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Chapter 673: On the Importance of Being Shameless
Chapter 673: On the Importance of Being Shameless
In the early morning, the weather was clear and a gentle breeze blew the curtains, allowing sunlight to seep through the cracks and into the room, falling on the face of a sleeping girl. After a moment, Isabelle groggily opened her eyes, raising her hand to block the glare and turning her head to look at the boy still sleeping soundly beside her. She blinked, then stealthily reached out her hands and gently tugged at Albert's sleeping face.
Despite his youthful appearance, his demeanor was remarkably mature. Only when he was deep in sleep did his innocent and adorable face emerge, making the girl feel somewhat older than him.
From confession to confirming their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend, the two had begun dating and falling in love. Several years had passed, and now they were even discussing marriage. Yet, Albert was still not of legal age, which seemed incredible, and even more absurd was the fact that she had already accepted his marriage proposal.
Albert stirred slightly and slowly opened his eyes.
Their gazes met at close range.
Isabelle was startled and scrambled back, sitting up on the bed and eyeing the boy who had just woken up.
"Good morning!"
Albert rubbed his eyes, stretched lazily, and turned to look at Isabelle beside him. "If you're still not satisfied, even in the morning, I..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a pillow landed on his face, silencing him.
"It's time to get up. We slept in today, and it's your fault." Isabelle got out of bed and started picking up the clothes that had been tossed around the night before. She then rummaged through her trunk and pulled out a beige garment, tossing it over Albert's head. She was clearly displeased with the guy who had been staring at her.
"I've seen everything."
Albert pouted and removed the garment from his head. As Isabelle changed into a sleepwear dress and headed to the bathroom with her toiletries, he climbed out of bed and began putting on his clothes.
By the time they woke up, it was already late in the morning. The LeMays had left breakfast for them: fried eggs, milk, croissants, and a cup of aromatic black tea.
"You can take the opportunity to explore the area today. France has many captivating places, so don't miss out since you're here," Mrs. Perenelle said with a smile. "And staying cooped up in the house studying all the time can be tiring."
As they left the LeMay residence, Isabelle's cheeks reddened slightly, and she glared at Albert. "They noticed!" she muttered.
"When we stayed in the same room before, they already guessed," Albert remarked, observing his slightly annoyed girlfriend. He thought that her skin wasn't thick enough, perhaps because they were staying at someone else's home. Indeed, it was easier to be carefree in one's own home.
He wondered how those passionate French folks could just find a random place to do it.
Could it be that it was more stimulating that way?
"You're always scheming to take advantage of me," Isabelle grumbled, realizing she had inadvertently fallen into Albert's trap.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"The French are even more passionate than you think, and they won't mind," Albert whispered reassuringly.
"My skin isn't as thick as yours," Isabelle said irritably, tugging at Albert's cheek as if to test just how thick his skin was.
"If your skin isn't thick enough, how can you hope to woo a beautiful girl?" Albert remained unperturbed, smiling as he soothed her. "Come now, don't be angry. It's rare for us to visit a foreign wizarding village, so let's take a walk and explore. We're here on vacation, after all."
However, by the end of his speech, his voice lacked conviction.
Lately, Albert had been devoting all his energy to studying and had little time to take Isabelle out for leisure activities.
"I thought you'd forgotten that we're actually here on vacation?" Isabelle was a little glum, feeling more exhausted from this trip than she had been at school.
"Okay, I was wrong."
As he spoke, Albert pulled out a small bag of French magical currency from his pocket and placed it in Isabelle's palm. "Today, I'll accompany you on a stroll, and we'll also visit the wizarding street in France and buy some things to celebrate our lottery win."
"You're quite generous, not treating money as money."
Isabelle rolled her eyes and stuffed the bag of coins back into Albert's pocket. "Weren't we told that the prize money couldn't be exchanged for wizarding currency? Where did you get this money from?"
"Of course, I earned it myself," Albert replied. "My Muggle uncle, Charlie, used one of my business plans to open a milk tea shop, and he gives me a share of the profits every year. It's not a huge amount, but it's enough."
Albert took some pounds to exchange for galleons, as wizards still needed Muggle money from time to time. However, fairies typically didn't require much foreign currency; a modest amount sufficed.
As for the bag of French gold coins in his pocket, they were his winnings from becoming the International Wizarding Chess Champion some time ago.
"Fine, you're amazing," Isabelle conceded.
Hand in hand, the couple strolled along the streets of Nicolas Flamel's village.
Unlike Hogsmeade Village, this village was clean, with stone-paved streets that were notably wider than those of Hogsmeade. The only issue was the lack of shops; most of the buildings were residences, except for a magic sundries store and an inn.
Oh, and of course, there was also the former residence of the LeMay couple.
Inside the old house were stone sculptures and clay tablets, ancient experimental instruments, parchment, notes, and old books.
In essence, it resembled a museum.
A small stall at the entrance sold various souvenirs related to the Sorcerer's Stone, even claiming to have the formula for the Elixir of Life.
The middle-aged man running the stall, upon seeing that the couple were strangers, quietly lowered his voice to inform them that Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel were living in seclusion in the village.
As for their exact location, naturally, no one knew.
Albert found this amusing, knowing it was their tactic to maintain privacy.
"That man is full of lies," Isabelle remarked as they walked away from the stall.
"I know, you find people like that everywhere," Albert said nonchalantly, having encountered such situations countless times in his previous life.
After touring the village, the couple headed to the wizarding street in Paris via a fireplace located near the square.
That location was more suitable for dating or shopping.
Since Albert had come to France, he needed to buy souvenirs for his family.
The wizarding street in Paris resembled Diagon Alley in London, but it was cleaner and more orderly. The streets were spacious and paved with bricks, and the shops on both sides not only displayed signs but also exhibited various items outside, seemingly announcing the nature of their business to prospective customers.
"It's so lively here!"
Isabelle curiously surveyed the surrounding shops.
Closest to them was a crucible shop, and further down the street was a bookstore where a book signing event seemed to be taking place.
It was likely due to the summer holidays that most students had come to the wizarding street to shop.
The couple merely glanced at the bookstore from the outside and didn't join the queue. The author signing books was a handsome wizard, reminding Albert of Gilderoy Lockhart, who was still undergoing treatment at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Isabelle wasn't interested in these, so she pulled Albert towards a clothing store. The Transfigure Boutique already had customers—a pair of young sisters.
As they turned, Albert immediately recognized them.
The beautiful girls with Veela blood always left a deep impression.
"Long time no see, Miss Delacour," Albert greeted politely.
"Oh, hello," Fleur replied stiffly, her eyes scanning Albert before refocusing on the red-haired woman beside him, her eyebrows raising slightly.
This woman was even more beautiful than before.
"Hello, Champion," Gabrielle said shyly, remembering who he was.
"I'd prefer if you called me big brother," Albert said, taking out some candy he had bought not long ago. He crouched down and corrected, "I'm still young, so it's strange to be called 'mister'."
"Okay, Champion," Gabrielle smiled and took the candy.
"Champion?"
The store manager, Abel, looked Albert up and down, trying to place him but only finding him vaguely familiar.
"Let's go, Gabrielle," Fleur said, nodding at Albert before pulling her sister's hand to leave.
"Sister, can I go and see my cousin Louise's store?" Gabrielle pleaded.
"Of course, we can go and support her. Otherwise, poor Louise will be so sad," Fleur said.
"What champion are you?" the manager asked curiously.
"That was just a joke," Albert diverted the topic and asked, "Can you bring that hat over here for me to see?"
"Oh, sure," the manager was indeed distracted and took down a beret-like hat from the shelf.
"I think this hat would suit you, along with a skirt. It'll look great," Albert smiled as he placed the hat on Isabelle's head, nodding in satisfaction.
Isabelle raised an eyebrow, as she wasn't used to wearing hats.
However, she guessed that Albert wanted to buy a hat as a gift for his sister, so she helped him choose.
"I think girls would like this style. It suits Nia. And you forgot to get one for yourself," Isabelle picked a men's hat for Albert as well.
In the end, they left the Transfigure Boutique with three packages: a hat for Nia, a skirt for Isabelle, and a larger dress robe.
"Why did you buy a dress robe?" Isabelle asked, puzzled.
"It'll come in handy in our sixth year," Albert sighed softly, sounding a little regretful, "But unfortunately, you would have graduated by then, and I'll have to find another dance partner."
"Are you worried about not finding a dance partner?" Isabelle huffed.
"Right, at that time, you can pretend to be Katrina and sneak into the school to attend the Christmas ball. Anyway, you sisters look so much alike that no one will be able to tell the difference," Albert suggested.
"Have you prophesied something again?" Isabelle asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, a very lively Christmas ball," Albert replied.
As they turned a corner, they stumbled upon a familiar face—the owner of a cold drink shop.
"Louise, I never expected to meet you here," Albert exclaimed, recognizing the Veela girl.
"No, I own this shop," Louise smiled and asked, "What would you like?"
"Two strawberry ice creams," Albert glanced at Isabelle before turning to Louise, "Why did you want to open a cold drink shop?"
"I haven't decided what I want to do yet, so I just picked something to keep myself busy," Louise brought over two large cups of strawberry ice cream and sat down next to Albert, "You came to France without telling me. I could have been your guide."
"No need, thank you," Isabelle said calmly, "We're here to find Albert's teacher and invite him to be our witness."
"Witness?" Louise was stunned, "Are you getting married? That's not right, Albert isn't an adult yet, is he?"
"No, we're just engaged for now," Isabelle took a bite of her ice cream and calmly explained, "We'll wait a bit longer for the wedding."
"Right, do you have a newspaper here?" Albert quickly changed the subject. He felt that if they continued, he might be in trouble.
"Congratulations," Louise said, testing the waters.
"Thank you," Albert took the newspaper.
Louise walked away, annoyed. She didn't believe them; neither of them was wearing a ring, and Isabelle was clearly lying.
Isabelle looked up at Louise's retreating figure and then at Albert, who was flipping through the newspaper. She said softly, "You're quite popular."
"You know, I don't really like it," Albert changed the subject again, "Look over here."
On one page of the newspaper, Albert saw a member of the International Wizarding Federation criticizing Fudge for informing the Muggle Prime Minister about Black's escape.
"Black broke out of Azkaban," Albert handed the newspaper to Isabelle.
"So, your prophecy came true again?" Isabelle raised an eyebrow, "No one has ever escaped from Azkaban Prison before. It's not a good thing to set such a precedent."
"Don't worry, it's not a big deal," Albert reassured her softly.
"You seem to have prophesied quite a few things," Isabelle held Albert's face with both hands and rubbed it forcefully, "Always so mysterious."
"Black's target is probably Potter, right?" Albert scooped some ice cream and held it towards Isabelle, "Whenever something strange happens, it's somehow related to Harry Potter. If you can't figure it out, just blame it on Potter."
"......" Isabelle was speechless.
"Oh, it's you two."
A voice suddenly sounded from outside.
The couple turned to see Hekto walking towards them.
"Mr. Hekto, what are you doing here?" Albert asked, surprised to see the familiar face sitting across from them.
"I have some business in France, and I just happened to pass by and thought you looked familiar, so I came in to take a look," Hekto said, then added, "By the way, would you like to join the Extraordinary Potioneers Association?"
"Aren't only graduated wizards allowed to join?" Albert asked, puzzled.
"That used to be the case, but the membership requirements were changed recently. Now, as long as you're invited by an association member and pass the entrance assessment, you can become a member of the Extraordinary Potioneers Association," Hekto smiled and said, "Come on, let's go!"
The couple exchanged glances and bid Louise farewell before following Hekto to the Extraordinary Potioneers Association.
(End of Chapter)
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