In a delicate little garden on the edge of the Beauxbatons castle grounds, snow lay like a thin layer of powdered sugar, evenly coating the shrubs, statues, and benches.
Fleur took a small wooden box from Lucien's hands. It had been carefully sealed with magic. She cracked the lid just a fraction, and feeling the unique magical pulse radiating from within, her face lit up with surprise and delight.
"A living root of the Violet Moon Vine? How did you find this so quickly?"
This was the rare ingredient she had desperately needed, one that grew steadily only in certain hidden valleys back in Britain.
Fleur had only recently rushed to Madame Maxime to ask about supply channels, yet here was Lucien, delivering it right into her hands in the blink of an eye.
"A friend helped me out," Lucien said, waving it off. He had seen how anxious Fleur was and, remembering that this plant grew deep in the Forbidden Forest, had simply made a detour to grab it.
The "friend" he was thinking of was, of course, Liu Guang.
Truth be told, after nearly two years of growth, both his and the Qilin's powers were in a completely different league than before. Perhaps it was time to find a suitable opportunity to let the little Qilin officially make its debut?
When he had first entered the wizarding world, caution had been the priority, so he hadn't let the creature be seen by the public.
But now? It was common knowledge that phoenix tears could heal wounds and that their rebirth ashes held magical properties. The world also knew Dumbledore had a phoenix, yet no one dared to try and steal Fawkes.
Why? Because they couldn't beat Fawkes, and they certainly couldn't beat the old man standing behind him.
Fleur offered her sincere thanks and carefully tucked the box away.
The two continued to walk through the quiet, snowy garden, their conversation naturally drifting toward the realms of magic and alchemy.
As they chatted, Fleur suddenly stopped walking. The moonlight illuminated her exquisite profile. She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Lucien, there's something I've been curious about... That night, when you were modifying the Fountain of Fair Fortune, and even before that, when you used fire to treat the Abraxan food... I—I felt a very specific resonance. It wasn't just a standard magical fluctuation. It felt more like a call, or an attraction."
Lucien was a little surprised. He asked her to describe the specific timing and sensation of this resonance.
"It was most distinct when the flames appeared in your hand," Fleur added, her gaze unconsciously drifting to his right hand.
Lucien looked thoughtful. He raised his right hand and focused his mind.
As his magic flowed, a crimson fire rune surfaced clearly on the pad of his middle finger, emitting a warm, restrained glow.
"Yes! That's the feeling!" Fleur's blue eyes widened as she confirmed it.
Lucien nodded, a theory forming in his mind.
"Fleur, are you particularly skilled with fire magic? or perhaps, are you naturally more sensitive to the fire element than most people?"
Fleur nodded. "Yes. My grandmother was a Veela, and I believe I inherited that from her. Aside from fire, I'm also quite sensitive to the wind element."
"That explains it," Lucien said, confirming his suspicion.
He recalled the texts regarding pure-blooded Veela—in moments of extreme emotion, they would transform into harpy-like creatures and could project intense fire.
As a quarter-Veela, it wasn't clear if Fleur had the transformation ability, but she had certainly inherited the elemental affinity for fire.
The fire element Lucien manipulated through his rune was extremely pure and active, which naturally created a strange attraction for someone with Fleur's heritage.
It was similar to how Thunderbirds or Kelpies were drawn to their respective elements.
The topic naturally shifted to Veela bloodlines and the unique nature of wizards with "mixed heritage."
According to Fleur, in addition to standard human magic, she could indeed perform a small amount of racial magic derived from her Veela blood, though it was limited and far less powerful than a full Veela's.
"I am only one-quarter Veela," she explained. "My mother can use much more of that racial magic than I can, though even she doesn't have the full range."
" 'Mixed blood' often implies unique talents and possibilities," Lucien remarked, thinking of records from the history of magic.
Take the legendary Merlin, for example. It was said he carried the blood of both a human and an Incubus—a demon of the dream realm.
This supposedly allowed him to cast mysterious magic unique to dream spirits. There were even legends claiming he could use dreams to traverse time, peering into the distant future to learn knowledge and magic from eras yet to come...