"Tor Travers," Lucien said calmly as he flipped through the score sheet. "The imbalance between the wind and earth elements in your elemental instrument exceeded 0.8%. When refining the Water and Fire Repellent Robe, you failed to use the crystal extraction method while purifying the lionfish spine powder..."
He listed each deduction one by one, his tone calm yet carrying a confidence and professionalism that left no room for doubt.
Ignoring Travers' steadily worsening expression, Lucien lowered his eyes to the score sheet again.
"None of those problems appeared in Riemann Selwyn's work. In addition, he completed the tasks five minutes and forty-seven seconds faster than you did."
"Travers, do you still object to the result?"
The classroom fell silent.
Although everyone present was an upper-year student, they were all stunned by Lucien's commanding presence.
Travers's face flushed red before turning pale.
He couldn't argue.
Everything Lucien had said was correct.
Under everyone's gaze, Travers felt unbearably embarrassed. Without even packing up his equipment, he hurried out of the classroom.
With the results announced, there was no reason for the remaining contestants to stay. One after another, they packed away their equipment and left.
After everyone else had gone, Ellie walked over to Lucien.
She stared into his dark green eyes and blinked her bright, expressive eyes.
Puzzled, Lucien was about to ask what was wrong.
But Ellie spoke first.
"Selwyn knows more Alchemy than I do, so it's only natural that he won. I wanted to talk to you about something else."
Hearing that, Lucien quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
A sensible senior like her was wonderful. She wasn't about to question why he hadn't favoured someone from his own House or anything of the sort.
The purpose of the competition was to select the students with the greatest mastery of Alchemy and the ability to apply that knowledge skillfully. It naturally couldn't be tainted by so-called personal relationships.
"Lucien, you're going to Beauxbatons for the Triwizard Tournament. Hmm, I've heard the girls there are all very beautiful and that they regularly bathe in a special spring..."
Hearing that, the corner of Lucien's mouth twitched ever so slightly.
Was the Fountain of Beauty really that miraculous, or were girls simply that interested in becoming more beautiful?
"Miss, I understand."
"Would you like me to bring back some water from the Fountain of Beauty so you can study its magical properties?"
Ellie's face lit up with delight.
She hadn't expected Lucien to be so considerate, and her opinion of this junior rose another notch.
"Hehe, thank you! Best of luck at Beauxbatons!"
...
At the gates of Hogwarts, morning mist swirled around the surrounding stone pillars.
"Lucien, I went back and thought about the elemental rune array and the deduction method for composite material compatibility that you mentioned last time, but I still don't feel like I fully understand it..."
Two figures gradually emerged from the morning mist.
Riemann was asking Lucien for advice on Alchemy. After the spots for the Triwizard Tournament were confirmed, the two of them had held several discussions focused on Alchemy.
As their exchanges deepened, Riemann realised that the level Lucien had displayed during the preliminary selection that day was only the tip of the iceberg.
Many of the Alchemical points and techniques Lucien mentioned were things Riemann had never even heard of, yet once he put them into practice, he understood just how ingenious and practical that knowledge was.
Lucien took a composite material made of mithril and moonstone directly from his pocket, used his wand to trace wind-element runes onto it, and answered Riemann's question at the same time.
After listening to his explanation, Riemann's expression cleared with sudden understanding, and he nodded repeatedly.
By the time the two reached the gates, the brief question-and-answer session had just ended.
Lucien looked at the carriage parked in the white mist, with two pitch-black Thestrals standing before it.
But in Riemann's field of vision, there was nothing in front of the carriage.
Lucien raised a hand to stroke the cheek of one of the Thestrals. After understanding the meaning behind its whinny, he couldn't help smiling.
"It really is difficult to get up early. The two of you will have a hard journey today."
Summoning a can of feed from his suitcase, Lucien fed the two Thestrals one by one.
Today was the day they were heading to Beauxbatons, and the Thestral-drawn carriage before them was their means of transportation.
"Lucien, you can see Thestrals?"
Seeing Lucien's actions, Riemann realised that this junior had witnessed death, which was why he could see the Thestrals' true forms.
Lucien nodded.
"Yes. Has Professor Shafiq not arrived yet?"
Hearing this, Riemann leaned against the side of the carriage and said helplessly,
"Our Alchemy Professor simply doesn't have the habit of arriving early. Being late is basically her normal state..."
Click.
With a strange sound, the carriage door opened outward from the inside and struck the back of Riemann's head perfectly.
Thud!
"Student Riemann, you have quite a lot of nerve criticising a Professor behind her back. I really should have a proper talk with your mother."
Shafiq, her black curls still draped loosely around her, leaned out from behind the door. Her unfriendly tone echoed in Riemann's ears.
Riemann's expression changed instantly. He turned around and looked at Professor Shafiq with a fawning smile.
"Aunt Angela, you're a magnanimous person. Just pretend you didn't hear anything. I'm about to graduate, so home visits and such..."
Hearing the word "Aunt", Lucien raised an eyebrow.
So Riemann and Professor Shafiq had that kind of relationship.
But it was normal. One of them came from the Shafiq family, and the other from the Selwyn family. Marriages between Pure-blood families were common, so it was not strange for them to be related.
Professor Shafiq tapped Riemann on the forehead.
"You should call me Professor while at school. Hurry up and get in. We're about to leave."
Once inside the carriage, they discovered that it was an entirely different world within.
There was a full hundred square metres of space, divided into a living room and bedrooms, with a kitchen and washroom fully equipped as well.
"Pick a room yourselves. I'm going back to sleep for a while."
After saying that, Professor Shafiq went straight into the bedroom and closed the door.
Lucien looked around the interior of the carriage, wondering if the Professor had simply slept here last night.
Had she slept at the meeting point because she didn't want to be late, but also didn't want to get up early?
Through the carriage window, Lucien gazed at the ground rapidly falling away outside and the clouds gradually thickening around them, full of anticipation for the upcoming trip to Beauxbatons.
________
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