Nicolas Flamel, as if he had discovered a new continent, circled Hydrus several times. "Child, do you want to learn alchemy?"
His gnarled, dry hands, like old tree roots, rubbed together vigorously, his excitement overflowing. "If you want to learn, I'll teach you!"
Hydrus felt exasperated. She politely declined, "Mr. Flamel, I have to make up five years of coursework this school year. I'm afraid I don't have extra time to study alchemy."
Flamel said nonchalantly, "It's fine. I can live a long time. I can wait."
To not teach Hydrus, with such fine talent, alchemy would be a desecration of her unique gift!
He turned to Dumbledore: "Albus, you remember this for me. You must remind me to take this little girl as my apprentice!"
A man over six hundred years old asking a man over one hundred years old to remember to remind him of something—this would be absolutely unimaginable in the Muggle world.
Yet here, it happened so naturally.
"Nicolas, my memory is also getting worse and worse," Dumbledore joked. "I almost forgot Mr. Astley is still asleep. If I don't go and wake him, he'll probably sleep until next week!"
... ...
"Ah, has another wizard I don't know joined Audrey's pre-school training?"
Rick asked happily. "And who might this old gentleman be?"
"I am Nicolas Flamel."
"Nicolas Flamel??"
Rick's mouth hung wide open, unable to believe his ears.
He looked at Mr. Flamel's ancient, frail figure, swallowed, and asked cautiously, "The Nicolas Flamel from the 14th century who successfully turned mercury into gold?"
Dumbledore looked at Rick in surprise: "Mr. Astley is very knowledgeable!"
Rick replied shyly, "I liked reading all kinds of occult books as a child and greatly admire Mr. Nicolas Flamel's deeds."
Nicolas, as if to dispel the shyness, waved his hand and admitted: "That's right. If there wasn't a second Nicolas Flamel who knew alchemy in the 14th century, then I am the Nicolas Flamel you're talking about."
"How magical!" Rick almost jumped up, his face full of hero worship. "Doesn't that mean you're over six hundred years old?"
"Yes, I'm about six hundred and sixty-one... er, maybe six hundred and sixty-two?"
Rick was full of admiration. He looked at Dumbledore, "Wow, Headmaster Dumbledore, I have to look at your school's faculty with new eyes! I didn't expect even Mr. Nicolas Flamel to be one of your teachers!"
Dumbledore smiled but didn't comment.
Audrey's voice rang out from the kitchen: "Stop talking and take your seats. The food is ready!"
Audrey walked out of the kitchen, and plates of food flew out following her.
She was currently wearing Audrey's face while simultaneously using house-elf household magic. This scene would have been impossible before today.
But now that she had the second magical circuit, she found she could use both magical constitutions at the same time.
This was so cool.
... ...
Nicolas Flamel also stayed.
He volunteered to teach Audrey Ancient Runes.
As the world's foremost alchemy master, his proficiency in Ancient Runes was naturally also top-tier.
There was one more person in the house, but Audrey felt something was missing these past two days. It felt strange.
It wasn't until the third day after she woke up, when Jinhu appeared in her room, that she realized: her cat had run away from home for several days.
"Jinhu, where have you run off to these days," Audrey scooped Jinhu up into her arms. "I missed you so much."
Her expression didn't change as she lied with a straight face—even if the kitty couldn't understand human speech, she absolutely couldn't admit she had completely forgotten about him.
"Ah, Jinhu, how did one of your eyes turn gray?"
The tabby cat's originally yellow eyes had now become heterochromatic: one gray, one yellow.
"But it looks quite nice like this," Audrey said, unconcerned, gently putting Jinhu down. "You're not allowed to run away from home again, you hear?"
Jinhu meowed softly, walked out of her room, and slipped into Grindelwald's bedroom.
... ...
The days passed quickly, and Audrey's learning progress was also fast.
Grindelwald taught Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, and Arithmancy.
Nicolas Flamel taught Ancient Runes and History of Magic.
Dumbledore, under the pretext of checking Audrey's learning progress, came to the Astley house for meals every few days. But recently, his visits became less frequent, likely because school affairs were getting busy.
Until September 1st.
The first day of school at Hogwarts.
Audrey woke up in the morning and looked at the clock. It was only 6:30.
These last two months had been an inhuman life. Being forced to study by two old men who were almost 800 years old combined was simply too painful.
Especially Grindelwald. The Charms and Transfiguration he taught had long transcended the school curriculum.
Although it wasn't hard for Audrey to learn, this kind of cramming education was itself very annoying.
Thank goodness school was starting... Going to school, which she originally resisted, now felt as pleasant as going on vacation.
The twelve O.W.L. subjects. Now she just needed to handle Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy.
Potions and Herbology, she had already taught herself when she was pretending to be a Squib at Lestrange Manor.
And Muggle Studies? Allow Audrey to put her hands on her hips for a moment. 'I'm a superstar in the Muggle world! I need to study Muggle Studies? You kidding!'
Looking at it this way, passing all twelve O.W.L. exam subjects was truly a piece of cake!
This meant her Hogwarts student life would be a smooth road, extremely easy!
... ...
King's Cross Station.
A Bentley Turbo R stopped in front of the station, attracting countless curious glances.
After the car stopped, the white-gloved driver hurried out and opened the back door.
A black-haired girl wearing sunglasses got out, said a few words to the driver, and pulled her luggage into the station.
This girl was, naturally, Audrey Astley.
Many people seemed to recognize her and started pointing, but they didn't dare to confirm, looking conflicted.
"Hello, excuse me, are you Miss Audrey Astley?"
A fan finally couldn't resist coming up to ask. Audrey knew she couldn't admit it, or this place would immediately turn into a massive autograph session, and she would miss the Hogwarts Express.
"No, I'm not," Audrey took off her sunglasses. "You have the wrong person."
The face shape and features were the same, but the eyes were a pair of upturned, triangular eyes!
The person left in disappointment. The surrounding crowd also immediately dispersed.
Audrey smiled slightly. 'Transfiguration is really so useful!'
She put her sunglasses back on and cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on herself—casting magic outside of school was only allowed today. Once enrolled, young wizards were forbidden from off-campus magic...
Arriving between Platforms 9 and 10, Audrey easily saw the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
The magical echo on that pillar was so striking, it was hard for her to ignore.
When she looked closely, the pillar clearly held a rippling portal.
Audrey didn't hesitate, pulling her suitcase toward the pillar. To other wizards, it looked like walking into the wall. But to Audrey, it was walking into a portal.
After a moment of disorientation, Audrey arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The red and black Hogwarts Express was parked there quietly.
Parents stood on the platform, chattering with last-minute instructions. The children looked impatient and gave perfunctory replies.
Sure enough, the interaction between parents and children is the same in most families.
"Percy, you have to take care of Ron, this is his first term!"
"I know, Mum!"
"George Weasley and Fred Weasley! You two, remember this, don't you dare bully Ron!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"How could we bully Ron? He's our most adorable little brother!"
Looking at the group of redheads on the platform, Audrey of course knew it was the Weasley family, the anomaly among the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
Taking off her sunglasses, Audrey walked toward the train door.
"Ah, it's Audrey Astley!"
Molly Weasley, this great mother, recognized Audrey at a glance. The Daily Prophet had used a huge spread to introduce this superstar who was incredibly famous in the Muggle world.
Because she hadn't been interviewed (Dumbledore had blocked it in the name of protecting the student), they couldn't take a photo. So the reporter who wrote the article directly used an old photo of Audrey Hepburn.
Hydrus had originally used Audrey Hepburn's face as the model for her transformation, so using Audrey Hepburn's photo was basically not a problem.
Anyway, it didn't stop her fans in the wizarding world from recognizing her.
"Oh, it really is you!"
Molly's face was about to split with a smile. She stamped her feet on the spot, resisting the urge to run up and hug Audrey. "I just love your songs!"
The Weasley children, who had already boarded the train, all ran back down.
Percy, George, Fred, Ron—a floor full of redheads, not one was missing.
Because of Molly, whenever they were home, they heard Audrey's songs all day long. How could they not be familiar with her?
"It really is Audrey Astley!"
"Praise Merlin!"
"She's really coming to Hogwarts!"
"Miss Astley, can I have your autograph?"
The Weasleys were so enthusiastic, Audrey couldn't handle it.
'Does this family have no sense of personal boundaries?'
But it was also because of their sincerity that their family members could make friends so easily.
"Um," Audrey looked overwhelmed with flattery, like a little white rabbit, "Could we maybe talk on the train? I think it's about to leave..."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]