Inside the Thestral carriage.
Lucien and Riemann sat on the leather sofa. Riemann couldn't help exclaiming,
"It's much better than the Hogwarts Express. On the train, only the Prefects' compartment is comfortable."
Lucien nodded.
"Indeed. The Thestrals fly very quickly, but there's no turbulence at all inside the carriage."
The Thestral carriage could actually be considered a speciality of Hogwarts. After all, the Forbidden Forest was home to one of the largest Thestral populations in Britain.
While chatting with Hagrid, Lucien had learned that the Thestral herd had originally grown from one male and five female Thestrals. Hagrid had even tamed the male Thestral and named it "Wu-Wu."
Listening to Hagrid talk about how he had raised Wu-Wu and found companions for it, Lucien had felt the story sounded increasingly familiar.
After thinking about it carefully, wasn't that just a repeat of the Acromantula story?
One had to admit, Hagrid really did have a gift for caring for magical creatures. Whatever he raised, the population flourished.
"By the way, Riemann, I heard you call Professor Shafiq 'Auntie' when we left?"
Riemann nodded.
"Mm-hmm. The relationship is actually quite distant. The Professor is my mother's cousin's daughter. But it was you who assessed and selected me during the preliminary selection, Lucien, so I'm not some relative who pulled strings, all right?"
Hearing Riemann's reply, Lucien chuckled softly and teased,
"So Professor Shafiq making me conduct the assessment at the last minute was actually a way of avoiding suspicion?"
Riemann half-reclined on the sofa and waved his hand.
"Oh, well, families like ours are all related to each other to some extent. There were two or three other contestants back then who could also claim kinship with me and Professor Shafiq!"
...
Time passed, and the Thestral carriage sped rapidly through the clouds.
"Get ready. We're almost there."
As the door opened, Shafiq's voice rang out in the living area.
Emerging from the bedroom, Professor Shafiq had shed her previous casual appearance. Her thick black curls had been pinned up, and her plain, unremarkable grey-white robes had been replaced by a long black dress.
Without her hair obscuring her face, Lucien finally saw her true appearance. Her features were delicate, and her pale grey eyes carried a hint of languidness.
Wow. Professor Shafiq was actually quite young, at least among the Professors. She was probably around the same age as Snape, appearing to be in her thirties or forties.
Riemann said cheerfully,
"Auntie, it's rare to see you dressed up like this."
Shafiq did not correct Riemann's form of address this time, since they were no longer inside Hogwarts.
She shrugged helplessly, immediately allowing the laziness that had been suppressed by her makeup and hairstyle to show again.
"After all, we are representing Hogwarts on this trip. Although it's rather troublesome, I still..."
"Putting that aside, you can look out the window. We should be entering Beauxbatons territory now."
Lucien and Riemann walked to the window. Looking out, they saw vast, majestic mountains below. This was the Pyrenees mountain range, where Beauxbatons Academy of Magic was located.
As the Thestral carriage flew through the air, Lucien suddenly noticed a faint magical fluctuation, as though they had passed through a curtain-like magical barrier.
Between the previously empty mountains, a magnificent and resplendent complex of palaces emerged.
Beauxbatons!
Before long, the carriage landed steadily at the main gate. Professor Shafiq led Lucien and Riemann down from the carriage.
Outside the grand stone school gates, several figures were already waiting.
One lady among them was particularly eye-catching. Her build was enormous, likely about the same height as Hagrid.
Yet her features were very delicate. She had a handsome olive-toned face, a high, pointed nose, and a pair of large, dark, watery eyes.
Set against her gorgeous clothing and various jewels, her elegant and dignified temperament became even more apparent.
Lucien recognised the lady immediately: Olympe Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons.
"Guests from Hogwarts, welcome to Beauxbatons."
Madame Maxime stepped forward and gently embraced Professor Shafiq.
"It is a pleasure to see you, dear Professor Shafiq."
Shafiq herself was considered tall, but beside Maxime, she appeared quite petite, looking almost like a delicate doll when embraced by the other woman.
Due to her height, Maxime looked down at the two students. When she saw Lucien, especially his uncommon dark green eyes, the smile on her lips widened.
As expected, Nicolas Flamel's student had arrived.
Parting from Professor Shafiq, Madame Maxime looked at Lucien with a smile.
"Lucien, the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class. As expected, you are one of Hogwarts' representative contestants."
During the summer holidays, when Maxime had taken Fleur to visit Nicolas Flamel, they had missed his student by the narrowest of margins.
Afterwards, she only knew that the student attended Hogwarts and did not feel it appropriate to ask for more information.
However, Maxime soon realised that for an exchange competition themed around Alchemy, there was no reason for Lucien, the student of the legendary Alchemist, not to come.
In any case, she had already planned to build excitement for the Triwizard Tournament, which was being restarted after a century, and this was the perfect opportunity to meet Lucien.
After recently hearing that a young boy from Hogwarts had received the Order of Merlin, First Class, Maxime became even more certain that he was Nicolas Flamel's student.
Hearing Madame Maxime mention him by name, Lucien stepped forward half a pace and greeted her with proper etiquette.
"I wish you well, Madame. I am honoured to visit your school for this exchange."
As he bowed, Lucien caught a glimpse of a young girl standing behind Maxime. She was radiating a faint silvery glow.
The girl's breathtakingly beautiful face was, without question, the most beautiful Lucien had ever seen on a woman.
She was tall and slender, her long golden hair shimmering with an unusual lustre within the silvery light, and her large, deep blue eyes were fixed on Lucien.
Suddenly, Lucien felt his heart quicken, his cheeks grow warm, and his breathing become slightly shallow.
________
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