Chapter 93.2 The Train (POV Gabrielle Delacour)
POV Gabrielle Delacour
After the traditionally elaborate ceremony to start the school year, the students of Beauxbaton dispersed to their rooms. Even those who lived close to the school had to live in the dormitories. Parents are allowed to take their children on field trips and home on weekends.
Gabrielle Delacour and her older sister were no exception to this rule, and because of the difficult situation of the older sister, both girls lived in the same room. And so, upon entering, the girls immediately noticed their luggage, but only seconds later they noticed the gift wrappings on their beds.
A standard set of checking charms and spells, and the silver wrapping paper was torn to shreds and the wide red ribbon tossed aside.
Both girls turned out to have identical wooden boxes, covered with a pattern of singing birds and musical instruments and scented lacquer. A few almost synchronized clicks, and the girls gazed at the oddly shaped pendants. The sisters settled silently on Fleur's bed, appreciating the identity of the gifts. There was also a small card inside.
"Happy new school year! I hope the granite of science will be a little easier with my gift, and that your sweet and bright smile will continue to delight those around you.
Hoshino Sora."
Gabrielle smiled broadly, blinking with joy. Well, as her mother always said, "The odds are in your favor, daughter, go for it!" and the girl did not hold back. A glance at her sister. Fleur turned her back to Gabby, even a little, but the younger girl could clearly see her sister's red ears.
The shrewd girl understood immediately, but she wasn't in the mood to play with her sister's nerves. Her slender fingers stroked a beautiful little card, set it aside, and reached for an unusual gift and a small book....
***
I didn't seal the doors to the compartment, but no one came to me during the first hour of the trip, so I decided to get down to business — the accumulated letters. I started with four, signed in beautiful handwriting with the names Malfoy, Greengrass, Parkinson and Rosier.
If I didn't go into detail and leave out the verbal tinsel, the masters would have expressed a desire to purchase the Goblet of Mementos.
Yes, I had left the finished artifacts in the shop, but they could only sell them with my written permission. Immediately, I began to write the answers that would allow the gentlemen to buy what they wanted by presenting them to the vendors — the manager and I had worked out this procedure separately, and no one would get anything without my special magical signature, as it was also a one-time key-pass to the special vault.
After that, I took the weekly report, which came early in the morning. Well, the influx of customers was predictable, considering Xenophilius had done a wonderful job formatting the article. But I wasn't ecstatic about the excellent sales and the brutal workload of production and the craftsmen. Why should I be? It was expected. I was happy that things were going well with the greenhouse. The thing is, the day before yesterday, Kiriko and I visited the workshop and specifically went down into the underground rooms.
Gwyneth noticed that with the girl's attention, the house plants and flowers literally exploded with growth and color. After an hour of the girl's concentrated meditation, the simplest I had taught her for self-discovery and to begin to expand her perception, the herbs planted the other day had grown a full inch! One centimeter! In one hour!
Of course, I praised the girl a lot, bought her ice cream for a month, and a nice TV, which she is only allowed to watch two or three hours a day. And now I read in the report that the rapid growth hasn't slowed down much, so the conservative forecast is that we'll have our first harvest in a few weeks. I'll have to jog my memory, see if I can find something not too complicated cosmetic or medical that I found in the Miyazaki Library.
Okay, that's done. Notice from the lawyer that the trial will continue, and a mention of a fine for "contempt of the High Commission" of one hundred galleons. Lickety-split. The letter burned in his outstretched hand, and the ashes were carried out the ajar window.
An official letter from the Ministry on the same subject followed. As the second letter was being burned, the door opened to reveal a beautiful blonde woman with dreamy eyes and a benevolent expression.
— Radical. — Luna hummed and smiled. — Hello, Sora.
— Hello, Luna. — I replied with a smile. — Come in, make yourself comfortable. — The girl sat down in front of me without much interest and looked at the papers on the table. — Coffee? Some tea? Juice? A shake?
— Hmm? — With a single look, the girl expressed the whole question.
— It is when fruits or berries are whipped with milk, ice or cream, sugar, vanilla to a homogeneous mass. It's delicious, nutritious, and healthy. — After thinking for a second, the girl nodded. — Banana? Strawberry? Forest berries? Mixed berries? — I actually have a lot of that stuff, Gwyneth, I've had the list for a couple of weeks now, so I have a lot of stuff in my briefcase, including various goodies and the same shakes from the Muggle diner.
— Banana and vanilla ice cream. — Lovegood said with a very serious look on her face, like it was a matter of life and death. A minute of manipulation and the blonde had a tall glass with a tube in her hands, which she immediately sucked on. — Delicious. — Smile. — Thank you.
— You're welcome. — I'll go back to the papers.
There aren't many left: just a letter from some strange "Mr. Jones" offering security services, and a letter from some ministerial official demanding the technology of my artifacts. I thought about the first letter. I really need security, because even the strongest defense circuits can be hacked if I have enough time, but hiring some left-wing office with dubious personalities for my business is frankly stupid.