Chapter 423 The broken chair

Headmaster's Office--

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked in a deep voice.

Felix nodded solemnly.

"Leave the rest to me, Felix." Dumbledore took the responsibility.

"You have a solution?" Felix asked in surprise, "Albus, there's never been a precedent for this, and that snake is dead. At least I can't make any sense of it at present, but if you give me enough time, the future is not without hope ..."

Dumbledore just calmly said: "I know." Felix heard the meaning of 'this is the end' so he took the initiative to say goodbye, he felt that Dumbledore's thoughts and his are not in the same boat, it may be because of the lack of information available. But as he said before, he has no intention of giving up, for him soul is an important subject of magic to study upon.

It is just his accumulation in this area is near zero, so the hope of success in this area of research is very slim for a short period of time.

Felix stood in front of the seventh-floor window of the castle, pondering quietly: 'Instead of considering about the soul, I should put my focus on Voldemort, because there are at least three clear ways to deal with him, each of which is worth trying - destroying the soul; destroying the remnant souls; finally capturing the resurrected Voldemort alive. "

He stood on the highest spot of the castle, overlooking the faint lights flickering at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, without knowing that just at this moment, an interesting episode is going to take place in the Beauxbatons carriage -

The carriage lights were almost out, leaving only the dim tiny nightlight still on, when Fleur pushed open her room door, and carefully looked at either side, then she slipped out of her room with a light step.

With a golden egg in her hand, she tiptoed toward Madame Maxime's private bathroom, and as she passed by one of the bedrooms, the door creaked open. Jacqueline Bourgeois stepped out of that room in her nightgown.

" Fleur? What are you--" Jacqueline was stunned, as she looked at Fleur who is holding a golden egg in her hand, and cautiously moving forward against the wall.

Fleur said, "Oh, no," and hurriedly covered Jacqueline's mouth, "Keep your voice down! Don't wake up Madame Maxime ..."

Jacqueline blinked obediently.

When Fleur loosened her hand, she curiously sized up Fleur, her eyes paused for a few seconds at her bare feet.

"You don't even have your shoes on?"

"I don't need them, it's carpeted all the way, and I walked along the wall without stepping on anything ..." Fleur tilted her head proudly, and Jacqueline looked at her with an increasingly odd expression.

" I will take you to a good place." Fleur decisively changed the subject.

In fact, after the first task, she did not talk much with the other two champions, thinking they were too timid, while the other two also felt they had performed poorly and hung their heads in shame all day.

They walked to the end of the carpeted path to the huge innermost part of the carriage, where an enormous dark brown oak door stood more than ten feet tall.

" Is it not Madame Maxime's-"

"Gee, I know." Fleur said, approaching the door cautiously and whispering the password, the door opened noiselessly with a gap as she darted in, which caused Jacqueline beside her to freeze.

She is too familiar with this ...

Before she could react, a hand stretched out from inside, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her into the room as well.

A luxurious bathroom appeared before them, the entire floor and walls tiled with silver tiles, and a huge chandelier dangled in the ceiling, sprinkling a soft light. In addition to the usual bathing facilities, the innermost part of the place has a huge bathtub that is isolated. Fleur handed the golden egg to Jacqueline as she stood in front of the glass door in front of the bathtub, her eyes sparkling with stars.

"Fleur, even if you want to have a bath, there's no need to sneakily use Madame Maxime's bathroom." Jacqueline said with a worried face, if they got caught, they would both suffer.

"Don't worry, I've been here more than once." Fleur tossed her silver shiny hair with a bright smile. "I'll show you the luxury of this bath."

She pushed open the door, and the interior filled with mist, with the faint fragrance of the aroma that Madame Maxime favoured. A huge pool-like bath took up most of the space, a gold-encrusted mirror stood in one aisle, and two white towels the size of a bedsheet hung on the metal hooks on the wall, "I've been looking forward to the end of the day." Fleur said cheerfully.

She quickly removed her nightgown to reveal a one-piece bathing suit, she looked well-prepared. Fleur warmed up a few times before she leaped into the water like a swimming fish, as she swam a dozen meters around the bath in one breath, before peeking her head out of the water, revealing her flowing, beautiful hair.

"Come here, Jacqueline." She said invitingly, her voice echoing nicely as it resounded between the empty walls.

Jacqueline shook her head and stepped aside with the golden egg in her arms, her eyes glancing in the direction of the door every few seconds, fearing that Madame Maxime would come in at this hour, even though, by common sense, she would have fallen asleep by now.

She stood by for a while, watching Fleur's graceful swimming posture, like a beautiful mermaid, her long silver hair and graceful nape visible in the mist, Fleur's natural charm radiated in a way that made her very envious of her.

Jacqueline held the golden egg, her arm got a little sore, she looked around and found a beautiful recliner - a recliner that shared a common feature with the other furnishings in the room, that is, it is huge. She placed the golden egg in the middle of the seat and laid herself back with it.

"Huh?"

This move made her discover something different, she propped herself up a little as she stroked the surrounding seat, her fingertips touched a soft and tough layer of air, she felt like she is lying in the softest cloud of cotton, yet she didn't have to worry about sinking in.

"Madame Maxime knows how to enjoy herself well." Jacqueline couldn't help but wonder why the students' baths didn't have these things.

She positioned her body fully on the recliner, resting on a circular log-shaped cushion that she had expected to be hard, but it turned out to be similar to the layer of air beneath her, supporting her head in a soothing way that her ears seemed to hear the sound of lullaby as her tense nerves relaxed automatically.

It is as if she is on a cloud, so comfortable that she is about to fall asleep, without knowing how long has passed -

"How is it, this is a very comfortable seat, right?" A voice seemed to come from beyond the sky, Jacqueline looked a little confused for a moment, who was talking? She opened her eyes and found Fleur draped in a large towel, her big eyes staring at her.

"Fu, Fleur, you're done bathing, we'd better leave--" She hurriedly tried to get up, but she was pinned back by Fleur's hand as she pressed her head.

Fleur slumped down next to her in the process and let out a pleasant sigh.

"This is so comfortable, I'd love to sleep on it all the time, but unfortunately it's not available on the market." She said complainingly, "I've been waiting for almost a month, and there's still no news from Future World Company."

"This is a product of the 'Future World' company?" Jacqueline asked softly since she had heard of the company's name, as it had opened a branch in the busiest magic street in France, named Future World 3.

"That's right," Fleur said lazily, closing her eyes, "Future World is owned by Mr. Felix Hap, you've met him, he's an ancient rune professor at Hogwarts and a school board member of Beauxbatons."

Jacqueline's eyes widened.

After lying comfortably for a while, Fleur picked up the golden egg as she looked at it from left to right, "Did you solve the mystery of the golden egg?" Jacqueline asked. The golden egg had always been placed next to Fleur, and the other two champions rarely could touch it.

"Not yet." Fleur said, she was originally very anxious, but every time she sat in this " Cloud Chair ", the feeling of all worries will disappear, then she talked unhurriedly, with a lazy French accent.

"I heard François (another champion) say that Madame Maxime plans to interfere ..."

"I know," said Fleur, her delicate nose wrinkling as she held the golden egg close to her body, "she talked to me about it long ago, but I refused; I wanted to solve the mystery myself."

Jacqueline looked at Fleur enviously, perhaps in Madame Maxime's opinion, Fleur is the only one who is qualified to be a champion.

"Click."

A clear, crisp sound reached their ears.

"What's that sound?" Fleur asked warily.

Jacqueline shook her head as she straightened up and looked in the direction of the bathroom door like a frightened deer, not even the seat beneath her could reassure her at the moment, and she said with a little tremor, "Could it be Madame Maxime ...?"

"It can't be." Fleur's expression is one of hesitant, but she also got a little jittery, raising her slender neck and listening sideways for a while, "Don't worry, there is no problem, I have been here several times, Madame Maxime's very disciplined about her routine."

Jacqueline could only lie down reluctantly again.

"It's nice~"

"Yeah." Jacqueline echoed, whether it is the feeling of lying in the recliner or the fact that her relationship with Fleur is showing signs of easing up, it is good for her.

They laid in silence for a while, and in a daze, a sound was heard again-

"Click."

"I heard it again." Jacqueline said.

"Maybe it's an auditory hallucination." Fleur said with one hand touching her golden egg with her eyes closed.

A deep, calm voice suddenly sounded from above their heads with a tone of annoyance and amusement, "It's not a hallucination, I'm pretty sure that's the sound my recliner made."

"Well ..." Fleur smacked her lips, "I don't think so."

"Madame Maxime! What brings you here?" Jacqueline's frightened cry sounded in her ears.

Fleur looked a little confused, who was Jacqueline talking to? Madame Maxime? Who is Madame Maxime?

Fleur suddenly opened her eyes and met a tall, imposing figure with a sharp gaze. She let out a shriek and sat up violently, "Yes, It's me, I'm sorry, Madame Maxime, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have sneaked in and secretly used your recliner..."

However, Madame Maxime didn't hear Fleur's apology as the bathroom is dominated by another sharp, piercing shriek as the golden egg dropped on the floor when Fleur suddenly sat up, hitting the cushion and bouncing off on its own.

The golden egg let out a seeping scream while rolling, under the eyes of three pairs of eyes, flexibly turned around in an arc trajectory, and with a " poof " fell into the water.

Fleur froze for a moment, stood up obediently, and said seriously: " Madame Maxime, I'm going to get the golden egg." After saying that, she did not even dare to look at Madame Maxime's reaction as she jumped directly into the vast bath.

On the surface of the bath, Madame Maxime, with a stern face, asked Jacqueline, "Did Fleur drag you here?"

"No, no, it was we who decided to come together." Jacqueline said warily, "It's our first time over here -"

Madame Maxime grunted, "It may have been your first time, but not necessarily Fleur's, and I could see for a while that she coveted this chair of mine." She looked a little annoyed, but not at Fleur, but at Hagrid.

She didn't know what he had been up to lately, but every time he came to feed the Abraxan horse these days, he would ask her in a roundabout way if the Cloud Chair is broken, and he exclaimed that he is skilled at fixing things, so if it is broken, he can be called for help.

Madame Maxime felt annoyed that Hagrid thought she weighs too much, or else how could he suggest repeatedly that she would break the chair?

Tonight she couldn't sleep in bed, apart from the fact that Fleur was too stubborn and insisted on cracking the secret of the golden egg by herself, Hagrid was part of the reason, and in an irritable mood, she thought of taking a moment in the bathroom.

As a result, unexpectedly, there was an unexpected reward.

Seeing Fleur poking her head out of the bath and looking at her curtly, Madame Maxime smiled coldly, she definitely would take this opportunity to convince Fleur today, and there is nothing to be ashamed about, anyway, she did not think that the Karkaroff would act as promised to guarantee fairness.

After the first task ended, whoever believed any more of Karkaroff's words would be a complete fool.

One thing is quite true - cheating has always been a tradition in the Triwizard Tournament. But when to cheat? Right now is the best time to do so. "Madame Maxime! I, I have uncovered the mystery of the golden egg!" Fleur's excited shout jolted her awake, and she looked at Fleur suspiciously.

"It is true, I will sing it to you - Come seek us, where our voices sound~ We cannot sing above the ground; And while you're searching~ Remember this; Purple for strength; Blue for wisdom; Gold for, for-"

Fleur sang, her voice moving with grace and a mesmerizing charm. Both Madame Maxime and Jacqueline could not help but quietly listen, but halfway through the song, Fleur suddenly got stuck, "Uh, sorry, I forgot the rest of it. Why don't you all come down together?"

Half a minute later -

The three ladies looked up from the bath in unison and tossed their hair, Madame Maxime fell into contemplation, "So that's it, I know it would be according to the four elements where the golden egg represents life and life refers to fire ..."

She sat down on a chair and pondered the clues provided by the golden egg, and soon, she also thought of the only place at Hogwarts that qualified - the Black Lake.

"The Black Lake is said to be home for quite a few creatures, Merpeople, Giant Squid, Grindylows ...," Fleur said softly while pressing Madame Maxime's shoulder.

"But would these three creatures represent wisdom, strength, and growth?" Madame Maxime said disapprovingly, "There must be something else, these are just hindrances for champions, you need to consider underwater survival, and underwater spell casting for combat, as for wisdom and growth ... this is not something that can be speculated."

"You said it so wisely, why I did not think of it." Fleur smiled very charmingly.

Madame Maxime gave her a blank look, but at least the mystery of the golden egg was cracked, so she didn't intend to pursue it, "A little to the left." She instructed, and Fleur laughed happily again.

"Click - click - click - click -"

The chair beneath Madame Maxime suddenly emitted a series of dense rattling sounds, and the layer of air beneath her flickered twice and suddenly disappeared.

Three people stared wide-eyed, Madame Maxime's expression is the one that looked most astonished.

This chair really got broken by her?

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