"No! It should have been me!!!!"
"Just a little bit more and I could have it!"
Two anguished cries echoed through the Room of Requirement.
Lucien watched Ron and Malfoy clutch their chests in despair, shook his head, and handed two copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to Hermione and Harry.
Hermione, of course, had been the top scorer in the final exam, while Harry happily received the Best Progress Award.
Both accepted their prizes and thanked Lucien.
Harry opened the cover, saw Newt Scamander's signature, then glanced at the devastated Ron and Malfoy and couldn't help asking:
"Lucien, Ron told me about Newt's reputation and how valuable a signed copy is, but isn't this a little…"
He lowered his voice.
"Aren't Ron and Malfoy overreacting a bit?"
Seeing their behavior, Lucien also found it amusing.
"It's fine. They'll get over it."
Ron was looking at the economic value of the book, and Malfoy was looking at its honorific value.
In fact, after learning that the final exam prize was a signed book from Newt, Malfoy had secretly approached Lucien, asking if he could exchange it for something else.
Malfoy didn't care about the book's monetary value; he simply wanted such a rare item.
Preferably something one of a kind in the world.
Lucien understood the habits of these pure-blood nobles—or rather, the habits of the aristocratic class in general.
They don't care about the item itself; they care about the sense of superiority that comes with owning it.
What they seek is a feeling—a feeling of being above others.
Hermione held the book with a bright, satisfied smile.
She didn't care about exam prizes; being first place was already a reward for her.
But if a gift came with it, she certainly wouldn't refuse.
"Harry, getting a signed book from Mr. Scamander in the wizarding world… if we compare it to our side… It's like having afternoon tea with Ms. Hepburn."
Hearing Hermione's analogy, Harry immediately understood. He had never encountered the wizarding world during his first eleven years, and in comparison, he was still far more familiar with Muggle life.
They were both famous figures in their respective worlds, and exceptionally well-known at that. Harry instantly grasped the value of the book in his hands.
He hugged it tightly, unable to stop himself from imagining.
"Hermione, now that you put it that way, I get it. I wonder what it would be like to actually spend time with her?"
"Hmm.. She's elegant and also a very kind, amiable lady," Lucien said casually as he gathered their exam papers.
At those words, Harry and Hermione both turned to look at him.
"Uh… Lucien, you… you didn't actually have afternoon tea with Ms. Hepburn, did you?" Harry asked hesitantly. It sounded ridiculous, but then again, Lucien could correspond with Newt Scamander and get his autograph—so when it came to Audrey Hepburn…
Lucien looked up, straightened the papers, and chuckled softly at Harry.
"If you can maintain this performance next semester, I'll take you with me."
Those words immediately made Harry and Hermione uneasy. To be honest, this had a far greater impact on them than the fact that Lucien could contact Newt.
"You really had tea with Hepburn?!"
"What does your family do?!"
Lucien picked up the exam papers and walked toward the door.
"They're in business. They know a lot of people. You can come to my house during the summer holiday. It's quite big…"
…
Christmas Eve.
The lead-grey sky was cold and silent, as if wrapped in a damp, frigid wool blanket.
Lucien patted the little Qilin.
"Just try it the way I taught you."
"Go."
Lumen nodded, and its body instantly turned into a faint streak of light, shooting straight into the thick clouds!
The moment it vanished into the sea of clouds, dozens of crimson-gold flames erupted from it as the source.
They looked like strands of fire torn from the sun, or a torrent of molten, fused meteorites.
These fiery streams didn't flare about wildly; instead, they circled and rose around the Qilin's silhouette, moving as if alive.
Wherever the flames passed, the cold air let out an unbearable roar, rapidly heating and expanding, creating a powerful rising thermal current.
The previously stable atmosphere was completely torn apart by this overwhelming force.
The clouds churned and boiled violently, like an ice lake suddenly struck by burning stones.
Countless layers of water vapor were instantly evaporated by the heatwave, rising, cooling at higher altitudes, and condensing into enormous, mountain-like cumulonimbus clouds at an unprecedented speed and scale.
The rain poured down.
Lucien held his wand, and a transparent air shield formed above his head like an umbrella.
Through the rippling rain, he looked up at the thick clouds, watching the occasional flashes of light surging within them.
He recalled his conversation with the system from a few days earlier:
"System, Lumen doesn't have magic circuits in its body. Its power isn't the same as the magic of this world, is it?"
[The form resembles magic, but its essence is different. Lumen does not belong to this world]
[It is a mythical creature from another realm]
After receiving that answer, Lucien understood some of the strange traits the little Qilin displayed: its unrestricted Apparition, its horn capable of suppressing magic… That was why, during that hotpot conversation, he had asked Dumbledore whether a magic-free thunderstorm was possible.
Let's see.. what changes will appear?
Lucien looked down at the stones he had arranged on the ground, and swirling patterns appeared in his eyes.
Through the soil, through the box, he used his Eye of Peering Magic to directly observe the crystal potion bottle, carefully examining the changes in the magic within the solution.
Boom—!
Inside the cloud mass, the rising air currents, intensified by the fierce flames, surged wildly. Ice crystals and water droplets collided violently, generating terrifying electrical charges.
A pale bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the dim clouds.
Immediately after, thunder rolled across the sky—not a distant rumble, but a deafening roar exploding directly overhead.
Crimson-gold flames churned and flickered within the pitch-black clouds, each flare illuminating the raging network of lightning inside.
Extreme heat and biting cold clashed violently, stirring up howling winds and sheets of rain.
A rare thunderstorm for this season, born entirely from the power of a mythical creature, announced its arrival with force.
"It's done!"
At the very moment the first lightning bolt flashed and thunder cracked, Lucien saw the magic inside the solution begin to boil.
What had originally resembled interwoven black and white threads suddenly fused together.
Between the black and white, a trace of crimson emerged.
In the blink of an eye, the red instantly consumed everything, leaving no trace of black or white impurities behind.
Once the flow of magic stabilized, Lucien waved his wand, lifted the soil aside, and summoned the box into his hand.
Taking a deep breath, he gently opened it, his eyes fixed on the crystal potion bottle.
Inside was a single-sip dose of blood-red potion.
Lucien remembered the second heartbeat he had felt when he pressed his wand to his chest and recited the Animagus incantation for the third time.
All preparations were now complete.
As long as he drank this potion, there would be no turning back… At that moment, Lumen flashed to Lucien's side.
Lucien gathered his thoughts and reached out to touch the little Qilin.
In an instant, the scene before him shifted, placing him in an open clearing surrounded by the towering trees of the Forbidden Forest.
Before Lucien could say anything, a wisp of crimson-gold pure fire rose from Lumen's body, spreading out and covering the entire clearing.
Seeing this, Lucien let out a soft chuckle, took a small bottle of dew from his pocket, and let it float in front of Lumen.
Lucien unscrewed the crystal potion bottle. The blood-red liquid inside swayed gently as he raised it toward the little Qilin.
"Merry Christmas."
"Cheers."
________
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