Chapter 254 - The MacDougall Family

Early in the morning, the snow outside had stopped. Isabelle had just woken up and felt a bit cold in the room, so she pulled her head under the covers. Downstairs in the kitchen, there were faint sounds of commotion. The young girl sighed softly, quickly got up, got dressed, and went downstairs to help prepare breakfast.

"Mom, aren't you supposed to be working at St. Mungo's Magical Maladies and Injuries Hospital today?" A red-haired girl in her pajamas walked into the kitchen, looking at her mother, Mrs. MacDougall, who was busy preparing breakfast.

"Darling, it's your birthday today." Mrs. MacDougall motioned for her daughter to wait for a moment, "So, I took a half-day off to make you a sumptuous breakfast."

"The beef is getting burnt!" Katrina, coming downstairs, detected a faint smell of something burning and quickly reminded them.

"I'll take over." Isabelle sighed lightly, pulled out her wand, and took over the cooking from her mother.

Perhaps, as the saying goes, everyone has their own strengths. Aside from being exceptionally talented in healing, their mother was a mess at everything else, even with cooking magic that she had practiced for a long time, she still couldn't cook delicious food proficiently.

Who would have thought that the head of the famous Curse and Malady department at St. Mungo's Magical Maladies and Injuries Hospital would be so hopeless at everything except healing!

"Oh, alright!" Mrs. MacDougall seemed a bit disappointed, but quickly rallied, "By the way, I just counted the number of gifts. You've received fifteen birthday presents this year."

"Okay, Mom, I think we can open the birthday gifts after we finish breakfast." Isabelle used her wand to control the frying pan, skillfully plated the beef, while Katrina used cooking magic to fry eggs and sausages and prepare a vegetable salad with tomatoes and other vegetables. Her cooking magic wasn't as proficient as Isabelle's, requiring more focus.

"Good morning, Dad." Isabelle looked at the photo of a young man placed nearby and greeted softly. The man in the photo was smiling at them.

"Katrina has made great progress in family magic!" Mrs. MacDougall didn't spare any praise, she had almost no talent in cooking.

"I've been practicing." Katrina said. In fact, she had been helping with household chores at home, as their mother was busy working at St. Mungo's Magical Maladies and Injuries Hospital.

During breakfast, the MacDougall family chatted about some amusing incidents at school. In fact, both sisters had always made Mrs. MacDougall feel reassured.

After finishing breakfast, it was time to open Isabelle's birthday gifts. Most of them were ordinary small presents from Ravenclaw students. If anyone's gift was the most special, it would probably be the latest edition of magical runic books from Uncle Moeg.

"I think there aren't many people at Hogwarts who can understand this book!" Katrina took the magical runic book, flipped through a few pages, and couldn't help but comment.

Although she had studied some, ancient runes weren't Katrina's strong suit.

"Someone will be able to understand it." Isabelle calmly put the magical runic book away.

"Is Robert Silvard pursuing you?" Katrina looked at the sender of a package, tilted her head, and asked Isabelle.

"Why do you say that?" Isabelle asked in response.

"Just a feeling." Katrina looked at the pretty white gloves, raised an eyebrow, "He has good taste."

"What kind of person is he?" Mrs. MacDougall asked curiously.

"I haven't really paid attention. Why?" Isabelle handed the opened package to Katrina, "If you like it, it's yours."

"Never mind." Katrina wasn't planning to take it. After all, it was Robert's sentiment. If she were to use it, the poor guy would probably cry in the bathroom.

"Thank you, the hat looks great!" Isabelle put on the black wizard's hat, which had a vibrant Erumpent feather on it. It exuded an elegant aura, making it suitable to wear at parties.

"You're welcome." Katrina smiled, "Besides, it's not like I'm the one paying for it."

Mrs. MacDougall looked at her two daughters and had a feeling that they were hiding something from her.

"Wow, Albert actually got you a birthday gift too." Katrina was quite surprised when she saw the signature on the package.

"Last time, I exchanged something with him using a spell." Isabelle opened the package and was immediately taken aback by what she saw inside.

"What is this, a wooden carving?" Katrina asked, puzzled. "But it looks quite delicate."

"A talisman?" Mrs. MacDougall looked at the unicorn wood carving, somewhat surprised by the exquisite craftsmanship of the talisman.

"A talisman? Oh, there's also a card inside." Katrina reached for the card and handed it to Isabelle.

Isabelle glanced at the card and handed it back to Katrina.

"Can I read it out loud?"

"Sure, go ahead!"

"I hope this will help you through the impending trials - Albert Anderson."

"Trials, what trials?" Katrina was even more confused. What had happened between them?

Isabelle briefly explained what had happened during her last meeting with Albert, including the Niffler stone divination.

"While I don't want to badmouth Professor Trelawney behind her back, many people say she's a fraud. You know, divination requires a special gift, and Professor Trelawney clearly doesn't have that gift." Katrina clearly didn't believe in Professor Trelawney's divination.

"There seems to be something engraved on it." Mrs. MacDougall took the talisman and examined it closely, commenting, "I can tell you, this kind of talisman must be expensive. You know, most of the ones sold on the market are scams."

"Is this thing effective?" Katrina asked skeptically.

"It should be. By the way, this talisman is carved from Mandrake root."

As a healer, Mrs. MacDougall was also skilled in potion-making and quickly recognized the wood used for the carving.

"Is it that Mandrake root?" Katrina suddenly remembered something. It seemed that someone had stolen a Mandrake from Hogwarts' greenhouse. Could it be...

"This talisman requires the use of mature Mandrake root for carving, and the Mandrakes at the school haven't matured yet." Isabelle seemed to see through her sister's thoughts and reminded her.

"Also, I think Albert probably made this talisman himself. He's quite skilled in ancient runes and alchemy." Isabelle pointed to the ancient runes carved on the talisman, explaining, "As for the price, it's definitely not as expensive as your hat."

"Albert Anderson? I think I've seen that name in 'Practical Potioneer' recently." Mrs. MacDougall suddenly recalled where she had heard the name before. "They say Anderson is a potion genius, and his improved potions are highly regarded by Mr. Daggworth."

"That guy is indeed a genius." Isabelle admitted frankly, "But for more specific details, you'd probably have to ask Katrina. They're in the same year."

"That Mr. Anderson is in the same year as Katrina?" Mrs. MacDougall stared at her daughters in disbelief.

"Yeah, he's in the same year as me. He's a widely recognized prodigious wizard at school. Many people think he might be the next Headmaster Dumbledore." Katrina hesitated for a moment before continuing, "In fact, he's already published papers in several academic journals."

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(End of this chapter)