Selenis Gray was imprisoned in the dungeon of Gray Manor. Iron hooks pierced her palms, and thick iron chains suspended her in mid-air. The bloodstains on the ground had long since dried, leaving only dark red marks.
"Selenis, Selenis!"
An urgent voice called out. Selenis struggled to lift her head. Her originally orange hair was now gray and white, matted with the dungeon's dust. Through her hair, she vaguely saw her father run down and open the dungeon door.
After her father rescued her, he cast several healing spells, and Selenis's physical condition improved immediately.
Although she was weak, she was no longer in a dying state.
"An emergency family meeting. Come with me, quickly!"
...
In the same hall of Gray Manor.
The same group of people sat around the long table.
The difference was that the person who used to preside over the meetings was gone.
"Everyone, let's discuss what to do!"
"The Ministry of Magic is demanding 17,000 in refunds and 5,000 in fines. The major families lost 15,000. That's a total of 37,000 Galleons. Let's discuss how we're going to pay?"
"How? Even if we empty out all our savings, we can't afford it!"
"Why don't we just change our names and dissolve the Gray family?"
"I have a proposal!" A clansman stood up. He said, "Selenis has always managed the family's finances. She should continue to handle related affairs now!"
"That's right! It's been proven that Selenis was innocent. She was only imprisoned because the family head took his anger out on her! I support Selenis!"
"You still call that man the family head? If it weren't for him, would we be in this mess?"
"Exactly! He took the bulk of the family's income for his research! And now he's brought such misery upon the family!"
"I propose we strip Bode Gray of his position as family head!"
"Seconded!"
"Seconded!"
"Why don't we have Selenis temporarily act as the head of the family? What does everyone think?"
There was a moment of silence. Everyone habitually wanted to refuse—after all, the struggle for power was ingrained in the bones of these pure-blood families—but then they thought about the family's current situation...
"I think Selenis is well-suited."
"Yes, yes."
"I support her!"
"Selenis, we'll be counting on you then!"
Selenis stood up and walked silently to the head of the table.
Her lifeless eyes swept across the room. Having been locked up for a month, she had figured many things out.
These clansmen were truly unfit for great responsibility.
If the Gray family was to be revived, it would have to depend on her.
Furthermore, she needed power, and she needed to enact her revenge on Bode Gray.
"I have three things to say."
"First, sell all the treasures plundered from the Lestrange family. No matter how rare, don't keep a single piece."
"Second, for the part of the compensation we're short on, forge Hydrus Lestrange's signature and sell that potion garden in Scotland. That garden should be worth about 50,000 Galleons."
"Third, everyone in the family who doesn't have a job will go out and search for the whereabouts of Hydrus Lestrange and Bode Gray. Anyone who provides accurate information will be rewarded with 1,000 Galleons!"
There was dead silence from below.
Selenis slammed her hand on the table. Although the palm pierced by the hook had been healed by her father, the impact still triggered a phantom pain, causing her to frown slightly.
"What are you waiting for? Do you really want the Ministry of Magic to seize our home?"
"Yes!"
...
...
Whether the Gray family escaped their crisis or not, Hydrus, for the time being, had no intention of bothering them anymore.
Originally, she was in the dark, and the Gray family was in the light.
But now, Bode Gray, the biggest schemer in the Gray family, was also wanted and had gone underground. This, conversely, made her afraid to act.
She had already vented her anger and gained plenty of benefits. It was best to quit while she was ahead!
In any case, the Gray family wouldn't survive the final battle. Her "dear" parents wouldn't let them off.
As for the problem of the Lestrange family's income being squandered by the Gray family?
Heh, as long as the foundation was still there, it wasn't a problem.
Hydrus no longer cared about that little bit of money. With her ability to rake in cash, she could proudly declare:
'I alone am a wealthy dynasty!'
She had money!
The Gray family?
She'd just consider it as paying a bunch of people to guard the door.
Alright, all of the above descriptions were just her excuses.
The real reason was that Hydrus was too lazy to deal with the Gray family.
Yes, she had become lazy.
She had originally planned to buy textbooks to study magic, but after being interrupted by Dumbledore once, she never went back to the bookstore. Was it because she forgot?
No, it was just laziness. Once the moment passed, she couldn't muster the enthusiasm and was too lazy to do it.
Her essence was being lazy and greedy for money. In this life, the gods had given her outstanding talent. Wouldn't it be a waste not to use it for enjoyment?
Spending time on such meaningless things was simply a waste of life!
As for singing, she had said it countless times: that was her hobby.
And so, she lived a comfortable life in an endless loop of singing, eating, sleeping, and counting money, until 1991.
Hydrus was 16 years old.
Speaking of which, this was the year the savior Harry Potter was supposed to start school.
But what did that have to do with Audrey, who had completely integrated into the Muggle world?
Her savings had already reached 130 million pounds!
Ever since Peter Waterman had talked himself blue in the face, signed countless unequal treaties, and finally got Audrey to film her first commercial, the girl seemed to have discovered a new continent.
This work was easy!
Because she was still a child, the commercial directors all deferred to her.
So, just by taking a few photos, saying a couple of lines to the camera, and flashing a sweet smile, she could get heaps of cash!
From that moment on, Miss Money-Grubber's wealth began to explode.
There was no arguing with it. After all, she was a superstar who could rival Michael Jackson. Her commercial value was just that massive.
The scariest part was, she was only sixteen.
...
...
July 1st.
The final stop of the "Astley Siblings" British tour.
London.
Rick had insisted on having the final stop in London, believing it was very commemorative since he and his sister had risen to fame here.
...
Before the concert began.
Hydrus sat in the backstage dressing room, her pupils trembling, her hands shaking.
What exactly had she seen?
In her hand was a letter.
A letter delivered by an owl!
This owl had even infiltrated the concert venue through an air duct!
This was absurd!
She hated Scottish, round-faced, fat chickens!
"Dear Ms. Audrey Astley:
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1.
We await your owl by no later than July 31. (After this sentence, someone had handwritten a note: "Given your special circumstances, we may have alternative arrangements for you.")
Deputy Headmistress
Minerva McGonagall"
Audrey was dumbfounded.
She had been pretending to be a Squib so well. How did she suddenly get exposed?
She sensed the situation inside her body, and her whole mood soured.
It turned out that as a young wizard grew older, the regeneration speed of their magic would increase.
The better one's natural talent, the faster the magic regeneration.
By now, Hydrus's body could already be called a body of magic. The speed of magic regeneration in her magical core was simply outrageous.
Having grown to this day, the speed at which she dispersed magic into her body could no longer keep up with the speed of magic generation in her core.
Thus, magic overflowed, and her magical core began to hold magic...
Once her magical core held magic, she was no longer a "Squib," but a genuine witch.
'This is a disaster! A disaster!'
Hydrus was completely numb.
'If I had known this would happen, why did I bother pretending to be a Squib!'
'Now I've ended up in the same year as the savior Harry Potter! Isn't this walking hand-in-hand with the Grim Reaper?'
It would have been better to just enroll at eleven like a normal person.
In that case, by the time Harry Potter was in his third year, she would have already graduated. Then she could have found any excuse to go abroad and fool around for a few years, avoiding Voldemort. Wouldn't that have worked just as well?
The "Lay low until after the final battle, get rich overnight, and reach the pinnacle of life" plan was hereby declared a complete failure...
'Failure?'
'No, she hadn't lost yet!'
Audrey's spirits lifted again. The future, carefree life of a rich woman in the wizarding world re-motivated her.
But why did it have to be in the wizarding world, and not stay in the ordinary world?
After all, her wealth in the ordinary world was enough for her to live a comfortable life!
Audrey's answer was that, as a patient in the terminal stage of procrastination, she was lazy.
Could one understand the difference between getting out of bed, walking to the fridge to get a drink, and just stretching out a hand to have the drink fly to you?
The difference was huge!
After fantasizing for a while about a delightful retirement at twenty-three, she became even more resolute in her convictions.
Nothing could stop her from rushing toward the life she yearned for!
So, she had to find a way to continue her plan!
'Right, not going to Hogwarts is a great idea.'
Simple, brutal, and straight to the heart of the problem.
'Yes, tomorrow I'll discuss it with Uncle Waterman. How big is the UK market anyway! We need to seize the American market. Right, our whole family will move to the US!'
'We'll even change our citizenship!'
'Your Hogwarts can't possibly recruit across borders, can it?'
As for the US having its own Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
Heh, daijoubu, moemondai!
Ilvermorny had neither a white lord nor a dark lord. It was perfectly safe.
...
Just as Audrey was frantically revising her plan, the dressing room door was gently pushed open, and a small head peeked in.
"Um, excuse me,"
It was a little girl, about ten years old.
"I'm so sorry to bother you, Ms. Astley. Could you please sign this for me?"
"Because of certain things, I'm afraid I won't be able to come to your concerts often in the future," the girl said, somewhat dejected. "So I wanted to get a signed record as a memento."
"Of course," Audrey accepted the record the girl handed over. "Your name?"
The girl said happily, "Hermione, Hermione Jane Granger!"
'This girl is Hermione Granger!'
'Oh, how did she not recognize her! She had even used Hermione's face to appear in Diagon Alley...'
"Ah!" Hermione exclaimed as if she had discovered a new continent, pointing at the letter in Audrey's hand. "That's a Hogwarts acceptance letter! I just received one too! So, Ms. Astley, are you a witch too?"
Audrey's lips twitched. "I suppose so!"
"That's wonderful!" Hermione cheered. "You and I are going to be classmates! I think we're really fated to meet!"
'Fated my foot! This is clearly a disastrous fate, one I don't want at all!'
'All you protagonists had better stay far away from me!'
Audrey forced a smile and saw the little girl out of the dressing room.
Tomorrow!
First thing tomorrow morning, she was going to the US!
She couldn't wait another second.
'No, I can communicate with Uncle Waterman from the US.'
'Tonight, after the concert, I'll go home and pack!'
'We'll go to the US overnight!'
She'd run into Hermione just by holding a concert. She was afraid that if she delayed until tomorrow morning, Dumbledore himself would show up at her door. What then?
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