Dumbledore's Age

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 155085

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" <tonks_op at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Laura Lynn Walsh <lwalsh@> 
> wrote:
> >
> > If DD and Flamel worked on something different,
> > what might it have been?  ...  Anybody know
> > more about alchemy's goals other than changing base
> > metals to gold?
> 
> Tonks:
> Alchemy is not the literal changing of base metals to gold. It is a 
> spiritual process. There were many monks and other religious persons 
> that were alchemist. ...edited...
> 
> Tonks_op
>

bboyminn:

Tonks is on to the key element here in determining Dumbledore's
relationship with Flamel. Alchemy, being a spritual process, means
that Flamel is not likely to give away the deepest secrets of Alchemy
to anyone who came along. Flamel has probably kept the secret of
Alchemy of over 500 years, and would not give up that secret easily.

So, Dumbledore studied Alchemy under Flamel, but there are may stages
both chemical and spirtual that must be mastered before you actually
attempt to study and create the Stone. One does not learn the secret
of the Stone until one is sufficiently spirtually enlightened to use
it wisely.

Consider, if knowledge of the Stone was known and unguarded, everyone
would live forever, and everyone would be infinitely rich. As
Dumbledore points out, infinite life and infinite wealth are precisely
the very things that humans do not need.

So, my point is that while Dumbledore and Flamel studied Alchemy, we
don't know that they ever got around to specifically studying the
Stone itself. Further note that since there is only one known
Philosopher's Stone in existance, that which belongs to Flamel, it is
crystal clear that Flamel has NOT share that particular secret with
anyone, and certainy did not go around willy-nilly handing that
information out.

So, Alchemy is a long complex process made up of many stages and
steps. The Philosopher's Stone is the last step in a long physical,
chemical, and spiritual journey, and only a very rare few are ever
allowed to go that far in the process.

You need to separate the study of Alchemy from the Philosopher's Stone
itself. Many many alchemist studied and experimented with Alchemy
their entire lives and never achieved The Stone; Isaac Newton among
them (allegedly dead at age 85). 

There is allegedly a secret society in the real world made up of an
extremely few rare individuals who are deemed worthy enough to hold
the knowledge of The Stone. It is rumored that more than 100 years
after Flamel's offical death, a writer met with him and had a long
discussion. Having achieved The Stone and a very long life, Flamel
moved out of normal society by faking his death, and now lives within
this secret society. I suspect that if someone UNworthy was getting
close to achieving the Stone, this secret society would intervene to
sabotoge his experiements or would arrange for this unworthy person to
meet an untimely death. That is the degree to which the knowledge of
the Stone is protected.

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn