Chapter 837: Chapter 714: Conna’s Transfer (3)
As she kept talking, Conna unconsciously shifted the topic—she seemed really curious about where all the Magic Potion had come from and where it’d gone afterwards.
But Kael didn’t worry about that; Beauxbatons put a lot of emphasis on Alchemy, so having weird Magic Items around was nothing unusual.
"Uh-huh, and then?" he asked.
"Then I ran into an Old Wizard. He seemed to know you, and even said he could get me back to Hogwarts."
They heard a heavy knocking at the door—it looked like the new students had arrived. Under Professor McGonagall’s urging, Kael and Conna quickly walked into the Auditorium.
The doors behind them slowly closed, and Kael was still wondering who the Old Wizard Conna mentioned was.
At Beauxbatons, people he knew weren’t exactly common.
Apart from Ms.Maxime, there was only Fleur, Gabrielle, and Professor Rockneil, whom he’d met in Romania.
But none of them fit the bill.
When the two of them took their seats by the Hufflepuff table, Professor McGonagall entered with the new students.
During the Sorting, Kael asked again, "Did you ask his name?"
"He didn’t tell me." Conna shook her head.
"So how did you guys get back?"
"Apparition," Conna said. "But the Old Wizard was really ancient—when I grabbed his arm I hardly used any strength at all, and his arm broke right off. Scared me to death."
Alright, now Kael knew who it was.
There were plenty of elderly Wizards in the Magic Realm, but the only one old enough to break apart at a touch was Nicolas Flamel, who’d been alive for over six hundred years.
Now it all made sense.
Although Nicolas lived in Devon most of the time, he’d occasionally take vacations in France, go to the opera and so on—like a randomly refreshing NPC: plenty of people had bumped into him.
And Beauxbatons was Nicolas’s alma mater. Him dropping by to check things out wasn’t odd at all... Still, Kael had no idea how Nicolas had gotten to know Conna.
Soon, the Sorting was over; all the new students made their way to their Houses, and the empty golden dinner plates immediately filled up with all sorts of food.
Kael, who’d barely eaten all day, put thoughts of Nicolas out of his mind and casually served himself a piece of roast beef.
"By the way, how’d your test with The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers go?"
"Went smoothly." Conna couldn’t help grinning. "There were a few hiccups—some people thought I was too young and should wait a couple years before taking the test, but Mr. Damocles disagreed. He insisted on putting me on the list and even supervised my entire potion-brewing process himself."
"This is the first I’ve heard of age mattering in potion-making. Does it improve your success rate or something?"
Kael snorted dismissively. "If you’re not good enough, it doesn’t matter how old you are—the Cauldron won’t show you any mercy. By the way, do you remember who tried to get your test disqualified?"
"And what are you planning to do?" Conna shot him a look.
"Just give ’em a little surprise, of course." Kael helped himself to some fried chips. "It might look like they’re targeting you, but really, I’m on their hit list too... I mean, every Wizard in the United Kingdom knows I’m the youngest at the Ministry of Magic."
"Don’t start. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours." Conna kicked Kael lightly under the table. "So what if they’re old-fashioned? They didn’t object after I passed the test. Don’t you dare do anything unnecessary!"
"How could I? What kind of person do you think I am?" Seeing Conna so unconcerned, Kael sensibly changed the subject: "By the way, why did you go to Norway for the test?"
"Because Mr. Damocles was in Norway. He apparently discovered a special kind of Herb there that could improve the Wolf Poison Potion," Conna replied.
Damocles was none other than Belby’s uncle—the one Kael had met on the train—the inventor of the Wolf Poison Potion and a famous Potion Master, so it made perfect sense that he’d oversee The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers’ test.
"So that means you passed?"
"Not sure yet." Conna took a bite of fried pork chop. "Results won’t come out until after Christmas. But I think it’s in the bag."
"That means you definitely passed." Kael grinned.
