Noticing the sunlight scattered across the surface of the water, Cho Chang suddenly started. The sun was already shining over from the direction of the castle, bathing the entire Beauty Spring in a golden glow.
It seemed she had stayed here a little too long!
Oh no, Quidditch practice!
Cho hurriedly said goodbye to Lucien, took a few quick steps, mounted her broom, and pushed off from the ground.
Her ponytail swept through the air in an arc as the morning breeze rushed past. She turned back and waved to Lucien before accelerating towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Tsk, tsk..."
Riemann withdrew his gaze and looked again at the miraculous Beauty Spring.
"The girls at Hogwarts are going to adore you now," Riemann said half-jokingly. "Anyone who can make them more beautiful is practically an angel."
An angel?
The corners of Lucien's lips curved slightly. That word had given him an idea.
For Valentine's Day, he could make some alchemical puppets in the shape of little angels or Cupids to help deliver love letters and the like.
In the original story, Lockhart had dressed up little dwarfs as Cupids to deliver letters and recite love poems. It had been rather ridiculous, leaving Harry, one of the recipients, so embarrassed that he could practically have dug another Hogwarts out of the ground with his toes.
But the idea itself could be borrowed.
Take the good and discard the bad, after all.
As they chatted, Riemann suddenly changed the subject.
"By the way, Lucien, are you also quite skilled at Potions?"
Riemann remembered that among the magical items Lucien had given the Gryffindor twins to sell, there had also been several potions. Although there were fewer of them than the alchemical products, each had its own unusual effects.
Lucien nodded, wondering whether this senior had come up with an idea as well. Perhaps, with Valentine's Day approaching, he wanted to make a beauty potion similar to the Beauty Spring's water for his fiancée.
After receiving Lucien's confirmation, Riemann chuckled, his expression becoming slightly peculiar.
"Then... do you have one of those, cough, you know, those..." He lowered his voice, his eyes showing a mixture of hope and embarrassment. "Um, a potion that helps hair grow?"
A potion for hair growth?
Lucien froze for a moment.
There really was a potion that could make hair grow.
It took effect within about five minutes of drinking it and could turn a buzz cut into waist-length hair. More precisely, it greatly accelerated the rate of hair growth.
But that probably wasn't the kind Riemann wanted...
Sure enough, Riemann began complaining.
"Studying Alchemy is exhausting. I stay up all night far too often, and this hairline..."
He raised a hand to touch his forehead and sighed.
"It's suffered far too much."
Lucien fell silent and quickly glanced at Riemann's forehead.
Hmm, this senior's hairline was indeed a little... mature.
He wasn't bald, but there was a slow recession that was beginning to look worrying.
Baldness could almost be called the lifelong affliction of English men.
Aside from genetic factors, the quality of the water in England was also a major reason.
The water here was simply too hard.
It contained too many minerals, and washing one's hair with hard water over a long period could damage both the scalp and the hair roots.
Lucien briefly explained the causes of hair loss to Riemann.
"The minerals in hard water leave residue on the scalp and clog the hair follicles. Sometimes, people wash their hair every day because they want to keep it clean, but that can strip away the scalp's protective layer instead. It becomes a vicious cycle, and eventually the hair stops growing back..."
Riemann listened in astonishment, his expression gradually turning into one of sudden realisation.
"So that's how it is... Washing your hair too often can actually damage the scalp?" He thoughtfully touched his own hair. "Then, if that's the case..."
"Is that why Head of House Snape's hair is so thick?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Riemann froze.
He immediately turned his head and looked around, his eyes filled with obvious panic and lingering fear, as though worried that their Head of House might silently appear behind him.
It certainly wouldn't have been the first or second time something like that had happened.
Professor Snape seemed to walk without making a sound and often appeared suddenly behind students, frightening them out of their wits.
Fortunately, the surroundings were empty. Apart from Lucien and Riemann, there wasn't even a ghost nearby.
Riemann let out a sigh of relief.
The corner of Lucien's mouth twitched slightly.
Come to think of it, although Snape's hair was greasy, there certainly was a lot of it.
That dark, "shiny" hair hung over his shoulders, and even in the dim Potions classroom, it seemed exceptionally... noticeable.
In terms of sheer volume, it was enough to make most middle-aged English men envious.
Perhaps not washing one's hair really did have its advantages.
...
After a full day of classes, Hagrid's hut became lively.
A warm fire was already blazing in the fireplace, keeping the chill firmly outside the door.
"Lucien, hurry up and tell us, what fun things are there at Beauxbatons?!"
Harry and his two friends pulled Lucien down to sit, their voices full of impatience.
Several pairs of eyes turned toward Lucien in unison, all filled with intense curiosity about another magical school.
Lucien smiled and pulled a stack of photo albums from his pocket.
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