Actually, when Senna's name wasn't called among the intermediate potioneers, she already knew she had achieved that dream she'd held for over twenty years.
But when the staff member announced "Advanced Potions Master: Senna Lamb Black," the corners of her mouth still couldn't help but curve upward sharply.
Some people applauded below. Lys took advantage of Senna going forward to receive her certificate, holding Fry in her arms and putting on a spectacular magical fireworks show for her triumphant mother standing at the front of the stage.
You must understand that there's a difference between a potioneer and a potions master. A potioneer refers to someone who can replicate and brew according to known formulas to a certain degree.
A potions master refers to someone who can modify formulas and innovate new potions.
These two are fundamentally different. Even when applying, everyone could only apply to be a potioneer, and only those who showed outstanding performance during the process, with potions worthy of praise for their improvements, would be discussed and recognised as potions masters.
Lys's fireworks sparkled above Senna's head. Even in daylight, those brilliant colours and lights made Senna steal the show completely.
People below extended olive branches to Senna—job offers from renowned potion workshops, invitation letters from great families all reached Senna's hands.
That woman who had been holed up in a dark, cramped little room in Knockturn Alley, brewing those low-level glory potions—she could finally openly unleash her talent and abilities!
Some perceptive families even handed Lys a copy of their invitations. Such abundant magical power was worth understanding.
But Lys had eyes only for Senna.
The freedom to be oneself... so being 'oneself' could actually bring such happiness? Seeing the smile that never left Mother's lips, she smiled too.
She would have it too. She would find it, and then after doing what needed to be done, she would also possess that freedom to be herself!
Lys had always been terrified of the disasters that could come at any moment, but she would never carelessly squander or easily let go of such a beautiful life as this.
Lys happily went forward to meet Senna: "Dad will definitely be thrilled to hear this news! Mum! Let's hurry home and tell him!"
"Gaga gaga gaga," Fry called out joyfully without understanding why, just knowing to be happy together.
"Hum~ hum," the Pygmy Puff being waved around by its fur also joined in the chorus.
Only Crunch floated quietly beside Lys without making a sound.
But the two of them still couldn't return home smoothly right away. They attended some small-scale potions master discussion meetings and research facility visits.
An advanced potions master and an intermediate potioneer would quickly get immigration approval in any country.
Although Senna's advanced potions master status was still one level below a potions grandmaster, potions grandmaster was never a title that could be granted through this kind of standardised selection.
Those were all reputations that masters had earned through their scholarship, through their bottles upon bottles of potions.
Senna's potion obviously wasn't enough for the grandmaster title, but her age was there. She just needed some opportunities, some inspiration... then there might be a brilliant potions grandmaster waving to everyone.
Investors wouldn't let slip the slightest possibility. They held great interest in every potential return.
Even if they despised the fact that Senna's husband was a werewolf...
Because someone, for unknown reasons, had widely spread the news that Senna's husband Noah was a werewolf, causing Senna's identity as a werewolf's wife to make her seem invisibly inferior to all the other potioneers present.
Some brainless people even condescendingly suggested Senna divorce and remarry, only to get beaten up by Lys's fists.
Senna just stood to the side holding a drink, watching Lys fight without trying to stop her. She even added a few taunts when the opponent was crying "ow ow," then patted Lys's arm to indicate—well done.
If it weren't for the full moon period approaching again, Lys had planned to take Senna to see the East. She seemed to have an undying obsession with that small black pill potion system, but that country's審核 was extremely strict and they didn't have enough time.
When the two returned to Germany, they were faced with Noah guiltily tidying the courtyard and carefully serving up a feast, even preventing Lys from helping cook.
Lys chewed on ginger root shaped like a chicken leg, muttering in her heart—Dad couldn't have caused some trouble, could he?
When she was almost finished eating, she couldn't hold back anymore and asked: "Dad, you..."
"Ah?..." Noah quickly looked up at Lys with a guilty expression.
"Dad, you didn't go out and bite people during the full moon, did you?"
Senna's fork clattered onto her plate as she looked up seriously at Noah.
Noah was also surprised. With such strong defences, how could his daughter have such confidence in him?
"I didn't. I just... I just wrecked the house rather badly..."
Lys looked at the living room, which indeed looked different from when she'd left, and breathed a sigh of relief.
It's fine, as long as Dad didn't go out biting people and didn't bite Crunch, it's good...
Good what? How did Dad get into her laboratory?!
Looking at the shattered, overturned materials and scattered notes piled in the corner, the deep claw marks on the walls, Lys licked her lips. Behind her stood Noah holding Fry, not daring to come in.
"...No one reinforced it, so when I struggled, I broke free... Then I didn't dare tidy up, afraid I'd make things worse..."
Lys picked up the newspaper clippings that Noah had separately reorganised and repaired, finding it somewhat amusing. Dad had mixed up Grindelwald's photos and deeds from different periods, but the pasting was meticulous and neat...
"It's okay, Dad. This proves your body's getting better and better." Lys didn't know what to say and could only comfort Dad, asking him to leave first, because such a massive project might require her to properly restore and organise everything.
But before Noah could breathe a sigh of relief, Senna's furious roar echoed through the house: "Ahhhh!!!"
With a bitter expression, Noah ran off again holding the giggling Fry to admit his mistakes to Senna.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Lys looked through her previous notes, speculations, and experimental results one by one, wanting to categorise them for preservation and recovery.
But as she looked, she discovered something different. On a fragmented set of notes, all the records were scattered and sourceless thoughts. Lys vaguely remembered she had indeed gone through a period where, out of confusion about magic and various mental phenomena, she had made some notes.
But that was from her school days. Her doubts about the Patronus Charm and speculations about souls had led her ignorant and recklessly bold younger self to wild fantasies. All those things that couldn't be experimented on or proven had been casually recorded in these notes.
But looking at her past doubts now, Lys still felt some of her guesses hadn't been wrong.
Among them, her judgement about having extremely low resistance to mental magic made Lys stare for several moments.
Lys thought about her experiences over the years. How to put it?
Any mental magic aimed at her.
Not one had missed...
All hits...
She flipped through with interest and discovered several strange symbols. The annotations below made Lys gradually raise her eyebrows.
"This symbol looks very interesting. I should ask Professor Babbling about it."
"Oh, annoying. I was so focused on urging Snape to deliver goods that I forgot about this."
"I forgot again. This thing seems quite old. When I have time, I must study it, but I have to go to the Black family banquet afterward. I'd better prepare well."
"There are always so many things. I'm so tired. I'll ask tomorrow!"
"Ha, did I really forget about this for so long? Maybe the Cruciatus Curse damaged my brain."
Lys tried to recall in her mind but couldn't remember writing any of these things down. This made her feel something was off. Her memory was fairly good—remembering everything wasn't realistic, but not remembering anything at all seemed problematic.
Lys carefully examined the things on this paper, found the other scattered pages, stacked them together and held them in her hand without putting them away.
She held these pages whilst cleaning up her materials room. When there was space to step on the desk and floor surfaces, Lys pasted these pages on her desk.
Gradually she had some recollection. This seemed to be from a storybook in the Lamb family collection, with very strange illustrations.
At first, she thought it was about the story of the Fountain of Fair Fortune, but then she overturned that theory. Later she also overturned the Deathly Hallows triangle-circle-and-stick pattern. It was only because it really didn't match the story inside that she had recorded it.
She felt it was somewhat familiar. She seemed to have seen this pattern somewhere else. Yes, she must have seen it... where was it?
"Little star, there's a letter for you!"
Lys shook her head and temporarily set this matter aside to get the letter, planning to flip through that book again later.
As soon as she turned around, she forgot about this matter entirely. After reading the letter in her hands, she sat on the sofa and discussed with Dad: "Fry's almost two years old now. Can he stop carrying that piece of wood around?"
Noah shook his head with lingering fear: "Let's wait a bit longer. I don't want him hugging our legs and gnawing on them everywhere."
Looking at her little brother rolling out from under the cabinet, Lys helplessly cast Scourgify on him.
Then she went to the courtyard to tend to the roses and thorns.
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