Alchemy

> The best known goals of the alchemists were the transmutation of common metals into Gold or Silver (less well known is plant alchemy, or "Spagyric"), and the creation of a "panacea", a remedy that supposedly would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely, and the discovery of a universal solvent. Although these were not the only uses for the science, they were the ones most documented and well known. Starting with the Middle Ages, European alchemists invested much effort on the search for the philosopher's stone, a legendary substance that was believed to be an essential ingredient for either or both of those goals.
>
> Libatius Borage, *Advanced Potion-Making*, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

**Alchemy** was a branch of magic and an ancient science concerned with the study of the composition, structure and magical properties of the four basic elements, as well as the ***transmutation*** of substances; it was thus intimately connected with ***Potion-making***, ***chemistry***, and transformation magic.
Alchemy also concerned philosophy; one interpretation of alchemical literature, which was known to be dominated by mystical and metaphysical speculation, were that the study of Alchemy were symbolic of a spiritual journey, leading the alchemist from ignorance (base metal) to enlightenment (gold).
While Muggles for the most part largely dismissed it as an outdated forerunner of modern ***chemistry***, there were still wizards actively studying and practising it in the ***twentieth century*** and who held it to be some of the most difficult magic known to wizardkind. A less well known branch of the study of alchemy was ***Spagyric***, or "plant alchemy".
***Alchemy*** was an elective subject offered at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry only when there was sufficient demand. It was taught to ***sixth*** and ***seventh-years*** only. Potions class may also have involved alchemical or near-alchemical processes at ***N.E.W.T.*** level.
A non-magical version of this study also existed, called Muggle alchemy.

## History

The best known goals of the alchemists were the transformation of common metals into gold (a phenomenon called Chrysopoeia) or silver, the creation of a ***Panacea***, a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely, and the discovery of a ***universal solvent***. At least two of the three primary alchemical goals were achieved by the famed ***French*** alchemist Nicolas Flamel sometime in or after the ***14th century***, with his creation of the Philosopher's Stone and, by extension, the Elixir of Life. Using the Elixir, Nicolas and his wife, ***Perenelle Flamel***, would live for well over 600 years until the 1990s. The stone could also perform Chrysopoeia, though it's unknown if Flamel used it for this purpose.
After Lord Voldemort nearly succeeded in stealing the stone for his own dark purposes during the 1991–1992 school year, Flamel and his old friend and colleague, Albus Dumbledore, decided that it would be best to destroy the stone to prevent its misuse. After six centuries of life the Flamels were more than willing to accept death and passed peacefully after setting their affairs in order, when their current supply of Elixir ran out.
According to an ***alchemical work***, which original translation from Latin dated back to ***1557***, the constituents of the ***perfect medicine*** were ***Vinegar***, ***Salt***, ***Urine***, ***Sal Ammoniac*** and a particular ***Sulphur Vive***.

## Known alchemists

* Nicolas Flamel (c. ***1327***—c. 1992)
* Albus Dumbledore (***1881***—***1997***)
* Severus Snape (presumably)
* Draco Malfoy (as a hobby)

## Behind the scenes

* The first names of Rubeus Hagrid and Albus Dumbledore were chosen based on alchemy, as they mean "red" and "white" respectively, "the red" and "the white" being essential mystical elements of the process.

## Appearances

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## See also

* ***Alchemy (class)***

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Template:HBP - See this image
2. ↑ From "Very Early page of Philosopher's Stone".
3. ↑ Template:PM information on Hogwarts subjects (transcription available here)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:PS - Chapter 24 (*Norbert*)
5. ↑ Template:PS - See this image.
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7. ↑ Template:WW