"Lucien, can I learn from you how to make those mechanical animals?"
Lucien turned around and looked at the red-haired boy.
"Ron, are you really interested in Alchemy?"
Ron scratched his head and said somewhat uncertainly, "Alchemy, maybe. I've seen Fred and George use it to make some gadgets.. Oh, Fred and George are my older brothers—two years ahead of us."
Lucien nodded. The Weasley twins—famous for bringing mischief and laughter to Hogwarts.
They were indeed quite skilled at crafting magical items, so it seemed they must have some talent for Alchemy.
"Ron, do you want to learn Alchemy, or are you just interested in mechanical creations?"
If Ron said he wanted to learn Alchemy, Lucien would refuse him—for the same reason he had gently turned down Hermione.
But if it was purely about mechanical creations, that fell more under the application of Transfiguration—turning inanimate matter into inanimate forms, using semi-permanent solidified Transfiguration.
If Ron only wanted to make mechanical constructs for personal use, he could even skip solidified Transfiguration for now.
As for the necessary Potions, Ron likely couldn't brew them himself, but he could always ask his good friend Harry for help.
Lucien didn't mind teaching Ron how to make these alchemical machines. Like with Harry, Ron could repay him by letting Lucien borrow magic books from the Weasley family's collection.
No matter how tight the Weasley family's finances were, they were still one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families, with a long and ancient history—so they were bound to have magical knowledge passed down through the generations.
Hmm, he wasn't sure if Ron's parents would agree to lend those books out, so he'd better let Ron ask first.
Once there were books to read, he'd start teaching him.
"Uh, I'm actually just interested in those mechanical creations."
Lucien nodded. "That's fine."
"You should know that making them still requires a certain foundation in Transfiguration and Potions."
Upon hearing this, Ron's expression grew a bit awkward, his ears slowly turning as red as his hair.
"I—I know I don't have much talent, and I learn magic slowly, but—but I…"
Ron's behavior made Lucien shake his head slightly. Ron's talent really wasn't remarkable, especially compared to his older brothers.
Among them were a Gringotts Curse-Breaker, a Dragon researcher, a Gryffindor Prefect…
On top of that, Ron had a more laid-back personality. Except for rare moments when he showed courage, he usually just drifted along.
Lucien suspected that aside from natural disposition, the constant comparison to his brothers had only worsened Ron's self-doubt, making him more likely to slack off.
"Forget it."
Lucien's brief words made Ron stop muttering, his ears turning the same shade as his hair.
Ron was about to crack a joke to cover his embarrassment when he saw Lucien pull out a handful of small stones. He drew his wand and tapped them.
Each stone transformed into a different part, then began to float and quickly assemble in an orderly fashion.
Lucien tossed a cross-lock-like object to Ron.
"Try to unlock it, then put it back together."
It was a magical version of a Luban lock that Lucien had made on a whim, mainly to test whether Ron had any mechanical aptitude—and more importantly, patience.
If Ron's request to learn mechanical creations was just a passing fancy, and he couldn't even handle this lock, then there was no need to waste time on him. Lucien would just find an excuse to refuse.
He watched as Ron first studied the cross-lock carefully, only beginning to try unlocking it after a minute or two.
Ron's movements were slow and delicate, and when a method didn't work, he calmly retraced his steps and tried a different approach.
Not bad. Why don't I see you being this focused in Herbology or Potions?
Is it only when he's actually interested that he gets serious?
Hmm… this kid is pretty good at Wizard Chess, too.
Someone who plays chess shouldn't be lacking in patience.
Ron finally managed to disassemble the cross-lock. Before he could celebrate, he remembered he still had to put it back together.
But this time, his speed was noticeably faster, which made Lucien raise an eyebrow.
Perhaps this kid, Ron, really does have some talent for mechanics.
When Ron held up the reassembled cross-lock, Lucien nodded.
"Very good."
Lucien's praise made Ron a little embarrassed; it was rare for anyone to commend him for doing something well.
"Oh, right, Lucien, about the Potion—do I have to brew it myself? Can I ask Harry for help? He seems to be making rapid progress in Potions lately!"
Ron's words made Lucien chuckle.
Not slow to catch on, is he? He really only puts in effort when something piques his interest—his mind sharpens instantly.
Hmm… hearing someone praise a student I taught feels even better than being praised for my own knowledge.
So this is the satisfaction of being a teacher.
"No problem, but you still have to learn Transfiguration on your own."
If it was teaching Transfiguration, Lucien was confident there'd be no problem.
The most basic transformation—dead matter into dead matter—even if it involved the slightly more advanced mechanical Transfiguration, Lucien believed he could teach it.
If he couldn't, then it meant his explanation wasn't thorough enough and his grasp of the knowledge wasn't deep enough!
In that case, he'd push himself to improve both his understanding and teaching ability.
Ron nodded eagerly. If it meant learning to make those fascinating alchemical machines, he was willing to put in the effort to study Transfiguration.
"Ron, I can teach you how to make those machines, but I won't do it for free... If you have something to exchange, like a long-standing family heirloom…"
Before Lucien could finish, Ron quickly caught on.
He pulled out an old wand from his pocket, its Unicorn hair core already showing at the tip.
With a pained expression, Ron said, "This is my family's heirloom wand, but can you wait until I save up enough money to buy a new one? I'll give you this first…"
"Stop. What would I do with your wand?"
Lucien looked at Ron with exasperation—this red-haired kid really had a bizarre sense of humor.
What would he even do with a spare wand? Use it to poke the fire?
"Oh, I understand, Lucien, you don't have a pet yet, do you? Then this one of mine…"
Ron put the wand away and pulled out a scruffy, listless rat from his pocket.
"Scabbers—he likes pumpkin pie, and he likes red wine, but you can't let him drink too much…"
Lucien quickly raised a hand to stop Ron's rambling.
"I don't want your wand, and I don't want your Scabbers. I want to borrow your family's magic books. Borrow. Magic books!"
Ron blinked. "Oh."
"Is that so? I thought you meant family heirlooms. The wand was passed down by my second brother, Charlie, and Scabbers came from my third brother, Percy."
"As for magic books… I'll have to write to Mum and ask. I'm not sure if we have any."
Lucien was speechless. Harry, at least, hadn't been exposed to magic growing up, so it was understandable he didn't know much about his family's heritage.
But Ron had been raised in a wizarding household. How could he not know this?
Pure-blood families usually started teaching magic before their children even arrived at Hogwarts, didn't they?
Apparently, this kid hadn't learned a thing.
This was going to be a tough student to teach.
Lucien looked up at the moon.
Hopefully, the magical knowledge passed down in the Weasley family would be useful enough...
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11 Advance Chaps- P@treon/DarkDevil1