Chapter 271: Meeting Fleur Again
Castelobruxo's library was completely different in style from Hogwarts.
The library here had a tower-like structure, with bookshelves covering the walls from top to bottom around the edges. The centre had a five-storey structure supported by a tall, slender tree, with stairs inside the trunk that students could use to go up and down.
Large numbers of small sprites lived on the central tree. They were also the library's staff. If you needed any books, you could directly call them to bring books over. If you made loud noise here, these sprites would throw a type of berry at you. The berry didn't hurt when it hit you, but its purple juice was very difficult to wash off and had a pungent onion-like smell that made people tear up continuously for over an hour.
Standing at the library entrance, Sean looked at Castelobruxo's library. It had to be said that judging purely by appearance, Hogwarts' library lost even more badly than its food.
However, the significance of a library lay in its book collection, so Sean still needed to take a good look at the quality of the books here.
Sean's purpose in coming to Castelobruxo wasn't originally for studying or exchange. He was here for Kulkan. But since he was already here, he wouldn't waste time. Of course, during these three days, he needed to read all of Castelobruxo's third-year textbooks. Since he had decided to participate in the exams, he should still make an effort.
According to the library's introduction, Sean called over a sprite and had it bring the third-year textbooks.
Castelobruxo's curriculum arrangement differed from Hogwarts.
Castelobruxo's required courses didn't include Astronomy and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Castelobruxo's required courses were Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, and Care of Magical Creatures. Six subjects. Among the electives, besides some that Hogwarts had, there were also courses like Dark Arts and Alchemy that Hogwarts didn't have.
The electives here allowed each person to choose only three courses per academic year, but they were required to choose three. They began electives in second year, choosing three courses every three years, so by graduation they would have studied a total of six elective courses. Therefore, they didn't need Time-Turners, but since they completed three elective courses in three years, the coursework was still quite intense.
Sean briefly flipped through the textbooks in his hands and selected three elective courses to take exams in: Alchemy, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. Among these, Alchemy and Ancient Runes, because Sean had studied Alchemy with Antonius and Nicolas Flamel, his level far exceeded third-year standards, so he absorbed the textbook content very quickly.
As for Arithmancy, Sean was extremely skilled at this, so naturally there was no need to say more. He would definitely choose it.
The electives were easy; rather, the required courses had some problems.
The main issues were with Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, the two subjects Castelobruxo excelled in most. While Herbology and Potions were certainly related, the fact that they could be separated into two courses meant there were significant differences. Castelobruxo taught Herbology at a very advanced level. According to Sean's estimate, Castelobruxo's third-year Herbology was roughly equivalent to Hogwarts' fifth-year level and studied in greater depth.
However, with Sean's level in Potions, mastering Castelobruxo's third-year Herbology content in three days wasn't too troublesome. Only Care of Magical Creatures was Sean's biggest hurdle.
Sean had only studied Care of Magical Creatures for one year at Hogwarts under Hagrid. It wasn't that he thought Hagrid was bad, but Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class, at least theoretically, really wasn't sufficient. You should know that in Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures final exam, more than half ultimately received an O, with most of the rest receiving E's as well.
So over the next three days, Sean planned to spend one day going through textbooks other than Care of Magical Creatures twice, then after having a general understanding, begin tackling third-year Care of Magical Creatures.
Fortunately, Care of Magical Creatures mostly required memorisation, and Sean was fairly good at this.
Additionally, it must be said that among courses other than Care of Magical Creatures, what caused Sean the most trouble was actually Castelobruxo's History of Magic.
The History of Magic here recorded the magical history of Brazil's magical world, which Sean had never studied before. So to be able to connect things properly, Sean also requested first and second-year History of Magic books.
When curfew time arrived.
Sean left the library with the borrowed textbooks, along with Aldrich and Jensen.
Just as Sean's group walked out of the library and passed through the hall with the golden fountain, a familiar graceful figure appeared before Sean.
Seeing that familiar figure, Sean was truly stunned for a moment, then somewhat incredulously walked forward.
"Fleur, why are you here?"
Fleur looked at Sean. They had maintained correspondence these two years, but when Fleur saw him in person, she still felt somewhat like time had passed in a dream.
Had he grown this tall?
Two years ago, Sean had been slightly shorter than Fleur. Two years later, Sean was already a head taller than her.
Among boys, those like Sean who grew this early and this fast in height were truly rare.
"I originally had plans for exchange studies anyway. When I heard you were here, I came."
"Perfect timing. Let's have a good reunion here."
Nodding, Fleur looked at Sean: "When I arrived, I heard there was a top student from Hogwarts preparing to take final exams here. The Castelobruxo students are all rubbing their hands together, preparing to defeat you head-on."
"I do feel some pressure about this, but I'm very interested in Castelobruxo's rewards. Professor Lehmann, who received me earlier, said the tenth-place reward is three drops of Felix Felicis. Then the rewards for the top nine must be better than Felix Felicis. I really want to see what they are."
Of course Sean didn't say he wanted to get into the top three. These things were done, not said.
Correspondence and face-to-face conversation were ultimately different.
Sean and Fleur chatted for a long time until student council members came to remind them. Only then did Sean, along with Aldrich and Jensen, escort Fleur to her dormitory before returning to their own residence.
Lying in bed, just as Sean was about to sleep, Kulkan by his pillow suddenly hissed awake. Looking at Sean, his first words were...
"Sean, I'm hungry. Is there food?"