Chapter 139: Love Potion

“Miss Fleur Delacour? I thought you would come tomorrow. It is rather late today.”

When Kahn opened the door and saw who was standing outside, he said this before returning to his desk, leaving the doorway clear. Fleur entered and closed the door behind her.

What she was about to discuss might damage the reputation of the Delacour family, so Fleur had to keep the matter secret.

“Professor Pente, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbatons...”

Fleur clenched her palms slightly. She had acted on impulse and, in truth, had no idea what she ought to say. Having occasionally overheard fragments of conversation from her parents late at night, she knew that the family was facing bankruptcy. Driven by a surge of desperation, she had come to Kahn’s office, yet she had not the faintest idea how to begin.

“I know your name. You were one of the champions in the Triwizard Tournament, and everyone at Hogwarts knows who you are. But if you do not know what to say, you can go back and prepare a speech first. I am rather busy at the moment.”

There was a clear suggestion that Kahn was seeing her out. It was somewhat discourteous to invite someone in only to send her away immediately, but he truly was busy. He needed to craft alchemical objects, investigate unfamiliar runes, and perhaps seek out a wizard skilled in Ancient Runes to ask for guidance.

Kahn’s time was exceedingly valuable now. Even if he could spare a little of it, he was unwilling to listen to Fleur repeat an introduction he already knew.

Fleur also noticed the expensive magical materials spread across Kahn’s desk. There were nearly two pounds of mithril alone. A fist-sized lump of gold essence, which only goblins were said to be capable of producing and which supposedly cost nearly a hundred Galleons per gram, sat among the materials.

“Professor Pente, I...”

Fleur had just gathered enough courage to plead with Kahn on behalf of her parents and the Delacour family when a scratching sound came from the office door, followed by several weak, plaintive meows.

The meowing shattered what little courage Fleur had managed to summon. Kahn, however, set down his work and rose to open the door.

“Why has that black cat come again tonight...?”

As soon as Kahn opened the door, the black cat darted inside. It looked around the room and, failing to find the soft cushion where it usually slept, began meowing at him.

Only after Kahn conjured the cushion did the cat settle down comfortably upon it. It did not go to sleep, however. Every so often, it opened its eyes and studied the other two people in the room.

It is only a black cat...

Fleur Delacour felt a little more at ease. Then, sensing that Kahn intended to send her away, she gathered her courage once more and said, “Professor Pente, I hope you can spare the Delacour family...”

“I refuse. Compensation will be handled according to the magical contract. I will do nothing beyond what is required, but the Delacour family must provide the Potion Ingredients Shop with the compensation it is owed.”

Kahn temporarily stopped sorting the magical materials, turned his chair toward Fleur, and continued, “If your family is unwilling to pay anything, would that not mean anyone could deceive the Kahn Potion Ingredients Shop with impunity?

“Miss Delacour, if your family’s actions had not been discovered, would you not have earned even greater profits? You want to enjoy all the benefits without accepting any of the risks. What kind of reasoning is that?”

After hearing Kahn’s words, Fleur grew anxious. She felt that he had a point, but it was her parents who were suffering now. All she could do was earnestly plead with Kahn Pente, the owner of the largest potion ingredients shop in Europe.

“I know my parents may have made a mistake, but Professor Pente, I hope you can give them another chance...”

Fleur’s voice trembled slightly. Her hands hung at her sides, tightly clutching the fabric of her fitted dress, making her appear especially vulnerable and moving. Moreover, Fleur was one-quarter Veela, and an alluring charm constantly radiated from her. When Veela pleaded in a soft, imploring manner, few people could refuse them.

Kahn, however, was hard-hearted enough to reject Fleur Delacour’s request.

“That is impossible. Instead of coming to plead with me, you should persuade your parents to sell the treasures your family has kept hidden while the news has yet to spread. Perhaps then, you may still have a chance to rebuild your family’s fortunes in the future.”

“Professor Pente...”

“If there is nothing else, go back and get some rest. You should be preparing for the next event of the Triwizard Tournament.”

Kahn truly had no time left to waste on Fleur Delacour, so he adopted a firmer tone and escorted her from the office.

“What a troublesome woman. Wouldn’t you agree?”

After seeing Fleur out, Kahn stroked the black cat beneath its chin. The gesture clearly pleased it. He then recalled another way of petting a cat. He remembered hearing that patting a cat’s backside could also make it comfortable, so Kahn decided to try.

He had barely given it a few pats when the black cat let out an angry yowl and swiped a paw at him. If Kahn had not withdrawn his hand quickly, he would likely have been scratched.

The injury would not have done him any real harm, but the cat’s reaction at least taught him that some cats’ backsides were not to be touched.

“What a difficult cat. I wonder who your owner is!”

Seeing this, Kahn stopped concerning himself with the cat and prepared to craft a magical earring capable of defending against attacks on the soul.

The smaller a magical object, the more difficult it was to construct a balanced array of runes upon it. He also had to consider how the magical materials would interact and fuse with one another. Kahn was still experimenting according to the notes left behind by Nicolas Flamel. Although he had crafted an identical magical earring before, changing the materials meant he had to treat it as an entirely new alchemical object and proceed with extreme caution.

This time, he planned to use memory magic, such as Occlumency, and construct the enchantment upon the earring with Ancient Runes.

While Kahn studied the alchemical object, the black cat stretched lazily on its cushion. After staring at him for a while and deciding that he was uninteresting, it yawned and fell asleep.

The night passed. Kahn continued sending his shadow clones to teach his classes, and he also had one of them find an opportunity to cast a Revealing Spell on Moody. The spell could, to a certain extent, force someone who had taken Polyjuice Potion to reveal their original appearance, but it had no effect whatsoever on Moody.

He truly was Mad-Eye Moody, not Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise.

Kahn immediately stepped forward to apologize to Alastor Moody and explained the reason for the spell. Moody did not dwell on the matter. He rather admired Kahn’s teaching philosophy. In the wizarding world, dark wizards were ten times more dangerous than magical creatures, yet the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors Moody had known in the past had rarely held such a view.

Moody also knew that Kahn had defeated more than twenty Death Eaters single-handedly during the Quidditch World Cup and sent every one of them to Azkaban. His strength was formidable, and his methods were precisely the sort Moody appreciated.

That was how Death Eaters ought to be dealt with.

After learning that a Death Eater might have infiltrated Hogwarts, Moody agreed to keep an eye out for suspicious individuals. If anyone tried to make trouble in secret, they would not escape the notice of his magical eye.

There was still more than half a month before the first task. Until then, Hogwarts remained relatively peaceful, apart from the bullying directed at Harry Potter by students jealous of him.

Such things were common everywhere. However, few people dared say anything openly cruel in Hermione’s presence, because her relationship with Kahn was no longer much of a secret at Hogwarts.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a governor of Hogwarts, and the man who had defeated more than twenty Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup and sent them all to Azkaban—some had already begun calling Kahn Pente the most powerful wizard after Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet.

Under such circumstances, even the older Slytherin students who were most hostile toward Gryffindor did not dare speak loudly to Hermione, let alone anyone else.

Hermione herself had been rather busy lately. Apart from attending classes, she was so rarely seen in her dormitory that even her roommates had remarked upon it.

The students from the other schools continued attending lessons at Hogwarts obediently. Even among the seventh-years, some intended to sit their N.E.W.T.s, so quite a few had chosen to remain at Hogwarts and revise. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students could occasionally be seen in the library.

...

In the Restricted Section, a graceful young witch was reading a book entitled Powerful Potions. When she saw the potion described on one of its pages and learned of its effects, her eyes lit up at once, and a glimmer of hope appeared on her lovely face.

“Love Potion. It can make the target fall passionately in love with the brewer and obey any command. Combined with certain mesmerizing spells... no one can escape this poison of love. It may be false, but it has an antidote...”

An antidote was naturally a good thing. Fleur did not want to permanently bewitch a Hogwarts professor. Once the matter concerning her family had been resolved, she would immediately administer the antidote and awaken him. If there were no evidence afterward, the Delacour family’s crisis would be over.

She had no other options. Even Madame Maxime could do nothing to resolve the matter. The compensation demanded was simply too enormous, and the trade departments of the magical governments of both countries had witnessed the contract. Unless the other party voluntarily withdrew it, three generations of the Delacour family’s efforts would be lost—and even that might not be enough.

Before coming to Hogwarts, Fleur had seen her father suffer from a terrible headache late into the night. The deadline stipulated in the contract was drawing closer and closer...

After turning the matter over in her mind, she decided this might be the most useful solution. If Kahn discovered what she had done afterward, the family’s crisis would already have been resolved, and love potions were notoriously difficult to trace. She would sincerely apologize.

Fleur had initially wanted to tear out the page, but then remembered that this was Hogwarts’ Restricted Section. Instead, she found paper and a quill and copied the contents in detail. There was not much to record. The required potion ingredients, brewing method, and preparation of the antidote were all described clearly. Once she had finished copying, Fleur quickly returned Powerful Potions to its place.

The month following Christmas was the Delacour family’s final deadline. If they could not gather the money or dissolve the contract, the International Trade Association of the French Ministry of Magic would forcibly freeze all the Delacour family’s assets—including every article of clothing they possessed except the garments they were wearing.

Only whatever remained after the compensation had been paid would belong to them.

Few people ever visited the Restricted Section, so Fleur’s unusual behavior went unnoticed. After placing the copied notes in her pocket, she composed herself, arranged her features into an expression of unconcern, and left the Restricted Section.

82 Chinese Network