Harry and Hermoine probably privately talked with Professor Breean the most among young witches and wizards, they were both quite clear that the professor was not particularly fond of a stately figure of speech, and every time he came to the office, the professor would kindly invite them to sit down and then begin formal talks.
However, this time, Professor Breean simply had them stand there, looking at them with a disapproving gaze. This subtle change filled Harry and Hermoine with a sudden sense of alarm.
It seems that the mischief they caused today really has made Professor Breean quite angry.
This is not surprising, is it? Although Professor Breean was strict about punishing them for sneaking out of the school, they were very clear that causing injury to the bravos of Beauxbatons was a far more serious matter.
Harry didn't know if Mrs. Maximus had come to the castle to inquire about this matter. He dared to sneak a glance at Professor Breean behind the desk, seeing a face that was emotionless under the flickering candlelight, which only made Harry more uneasy.
"I'm sorry, Professor--"
Hermione seemed to be having trouble breathing, "We... we ran into some trouble--"
Mr. Amos's expression softened somewhat, he knew that after they returned to Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione probably went to see Ron, he could predict that they might have encountered some conflicts.
Mr. Amos shook his head indifferently,
"How about it, Hermoine? Have you prepared for the Triwizard Tournament tasks?"
Hermione's body suddenly trembled violently, her heart accelerated in her chest--before Hagrid had told her and Harry that Professor Breean was keeping the details of the tournament tasks under tight wraps, yet, Hagrid still intended to help her get some insider information.
"I was looking at previous tournament materials--" Hermione stammered, "I thought maybe it could help."
"Hmm--"
Looking at Hermione who was a bit too tense, Mr. Amos raised his eyebrows.
Under normal circumstances, it is also acceptable to give Hermione a little extra help, after all, she is the youngest of the warriors, and becoming a warrior was not her intention. However, thinking about it again, Mr. Amos extinguished this idea. The process of the champion's competition should not be overly interfered with by him or Dumbledore. Moreover, she may have had some help already.
"Regarding your two sneaking out of school, Gryffindor needs to be deducted twenty points. Of course, detention was inevitable, but considering the pressure you're under with the tournament tasks, I won't impose any additional punishment--"
"Huh!"
Harry and Hermione lifted their heads abruptly, incredulously staring at Professor Breean. Harry exclaimed in surprise,
"Is that all, Professor!"
"Of course, it won't be that simple. Have you forgotten Miss Fleur Delacour who was injured by you?"
Harry's expression immediately became somber, which made Mr. Amos chuckle. It was late now, and he had no intention of talking with Harry and Hermoine any longer, so he said directly,
"Harry, I know you didn't do it intentionally. In general, I shouldn't punish you for this. But you should know that Miss Delacour is a bravo from Beauxbatons, and her status is sensitive. If we just assume that this incident is an unimportant accident, it would be inappropriate. So, Hogwarts should apologize to her--"
Even without Professor Breean saying so, Harry and Hermione understood the situation. Putting themselves in Fleur's shoes, she really was unlucky. She had only been at Hogwarts for a week, and had already been injured twice. Although both were accidents, it was inevitable that Beauxbatons would have some grievances.
"What do you require us to do, Professor?"
Since Professor Breean said so, it is definitely that they need to do something.
"I've prepared a gift for Miss Delacour, a dress--"
Mr. Amos tapped on the gift box in front of him and looked at Harry and said,
"I hope you can hand it to her yourself, as an apology. Of course, it should be on your behalf, Harry--"
Harry and Hermione only then turned their attention to the box in front of Professor Breean. Harry initially thought that the box was sent by someone else to Professor Breean. After all, with Professor Breean's current fame, it was not uncommon for him to receive gifts from fans. However, he never expected that this was a gift bought by Professor Breean to apologize on behalf of Harry to Fleur.
Harry opened his mouth, a mix of panic and gratitude flooding through him.
"--If Miss Delacour asks you why I bought this, you can tell her that I asked you for advice on how to express an apology. Go quickly, it's late. Use invisibility cloaks. If you are caught by other professors and headmasters, I won't take responsibility--"
Harry and Hermione stumbled out of Professor Breean's office, not until they reached the hall, with the cold wind from outside castle blowing through, Harry finally came to his senses.
"Do you think I should return the money for the gift to Professor Breean, Hermoine?"
Harry indeed asked a good question, and Hermoine couldn't give an accurate answer for a moment.
In theory, he shouldn't let Professor Breean pay for his mistake, but Hermoine thought that Professor Breean probably considered himself responsible for it as well, so that's why he would voluntarily buy the gift.
The light from the windows in the castle was not enough to illuminate the area. The campus was dark, and Harry and Hermione braved the howling wind and stumbled towards the Beauxbatons' carriage, covered in invisible cloaks, the grass became slippery and muddy due to the rain during the day. They fell several times on their way, their robes covered with mud and water.
Since Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived at Hogwarts, no one had entered their quarters. The carriage of Beauxbatons seemed to be guarded by some kind of magical alert, and as the two approached the carriage door, the door with a golden cross bar inscribed on it opened itself. A boy wearing a light blue robe peered out warily from the crack in the door.
"Hogwarts students, I remember you. You are the second bravo of Hogwarts!"
The boy spotted Hermione and Harry standing at the base of the golden spiral staircase. He easily recognized Hermione, so he became even more vigilant.
"What do you need?"
"We want to see Fleur Delacour, um, because of what happened during the day--"
Harry took a deep breath of the cool air, speaking unnaturally.
"What happened during the day?"
The Beauxbatons' boy was taken aback,
"What happened during the day?"
His question left Harry and Hermione puzzled. Could it be that Fleur hadn't mentioned being injured again? However, many people had witnessed the incident during the day. But it seemed that there were indeed only Durmstrang students in the Three Broomsticks bar at that time.
Hermione quickly poked Harry's ribcage.
"We came to give Miss Delacour a gift. This is what she bought at Hogsmeade during the day, but she forgot to take it. We happened to see it--"
"Oh, wasn't that all sent by the house-elf?"
The boy grumbled something, sounding a bit unhappy, but he didn't question Hermoine's explanation. After saying wait, he shut the door with a bang.
The light inside the carriage clearly showed the white fog coming out of their mouths and noses. It was really cold outside, and Harry could even hear the sound of ice floes floating on the dark lake surface crushing against each other.
Before they were frozen to the bone, Fleur finally appeared, wrapped in a thick cloak, and pushed open the carriage door. However, the cold wind that sneaked in made her shiver.
Here, the cold climate did not make Fleur happy. She wrapped herself tightly in her cloak and carefully descended the spiral staircase, then suspiciously stared at the box Harry was holding in his hands.
"Did Lavie say you sent me something I left at Hogsmeade?"
"Cough--" Harry's face was a bit unnatural, "Well, we actually bought you a gift, um, to apologize for what happened during the day."
"Gift?"
Whether it was because her nose had not fully recovered or for some other reason, Fleur's voice had a nasal tone that made her sound more hoarse than usual. She blinked in surprise and looked at the mud on Harry and Hermione's robes, her expression softening slightly.
"Oh, actually, there's no need. It was just an accident anyway--"
However, immediately after that, she very interestedly asked,
"What are you giving me?"
"A dress!" Harry said quickly.
Professor Breean had already gone to great lengths, and it would be unfair for them to not give her a gift. He raised the box he was holding in his arms to Fleur's face, gazing at her earnestly.
And perhaps touched by Harry's sincere attitude, Fleur, who had not intended to accept the gift, extended her hand through the gap in her cloak, clad in a light blue close-fitting shirt, and gently pulled the ribbon off the box before lifting the edge of it.
"Oh, this--"
After just one glance, Fleur confirmed that this was the dress she had looked at in the Muggle clothing store, the windy gypsy one. She exclaimed in surprise, but then she realized something was wrong.
"How did you know I liked this dress?"
So Harry quickly spoke out the answer that Professor Breean had given him, but he didn't expect Fleur not to let go of this topic. She looked at him, and the skepticism in her eyes had not dispersed.
"Well--"
Fleur muttered something.
"This dress isn't cheap, if it's a gift to apologize, it's too valuable. How much did you spend on it?"
Eh--
Harry was at a loss for words, as Professor Breean had not mentioned this detail. Not knowing what to say, he looked at Hermione.
"We know the owner of the clothing store very well. She gave us a discount and only spent a few dozen galleons--"
At the critical moment, Hermione said calmly that she had anticipated the dress would be expensive.
In Harry's opinion, Hermoine's answer was already perfect, but for some reason, after hearing it, Fleur burst out laughing, her suspicious expression fading away, even becoming cheerful as she reached out to take the gift from Harry's hand. This also caused her cloak to slip to the ground.
Harry's face turned bright red in an instant. He quickly looked away, not daring to look again. However, Fleur herself came over and lightly kissed his cheek, and Harry immediately felt the area where she had kissed him become fiery!
Then Fleur wanted to kiss Hermione too.
"Oh, no, don't do that!"
Shocked, Hermione jumped away. She stared at Fleur in horror.
"Okay--"
Fleur smiled sweetly and shrugged, picking up her cloak from the ground to cover herself again.
"Thank you, I accept your apology now--"
Fleur walked up the golden spiral staircase, her steps lively, but as she was about to enter the carriage, she suddenly turned back and smiled at the astonished Harry.
"Also, thank Mr. Breean for me."
(Chapter End)
