spent most of this time at home.

In between, he had visited the Malfoy dragon reserve as agreed, but there were too few Norwegian Ridgebacks.

Late at night, when everything was quiet, he let Norbert out to spar with the few of its kind. The fight ended quickly. Leonardo gave them healing and food as compensation, and with deliberate concealment magic, no one noticed a thing.

Whether it was the special result of incubating the egg with Qilin pure flame, or the foundation laid by the Bone and Blood Baptism Draught, Norbert’s growth rate and strength had been a pleasant surprise.

A few days ago, Leonardo had also turned twelve. He held a birthday banquet, invited both Muggle and wizarding friends, and received quite a few presents.

Other than that, he had been focused entirely on the Transfiguration papers.

According to letters from Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, the review results would likely be announced within half a year, and there was a good chance they would be published directly in the authoritative journal Transfiguration Today.

Leonardo tapped a finger lightly against the desk, thoughts already reaching further.

Publishing the papers would form a cornerstone of reputation.

Since the system required him to sell alchemy and potions under his own name, the inventor’s fame mattered as much as the product’s quality.

Reputation and products were tools that strengthened each other.

Clang.

A sudden impact snapped Leonardo out of his thoughts.

He did not need to look. With a tap of his wand, the window opened.

And he was not worried about using his wand outside school during the holiday and triggering the Trace, with the Ministry turning up to investigate.

He had learned a simple piece of an ancient spell from Nicolas, one that could easily block the Trace’s sensing.

Leonardo guided the unconscious owl outside the window, floating it onto his desk.

Looking at the grey, miserable-looking owl lying there, he shook his head helplessly.

It was the Weasleys’ owl, Errol. An elderly, rather muddled owl.

When it delivered letters to him, eight times out of ten, it crashed into the window. The other two times it hit the wall.

Leonardo cast a series of healing and reviving charms.

Thanks to the unicorn blessing, his healing worked exceptionally well. Errol recovered immediately, woke up, shoved the letter at him, then stood there blankly.

Leonardo took out a tin of owl treats, but Errol only remembered to eat when the snack was held right up to his beak.

Faced with an owl that seemed to have senile dementia, Leonardo wondered if he should develop a potion for treating animal dementia as he opened the letter.

“Dear Lord Leonardo,

Whenever may you honour our humble home with your presence? We await you at Ottery St Catchpole, the Burrow.”

The teasing tone and the tiny little doodled face at the end made Leonardo smile. It felt like the twins’ work.

Either way, it was time to visit the Weasleys.

…

After riding the Knight Bus, Leonardo arrived in Devon, at Ottery St Catchpole.

Following the directions in the letter, he found the place quickly.

It was impossible to miss.

It stood beside a pond, surrounded by a small patch of fields and pasture.

The house itself looked as if several different parts had been stuck together, and the whole thing leaned at an alarming angle.

Leonardo suspected that without magic holding it up, it would have collapsed long ago.

This magically peculiar, homely place was the Weasleys’ home: the Burrow.

“Leonardo!”

Ron looked up from de‑gnoming the garden just in time to spot him. His face lit up.

He gave the gnome in his hand one last spin and flung it out of the garden — the little creature yelped, “Let me go! Let me go!” — before scrambling over the fence and hurrying toward his friend.

Ron started to pull Leonardo into a hug, then hesitated when he noticed the mud on his sleeves, freezing mid‑motion with his arms half‑raised.

Leonardo just smiled and stepped forward, closing the distance with a light, easy hug.

“Long time no see.”

It loosened something in Ron at once. To be honest, the last time he attended Leonardo’s birthday banquet had shocked him to the core.

He had guessed Leonardo’s family was well off, but he had not expected that level of well off.

Ron had been a little worried. Would Leonardo look down on their home, when the gap was so large?

But Leonardo’s reaction made him relax at once. Thinking back, it made sense. Over the entire year, Leonardo had always been easy to get along with.

Except during revision.

“Oy, is that not Lord Leonardo?” Fred and George called, strolling over with matching grins. “Welcome, welcome.”

“Hello, Leonardo,” Ginny said as she came up too, much quieter than the others.

Her eyes kept flicking toward Leonardo’s pocket, as if hoping a fluffy little platinum white head might pop out to greet her.