[Outside Beauxbatons Castle]
Emily, Fleur, and Gabrielle were strolling through a garden filled with blooming irises.
There were no artificial lighting measures added to the Beauxbatons gardens.
But this place was home to a large number of fairy spirits.
These creatures had membranous wings, human shapes, yet were only about the size of butterflies. As soon as night fell, they would all come out together.
Carrying small baskets woven from leaves or flower petals, they diligently gathered pollen among the flowers.
And the faint glow they gave off naturally became the best source of light in the garden.
Thanks to their efforts, the entire garden was filled with a faint silver glow, reflecting off the irises, making it especially beautiful.
This was a kind of scenery Emily had never seen before.
In England, even the most extravagant Malfoy family, or the ancient and noble Black family, or even the currently strongest Flamel family, would never create a garden like this.
What this required wasn't just wealth, but also extremely high aesthetic sense and creative ability.
And in that regard, English wizards were lacking by quite a bit.
After all, they were descendants of pirates and raiders, more willing to spend their energy researching spells.
Because of that, at this moment Emily was almost completely focused on the beautiful scenery in front of her.
But Fleur and Gabrielle, who followed behind her, were completely different.
Compared to the scenery around them, what they cared about more… was people.
Unlike the lively atmosphere during the day, now that Emily was ignoring them, the two walked silently with their heads lowered, yet placed all their attention on each other.
This strange quietness made the atmosphere between them especially delicate.
"You…"
"You…"
The two sisters spoke almost at the same time.
Then both were startled, and politely yielded, "You go first…"
"You should go first, sister. I actually… also don't really know what to say."
At those words, a trace of loneliness appeared on Fleur's face as she said, "Gabrielle, I'm sorry. It's my existence that made you suffer in Beauxbatons. If I hadn't lost so badly at Hogwarts back then, you wouldn't have…"
"Why are you bringing up this nonsense again?"
Gabrielle frowned and cut her off.
"You know I don't like hearing this. And I don't need your apology. Those people's contempt can't hurt me. One day I'll prove it to them. I'll also take back the honor you lost!"
Hearing this, Fleur's eyes reddened, and she instinctively wanted to apologize again.
But remembering what Gabrielle had just said, she held it back halfway, took a deep breath, and said, "Gabrielle, come with me and leave France."
"Beauxbatons, along with this country, is slowly rotting. It's no longer suitable for us to live in. Mom and Dad have already set off for England."
"If you go there, not only can our family reunite, but you can also transfer directly into Hogwarts and continue your studies."
"The learning environment there… although not as good as Beauxbatons, is at least more free."
Fleur spoke with complete sincerity, but as she talked, Gabrielle's expression gradually began to change.
Disdain, heartache, regret, pain…
Many emotions kept appearing, eventually twisting together on her face.
"Sister… you… you haven't really been kept by that Mr. Washington, have you?"
Gabrielle spoke with slightly quickened breathing.
Fleur looked confused and said, "What?"
"Isn't that the case?" Gabrielle said emotionally.
"That Mr. Washington said similar things before, and now you're saying them too! Sister, even though we have Veela blood, you can't really become like those Veela and fall into becoming playthings for the powerful! That never ends well!"
Gabrielle's words made Fleur blush, and she hurriedly said, "What are you thinking! How could I be that cheap!"
Gabrielle still wanted to keep questioning, but Fleur glanced to the side.
After seeing Emily lingering among the flowers not far away, with her attention not on them, she lowered her voice and said, "Mr. Washington… actually isn't named Washington. That was just his disguise. His real name is… Flamel!"
"Flamel? Link Flamel?" Gabrielle's eyes widened instantly, full of disbelief. "My Phantom Knight?"
"That's right, your Phantom Knight!"
Seeing her reaction, Fleur pressed further.
"He came to Beauxbatons because he accepted my request. The purpose was to pull you out of the mud pit that Beauxbatons has become. Just like when he saved you from that dark wizard before."
"Save me? But Beauxbatons isn't a mud pit! It's clearly getting better and better. And my future also…"
"Yes, Beauxbatons is indeed getting better, but only on a material level. What about spiritually? The people here are becoming more and more devoted to pure-blood supremacy."
"This trend started at Beauxbatons and has gradually spread through the entire French magical world. I believe you've felt this more deeply than anyone here, right?"
Gabrielle fell silent.
Because that was the truth.
Wizards were also people.
And people inevitably let their positions shape their thinking.
Most pure-blood wizards were naturally supporters of pure-blood supremacy.
Compared to half-bloods and muggle-born wizards, pure-bloods were far stronger in both resources and overall power.
At the end of the day, this magical world was still ruled by pure-bloods.
The reason Beauxbatons was able to expand so rapidly in such a short time, aside from throwing around huge amounts of money, was also because they began aligning their ideology with pure-blood wizards.
Because of this, Beauxbatons naturally gained the support of pure-bloods and grew rapidly.
But this kind of influence worked both ways.
While Beauxbatons grew stronger by borrowing the power of pure-bloods, the "pure-blood supremacy" that had originally just been a decorative shell used by the upper management truly began to spread within the school and became its mainstream ideology.
In this kind of environment, life was very hard for Gabrielle and the other non-pure-blood students.
They were directly classified as lower class.
And were rejected by the mainstream groups at Beauxbatons.
Seeing her expression shift, Fleur knew she was making progress and continued, "The English magical world is different."
"Even though their reputation hasn't been good, and many people say they're old-fashioned, and that there are Death Eaters there who support extreme pure-blood supremacy… the truth is, after Voldemort's damage, English wizards actually became the most opposed to pure-blood supremacy."
"You've been to Hogwarts before. Were you ever discriminated against there?"
"Think about it. If you go to Hogwarts, you can freely study any subject you want, as long as you have the ability."
"No one will look down on you. And even if someone does, it definitely won't be because of your bloodline."
"You can walk freely around the campus, walk the streets, buy whatever you feel you need."
"Ice cream, candy, cake, pretty jewelry, little dresses…"
Gabrielle's expression wavered even more.
In a voice like she was talking in a dream, she said, "But… but Headmistress Maxime… I can't betray…"
"Where is this talk of betrayal coming from? Just because you transfer to Hogwarts and pursue a better life, Headmistress Maxime would treat you as a traitor? How could she be that kind of person?"
Fleur licked her lips and spoke excitedly.
She had once been a little girl too, so she understood girls Gabrielle's age extremely well.
Girls like this naturally loved freedom and beautiful things.
Now Gabrielle was almost convinced.
Only one final push remained.
And Fleur had long prepared that last push.
Her face flushed red, her enchanting magic almost running at full strength, she said softly, "And… Link is also at Hogwarts."
Fleur's words were like a heavy hammer smashing into Gabrielle's heart.
'That's right.'
'Link is also at Hogwarts.'
'If I went there, wouldn't I be able to see him every day?'
Thinking this, Gabrielle's whole face flushed red.
And that redness was still spreading down toward her neck and ears.
"I… I… I still need to think about it…" Gabrielle stammered. "How about… I go visit Hogwarts in a few days first? If it's really… really like what you said… then I'll…"
Her voice became softer and softer, until it turned into a mosquito-like murmur.
Seeing this, Fleur was overjoyed. She grabbed Gabrielle's hands and laughed loudly.
She had persuaded Gabrielle.
Even though she had used some questionable methods.
She still succeeded.
Now everything could finally be completed perfectly.
As for whether Gabrielle might dislike Hogwarts and return to Beauxbatons afterward.
Fleur felt that was impossible.
Gabrielle's words were just excuses.
Once she actually saw Link, she probably wouldn't leave even if chased away.
For a moment, Fleur was so happy she could hardly control herself.
A smile finally appeared on Gabrielle's face too.
She raised her head and looked from afar at Beauxbatons' landmark structure, the Magic Bridge, her eyes full of anticipation.
However, the very next moment...
Brilliant golden light suddenly exploded.
A huge glowing mass like a blazing sun hung in the sky.
Then, a monstrous bird rose into the air and faced off against a golden torrent.
This sudden change left Gabrielle completely at a loss.
And Fleur's face instantly lost all color.
She knew very well that the only people capable of causing such a disturbance could only be Link and Dumbledore.
Their rapid decapitation plan against Professor Liro had failed.
What was happening now was a direct frontal assault.
BOOM!
Another terrifying air explosion sounded.
That was Link's air cannon.
Under the double strike of the golden light and the air cannon, the monster bird finally fell, smashed violently into the mudflats below.
And what Link's air cannon destroyed wasn't just Liro riding the bird monster.
It also destroyed the Magic Bridge connecting the two towers beneath them.
To allow this miracle-like beautiful bridge to exist for a long time, the wizards who created it had considered nearly every possible disaster.
They had placed countless protective spells on it and even used precious alchemical materials in its construction.
Yet no matter how thorough their preparations were, they could never have guessed that one day a great wizard with combat power comparable to a veteran legendary wizard would strike the bridge like that.
Under such an overwhelmingly powerful attack on a purely physical level, the entire bridge instantly shattered, turning into countless stones pouring downward.
This was devastating to the Beauxbatons buildings below.
Huge numbers of structures were directly destroyed. Some small workshops engaged in potion-making and alchemy even erupted into continuous violent explosions.
For a time, wails rose from what had just been a brightly lit complex.
Looking down at the chaos below, Gabrielle suddenly shivered, then rushed toward the Great Hall.
"Gabrielle!"
Fleur called helplessly from behind her.
But Gabrielle had no intention of turning back. Hearing her only made her speed up.
"Idiot woman!", Emily's cold voice suddenly sounded.
"Why aren't you chasing her yet!"
Fleur turned her head blankly, only to see Emily had already passed her and was running toward Gabrielle.
Seeing this, Fleur gritted her teeth and also started running.
The three chased each other back to the Beauxbatons Great Hall.
The chaos from the outer buildings had already spread here.
Everyone was in a panic.
Those once high-and-mighty guests could no longer maintain their usual elegance and dignity, revealing all kinds of ugly behavior.
But even so, as people who had managed to obtain Beauxbatons visiting tickets, these guests were hardly ordinary wealthy people.
By the time Gabrielle and Fleur arrived, they had already gradually calmed down.
They began organizing their attendants and preparing to evacuate Beauxbatons.
In their view, this was the best course of action.
Anyone with eyes could see that Beauxbatons was under large-scale attack.
If they stayed any longer, they might be dragged into it.
Compared to them, the performance of the students and professors present was much harder to watch.
Facing such a sudden disaster, not a single person stepped forward to take charge. Every one of them just stood there stunned and lost.
Some had even already packed their things and mixed into the guest crowd, preparing to flee together.
This was one of the drawbacks of Beauxbatons' excessive expansion.
Although large-scale expansion did bring prosperity.
Much of that prosperity was just temporary illusion.
Those newly absorbed forces had absolutely no loyalty to Beauxbatons.
When there were benefits, everyone could share them.
But if disaster struck.
Then everyone flying their own way was inevitable.
"Stop! Don't run around! We must unite and maintain order!"
Gabrielle ran around the hall calling out.
Although she didn't know exactly what was happening outside.
At this moment, order was the most important thing.
Only order could gather everyone's strength together to overcome the crisis.
However, she was only a second-year Beauxbatons student.
And a Veela half-blood at that.
There was no way the chaotic crowd would stop because of her shouting.
Some people eager to escape even launched attacks at Gabrielle.
These attacks weren't very strong, at most just warnings.
But they filled Gabrielle's face with pain.
What was shattered wasn't her body.
It was her heart.
And just as this chaos continued, a series of explosions suddenly sounded from the entrance hall exit.
The sudden noise made everyone instinctively turn their heads.
Under their gaze, a tall figure stood at the doorway.
Headmistress Maxime had arrived.
[🎉 Shoutout to Jesus, Gavin, Jage and Pierre for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]