Owl from Albus Dumbledore to Endymion Dashwood, dated 26 August 1942...
My dear boy,
I would congratulate you upon your betrothal, but I do not know how welcome such congratulations may be, given the circumstances. Rather indeed I shall simply say that I hope it proves to be fortunate for you in ways other than the expected, as many of the things that are thrust upon us by fate prove to be.
Your abstract and your laboratory notes are quite compelling, but I am afraid that they are quite unlikely to convince Nicolas. Nicolas holds to the old pieties, and will not believe it possible that you can refine anything until you have refined yourself, and to him, this will mean changing yourself so that you can live in accordance with the teachings of the Church, whether or not you marry. Moreover, he is of the belief that the Stone cannot be created by an unmarried man, because the energies which have to be manipulated cannot be handled safely without a polarising relationship of pure female and pure male. I do not know whether this is merely his piety, but we have to acknowledge that Nicolas is the only person who has ever succeeded in this goal, and it may be that those of us whose polarities balance internally are too delicately put together to withstand that kind of force. I do know that he is of the opinion that an individual such as yourself would be destroyed by the energies before ever completing the Work, and as he has experienced them and we have not, how can we argue with this?
It would be best for you to seek apprenticeship to someone with a greater understanding of the challenges you face.
But I do understand your frustration, and wish to impart to you the understanding that there are a great many other more attainable goals. Immortality is especially tempting to those of us who know we will never have children, but it is, in the end, I think, a consolation prize at best. Imagine staying at home while your elder siblings go away to school. You dread the experience, because you do not wish to leave your safe, comfortable place in the world; and you cannot imagine the experiences the people you love are having on the other side. Even if they manage to send word to you, the things they tell you make no sense.
You might prefer not to go, but how sad it would be if you didn’t, and remained coiled within the egg, the womb; trapped in the chrysalis of the physical. I think sometimes that this is what Nicolas does, and wonder at his piety; if he is so assured of his own salvation, why does he not wish to go forth and meet it?
We will speak at length, dear boy, when you have returned to school. Perhaps I can introduce you to Aleister; I know that you admire him, and I think that he would like you very well.
Sincerely yours,
Albus Dumbledore