Chapter 450 Lakeside Manor

Chapter 450 Lakeside Manor
"The location of Everer Manor is a secret." Furong raised her chin proudly, her blue eyes flashing with a hint of pride: "People who are not invited will not even know where it is, let alone enter."

She raised her slender fingers and gently pointed at the silver invitation card in Xie Ling's hand: "This invitation card is your pass."

Xie Lin glanced down at the smooth silver card, rubbing the lines on his fingertips thoughtfully. "So, no Apparition? No Floo Powder or Portkeys?"

"Of course." Furong smiled with a hint of pride, "The Eifler family is more cautious than you think. There are many powerful magical defenses in the manor, and even a flying broom can't fly in."

Xie Lin raised his eyebrows: "Then how are we going to get there?"

Furong shook her silver-gold hair gently, the corners of her mouth curved a little deeper, and she said with a proud tone: "Of course it is - the most elegant means of transportation."

She raised her chin, grasped the wand and waved it gently. The next moment, circles of golden ripples appeared in the air, as if condensed from the faint light of the morning sun. As the magic was activated, a gorgeous golden carriage slowly appeared from the void.

It was a carriage that looked like something out of a fairy tale.

The body of the car is inlaid with exquisite golden carvings and is covered with delicate star patterns, just like a dreamland sprinkled with moonlight. The wheels are light and elegant, as if they will not touch the ground at all, but float in the air.

Four pure white divine horses stood in front with their heads held high. Each was tall and strong, with manes shining in the sun without a single color. As the horses' hooves gently stepped on the ground, dots of golden powder floated in the air, like magic sprinkled by fairies.

"Get in the car." Furong had a hint of pride in her eyes and stretched out her hand to make a gesture of invitation.

Xie Lin was not in a hurry to move. Instead, he looked at the luxurious magic carriage in front of him and chuckled, "It seems that your family is indeed unique in terms of luxury."

"You finally found out?" Furong raised her eyebrows, a mischievous smile flashing in her eyes, "If you are willing, I can consider letting you experience the real treatment of a princess."

Xie Lin laughed and walked into the carriage. Furong followed closely behind him and gently closed the door. As the divine horses leaped lightly, the carriage slowly rose into the air and turned into a stream of light rushing into the sky. The four divine horses sprinkled dots of golden powder as they ran, drawing elegant tracks in the air, like fairy dust floating.

The surrounding scenery quickly shrank in their sight until the horizon was left behind. There was no bump in the carriage, and it was as comfortable as being in a high-end reception room.

The space inside the carriage was more spacious than it looked from the outside. The seats were soft and comfortable, and the champagne-gold velvet decorations glowed warmly in the sun. Furong leaned back leisurely on the seat, turned her head to look at Xie Lin, and a meaningful smile hung on the corner of her mouth: "Tell me, how do you feel about having me accompany you during your time in France?"

Xie Lin paused slightly, then looked up at her: "What would you think if I said it was a very good experience?"

Furong blinked slightly, her voice slightly drawn out, with a hint of flattery: "So... is it 'not bad', or 'very good'?"

Xie Ling glanced at her sideways and said with a half-smile: "Why? What kind of comments are you expecting?"

"Of course." Furong blinked lightly, with a subtle arc at the corner of her mouth, "After all, I did my best to make you have fun."

"Okay!" Xie Lin whispered, "I admit that this is indeed a very good journey, and I feel very comfortable getting along with your family."

Furong took the opportunity to sit closer, with a hint of cunning in her blue eyes, and asked in a brisk tone: "What about me? How is it like living with me?"

Xie Lin shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and put on his cynical and evil smile. "You are a charming half-blood veela, and a 17-year-old girl in her prime. I am a normal young boy. Tell me, what other experiences can I have?"

Furong's eyes flashed with interest, and her slender fingers gently tapped the armrest of the carriage, with a teasing tone: "Stop it, you don't have the blood and vigor of a young boy at all. The way you look at me is almost the same as the way you look at Gabrielle..."

"As to whether I am a normal man, I think..." Xie Lin leaned forward slightly, got closer, and looked at her deeply, "You know better than me."

Furong was slightly stunned for a moment by the distance he closed. The masculine scent that hit her nose made her blush slightly. She then chuckled and said in a soft and charming tone, "You bully me! I won't talk to you anymore!"

The carriage traveled above the clouds, and the air was filled with the faint scent of flowers and magic. The two people's eyes met, but they remained silent tacitly, as if they were engaged in a battle without gunpowder, each hiding their edge, and quietly testing each other's boundaries.

It was not until the carriage slowly landed that Xie Ling withdrew his gaze, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

“It seems that the journey has come to an end,” he said.

Furong chuckled and looked up, her blue eyes flashing with some complicated emotions: "Yes...but the journey is not over yet."

Evere Manor is located in the middle of a small lake outside of Paris. It is an exquisite lakeside manor. The manor is much smaller than Malfoy Manor, but its exterior design is more noble and elegant. The quietness of the lake also adds a touch of leisure and tranquility to it.

Xie Lin and Furong arrived half an hour early. They stood by the lake. The cool breeze blowing in their faces temporarily dispelled the summer heat.

Furong had obviously been to her uncle's estate before, and she led Xie Ling to the lake with ease.

"There are Muggle-repelling spells, shielding spells, and spells to prevent Apparition. We'll wait here for a while, and the house-elf will come to take us over." Fleur then lit the tip of her wand and gently waved it towards the other side. There was a sound of paddling water, and a house-elf - Fleur called him Knock - rowed a small boat to the lake. Sherin stepped onto the boat, and then carefully took Fleur's hand and pulled her onto the boat. Under Knock's control, the boat sailed towards the island in the lake against the wind. "Uncle Pierre is the most accomplished of all my relatives. He is a genius in potions. At the age of 30, he had published more than 10 papers in the Practical Potion Master, and at the age of 35, he was invited to join the Extraordinary Apothecary Association. He is also the richest of all my relatives. You can tell from his manor that he is very wealthy, not to mention that as far as I know, he has at least three manors like this in Europe." Fleur said with some pride.

Xie Lin nodded. No matter where he was, the potion master was a very popular profession. Just as Snape said, potions could do many things that spells could not do - a small sip of Polyjuice Potion could equal many years of hard work in human transfiguration; a few drops of Veritaserum could dig out the deepest secrets in people's hearts; and Felicity could make people overcome the strong with the weak and create miracles.

Mr. Effler's wealth is indeed enough for him and his descendants to enjoy a life of luxury. However, this is based on the premise of world peace. Once troubled times come, if there is not enough power, extraordinary wealth is nothing but a crime.

There was still some time before the banquet started, and the manor still seemed very quiet.

After Schelling and the others stepped onto the island in the lake, they were led by Knok to the side hall of the manor and sat down to wait for the banquet to begin. Schelling tasted the French pastries brought by Knok while chatting with Fleur about the various interesting stories of the Effler family. Not long after, another group of people came to the side hall. They were a pair of sisters about the same age as Fleur.

After Furong's introduction, Xie Ling realized that they were Mr. Effler's beloved daughters, and Furong's cousins.

Apolline Delacour and her mother, Lady Effleur, were sisters born from the same mother. Their mother (Fleur's grandmother) was a pure-blooded Veela, so the cousins ​​also inherited Veela blood. Their silver-gold hair shone softly under the light, and their blue eyes showed a hint of curiosity. Unlike Fleur's self-confidence and pride, Selena was more gentle, while Nayes was a bit cunning and smart.

Like their father, they are also excellent pharmacists.

Selena Everer, who is one year younger than Fleur, won the "Most Promising Newcomer Award" selected by "Practical Potion Master" earlier this year for her improvement on the formula of wolfsbane potion. She received 7 excellent grades in the wizard unified examination last school year. After the new semester begins, she will enter the 7th grade in Beauxbatons and will also be the president of this year's female student union.

Shaylin comes from the Malfoy family, which has a deep historical background. He is also well-read. He is not as ignorant of the education system of Beauxbatons as the trio in the original book. He knows that Beauxbatons has only one unified examination, which is in the sixth grade. This is different from the fact that students at Hogwarts need to take two examinations, OWL and NEWT.

Their seventh-year career was a bit like a Muggle graduate school, focusing on the field they were interested in. And Selena's chosen field was obviously potions.

Another person who is two years younger than Fleur is Naïss Everett, who will enter the sixth grade at Beauxbatons this year. She is also the top student in her class and is particularly good at magical botany. Beauxbatons does not have herbology, but instead has magical botany, which covers a wider range of plant species and is not limited to care and collection, but also includes research on magical plants and even transplanting or transforming them.

The two girls were just like other French girls Schelling had met. They were cheerful, talkative, enthusiastic and free-spirited. They could easily chat with Schelling without any barriers.

Sherin remembered the description in the original book that at Bill and Fleur's wedding, two of Fleur's cousins ​​who were of Veela descent came to attend the wedding. Afterwards, they were taken into an uninhabited forest by the Weasley twins to play some exciting games and never came out. Judging from the fiery personalities displayed by the two sisters at this moment, it was very likely that they were the two of them.

Soon, they talked about the hottest topic a few months ago - the Triwizard Tournament. The three girls' gossiping spirits were burning, and they kept asking about the controversial process of the third project.

"Sherin, how did you defeat Monroe? She is the most dazzling talent in Beauxbatons in more than a century. Originally, she was unwilling to participate in this kind of competition, but for some reason she suddenly changed her mind at the last minute and ended up taking the field. I dare say that if it weren't for her, there would be a great possibility that you, cousin, would represent Beauxbatons," Selena asked.

"I didn't defeat Monroe," Schelling shook his head and said honestly, "Maybe it was luck. A dark wizard disguised himself as a professor and entered the maze. He attacked Miss Monroe and Miss Hohenheim from Germany, leaving only Mr. Potter and I to compete for the final champion."

"Wow..." Naisi showed an exaggerated expression and said, "So, the two underage warriors from Hogwarts successfully eliminated the two adult wizard warriors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. This is amazing."

"What happened afterwards?" Furong asked with her delicate brows furrowed.

"I fought a big battle with the dark wizard and was lucky enough to defeat him, but when he attacked me, I accidentally blew him to death." Xie Lin said in a calm tone without a trace of disturbance. There was a gleam of brilliance in the depths of his eyes that no one noticed, but his face was observing them calmly.

Furong covered her mouth lightly, obviously shocked by Xie Ling's murder.

Nais's face was full of astonishment, as if she was shocked by the news.

Only Selena remained calm. She said nonchalantly, "Well... this matter is very strange. I looked through all the media in the European wizarding world, and no one mentioned that anyone died in the Triwizard Tournament, even if the person who died was a dark wizard pretending to be a professor."

Furong whispered, "Uncle Amorino once said that the media always serves the regime. The truth we know is only what the people in power want us to know."

"So, the Ministry of Magic is trying hard to hide something - for example, who is this dark wizard? Where did he come from? What is the purpose of infiltrating the competition? These have become secrets that will never be revealed to the public with the end of the competition..." Selena said in a low voice.

The corners of Schelling's mouth slightly raised. Although the two sisters were young, they were actually the direct heirs of the Effleur family, and their status was just like Fleur's in the Delacour family. Whether it was the Effleur family or the Delacour family, they were Schelling's allies in France. They had already known about Voldemort's return from Schelling's intelligence network, but he didn't expect that their descendants would know nothing about it.

It seems that Mr. Delacour and Mr. Everett feel the same as I do, and neither of them wants to involve their families in the future chaos. Isn't it for this reason that I cut myself off from the Malfoy family, causing the gradual estrangement between me and my family?
As Schelling vividly describes his process of breaking through the barriers -

"Exploding-tailed Skrewt? What kind of monster is this? Describe its appearance--"

"The magic-breaking arrow - my god, that is the trump card that the goblins use to restrain wizards. This is too thrilling -"

"What? You can actually conjure up a hundred mice in one breath—"

"Excalibur Palm - are you sure you're talking about that magical plant from ancient times that even ancient dragons and ancient giants didn't dare to provoke?"

After learning about the incredible obstacles in this competition, they finally realized that this competition was as difficult as hell, and thus speculated on the true strength of Sherin, who won the Warriors Championship - their eyes became even more passionate, and their words showed extremely enthusiastic interest in Sherin, a handsome and slightly famous young man.