"I mean..." Lucien looked at their stunned expressions, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening. "While I was at Beauxbatons this time, I happened to..."
As they listened to Lucien's explanation, Harry and the others were left dumbfounded.
What did he mean, he went to Beauxbatons and brought back a replica of one of their most iconic magical structures?
That was a magical fountain built by Nicolas Flamel himself!
"So..." Ron swallowed hard. "So Hogwarts now has a magical fountain that can make people prettier and more handsome too?"
His eyes widened before his expression turned regretful.
"Bill and Charlie really missed out. They graduated too early."
Ron was lamenting for his two older brothers, who had already graduated from Hogwarts several years ago and would never get to enjoy such a benefit.
Hermione, however, didn't join in his lament. Instead, she frowned and muttered,
"Then... do we need to pay Mr Nicolas Flamel patent fees?"
Before Lucien had gone to Beauxbatons, Hermione had asked him to bring back some water from the Beauty Spring. It had been partly a young girl's desire to become prettier and partly a young witch's curiosity about unusual magic.
After Lucien returned and never mentioned it, Hermione had assumed he hadn't forgotten, but had simply decided that taking water from the Beauty Spring would be inappropriate since it belonged to Beauxbatons.
But now Lucien was saying that he had built an entire Beauty Spring at Hogwarts?
Wasn't that a bit too much?
Wouldn't the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, or even Nicolas Flamel himself, come knocking on the door one day?
Lucien was momentarily speechless.
The young witch's train of thought really was interesting. Her first reaction was actually about copyright.
As for the question itself, well...
He had learned the structural principles of the Beauty Spring directly from Teacher Nicolas, and he had even mentioned wanting to recreate one at Hogwarts after returning, receiving his teacher's permission.
Besides...
How could something done for the sake of learning be called infringement?
Harry suddenly let out an "Ah!"
"I remember now!" He slapped his thigh. "On the way back to the castle from the Quidditch pitch after practice this morning, I saw a few girls from the Ravenclaw team gathered around a fountain."
He recalled the scene from that morning.
"I was wondering why a fountain had suddenly appeared there, but I was in a hurry to get back for class, so I didn't go over to have a closer look."
So that had been Lucien's handiwork?
"On the way to the pitch?" Hermione's eyes lit up. "Then it's not far from the castle?"
Lucien nodded.
"Right in the middle of the path, on the patch of grass near the lake."
The moment he finished speaking, Hermione shot to her feet.
Her small hands clenched into fists, her eyes shining, and her whole body seemed filled with energy, as though she had just been hit with an Invigoration Charm.
"I want to go see it right now!"
Ron was startled by her sudden enthusiasm and nearly slid off his chair.
Harry stood up with a smile, brushing the snack crumbs from his robes.
"I want to see it too."
Hagrid waved cheerfully.
"Go on, then. Go on, while there's still some daylight left."
Hermione had already taken two impatient steps toward the door when she turned back to look at Lucien, her eyes filled with eagerness and delight.
...
"It's only been a few days, and more and more people are going to the Beauty Spring!"
As they passed through the corridor, the gentle slope leading to the Quidditch pitch could be seen through the tall stone windows.
Harry stopped and looked outside at the young witches and wizards heading toward the Beauty Spring in twos and threes, those returning after collecting water, and the even larger crowd gathered around the fountain. He couldn't help clicking his tongue in amazement.
Lucien looked out with Harry and smiled.
From the beginning, he had never intended to deliberately promote the Beauty Spring.
Given how bored the students at Hogwarts could become, anything new and interesting would spread among them in no time once someone discovered it.
And this was a magical fountain that could make people look better.
Young witches were naturally enthusiastic about anything that could make them more beautiful.
And the speed at which news spread among girls was unmatched.
Usually, if one girl in a dormitory found out about something, the entire year would know. Once the whole year knew, the entire house would soon hear about it. And once one house knew, it wouldn't take more than a day or two for the whole school to find out.
Sure enough.
The Beauty Spring had only been completed two days ago, yet now, every morning and evening, groups of girls would rush over to collect water.
Even if they had to queue, they didn't mind. Instead, they treated the waiting time as a good opportunity to chat and socialise.
Lucien was glad that he had built the fountain large enough. In addition to the main fountain, he had also set up several connected secondary fountains around it, allowing dozens of people to collect water at the same time.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to cope with this wave of enthusiasm.
"It's not just the girls. Some boys are joining in too!" Harry pointed out the window. "Look over there."
Lucien followed the direction of his finger.
Sure enough, several boys were scattered around the fountain.
Some were probably accompanying their girlfriends and waiting nearby. Others stood in groups of three or five, pretending to be "just passing by" while their eyes kept drifting toward the fountain. A few simply brought bottles or buckets to collect water, not caring even when their friends teased them.
Whether they wanted to improve their own looks or were taking the opportunity to look at girls was hard to say.
Perhaps both.
With his sharp eyesight, Lucien could see even more clearly.
He noticed two or three boys being dragged toward the Beauty Spring by girls, half-pushed and half-pulled by the arm.
Oh?
Were their girlfriends forcing them to improve their appearance?
Driven by a rare burst of amusement, Lucien slightly activated the Eye of Peering Magic, causing a tiny black vortex to appear deep within his eyes.
With his vision enhanced, he could clearly see the expressions on those boys' faces.
They did indeed look reluctant. They were frowning and pouting, wearing expressions that practically said, I don't want to use this kind of thing at all.
But their bodies told a different story.
Although they walked slowly, they weren't actually backing away, and the arms being pulled showed no real attempt to break free.
Tsk, tsk.
Their faces said no, but their bodies were being very honest.
The curve of Lucien's lips rose a little higher.
Perhaps those boys actually wanted to use the Beauty Spring but were too embarrassed to admit it, so they had their girlfriends cooperate in acting out the whole "I was forced" routine.
That way, they could maintain nonchalance while still enjoying the benefits of the spring water.
Two birds with one stone.
Seeing Lucien smiling and looking relaxed, Harry took the opportunity to ask a question.
"Lucien," he said, pointing at his teeth, "can washing my face and bathing with Beauty Spring water improve my teeth too? Or do I have to use the spring water to rinse my mouth and brush my teeth?"
Lucien withdrew his gaze and looked at Harry.
Why was this kid suddenly worried about his teeth?
He briefly explained the magical principles of the Beauty Spring.
If someone regularly used the spring water to wash their face and rinse their mouth, it could gradually improve the alignment of their teeth to a certain extent. For example, slightly crooked teeth would slowly straighten.
"...However, the effect varies from person to person. If the problem is something like cavities, or the shape and size of the teeth themselves, then the spring water won't do much. Those would require special potions or healing magic."
After speaking, Lucien glanced at Harry's mouth again.
His teeth looked quite healthy, and their alignment was fairly neat, with no obvious problems.
So why had he suddenly thought to ask about this?
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