Link's original intention in urging everyone to hurry up and get in the carriage and leave was to end the awkward topic of "Beauxbatons has already surpassed Hogwarts," which was embarrassing for someone (Dumbledore).
Unfortunately, Link only realized after they had truly set off that it was pointless.
Because after Krell, under Fleur's guidance, jumped the flying carriage into a mountain range, Fleur became so excited she was almost losing control.
"This is the Pyrenees in southern France, one of the largest mountain ranges in Europe!" Fleur said as she pulled open all the curtains inside the carriage.
"You can look at the scenery outside. It's breathtakingly beautiful! And Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is hidden right inside!"
On this point, Fleur really wasn't lying.
When Link and Emily looked out the window, they could see that the Pyrenees from a bird's-eye view looked almost like a fairyland.
Large stretches of vegetation in different shades of green covered most of the mountains. Among all that green, there were occasional silver-blue lakes shining under the sunlight like sapphires set into a green silk ribbon.
Of course, the painting created by nature couldn't possibly be so monotonous in color.
Some exposed rocky ridges and patches of white snow on the mountains added decoration.
What was most surprising was that among those yellow-brown and white "patches of paint," some were slowly moving.
It wasn't until Link and Emily took out their magical telescopes and looked closely that they suddenly realized those were large flocks of sheep and deer.
They wandered freely across the grassy mountains, sometimes stopping for a while to nibble on the fresh summer shoots.
Farther away, there were scattered small farms.
Within those rustic wooden buildings, even more livestock were being driven toward the mountains.
"The scenery here really is a bit better than Hogwarts."
Emily said this with a smile, speaking from the heart.
The moment she said that, Dumbledore's face instantly darkened.
Link raised his eyebrows and added, "That's probably because we've stayed at Hogwarts too long and gotten used to its scenery. In fact, there isn't any real difference in quality between the two places. Both are rare beautiful sights."
Hearing that, Emily immediately understood what Link meant. She nodded decisively and even deliberately glanced at Dumbledore.
Unfortunately, this kind of damage control was already useless.
Dumbledore's ugly expression didn't improve at all.
"Ahem..."
Dumbledore ignored Link and Emily and instead turned to Fleur and said, "I think our time is rather tight."
"Why not just have the carriage jump directly to the edge of Beauxbatons' Anti-Apparition barrier?"
"Uh, Professor Dumbledore, actually… I already did that. Where we are now is already inside Beauxbatons' Anti-Apparition restricted zone," Fleur said awkwardly.
"Not just Anti-Apparition. Headmistress Maxime also reached an agreement through the French Ministry of Magic and the French Muggle government to place Muggle-Repelling Charms over this part of the Pyrenees nature reserve, completely turning it into wizard territory."
"Of course, all of this only happened in the past six months. Originally Beauxbatons' territory wasn't nearly this large."
When he heard that, Dumbledore was clearly stunned for a moment, then fell silent with a dark face.
Link, meanwhile, almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
Compared to this kind of scale, Hogwarts' tiny restricted area really did feel like a joke.
It could only be said that Beauxbatons was ridiculously rich. The inheritance Nicolas Flamel left behind was simply too abundant.
Perhaps noticing the strange atmosphere inside the carriage, Fleur's excitement faded slightly, and she added in a compensating tone, "But this restricted area actually isn't as big as you think. Look, haven't we already crossed it? That right there is Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!"
As she spoke, Fleur pointed out the window.
Everyone looked in the direction she indicated.
Sure enough, the scenery outside the window began to change dramatically.
What stood before the carriage was no longer beautiful mountain scenery, but a vast expanse of white mist.
Krell drove the carriage straight into the fog, and then everyone's vision became blurry.
Everything ahead was covered by thick mist. Only a towering castle in the distance could be faintly seen through the fog, drawing everyone's attention.
"This is Beauxbatons' second defensive perimeter. This fog is caused by water vapor from magical fountains designed and built by Mr. Nicolas Flamel."
"It contains complex magic and wraps around the outer layer of Beauxbatons, completely isolating it from the outside world."
Fleur continued explaining like a tour guide, "I know this might feel a bit oppressive, but don't worry. This fog layer isn't very large."
"We'll pass through it soon. After that, everyone will clearly see Beauxbatons itself, which is also the scenery we're most proud of!"
At the end, there was a hint of longing in Fleur's voice.
And just as she finished speaking, the thick fog ahead of them did indeed begin to thin.
As the last traces of mist were scattered by the flying carriage, the view suddenly opened up.
What appeared before them now was a completely different landscape from before.
This was an enormous lake, as vast as an inland sea.
It looked like a deep blue mirror embedded between heaven and earth, sharing the same color as the sky.
This lake had clearly been modified by wizards.
Because in the middle of the lake, there were large stretches of shoals.
These shoals started from the center of the lake and gradually extended toward the shore, forming a pathway.
From the air, these shoals were covered with a layer of red and green "coating," as if some kind of plants were densely growing on them.
And within this red and green patchwork stood a magnificent castle.
This was the true appearance of the castle everyone had glimpsed in the fog earlier.
Of course, calling it a castle wasn't entirely accurate.
Strictly speaking, it was more like a small city built on the foundation of a small mountain peak.
The so-called castle was merely the form created by the cluster of buildings.
"This… is Beauxbatons?", Emily said, sounding a bit unable to believe it.
Even without mentioning the complicated defensive barriers earlier, just Beauxbatons' almost miraculous choice of location and architectural design alone was enough to amaze people.
Compared to it, the castle of Hogwarts standing between the Black Lake and the plains forest seemed somewhat ordinary.
No, not just Hogwarts.
Even Durmstrang couldn't compare to this scenery.
Although Durmstrang's rugged snow-covered mountain landscape was also excellent and could be considered another kind of extreme beauty.
But the problem was, Durmstrang was too poor.
Their castle was so run-down it simply couldn't be shown off.
Compared to Beauxbatons' refined castle complex, it was practically like an outhouse.
Fleur had already stopped talking.
She crossed her arms and kept looking between Beauxbatons outside the window and Link and Emily inside the carriage, a smile lingering at the corner of her eyes.
As if, in her eyes, Link and Emily themselves were also part of the scenery.
In fact, she really didn't need to say anything more.
The Beauxbatons buildings in front of them were already the best explanation and the best answer.
The other person who remained silent like Fleur was Dumbledore.
The only difference was that Dumbledore had already become completely numb.
The gap between Hogwarts and Beauxbatons now was no longer something he could argue away with explanations.
The flying carriage slowly descended and finally landed on a small road among the shoals, continuing toward Beauxbatons along the wheel tracks.
"We've entered Beauxbatons' no-fly zone. Within this area, any flying object must land and proceed on the ground. We're no exception," Fleur explained again.
"This is to prevent aerial attacks on Beauxbatons, and also to promote its authority in this way."
"Hah! Quite authoritative indeed!"
Krell outside the carriage snorted disdainfully.
In his view, forcing visitors to walk was basically a way to give arriving guests a show of dominance.
It was authoritative.
But also very rude.
A serious offense to guests.
Fleur pouted when she heard that and said nothing more.
Emily and Link and the others also ignored Krell.
At this moment, all their attention was focused on the plants growing on the shoals outside the window.
Only when they got closer did they realize that the large patches of green and red were made up of grass and another kind of bright red, strangely shaped flowers whose petals spread outward in lines.
And among the flowers were many reddish-purple strange leaves, clearly belonging to another unknown plant.
Link frowned and said, "Fleur, when were these flowers planted?"
"I've never seen these flowers around Beauxbatons before," Fleur shook her head. "So they must have appeared after I left Beauxbatons."
This also made Emily notice something was wrong. She turned and asked doubtfully, "Do you recognize these flowers?"
Link nodded, then shook his head again.
"This is Manjusaka, also called the other-shore flower. Among common people it's also called the flower of hell."
"Its symbolic meanings are endless eternal life, the omen of world destruction, and the call from the other shore."
"Of course, that's just what Muggles say. To wizards, this thing isn't very special. It's just one of the ingredients for making the Draught of Living Death."
"It's not particularly valuable or rare. But the problem is, it shouldn't be appearing here at this time!"
Dumbledore picked up the explanation, "That's right. Manjusaka prefers shade, tolerates cold, and the highest average daily temperature it can endure is around 24 degrees Celsius."
"And here, the temperature is definitely over 25 degrees. Most importantly, its blooming season is late summer to early autumn, and it goes dormant during summer."
"That means even if they could survive in such high temperatures, they shouldn't be blooming at this time!"
"And by the way," Dumbledore said with a half-smile as he looked at Link, "the fact that you noticed this shows your Herbology knowledge is quite rich. If your Head of House were here, he would definitely be very pleased."
Link rolled his eyes at Dumbledore.
Saying something like that now was obviously just teasing.
Emily turned back and asked in confusion, "I don't really understand. What's the problem with what you're saying?"
"Even if the blooming period is wrong, maybe Beauxbatons just used magic to grow them purely for decoration."
"That is indeed possible. But the appearance of these flowers carries special meaning."
As Link spoke, he exchanged a look with Dumbledore.
Both their expressions were extremely serious.
They both remembered the prophecy Firenze had given them before they left...the closer one got to the location of the disaster star, the more things that violated the laws of nature would appear nearby.
And clearly, these Manjusaka blooming outside their natural season were one of those so-called "things that violate natural laws."
Which meant the disaster star Firenze warned them to find was nearby.
Thinking this, both Link and Dumbledore couldn't help looking toward the increasingly closer Beauxbatons.
———
Another half hour passed.
The carriage finally crossed the vast shoals and, after continuing along a brick road for a while, eventually stopped in the square outside a gigantic stone building.
There were many other carriages parked in the square.
Many men and women dressed in strange but obviously expensive clothes, with different hair colors and even skin tones, were gathered beside their respective carriages, talking in various languages and occasionally looking at the nearby buildings and scenery.
"These are all people who came to visit Beauxbatons," Fleur explained. "They need to wait here for a while. Later, official student representatives will come out to receive them."
"Heh!"
Krell outside the carriage snorted again in disdain.
Clearly, this was another show of dominance from Beauxbatons toward visitors.
They said it was waiting, but who knew how long that wait would be.
Many self-proclaimed nobles who looked down on Beauxbatons might get angry and leave while waiting.
So this was also a kind of screening mechanism.
Convenient for driving away troublesome visitors.
"Do we need to wait too?", Emily said calmly.
Even though Emily always appeared friendly when with Link, that didn't mean she was truly that magnanimous.
In fact, anyone who could become the dominant figure of Slytherin was bound to be proud.
And Beauxbatons' show of dominance was clearly trampling on that pride.
"Of course we don't need to. Look, the person specially sent to receive us is already here!"
Fleur clearly didn't catch the dissatisfaction in Emily's words. She looked extremely excited, leaning forward as she spoke while waving outside.
Following the direction she was waving, Link spotted a young girl wearing Beauxbatons' light blue school uniform with a black scarf tied around her neck.
This girl was clearly Gabrielle.
Her silver-white hair, almost identical to her sister Fleur's, was the best proof of her identity.
But unlike the cute little girl in Link's memory, although Gabrielle's figure was still somewhat small due to her age, she had already become a serious and noble young lady.
Even with so many guests around looking and talking about her curiously, she stood perfectly still, expressionless and polite, like a guard.
Inside the carriage, Fleur was practically about to wave her arm off, occasionally even calling out, hoping to catch her sister's attention.
Unfortunately, the glass of these flying carriages had been enchanted into one-way mirrors.
And the entire carriage was magically soundproofed. Aside from the driver Krell, people outside couldn't see or hear anything inside.
So Gabrielle still just stood there with a serious expression, unmoving.
"It's our turn to step in.", Link said calmly. The basilisk Arkam poked its head out from his sleeve and dropped several small crystal-like pellets into Link's palm.
Link swallowed one crystal pellet first, then handed the rest to Emily and Dumbledore.
"Solid version of Polyjuice Potion. One of these lasts a whole day. It can also be absorbed through the skin."
"If there's an emergency, just crush it in your palm and the liquid that seeps out will enter your body through your pores and complete the transformation."
"But note that transformations done through this absorption method only last two hours."
As Link explained, he had already stood up and started straightening his clothes.
Emily did the same after swallowing her pill.
She had long since lost interest in solid Polyjuice Potion.
After all, Link had already shown her far too many similar little inventions.
Only Dumbledore still had a look of amazement on his face, holding the solid Polyjuice Potion in his palm and examining it repeatedly with curiosity.
Link figured if the old man kept looking any longer, he'd probably start saying something like "your knowledge of potions is very rich, Severus would definitely…" and so on.
"Tsk tsk..."
Smacking his lips, Link took Emily's arm and got out of the carriage together.
During this process, both Link and Emily's appearances underwent dramatic changes.
By the time they officially appeared outside the carriage, Link had already turned into a handsome middle-aged man with black hair, a weathered face, and a small mustache.
Emily had turned into a young woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a curvy figure.
Neither of them showed much expression, but the aura they gave off was extraordinarily noble and imposing.
This caused them to attract quite a bit of attention from the surrounding people as soon as they stepped out.
"Which great noble family are they from?"
A middle-aged noblewoman leaning against her husband asked in a low voice.
Her husband silently shook his head, looking rather excited.
Of course, what excited him wasn't the beautiful and curvy Emily, but Link.
He had already seen it.
Link was the dominant one between the two.
The questioning and probing looks directed at Link and Emily weren't accidental, but something many nobles in the square were doing.
The aura surrounding Link and Emily was simply too special.
It was clearly different from the kind of wealth-exuding presence of ordinary nobles or even typical wizarding noble families.
Instead, it was another kind of special presence, both noble and sharp.
This kind of aura could only belong to people who had held positions of power for a long time and possessed extraordinary strength themselves.
Among the entire wizarding world, wizard nobles who could meet both of those conditions were extremely rare.
And most such wizard nobles were well-known figures.
Yet nobody present had ever heard of the faces Link and Emily were currently wearing.
They must be outstanding figures from some hidden families in the dark side of the world.
Almost everyone present came to this same conclusion.
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