Chapter 254: The Peculiarity of "Half-Bloods"
In an exquisite little garden on the edge of Beauxbatons Castle, the fallen snow lay like a thin layer of frosting, dusting the shrubs, statues, and benches alike.
Fleur accepted a small wooden box from Leonardo's hands, its lid carefully sealed with magic, and eased it open just a fraction. The moment she felt the familiar pulse of magic within, surprise and delight spread across her face.
"Living Moonpurple Vine root and stem? How did you find it so quickly?"
It was exactly the rare material she'd been desperately searching for, one that grew reliably only in a handful of hidden valleys across Britain.
Not long ago, she'd gone to Madame Maxime to ask how she might obtain it. She had never imagined that Leonardo would place it in her hands so soon.
"This was really my friend's doing." Leonardo waved a hand dismissively. Seeing how anxious Fleur had been, and remembering that this very plant grew deep within the Forbidden Forest, he'd simply picked some up while he was there.
At the same time, his thoughts drifted to Aurelius.
The truth was that, after nearly two years of growth, both his own strength and Aurelius's had long since surpassed what they once were. Perhaps the time had come to find a suitable opportunity for the little Qilin to make his public debut.
When he'd first entered the magical world, caution had been his highest priority, so he'd never truly let the little Qilin reveal himself in public.
But just as everyone knew that a phoenix's tears could heal wounds and that the ashes from its rebirth possessed all manner of miraculous properties, everyone also knew that Dumbledore kept a phoenix. Yet no one dared set their sights on Fawkes.
Because they couldn't defeat Fawkes, much less the old man standing behind him.
Fleur thanked him sincerely and tucked the box carefully away.
The two of them walked and talked in the hushed, snowy night garden, and the conversation naturally drifted toward magic and alchemy.
As they chatted, Fleur suddenly stopped. Moonlight fell across the delicate line of her profile. She hesitated, then spoke anyway.
"Leonardo, there's something I've been curious about... That night, when you were improving the Fountain of Beauty, and even before that, when you used flames to prepare the Abraxans' feed, I... I felt a very particular kind of resonance. It wasn't an ordinary fluctuation of magic. It was more like some kind of call... or a pull."
Leonardo was slightly taken aback. He immediately questioned her in detail about exactly when she'd sensed it and what it had felt like.
"It was strongest when the flames appeared in your hand," Fleur added, her gaze unconsciously drifting to his right hand.
A thoughtful look crossed Leonardo's face. He raised his right hand, a thought stirring in his mind.
As magic flowed through it, the crimson flame rune on the pad of his middle finger emerged, radiating a warm, understated glow.
"Yes! That's exactly the feeling!" Fleur's blue eyes widened slightly as she nodded.
Realisation dawned on Leonardo, and a possibility gradually took shape in his mind.
"Fleur, are you particularly gifted with fire magic? Or perhaps it's more accurate to say your sensitivity to the fire element is naturally stronger than most people's?"
Fleur nodded. "Yes. My grandmother is a Veela, so I imagine I inherited it from her. Besides fire, I'm fairly sensitive to the wind element as well."
"That explains it." Leonardo nodded, his suspicion confirmed.
He recalled what he'd read about pure-blooded Veela. Under intense emotion, they could transform into bird-headed beings and unleash searing flames.
Whether Fleur, as someone of mixed blood, possessed a similar ability to transform was unclear, but she had undoubtedly inherited that affinity for fire.
And what Leonardo's rune drew forth and resonated with was an exceptionally pure, active fire element, one that naturally held a peculiar attraction for Fleur.
It was much the same as the way thunderbirds or kelpies were naturally attuned to their respective elements.
The conversation naturally drifted towards the Veela bloodline and the unique traits of mixed-blood wizards.
According to Fleur, in addition to a human wizard's magic, she could indeed use a small amount of racial magic inherited from her Veela bloodline. However, the number of such spells was limited, and their power fell well short of that of a true Veela.
"I only have a quarter of the blood," she explained. "My mother, on the other hand, can use far more racial magic than I can, though even she can't wield all of it."
"Mixed blood often brings more distinctive gifts and possibilities," Leonardo said, recalling the records preserved throughout magical history.
The legendary wizard Merlin, for example, was said to have inherited the blood of both humans and Nightmares.
That allowed him to wield many of the mysterious spells unique to Nightmares. There was even a legend that he could travel through time by way of dreams, catch glimpses of the distant future, and learn the knowledge and magic of ages yet to come.