"Oh? How exactly is she deeply trapped?"
Link asked, his brows tightly furrowed.
"That was after Headmistress Maxime accepted Madro's proposal," Fleur said with a face full of worry.
"Beauxbatons completely turned into a jungle where only the strong survive. Everyone is constantly 'fighting,' just to get more resources and privileges.
Just like what you mentioned earlier, the results of doing this have been extremely impressive.
Up to now, in just less than half a year, the students' grades at Beauxbatons have nearly doubled.
But a lot of people have completely fallen because of it.
My little sister, Gabrielle, is one of them."
Fleur choked up. "At Beauxbatons, she's already become a student at the very top of the pyramid."
"Every day, what she does is either desperately pushing herself, studying like her life depends on it, or taking all the hardship she endures herself and doubling it onto the lower-tier students."
"Everyone talks about how great she is, about how outstanding Gabrielle is, saying she's a bright moon destined to light up the world."
"But only I know."
"She's not herself anymore."
"She's no longer that cute and kind little girl she used to be."
"Right now, she's a demon!"
"So please, I'm begging you, save Gabrielle from that jungle called Beauxbatons!"
By the time she finished speaking, Fleur was already sobbing so hard she could barely speak and was on the verge of fainting.
But the expressions on Link's, Dumbledore's, and the others' faces were strange and complicated.
Before hearing Fleur's story, what they had imagined was Gabrielle suffering a crushing defeat in the brutal survival-of-the-fittest competition at Beauxbatons.
Reduced to being enslaved by the top-tier students and constantly bullied.
That was why Fleur wanted to rescue her.
That also matched everyone's impression of Gabrielle.
Gabrielle had originally been the weak, tiny, extremely adorable little girl type.
Who would have thought that now Gabrielle had completely transformed into a campus tyrant?
The contrast was just too strong.
Emily especially couldn't understand this.
She herself had come from being a Slytherin bully. From her perspective, Gabrielle becoming strong was a great thing, so what was Fleur upset about?
Could it be she felt her little sister performed even better than she once had and got jealous?
That was entirely possible.
Sometimes the feelings between women really were that strange.
Even some mothers and daughters could grow to hate each other out of jealousy, not to mention sisters.
Link, however, wasn't thinking about any of that.
His attention wasn't on that aspect at all.
Closing his eyes and thinking briefly, Link asked again, "Fleur, I still have two questions. I hope you can answer them."
"First, the funds Maxime is using to carry out the magical school annexation plan, did they come from Nicolas Flamel's inheritance?"
Fleur didn't really understand why Link would ask that, but she still answered, "Yes. Mr. Nicolas Flamel is an alumnus of Beauxbatons, and he's always had deep feelings for the school."
"The reason Beauxbatons student scholarships are higher than those at Hogwarts and Durmstrang is precisely because Mr. Flamel donated a large sum of Galleons to Beauxbatons every year."
"And after news of Mr. Flamel's death spread, Beauxbatons also received a huge donation from the Nicolas Flamel Foundation."
"It was said Mr. Flamel had already decided while he was alive to provide Beauxbatons with funding for the next 500 years."
"Tsk tsk tsk. And then Maxime didn't hesitate to use all that money on expansion.", Link spoke with a half-smile that carried heavy mockery.
Link had also heard about Nicolas Flamel's yearly donations to Beauxbatons.
Although he didn't know the exact amount, one thing was certain, it was a massive fortune that would make every organization in the world, including the Ministries of Magic of various countries, green with envy.
It was precisely because of this money that Beauxbatons had the confidence to firmly reject attempts by the Ministry and other forces to interfere through financial means and gain control.
Otherwise, Beauxbatons would have long since been like Hogwarts, forced to accept Ministry restrictions.
And now, Nicolas Flamel had given them funding for the next 500 years all at once.
Just how huge was that sum?
If it were suddenly dumped into the market, it might even trigger massive inflation, right?
Of course, according to Flamel's original intentions, such a situation that could harm the global economy wouldn't have happened.
After all, the money was meant to be used by Beauxbatons over 500 years.
But Maxime had directly used it for external expansion.
This was basically a grandson selling off his grandfather's land without a second thought.
"And right now, the person in charge of all Beauxbatons finances is Professor Liro," Fleur continued.
This was simply additional explanation to what she had said earlier.
But when Link and Dumbledore heard this, they both let out deep sighs.
"One last question, Fleur," Link said quietly. "That Professor Liro, could you repeat his full name again?"
"Of course. His full name is Madro Tomvde Liro."
Dumbledore nodded and looked at Link.
"Looks like we've found the real culprit."
"That's right. It's almost exactly what we expected," Link muttered.
"Those shadowy figures, or rather Voldemort, infiltrated Beauxbatons and took advantage of Maxime's impatience for quick results, seized Nicolas Flamel's inheritance, and started expanding outward under the shell of Beauxbatons."
"What are you talking about?" Fleur said, confused.
"I admit Professor Liro definitely has bad intentions, and I don't like him either. But there's no way he could be Voldemort, right? Their appearances are just way too different."
"No, the difference isn't big at all. On the contrary, their behavioral patterns are actually very similar," Link said, shaking his head.
Dumbledore picked up the conversation and continued, "Indeed. The reason you think they're different is entirely because you don't understand Voldemort."
"The reason Voldemort was able to gather so many loyal Death Eaters in his early days was exactly because of the same qualities you just used to describe Professor Liro. Being loved by everyone is their biggest common point."
"If you still don't believe it, I have even more direct evidence."
As Link spoke, he raised his wand and traced a string of English letters in the air.
They flickered as they formed the name Tom Marvolo Riddle.
"This was Voldemort's original name. When he first started out, he felt this name didn't suit him, so he rearranged it. And that gave him…"
The silver glowing letters quickly rearranged themselves into Lord Voldemort.
"And if we apply the same way of thinking to Professor Liro's name, we'll discover another reality."
The silver words shifted again, first returning to the order of Tom Marvolo Riddle, then rapidly scrambling and recombining until they finally formed the strange name Mardlo Tomvd Rielo.
Fleur was already too frightened to speak.
Her eyes were fixed on the silver-white glowing letters floating in midair, her face full of confusion and disbelief.
Even in her boldest guesses, she had never considered Professor Liro might be Voldemort.
This was just too outrageous.
"Fleur, maybe you haven't heard in France yet, but in fact we've already united most of the British magical world," Link said with a smile.
"And not long ago we fought a decisive battle against Voldemort and the Death Eaters entrenched in Britain."
Fleur trembled and asked impatiently, "Did you win?"
Link first nodded, then quickly shook his head, "In direct battle, we did win. Voldemort was even close to being killed on the spot by us."
"But unfortunately, at the last moment, a mysterious person arrived and withstood the joint attack of Professor Dumbledore and me, along with the strongest anti-Apparition barrier in the world, and rescued Voldemort."
"This… how is that possible?"
In Fleur's view, Dumbledore's strength was unquestionable.
Add a genius like Link to that.
That combination could already be considered one of the strongest fighting forces in the world.
Yet even so, they still couldn't keep Voldemort?
Just how terrifying was Voldemort?
"There's nothing to be afraid of. If we can defeat Voldemort once, we can naturally defeat him and his followers a second time," Link said, noticing Fleur's fear and comforting her.
"In fact, the reason we came to France this time was to investigate Voldemort and his mysterious followers."
"We originally suspected France was their base, and now the information you brought has basically confirmed it."
After saying that, Link even winked at Dumbledore.
It was funny. Earlier they had been worrying about how to deal with being exposed too early.
Yet right afterward, Fleur handed them what was practically solid proof.
It really was like finding hope just when things seemed darkest.
What pleased Link the most was that Dumbledore had been proven wrong.
Earlier, Dumbledore had said that if they could just shop around and somehow stumble onto information about Voldemort and the shadow figures, they might as well sit around waiting for one of them to choke on water.
And now, hadn't it happened?
Just looking at Dumbledore's slightly twisted, awkward expression made Link feel extremely satisfied.
But what he didn't know was that what Dumbledore was troubled by wasn't being proven wrong.
It was the cruel truth this situation represented.
In this world, there exists a certain kind of person.
A type known as the chosen one.
One notable trait of such people is that they are deeply favored by the world.
Anything they hope for will quietly receive help in ways others would never expect.
Looking closely at what had happened around Link in the past and now, Link was clearly that kind of person.
And Dumbledore was almost certain that Link's ability, which nearly rivaled that of a chosen one, came from the King's Blood.
But this kind of ability actually comes with a price.
And it was a price Link would find hard to bear no matter what.
For now, Link might not need to worry.
After all, someone had already prepaid that price for him.
But one day, when that prepaid cost ran out and a new price had to be paid, what would Link choose?
Would he grit his teeth and pay the price, or decisively give it up?
That was a difficult choice. After all, the power of a chosen one was simply too addictive.
It was basically like having a permanent Felix Felicis buff, and not just any version, but a Max.Plus.Pro ultimate enhanced version.
Dumbledore sighed and slowly closed his eyes.
On the other side, Link smiled without hiding it.
He thought Dumbledore simply couldn't handle his teasing look and was deliberately avoiding it.
Link happily rolled his neck, then looked at Fleur and said, "Don't worry, Fleur. Dealing with Voldemort was already something we had planned to do. Saving Gabrielle along the way is nothing difficult at all."
"And besides, Gabrielle isn't really in any big danger right now, is she? She's just been in Beauxbatons' terrible environment for too long, so her thinking got a bit warped."
"At worst, we'll just forcibly bring her back to Britain and transfer her to Hogwarts. Young people adapt quickly!"
"I figure she might feel uncomfortable at first, maybe even resent you, but after a few months her personality should straighten out again."
Hearing this, Emily quietly nudged Link with her elbow and shot him an annoyed look.
Saying something so all-encompassing like deciding someone's transfer like that was honestly a bit rude.
But this time, unlike usual, Link widened his eyes and glared right back at Emily.
Emily simply hadn't thought far enough.
Although this might be rude and difficult for Fleur and Gabrielle, what he said was actually already the best solution.
At least from the perspective of him and Emily.
At the same time, it also set a boundary in advance for Fleur, a limit on how far they were willing to help.
Otherwise, what if Fleur lacked self-awareness and asked Link to persuade Gabrielle to change her heart while still staying at Beauxbatons and also return to her former pure personality?
Even for wizards at Link and Dumbledore's level, that would be a difficult task.
Trying to guide teenagers back onto the right path was always the most troublesome thing.
Link didn't think his friendship with Fleur was deep enough to justify helping her with something that troublesome and difficult.
Clearly, Fleur didn't catch that hidden meaning in Link's words.
She just looked awkwardly at Link and Emily, who seemed to be arguing with their eyes, and after a while couldn't help saying, "Um, actually, Link's method isn't impossible."
"It's just… right now Gabrielle is still living at Beauxbatons. If we want to take her to Hogwarts, we'd probably… probably have to go to Beauxbatons first…"
By the end, Fleur's cheeks were burning hot and her voice had become so soft it was almost impossible to hear.
She felt her request was a bit too much.
Knowing Beauxbatons had already become Voldemort's den, she was still asking Link to help bring Gabrielle out.
Even with her fairly thick skin, she found it hard to say.
But when Link heard this, he frowned and said, "Isn't it summer break right now? Could it be Beauxbatons is like Durmstrang, with vacation times different from Hogwarts?"
"That shouldn't be the case, right? Durmstrang's schedule differs because of climate reasons, but Beauxbatons shouldn't have that issue."
"Actually, Beauxbatons' winter and summer vacation schedule used to be the same as Hogwarts," Fleur said softly with her head lowered.
"But since the reform half a year ago, Headmistress Maxime canceled the vacations so students could spend all their time studying, and also to better support recruitment efforts."
"Even during winter and summer periods, students and staff must remain at Beauxbatons for normal study and work."
"At the same time, they also have to receive visiting parents from all over the world who come to inspect and tour Beauxbatons."
"These include parents whose children are already enrolled, as well as those considering sending their children but who haven't decided yet."
"Headmistress Maxime believes this both allows current students to reunite with their families and lets prospective parents see Beauxbatons' excellent daily learning environment and atmosphere, further increasing enrollment."
"She really is… really going all out, daring to do something like that. There must have been a lot of people against it, right?" Link said with some emotion.
This policy even made him somewhat admire Maxime.
That kind of boldness couldn't just be called courage anymore.
If Link dared implement something like this at Hogwarts, angry students and parents would probably flood his and Dumbledore's offices with Howlers the very next morning.
And maybe some more extreme parents would even come smash the gates themselves.
The parents' thinking was easy to understand.
They only sent their children to study.
Not sold them to the school.
Why shouldn't they be allowed to come home during holidays?
"At the beginning, there really were a lot of objections," Fleur sighed.
"But after Headmistress Maxime announced that students and staff who stayed during holidays would receive an extra 30 Galleons per week in subsidies, along with academic credit compensation, no one objected anymore."
'Good grief, this was the power of money!'
Ron's father Arthur, with his senior iron-rice-bowl job at the Ministry, only made about 50 Galleons a week.
Thirty Galleons was almost the base salary of a Diagon Alley shop clerk.
With that kind of money, most ordinary wizard families would happily agree to let their kids stay at school.
Not to mention the added academic credits.
Fleur had already said earlier.
After the reforms, Beauxbatons had become a survival-of-the-fittest "jungle."
And in this jungle, the concrete number used to measure strength was academic credits.
Students who stayed during holidays to "work overtime" got credits. Those who didn't got nothing.
How were the ones who didn't supposed to accept that?
After one vacation, they'd become the lowest lifeform in the jungle, forced to accept everyone else's exploitation.
So under this supposedly voluntary "overtime" system, everyone ended up being forced to "volunteer."
The most brilliant part was that after forcing everyone to "voluntarily work overtime," the internal hierarchy of Beauxbatons didn't actually change at all.
Which meant that aside from spending money that didn't really matter to them, the Beauxbatons leadership paid almost no real price while getting all the students to compete to "volunteer for overtime".
Maxime and that Professor Liro really were something.
Not just money power, they even used internal competition.