Fleur quickly realized what she had lost.
The wand she always kept in her robe pocket was gone!
The moment she realized this, her face turned completely pale.
Because the wand she used was custom-made, and the core was a hair from her Veela grandmother!
That wand was not only her tool for casting spells, but also an extremely important keepsake.
Fleur also recalled the hint Cavendish had given her before leaving; she had seen the Goblin who had already thrown Floo Powder into the fireplace, been engulfed in green flames, and disappeared.
The Wizard sitting at the same table as her reminded her.
"I heard it, the destination he said was Carter Street."
Fleur did not hesitate. She hurriedly grabbed some Floo Powder, threw it into the fireplace, spoke the name "Carter Street," and rushed into the flames.
The green flames swirled around her, and she eventually landed in a dusty, dilapidated fireplace.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Fleur coughed, ignoring the dust covering her face and body, and scrambled out of the fireplace.
She was now in a dilapidated wooden house, which looked like some Wizard's home, but there was no sign of the Goblin anywhere.
Someone upstairs heard the commotion and came stomping down the stairs, and a fierce-looking old witch glared at her.
"Who are you! Who let you transport into my fireplace!"
"A Goblin stole my wand, and someone heard him use Floo Powder to transport to this place." Fleur stared fixedly at the old witch. "Have you seen him?"
Her tone was very impolite, not at all like an intruder.
The old witch's patience was pushed to its limit.
"Get out of my house! I have never seen any Goblin or House-Elf!"
She didn't look like she was lying, and by this time, Fleur had realized she had come to the wrong place.
Her face was incredibly pale, and she bit her lip tightly as she took out a few Galleons from her pocket.
"Let me use some of your Floo Powder to go home; this is payment."
The old witch sneered at her.
"Arrogant little girl, even if you pay me more money, I have no Floo Powder for you to use! The Ministry of Magic is coming to shut down the Floo Network for my fireplace in a month, so I stopped stocking Floo Powder long ago."
"Then use Apparition to send me away. When I return to Paris..."
"Get out!"
The old witch flicked her wand, sending Fleur flying out of the wooden house, where she fell onto the main road outside.
It was pitch black outside. This was clearly a dilapidated street; there were no pedestrians, not even streetlights, only the dim yellow lights shining from scattered huts in the distance.
Fleur rubbed her shoulder, which had just been hurt from the fall, her eyes red, and stood up from the ground, feeling aggrieved.
Now, she was completely devoid of her former pride and elegance; her silver-white hair and face were covered in dust, and her once clean and beautiful robe was now filthy.
She looked around, having no wand and not a single Muggle coin on her, with no idea how to leave this place.
Glancing back at the tightly shut wooden house, Fleur bit her pale lips; her pride would not allow her to go back and beg that old witch for help.
So, suppressing the tears welling up in her eyes, she resolutely walked along the street toward the area with the brightest lights.
...
Cavendish did not spend the night in the town of Aspet with Harry. He drove back to Toulouse, the city they had visited before, and found a high-end hotel to stay in.
The inns in Wizarding towns could not compare to Muggle hotels in terms of facilities or service, so Cavendish and Harry would not consider staying overnight in a Wizarding town.
After a night's rest, the next morning, Harry and Cavendish, feeling refreshed, drove to fill up the petrol tank and continued their journey.
According to Cavendish's plan, they would next take a tour around Switzerland, and finally head to Paris.
From Toulouse, Cavendish turned onto the coastal road along the Mediterranean in the east of France, heading to the next coastal city, Montpellier.
Even after eating delicious food for so many days, Harry's tastes had not become picky.
At noon, they found a roadside diner and had a simple meal of potato stew. He still finished everything, not forgetting to lick the sauce off the corners of his mouth.
"That Miss Delacour from yesterday, did she say she was also going to find Nicolas Flamel?"
Harry was still thinking about that charming girl.
Cavendish rolled his eyes at him.
"Nicolas Flamel is an alumnus of Beauxbatons, after all. If he can give his Philosopher's Stone fragment to us from Hogwarts, why can't he give it to someone from his own alma mater?"
Harry heard Cavendish's words and remained silent, feeling a bit down.
He felt that after yesterday's "blessing," whether Fleur could find Nicolas Flamel unscathed was a question.
The journey to Montpellier was not long; it only took three and a half hours to get there.
This city located on the Mediterranean coast did not have many famous attractions. Cavendish and Harry just took a few souvenir photos at the Place de la Comédie and the Promenade du Peyrou, then continued driving north.
The car radio was playing some unknown rock music. Cavendish hummed along with the tune, while Harry fiddled with the camera in the passenger seat, taking pictures of the scenery along the road.
"Don't use up the film; we don't know where to buy more right now," Cavendish cautioned.
Harry nodded in agreement; he actually hadn't taken many photos, but was looking at the scenery outside through the camera lens.
They were passing through an endless wheat field when a dishevelled white figure suddenly flashed across Harry's lens.
Harry was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly leaned out to look back. After confirming the figure, he pulled his head back extremely quickly and said to Cavendish in shock.
"Professor! Stop the car! Look at who is behind us!"
Cavendish stepped on the brake and, through the rear-view mirror on Harry's side, saw the dirty figure walking step by step along the road.
He put the car in reverse and slowly drove to the girl's side.
Having walked all night, cold and hungry, Fleur noticed the car that had stopped beside her.
But after a previous Muggle driving a car had pretended to help her but actually had ill intentions, Fleur had completely dismissed the idea of seeking help from passing vehicles.
She kept walking forward without even looking, and no matter how dishevelled she was, she never lowered her head.
"Miss Delacour."
It wasn't until a familiar voice from the car called out Fleur's surname that she froze in place, looking into the car with surprise.
Cavendish and Harry both looked at her with confusion, not understanding why she had been in the Wizarding town last night, only to appear now on a road near Montpellier, looking so miserable.
Fleur bit her lip, looking at Cavendish, who had warned her yesterday that her things had been stolen. She expressed a desire for help, but her tone remained stiff.
"Can you help me get home?"
Cavendish signalled for her to sit in the back of the car, and Fleur opened the door and got in.
As soon as she sat in the car, Harry asked impatiently.
"How did you end up here?"
"My wand was stolen at the Warmth Pub. The Goblin who stole the wand escaped through the fireplace, so I followed, but I chased to the wrong place and ended up here."
After hearing about her ordeal, Harry couldn't help but subconsciously turn his head to look at Cavendish, and Cavendish looked back at him, confused.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Nothing, just feeling that you are really cool, Professor."
"Alright, thank you for the compliment, but even if you butter me up, I won't exempt you from your Defence Against the Dark Arts homework after school starts."
In the back seat, Fleur quietly gripped the corner of her robe, trying to make her request less subservient.
"Could you please help me apparate to Paris? My father will pay you."
Cavendish saw Fleur's stubborn demeanour through the rear-view mirror and shrugged, saying,
"I'm sorry, I haven't been to Paris yet. You cannot Apparate to a place you have never been to, so I cannot help you with that."
Fleur's expression immediately darkened again.
She had just finished her fifth year and was about to start her sixth year. The Ministry of Magic required students learning Apparition to be at least seventeen years old, which is usually in their sixth year, so Fleur did not know how to apparate. Even if Cavendish generously lent her his wand, she couldn't go back.
Harry saw that Fleur was feeling down. He looked at Cavendish, who also saw what he was thinking, sighed helplessly, and said.
"If you really have no other way, come with us. Our final destination is Paris anyway, so we can drop you off on the way."
Upon hearing Cavendish's words, the expression on Fleur's face improved significantly, and she said softly.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome!" Harry waved his hand generously, as if he had done a great favour.
Cavendish took out the map again. The plan to continue travelling to Switzerland definitely could not continue. It was about 800 kilometres from Montpellier to Paris, and if they drove without stopping, it would take eight or nine hours.
He didn't intend to rush there, either. Helping Fleur wasn't his obligation, just a convenience.
After confirming the route, they set off again. During the trip, Cavendish asked about the Wizard who had entered the pub with Fleur earlier.
"I remember you had a companion, didn't you? Why didn't he help you catch the thief?"
Fleur shook her head.
"Jonathan and I only met in the town of Aspet. He said he was also going to Paris to find Mr. Flamel, so we travelled together for a while."
Cavendish heard the implication in her words.
"Are there quite a few Wizards visiting Nicolas Flamel recently?"
"Yes, Mr. Flamel has lived for so long and has many old friends in the Wizarding World. I heard that he sent out many invitation letters this time, allowing his friends to let young, promising Wizards go to him to receive some interesting things."
When Harry heard this, he couldn't help but complain to Cavendish.
"So many people can get them? I thought it was just the two of us, Professor."
Fleur had heard Harry call Cavendish that more than once, and this time she couldn't help but ask.
"Why does this little boy call you Professor?"
Harry did not rush to answer this time; he was very hurt by the term "little boy."(TN: He acts like he isn't merely 13, which is hilarious. Teens and their pride.)
He was about to have his thirteenth birthday, so how could he still be called a little boy?
Cavendish couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Harry's expression.
"Because I am his Professor. Let me introduce myself: I am Sherlock Cavendish, the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is my student, Harry Potter, who is starting his third year."
After hearing their names, Fleur was stunned.
She was not only shocked that Cavendish was so young to be a Professor at Hogwarts, but also knew what the name Harry Potter represented.
Although the Delacour family did not insist on pure-blood lineage, it was still a Wizarding family with a long history in the French Wizarding World.
Lord Voldemort's influence in the Wizarding World back then was certainly not limited to the British Wizarding World; it was just that his main energy was focused on how to wreak havoc on the island of Great Britain.
So, naturally, Fleur knew what kind of person Harry Potter was.
"You are Harry Potter who defeated You-Know-Who!"
Harry was very pleased with this, finally washing away the shameful title of "little boy" from before.
"I was too young to know anything back then, so defeating You-Know-Who was not my doing."
But even if he was pleased, Harry would not go around bragging about defeating Lord Voldemort. He knew that the reason he survived had nothing to do with him; it was entirely due to his mother's protection.
Cavendish, who was driving, couldn't help but smile when he heard Harry's answer.
Even though countless people in the Wizarding World praised his "great achievements," he still hadn't lost himself in them.
This was what he admired most about Harry.
Of course, this couldn't cover up his flaw of sometimes acting recklessly.
"And what about you? You don't look much older than me, so how did you become a Professor at Hogwarts?" Fleur turned her gaze to Cavendish, her tone full of doubt.
This time, before Cavendish could speak, Harry started bragging for him.
"Professor Cavendish is a very powerful Wizard. After graduating from Hogwarts, he was recruited by the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office."
"Later, he resigned and spent a year at home researching defensive magic, and even wrote two books. Last year, Professor Dumbledore hired him as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. He became the most popular Professor among the students in the Castle, and later defeated the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, resolving the crisis that almost led to the closure of Hogwarts!"(TN: Harry seems to have a penchant for being a wingman.)