"Is that so?" Cassandra's expression softened, though her words remained sharp. "So, I suppose I should thank you for your concern?"
This damn prickly girl, would it kill her to speak normally?
Well, maybe not kill her, but it might drive her mad.
Veratia smiled faintly and said, "Even if you don't thank me, I won't blame you for it, Cass."
"Hmph." Cassandra let out a haughty snort, lowering her head to continue her battle with the oysters in front of her.
"Actually, these oysters are best eaten on a boat," Poppy said, shaking her head in a scholarly manner. "Remember how Maupassant wrote it? Ever since Harry told me about that story, I went and read it myself. It really does stimulate the appetite—or I should say, after reading that article, the thing that left the deepest impression on me was the oysters."
"That's no different from being on a boat," Veratia said with a chuckle. "Although we are on land, this is an island after all, and the beach is just a few hundred meters away..."
"No, you're eating for the atmosphere," Poppy said, raising two small fists. "Let's go be pirates, everyone! We'll become pirates together and sail the Atlantic Ocean..."
She hummed an unknown tune and sang nonsense lyrics, looking rather simple-minded.
I knew it, all your nutrition was absorbed by your rabbits! Cassandra thought viciously as she dipped her baguette into the cream of mushroom soup.
That damn Poppy, why is she just so big!
Even Veratia couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
Of course, Harry was just feasting his eyes.
He felt that, at the very least, Poppy's future son wouldn't have to worry about whether there was enough to eat.
Unlike Cassandra—if they were to sleep with a child between them in the future, and the child woke up hungry in the middle of the night and felt the left side... hmm, it's Papa; then felt the right side... Eh?! Why is it still Papa?
Whoever ends up as Cassandra's child will have a tough life, that much is certain.
"You still want to be a pirate?" Cassandra looked Poppy up and down.
Poppy didn't quite dare to talk back, but when she saw Veratia give her a meaningful look, she suddenly had an epiphany.
That's right, I have Veratia backing me up, why should I be afraid of you!
And so, she immediately perked up.
"Why can't I be a pirate! I want to sail freely upon the open seas!"
"Boring." Cassandra picked up her wine glass and took a light sip of red wine.
She dabbed her red lips with a napkin and asked, "What about you, Poppy? What do you plan to do after graduation? You haven't discussed this with everyone yet."
"Me?" Poppy thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I plan to be like my nephew... oh, I mean like Newt. I want to be a Magizoologist."
Right, basically a freelancer, to put it in common terms.
However, Newt Scamander, as a Magizoologist, was indeed very useful. His work, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, is one of the best-selling books in the British wizarding world.
In this country, almost every wizarding household owns a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Even Muggles have had the chance to clarify questions such as: where do Quintapeds live, what do Puffskeins eat, and why it is best not to leave milk outside for Knarls.
Newt contributed greatly to the wizarding world. In 1947, he was almost solely responsible for the creation of the Werewolf Register, although he says he is most proud of the Ban on Experimental Breeding, which was passed in 1965.
This ban effectively curbed the prevalence of creating new, untameable beasts within Britain.
Mr. Scamander worked for the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau, which gave him many opportunities to travel to foreign lands.
During this time, he collected a vast amount of material for his global bestseller, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is now in its fifty-second edition.
Due to Newt Scamander's contributions to the study of magical beasts—Magizoology—he was awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class, in 1979.
So, even though the job of a Magizoologist sounds relatively leisurely—and in reality, it is quite leisurely—no one would say Newt Scamander is a slacker.
"What a truly noble ambition. It's the first time I've heard of an aunt aspiring to be like her nephew," Cassandra remarked with merciless sarcasm.
"Is that so? It's just a pity that a certain someone's nephew isn't very outstanding," Poppy retorted with a beaming smile. "And her grand-nephew is even worse. It's like a dragon giving birth to a Niffler—each generation is worse than the last..."
Cassandra took a deep breath.
She suddenly had an impulse to Apparate back to the hotel and use a curse to blast the family of three Malfoys into the sky, one by one!
Associating with such insect descendants, how can the Malfoy family possibly prosper!
"By the way," Veratia interjected at just the right moment, interrupting Cassandra's rising anger. "I haven't asked yet. Since you can't be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, then... what do you plan to do, Cass?"
"I haven't thought about it yet," Cassandra said, sounding a bit irritable. "I don't know what I should do, or what I'm suited for... It seems that ever since I left the environment of a hundred years ago, I feel out of place in this world..."
"You have to try something new eventually, Cass," Veratia comforted her. "Even if that familiar world is gone, we still have each other."
Cassandra looked at Veratia with surprise, seemingly expecting the other woman to say such comforting words.
You have to know, Veratia never comforted anyone other than Harry.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Veratia asked with a faint smile. "Is there something dirty on my face?"
As she spoke, she used a spell to conjure a mirror in front of her. After carefully observing and finding no flaws, she cancelled the spell.
"No," Cassandra shook her head and smiled. "I just didn't expect that the woman I've always regarded as my nemesis would actually comfort me... Ha..."
"Heh." Veratia shook her head. "I stand by what I said, Cass—right now, we only have each other."
"Yes." Cassandra stared blankly at the cutlery in front of her, and after a long while, she said faintly, "We only have each other left..."
Coming from a hundred years ago to the present, separated from that familiar environment, everyone she once knew had long since passed away.
Only inside Hogwarts could Cassandra comfort herself that everything was the same as before.
But abruptly graduating from Hogwarts popped the illusion she had woven for herself like a bubble, forcing her to face reality.
She had truly lost everything.
Harry sighed, moved his chair next to Cassandra, and reached out to hold her.
Cassandra leaned into the embrace, hugging Harry and sobbing silently in his arms.
Her crying made Veratia and Poppy feel a bit sentimental.
They had planned to go out and have fun, but now the mood was completely gone.
However, just as Veratia was about to say something to comfort Cassandra, she noticed Cassandra suddenly and subtly lifting half of her head from Harry's shoulder.
Those eyes showed absolutely no sign of redness or swelling, nor any trace of tears; they were filled entirely with triumph.
Hmph, Grindelwald...
Are you angry yet!
Veratia never expected Cassandra to be such a snake in the grass.
You sneaky little devil, I'm actually impressed!
From Harry's angle, he couldn't see what Cassandra was doing at all. He actually felt quite sorry for this young lady, his hand rubbing her back soothingly.
And to be honest, the texture didn't feel bad at all.
At an angle Harry couldn't see, Cassandra stuck her tongue out at Veratia.
Bleth!
Veratia took a deep breath, telling herself not to get angry.
But she didn't anticipate that Cassandra, somehow, would suddenly make her eyes turn red, misting over with tears.
She lowered her head again, her sobbing gradually getting louder.
"Harry..." She looked up, her voice incredibly sweet and delicate.
"What's wrong?" Harry's heart ached terribly, and he asked with concern.
"I feel so awful..." Cassandra looked like a pear blossom bathed in rain. "I want a kiss..."
Wait, sister?
Aren't you a tsundere?
Where's the 'tsun'?
Where did it go?
Is it just 'dere' left now?
"Okay, okay, a kiss." Harry unconsciously adopted the tone of coaxing a little sister and kissed Cassandra on the cheek. "Don't be sad, we'll go play at the beach in a little while—"
"Mmh!" Cassandra nodded heavily. She glanced back again and, under Veratia's murderous gaze, asked, "Then, tonight, can we not sleep with that Grindelwald woman?"
"Alright, alright, we won't," Harry had to comfort her, turning back to give Veratia an apologetic look.
Look, the poor child is like this, I can't just not comfort her, right?
Unexpectedly, Veratia crossed her arms and turned her head away decisively.
I'm angry too!
The kind that requires Harry to coax me to get better!
Harry's head instantly felt twice as big.
In this situation, what should I do?
Waiting online, it's urgent.
He wished he could call his godfather right now to consult on how to handle this kind of thing.
What kind of romantic minefield is this? I've never seen this before!
Sirius: I don't know either! I've never... well, played such a high-level game like you.
It was truly a blind spot in his godfather's knowledge.
"Then, you come too?" Harry helplessly released one hand.
Veratia lifted her chin with a satisfied hum. She stood up, and the stool behind her seemed to come alive, walking behind her like a soldier.
She sat down next to Harry, similarly lying in his arms, and even nudged Cassandra aside with her shoulder.
Okay, okay, so this is how we're playing?
"Grindelwald!" Cassandra gritted her teeth as she called Veratia's name.
"What is it?" Veratia looked like she held all the wisdom in the world.
Cassandra didn't speak, she just kept elbowing her.
"Look at her..." Veratia didn't strike back, but instead complained to Harry in a sweet voice.
"Alright, alright, no fighting, no fighting..." Harry hurriedly held Cassandra down. The sensation of embracing two great beauties at once was truly exhilarating. "We are good friends, the best friends in the world, how can we fight?"
"Who's good friends with her!" The two beauties retorted in unison.
Then, realizing they had said the exact same thing, they looked at each other and turned their heads away together: "Hmph!"
"Sigh." Harry sighed helplessly.
These two sisters, why do they feel increasingly childish?
"What about me? What about me?" Poppy also crowded in. She ran behind Harry and asked, "What about me? Ah! I don't have a spot! Ahhh! I feel like I'm extra!"
"How could that be?" Harry was mentally exhausted now. "How could you be extra? Don't worry, Poppy, I..."
"I don't care!" Poppy huffed, and then performed a Mt. Tai press upon Harry's head. "Then it's going to be like this!"
Harry only felt two very heavy objects suddenly press down on his head, almost crushing his head into his neck.
Wait, sister?
Are you that oppressive?
What kind of Alpine crush is this...
"Alright, alright, you three..." Harry was truly feeling a bit suffocated by the three women. "If we're done eating, let's leave quickly—didn't we say we were going to the beach? How about we go play on the beach?"
"Yay!" Poppy jumped up.
Leaving Harry seeing stars.
"No 'yays' allowed!" Harry said hurriedly.
"Oh." Poppy let out a somewhat aggrieved sound.
"Also," Harry said again, "I was thinking... well, I actually kind of want to go surfing... who wants to join me?"
"Pass," Veratia said with a faint smile, nuzzling into Harry's arms and almost pushing Cassandra out. "I'll just sunbathe on the sand. As for going into the sea, I'll pass."
"And you?" Harry looked at Cassandra. "Do you plan to surf with me?"
"On this point, I agree with Grindelwald," Cassandra said. "We won't go surfing; we'll stick to sunbathing on the beach."
"I'll go!" Poppy raised both hands, performing a French salute. "If they won't go, I'll go with you! Harry! Okay?"
"That's not a bad idea..." Harry nodded. Having someone accompany him was a good thing after all.
Leaving the restaurant, Harry and the others went to choose swimwear first.
If described in terms of cola cup sizes, then... it would be Cassandra's Small, Veratia's Medium, and Poppy's Super Large.
Actually, Cassandra was in quite a good mood at first, but after changing into her swimsuit, her mood instantly turned sour.
For no other reason than looking down at her own 'highway', and then looking at Veratia and Poppy...
Lies don't hurt, but the bloody truth is a sharp knife.
Cassandra had really forgotten such an important matter. She had actually forgotten that, in certain aspects, Veratia didn't need to speak to utterly defeat her.
Especially that incredibly un-magical tiny waist of Veratia's; it was truly something that even Cassandra wanted to go up and touch properly.
Being the niece of Princess Sissi, Veratia had inherited Princess Sissi's traits.
Coupled with the enhancement of magic, Veratia maintained her figure to an even more perfect degree.
Without needing to control her diet at all, she could maintain her body in exactly the form she desired. It had to be said, Veratia's mastery of magic was truly at the pinnacle of perfection.
Of course, the beneficiary was Harry.
In every aspect.
--
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