Link sighed in admiration for a while about Maxime and the others' high-level strategy before turning to Fleur again and saying, "So that means we have to make a trip to Beauxbatons. So, Fleur, do you have any way to get us in?"
As soon as he said that, Fleur suddenly lifted her head and looked at Link in disbelief, then said hesitantly, "There is a way."
"According to Beauxbatons' current rules, if a student recommends someone to enroll and that person is eventually admitted, the recommending student gets extra credits."
"Although Gabrielle's relationship with our family isn't very good right now, considering blood ties and the credits, she should still be willing to let us enter Beauxbatons as family members for a visit."
"Ah, so they even have a recruitment system now.", Link shook his head as he spoke.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, just treat it as me talking nonsense." Link waved his hand and turned to Dumbledore. "So then, Professor Dumbledore, let's make the trip!"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment. He looked at Link, then at Fleur's hopeful and pitiful expression, and sighed.
"Link, are you sure you want to do this? After what happened today, the shadow figures have most likely already noticed us. If we go to Beauxbatons now…"
Dumbledore didn't continue, just kept shaking his head.
This caused Fleur's eyes to gradually dim again.
"Don't say that, Professor Dumbledore."
Link straightened his face and said seriously, "We have to face those enemies sooner or later."
"You also told me earlier that after this, it will be much harder for us to sneak into France like this again. Which means this is our best opportunity. So why not give it a try?"
"After all, eliminating the shadow figures and Voldemort and maintaining peace in the magical world is our responsibility!"
Dumbledore looked at Link with a complicated expression. After a long while, he murmured, "Yes… this is my responsibility."
"Then that means you agree!" Link smiled and snapped his fingers, then turned to Fleur.
"Arrange it as soon as possible. We're going to Beauxbatons!"
"Ah, this, this…"
Fleur waved her arms awkwardly. "This might take some time. I still need to send Gabrielle a letter, and she'll also have to apply to Beauxbatons for a visitor slot."
"That's fine, just do it as soon as possible." Link smiled. "But I need to make something clear in advance."
"You heard earlier that our movements have already been noticed by the shadow figures. If things drag on too long on your side and they finish their preparations, we will abandon this and leave France directly."
"Of course! The fact you're even willing to help already makes me extremely grateful. How could I ask for more? Thank you so much!"
Fleur excitedly bowed to Link and Dumbledore, then hurried off under Krell's guidance to find a study to write her letter.
Watching her figure quickly disappear, Link didn't hesitate any longer. After giving Dumbledore a polite nod, he took Emily and returned to their room.
Only Dumbledore was left standing alone in the empty hall, not knowing what he was thinking.
By now, the sun had already dropped toward the horizon during their long discussion.
The bright orange-red sunlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hall and fell across Dumbledore's body.
It dyed his whole figure orange-red.
As if someone had splashed a basin of fresh blood across his robes.
———
Inside a luxury suite at the Nicolas Flamel estate.
Link gulped down a large mug of beer, then let out a long breath.
Nearly an entire afternoon of intense thinking and discussion had already left his throat dry and sore.
At a time like this, a big mug of beer was naturally the best choice.
After all, even if its actual ability to quench thirst was questionable, it just felt good to drink.
After putting down the empty glass, Link noticed Emily was sitting quietly on the sofa nearby, looking unhappy.
"Who upset you this time?" Link sat down beside her. "It can't be me, right? I think I did pretty well today, especially with how I handled things with Fleur."
Emily glanced at him, took out a handkerchief, wiped the remaining foam from the corner of his mouth, and sighed.
"Yes, you did well. You made everything clear to Fleur that needed to be said, and you clearly set our boundaries. You basically didn't even give me a chance to get jealous."
Link became even more confused.
Since Emily already understood his attitude toward Fleur, what was she upset about?
At a time like this, Emily should be happy.
"I just feel," Emily sighed, "I just feel like you were a bit too harsh with Fleur."
"Hah!"
Link suddenly laughed. "If I act close to Fleur, you get jealous. Now I've clearly stated my position and drawn boundaries, and you still feel bad. What kind of logic is that?"
"Because Fleur is just too pitiful."
"That's obvious. She's already fallen to the point of working as a receptionist at Zangewill Wand Shop. How could she not be pitiful?"
"There's a lot more that happened, which is why I say she's pitiful." Emily suddenly stood up, her voice a bit emotional.
"Otherwise, with her grades, looks, and her Triwizard Tournament experience, would she really need to be a receptionist?"
"Getting into the French Ministry of Magic and starting a career would probably have been easy for her!"
Link nodded, helped Emily sit back down, and poured her a cup of tea.
He had figured it out.
Emily must have heard Fleur talk about her experiences and ended up empathizing.
After all, they were both women.
At this point, Link figured he just needed to let Emily vent a little.
"You really don't know. Fleur actually tried to make things right for Gabrielle and Beauxbatons," Emily said with emotion.
"Back when Madam Maxime wasn't this extreme, Fleur relied on her close relationship with her to try to persuade her not to go through with such a radical plan. But the result…"
"The result definitely wasn't good," Link said, finishing her sentence.
That was inevitable.
Maxime at that time had already become like a gambler. With that gambler's mindset, even ten thousand horses couldn't have dragged her back.
"The result wasn't just bad, it was terrible," Emily sighed. "Fleur and Madam Maxime completely fell out. And Maxime, following others' suggestions, even withheld Fleur's N.E.W.T. certificate."
"That was a shameless form of revenge."
"Without her N.E.W.T. certificate, after graduating Fleur couldn't just forget about joining the French Ministry and having a bright future, she couldn't even find an ordinary job."
"It basically ruined her."
"What's worse, in order to recruit more highly talented pure-blood students, Maxime actually teamed up with people from the French Ministry to start promoting pure-blood supremacy."
"That's just ridiculous!"
"Maxime herself is half-giant!"
"But even more ridiculous is that they actually succeeded."
"Right now, the French magical world has become even more obsessed with pure blood than Britain!"
"This has brought a lot of foreign pure-blood family investment into Beauxbatons and even the French Ministry."
"Even many businesses on Lionheart Street benefited."
"But the beneficiaries of these advantages are limited to pure-bloods."
"Half-bloods, Muggle-borns, and even magical creature hybrids like Fleur have become unwelcome on this once free land."
Emily stopped there and didn't continue, just sat there sighing.
In truth, there was no need to say more.
Both Link and Emily knew what it looked like when an entire country began worshipping pure-blood supremacy.
The most extreme example would be what the British magical world once looked like.
Violent mobs everywhere, Muggles and Muggle-born wizards slaughtered at will, while pure-blood wizards turned other pure-bloods into second-class citizens.
As for magical creature hybrids like Fleur.
They wouldn't even be considered human.
Just beautiful pets that could be bought and sold at will.
The French magical world hadn't reached that point yet, but from what Link observed today on Lionheart Street, it was getting close.
Otherwise, the people at Zangewill Wand Shop wouldn't have dared to directly force Fleur into being a physical greeter.
In the original French magical world, that would have counted as bloodline discrimination, a very serious political mistake.
Imagining how Fleur's situation would likely get even worse, Emily felt even more upset.
Back during the Triwizard Tournament, what a dazzling presence Fleur had been.
Not just ordinary women, even Emily herself had felt somewhat inferior in front of her.
That was also why Emily had been so hostile toward Fleur earlier.
Subconsciously, Emily had always placed Fleur on the same level as herself.
But now Fleur had fallen into such a miserable state.
This made Emily's feelings extremely complicated.
At the same time, Link was watching Emily with a faint smile. Only after she gradually came out of her complicated emotions did he calmly say,
"You really don't need to feel this sad for Fleur. Compared to all the Muggles and Squibs in this world who have been killed or enslaved, Fleur is actually already very lucky."
"At least she met us, and we're willing to give her some help so she can start her life over, right?"
"You know that the way I feel about Fleur's suffering is completely different from what you described about those Muggles and Squibs."
"Ah, of course I know. I never said Fleur isn't suffering. I'm just reminding you that appropriate empathy helps release emotions and is good for your mental health. But don't get too immersed and end up doing something impulsive."
"Like what?"
"Like risking our lives, or giving up other important interests just to help Fleur. My mother taught me since childhood, doing something small that benefits the world is fine."
"But if that 'small thing' becomes your own life, then it's not worth it. There's a line that has to be maintained. Like if you see someone drowning."
"If you're an excellent swimmer, then jumping in to save them is fine. But if you can't swim, then it's better to stay on shore and call for help, or hand them a long pole."
"Then why did you still agree to go to Beauxbatons? Isn't that dangerous too?"
"That's to eliminate the shadow organization and save the magical world." Link blinked.
"Of course, I also have some personal motives. Eliminating the shadow figures has very important meaning for me!"
Emily fell silent.
She lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking.
Link snapped his fingers.
"Come out, Krell. Did you need something from me?"
As soon as Link finished speaking, Krell appeared out of thin air at the suite entrance.
There was a smile on his face.
His eyes toward Link were full of relief and approval.
He had actually heard what Link said earlier. That was because Link allowed it, a sign of trust.
And those words just now were enough to prove that Link had grown into a qualified and outstanding family head.
Having raised such an excellent child, even if he died right now, he could stand tall and tell old Flea's spirit he hadn't failed his last request.
Gently wiping the moisture from the corner of his eyes, Krell smiled and said,
"Young master, Miss Delacour has finished writing her letter to Beauxbatons. Would you like to review it?"
As he spoke, Krell respectfully presented the letter with both hands.
Link glanced at the Beauxbatons-crested wax seal and slightly curled his lips.
"Just check it yourself and make sure nothing's wrong. I'm not interested in little girls' letters."
Hearing this, Krell glanced at Emily beside him, immediately understood, nodded, and smiled as he prepared to leave.
But just then, Link spoke again, "Also, keep an eye on Fleur. Don't let her do anything impulsive. Her emotions aren't very stable."
So that meant surveillance.
Emily slightly lifted her head and looked at Link and Krell, a trace of melancholy appearing on her face.
The situation was becoming stranger and stranger. She couldn't even understand it anymore.
Especially the group they currently had.
On the surface, everyone looked harmonious.
But in reality, everyone was secretly wary of each other and had their own hidden motives.
Fleur wanted to save her sister. Dumbledore and Link claimed they wanted to destroy the shadow organization and save the magical world, but secretly they each had their own purposes.
Could a group like this really reach the end smoothly?
Emily seriously doubted it.
———
[Half A Month Later]
[Inside The Nicolas Flamel Estate]
Link and Emily had each changed into formal clothes and walked out of the villa arm in arm.
Krell had already parked the carriage on the open ground in front of the villa.
Dumbledore and Fleur were also ready.
Seeing Link and Emily come out, Fleur's face reddened slightly, but she still stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry, Link. I really didn't expect applying for a visitor slot would be this difficult. I ended up wasting so much of your time."
Yes, it really had taken a long time. Nearly half a month.
Link hadn't expected that either.
It was just an application for a school visit. Even with Gabrielle helping from the inside, Fleur had still taken this long.
If Legilimency hadn't shown Fleur was even more anxious than they were, and if Dumbledore's outside investigations hadn't shown the shadow figures making any unusual moves and that the French magical world was functioning as usual, he might even have suspected Fleur was a spy sent by the shadow figures to deliberately delay them.
Link complained internally, but on the surface he smiled and said, "It's nothing serious. Even if we hadn't waited for you, we still would have stayed in France to gather intelligence from the Ministry. So don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault, right? Professor Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore shot Link a look for using him as a shield, then smiled and said, "That's right. This time wasn't wasted. We gathered a lot of intelligence about various aspects of the French magical world. It was quite fruitful. And also…"
Dumbledore took a deep breath.
"The delay in getting the visitor slot really isn't your fault. Your sister Gabrielle truly did her best."
"Why do you say that?", Fleur asked urgently.
Dumbledore's words had hit exactly where she was most concerned.
What she cared about most was Gabrielle's attitude. She had worried Gabrielle might have deliberately delayed things out of resentment toward her.
"Because according to the intelligence I gathered, Beauxbatons really has risen now."
Dumbledore looked extremely troubled.
"At least across Europe, its reputation under Maxime's management has already surpassed Durmstrang and can almost be said to be on par with Hogwarts."
"They even announced this year's graduating N.E.W.T. results early, and the results were unexpectedly good. This has made Beauxbatons one of the hottest schools for enrollment across Europe this summer."
"So this summer, Beauxbatons visitor slots have become extremely hard to get."
"You could say parents all over Europe want to see what kind of magical school could produce so many outstanding students."
"That's really wonderful!"
Fleur almost shouted in happiness.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized something was wrong.
She immediately said guiltily to Dumbledore, "Professor Dumbledore, you know I'm not happy because Beauxbatons surpassed Hogwarts. I just couldn't help it after hearing Gabrielle didn't delay things out of resentment toward me."
Dumbledore's face looked bitter enough to squeeze out juice.
But he still could only say stiffly, "It's alright. I understand how you feel."
"And I only said Beauxbatons' reputation is close to Hogwarts, not that it has surpassed it."
"In fact, if Beauxbatons wants to surpass Hogwarts, it still has at least ten more years to go."
"Pfft!"
Seeing Dumbledore's stubborn tone, Link really couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud.
Dumbledore immediately shot him a dissatisfied look, like he was looking at a traitor.
Link quickly coughed twice. After finally suppressing his laughter, he waved his hand and said, "Alright, enough talking. Let's set off."