Chapter 813: A Long-Awaited Reunion
Chapter 813: A Long-Awaited Reunion
Among the three major wizarding schools in Europe, Durmstrang, France, the homeland of the renowned alchemist Nicolas Flamel, also boasts a prominent status in the wizarding world.
While its fame and reputation may not rival that of Britain, France prides itself on one remarkable aspect: its Minister of Magic can proudly declare that their nation has not produced any infamous Dark Wizards in recent centuries, a reputation far superior to that of Britain.
It was only seventy years ago when Grindelwald suddenly held a rally here, shattering France's peace that had endured for so long.
But that was the only incident, and since Grindelwald, France has remained peaceful, giving French witches and wizards a more relaxed demeanor compared to their British counterparts.
In the heart of Paris, at the center of the Furstenberg Square, stands a uniquely shaped building that resembles a left-pointing arrow or a vertical triangle from the outside.
Its distinctive architecture attracts attention and is considered a local attraction, although most people are unaware that it is even more famous in the wizarding world.
For this is the renowned French Ministry of Magic, the very destination of Kyle's journey.
Although the drunken Muggle hadn't answered Kyle's question, the answer had already formed in his mind upon hearing it.
Thus, Kyle didn't need to respond, as Panther had a clear view, including the exact location and a mental map of the city.
Fortunately, Kyle was not far from Furstenberg Square, just a few streets away, and it took him only half an hour to get there.
At eight o'clock, Kyle approached the massive glass doors, straightened his clothes, and calmly walked inside.
He paid no heed to the security or the open door but made his way to a fountain in front of the building.
There were two statues here, and after a moment's thought, Kyle chose the left one, a statue of a pegasus. As he approached, the pegasus' wings lifted, revealing a passage.
With one step, the scene before him transformed.
The bustling streets and skyscrapers were gone, replaced by peculiarly shaped buildings, and the attire of passersby changed from suits, long skirts, and fashionable shirts to the distinctive wizarding robes.
France's "Diagon Alley."
Of course, it probably had another name, but the concept was the same—a shopping street exclusively for witches and wizards.
"Phew, I didn't choose the wrong one," Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. He recalled Fuhong mentioning that there were two entrances here, one leading to the alley, and the other to the Ministry of Magic. If he had made a mistake, he would be explaining his presence to the Aurors right about now.
Fortunately, his memory served him well.
Kyle continued on his way, curiously examining the French shops.
To the left of the entrance was a large candy store, at least five times the size of Honeyduke's, filled with a variety of candies that Kyle had never seen before, chocolates among them taking up more than half the space.
It seemed that the students of Durmstrang had also started their term, as the store wasn't very crowded.
Across from the candy store was a stationery shop, judging by the quills and parchment that Kyle recognized, despite not being able to read the ornate French signage.
Further down the street were shops for broomsticks, pets, books, souvenirs, and a second-hand store, with the most prominent building in the center of the street being Gringotts Wizarding Bank, constructed from white marble.
The types of shops here were similar to those in Diagon Alley, but the styles and designs were entirely different.
Diagon Alley maintained a traditional style that had remained unchanged for centuries, with buildings from the previous era that would fit in any time period.
In contrast, the French alley had a much more modern feel, with many buildings that Kyle could tell were constructed in recent years.
There was even a metal security door installed on the broomstick shop, which Kyle found hard to believe could withstand an Alohomora spell.
He continued on his way, passing Gringotts and a bustling pub, until he reached the end of the street and stopped.
"Prinse's Potion Shop."
Kyle glanced at the straightforward French signage and nodded, "This should be the place."
However, what puzzled Kyle was that while the surrounding shops were open for business, this particular store was closed, with no merchandise displayed in the window.
Could it be that Connor wasn't here? Kyle hesitated for a moment, then looked at the signboard again.
Prinse... that was the right name, but could there be another Prinse's shop in France?
With a hesitant knock on the door, he tested his theory.
There was no response from within.
He knocked a few more times, but still, there was silence.
"Could it be that no one's really here?" Kyle wondered, perplexed. The address and shop name provided by Fuhong seemed to match, so why was there no one around?
Perhaps Connor had come to France but hadn't opened a shop and was somewhere else?
Just as Kyle was deliberating whether to give this letter to Furong, there was finally a response from within the shop.
"Sorry, we're closed today."
In that instant, upon hearing the voice, Kyle's worries melted away.
A flurry of hurried footsteps sounded from within the shop, but soon all went quiet again.
Several minutes later, the door creaked open.
Connor looked like she had just woken up, her hair hastily tidied, but her face lit up with delight.
"Kyle!" Her voice held a note of disbelief, but she instinctively lunged forward.
Kyle quickly opened his arms to catch her, and the two embraced right there in the doorway, unmindful of the stares from passersby.
In that moment, neither of them cared about their surroundings, simply holding each other tightly, neither wanting to let go. Kyle felt his mouth come into contact with a sweet cream pudding.
It was unclear how long they stood there—perhaps ten minutes, an hour, or even longer.
"Hey, that's enough now." Came a voice from within the shop, "As much as I understand your feelings, could you two please come inside? Standing out there like that must be tiring."
Despite Furong being a half-veela, at that moment, Kyle thought her voice must have been cursed by a witch—it was so grating… even though she was a witch herself.
"Aren't the French supposed to be romantic?" Kyle said irritably as he looked at Furong leaning against the shelf, "Why are you making such a fuss?"
"You listen to yourself," Furong exploded, her face turning red with anger, "How dare you say that to me? I left my boyfriend behind and came all this way to take care of Connor, and you have the nerve to say I'm meddling?"
The more Furong thought about it, the angrier she became. She and Bill had been in the throes of a passionate romance, even contemplating marriage.
Yet, instead of gratitude for her sacrificing time with her fiance to help him look after his girlfriend, Kyle had the audacity to speak such heartless words.
She seemed ready to transform, grabbing a bottle of potion as if to fight Kyle to the death, but was stopped by Connor.
Connor, too, had come back to her senses after the initial shock of seeing Kyle.
"Calm down, calm down, don't stoop to his level." She soothed the fuming Furong while shooting Kyle a displeased glance.
"Alright, I apologize." Kyle quickly raised both hands in surrender... When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
"To express my apology," he took out a gift he had prepared beforehand, "This is for you."
"What is this?" Furong's emotions finally stabilized as she picked up the bottle from the table, "It looks like shampoo."
"Something like that." Kyle said, "Newt has studied veelas, and these magical creatures tend to shed a lot of hair in autumn. I thought that since you have half-veela blood, you might experience the same, so I used ginger root, cloak grass, and mandrake juice to create this hair care product..."
Before Kyle could finish his sentence, a bottle flew past, grazing his ear and smashing into the wall behind him. Connor didn't even attempt to stop it.
Or perhaps she never intended to.
It was worth it to see Furong so infuriated, even if it meant wasting her bottle of Energizing Potion.
Connor sighed and closed the shop door once more.
It wasn't until twenty minutes later that the room finally settled back into a peaceful atmosphere, with Furong sitting and glaring at Kyle, breathless from her outburst.
Interestingly, the items Kyle had brought were now nowhere to be seen on the table.
"Now, what brings you to France at this time?"
"Wait!" At this point, Connor suddenly realized something, "How did you suddenly end up here? Is everything alright in Britain..."
"Don't worry, everything's fine there. The mysterious man and his Death Eaters are up to something, but they've rarely been seen lately."
"Also, Hogwarts has started the term as usual, so I thought I'd come and see you." Kyle said, waving his hand. The broken items on the floor quickly returned to their original state and floated back to their respective places.
This was a wizarding shopping street, and only witches and wizards passed by. Using magic here was perfectly acceptable.
"Speaking of which, how did you know it was me outside?" he asked casually.
When Connor had opened the door earlier, she hadn't hesitated at all before rushing into his arms. It seemed she had known it was Kyle outside.
"Of course, I knew." Connor smiled, "If it were a French wizard, they wouldn't speak such terrible French."
"Is my French really that bad?" Kyle scratched his head, feeling that his pronunciation was quite standard.
"My sister spoke better than you when she was ten months old." Furong scoffed.
"Alright." Kyle sighed, "I should've made a translator. This trip is quite inconvenient."
"How did you get here? Did you use the door key?" Connor poured a glass of cherry soda for Kyle. This was a popular drink in France, akin to the status of pumpkin juice in Britain.
"No, I didn't use the door key." Kyle explained, "Fox brought me here, so we could avoid the attention of the Ministry of Magic."
"Fox..." Connor blinked, "Professor Dumbledore's phoenix?"
"Yes, it's quite convenient, I must say."
However, Furong's interest lay elsewhere. "I'm curious...with your atrocious French, how did you manage to find this place?" She eyed Kyle. "The French Ministry of Magic highly values Furstenberg Square, and there are Aurors everywhere. They couldn't have missed a new wizard appearing out of thin air."
"Really?" Kyle shrugged. "Then I must've been lucky. I appeared a few streets away, not too far but not too close either."
"Then how did you get here? Surely you didn't ask for directions?"
"Of course, I did." Kyle replied nonchalantly. "I asked a Muggle, and he was very enthusiastic. Plus, he understood everything I said."
"Is that so?"
Furong was skeptical of Kyle's story, but since he had managed to find his way here without alerting the Aurors, it seemed he hadn't used any magical means.
"But...how is that possible? Do Muggles have that much linguistic flexibility?" Furong muttered, "No, wait, you must have found an English-speaking Muggle."
Kyle chose to ignore her baseless speculations.
"By the way, it's almost noon. Why aren't you open for business yet?" He changed the subject. "Are you really selling potions here?"
"Of course..."
"Of course, we are. What else would we be doing?" Connor interrupted before Furong could speak. "I just didn't want to open the shop too early.
"Anyway, this shop isn't about making money. We do things at our own pace, and usually, we don't open until noon."
"Then why are the window displays empty?" Kyle asked, pointing behind him.
"Of course, we sold out." Connor explained, "The students from Beauxbatons started their term recently, and the French students bought almost everything we had in stock.
"I was planning to restock today, so I didn't intend to open the shop at all."
To add credibility to her words, she stood up and opened one of the inner doors.
Kyle peeked inside and saw shelves filled with potions, leaving only a small space near the door for entry and exit.
Seeing this, Kyle believed Connor's explanation.
With so many potions, deception was unlikely, and it was clear that Connor was genuinely running a shop. He felt relieved.
The trio then shifted to another topic, but most of the conversation was between Connor and Kyle.
After such a long time apart, they had a lot to catch up on.
"Let me tell you, France is quite interesting," Connor said, taking Kyle's hand. "Did you notice the alchemy shops when you arrived?
"I saw three," Kyle nodded.
"There are more," Connor said. "Magic potions don't seem to be as valued here. They prefer alchemy."
"So, are your potions selling well?"
"The scarcity makes them popular." Connor said, "After all, the effects of potions can't be replicated by alchemy. Even if they're not highly regarded, they're still needed."
"Makes sense."
"How's everything in Britain?"
"It's fine." Kyle said, "The Death Eaters were quite active around the time Hogwarts started its term, but they've been less conspicuous lately. Oh, and Lupin and Nymphadora got married."
"Really? When?"
"Early August."
"I wish I could've been there."
"It's alright. Anyway, it was a dangerous day. Bellatrix and her Death Eaters crashed the wedding."
...
The two chatted away, oblivious to their surroundings. Initially, Furong listened, but as time passed, she felt the atmosphere shift in an unsettling way.
It was as if she had become invisible.
She, Furong, a half-Veela, was usually the most dazzling person in any crowd, and she never imagined she would be ignored one day.
Yet, here she was, experiencing exactly that.
The two seemed to be enveloped in a magical aura, automatically blocking out their surroundings. Furong tried to interject several times, but they paid her no heed.
"Hey, can you two at least acknowledge my presence?" Furong finally snapped, and this time, they responded.
"What is it?" Kyle looked up.
"I wanted to ask earlier," she said, "How's Bill doing lately?"
"We exhausted three owls with our letters, and you want to ask me about him?" Kyle said slowly, "And if something was wrong with Bill, do you think I would've kept quiet about it for so long?"
Furong took a deep breath. Her excellent manners kept a smile on her face, but no one knew what she was thinking.
"Carry on with your conversation...I'll take a walk."
Furong stood up and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
She couldn't stand being in that room for another minute.
...
(End of Chapter)
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