A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 606 Slacking Off

Mrs. Longbottom placed a freshly baked fruitcake, exuding a rich, sweet aroma, in front of Gabrielle and Charles.

Neville stood quietly and carefully, pouring freshly brewed black tea for everyone.

Neville felt a little depressed and glanced at the other side of the tea table.

He couldn't understand why he had to brew and serve tea himself when he didn't have a house servant doll at home, but now that he had one, he still had to brew and serve tea himself. Wasn't that a waste of money?
The dummy that looked like him, with the same freckles all over its face, stood across the table, wearing a cute, fluffy sky-blue dress, and was fanning the old man with a fan.

Before summer vacation, the housekeeping dolls customized for the Longbottom family arrived. However, the old lady was not satisfied with the dull maid outfit that came with it and requested that it be replaced with a skin that better suited her aesthetic.

Charles wasn't very familiar with this area, and there were plenty of tech geeks at Farbatton Castle who didn't care much about clothing, so the task ultimately fell to Gabrielle.

She drew many designs for little dresses, each with a different style but all exquisite and beautiful. During her vacation in the Velabit Mountains, she commissioned a Veela relative skilled in fine sewing to refine and complete them. Only today did she specially send them over for the old lady to see.

Mrs. Longbottom was full of praise for Gabrielle's design, saying affectionately in French, "Dear Miss Delacour, this dress is so beautifully designed, even more elegant and lovely than I expected!"

"It's a pity that only one person in my family can wear it."

Charles looked at Neville with a half-smile and raised an eyebrow.

Neville immediately tensed up. He knew Charles all too well; he might actually turn himself into a girl, wear those little dresses for his grandmother, and maybe even dance.

Gabrielle's fair cheeks flushed slightly as she replied shyly, "Madam, you flatter me. I only drew a simple sketch. It was Charles who specially asked a truly professional and skilled tailor to make it perfectly."

Mrs. Longbottom was clearly very satisfied with the final product. A smile spread across her wrinkled face. She didn't even bother to look closely at the amount on the bill. She simply waved her hand and told Neville, who was standing beside her, to fetch the money from the historic oak money box in her room to pay for the bill. The heavy bag of gold coins seemed to indicate that it was just a trivial expense.

After a pleasant afternoon tea, Charles and Gabrielle left the Longbottom house.

Gabrielle excitedly asked Charles, "What do you want to eat tonight? It's on me!"

Charles said, "How about we go eat German food?"

The two went to a restaurant run by a German couple. While chatting and laughing, Gabrielle finished a roasted pork knuckle, and Charles's eyes widened.

Gabrielle said in a slightly embarrassed voice, "Did I eat too much?"

Charles smiled and said, "It's alright. You're at the age where you're growing, so it's only right that you eat more."

The two walked out of the restaurant; it was already dark.

The scenery here is not beautiful. A small river meanders along the banks, overgrown with weeds. A fox is scavenging for food in a pile of garbage on the bank, watching the two people warily.

Suddenly, a single hair on Charles's head stood up and automatically pointed to his side and back.

He turned his head and saw Lucius Malfoy.

It wasn't surprising that Old Ma was here. Charles simply nodded slightly and continued walking forward with Gabrielle in his arms.

Lucius wasn't surprised to see him there, and when he saw Gabrielle, he thought to himself that Gabrielle really wanted a little sister.

A moment later, Lucius disappeared into the shadows, and the ahoge (cowlick) on Charles's head fell off.

Several streetlights in the alley ahead were out, giving it an eerie feel.

Gabrielle asked, "Why did you bring me here? The professor said only bad boys bring girls to places like this to do bad things."

Charles chuckled mischievously, "Hehehe, I'm going to lock you in the basement. You'll only be able to draw pretty little dresses all day long; if you don't draw, you won't get any food." Gabrielle asked pitifully, "Will there be any snacks?"

As the two talked, they arrived at the end of the alley and stood in front of some ruins.

"Wow!" Gabrielle exclaimed, "Whose house is this? How did it get like this?"

Charles said, "This is Snape's house, and I don't know why it exploded."

Gabrielle nodded and said, "So this is the house of the professor who doesn't wash his hair. How did it become like this? Did he accidentally wash his hair while boiling water?"

Charles shrugged and said, "I don't know either."

He took out his camera and took a few pictures of the ruins under the night sky, which Penny asked for.

Although this case has entered a lull phase, it has had a significant impact and we still need to see some progress.

The problem is that none of the wizards suspected that it was a Muggle. The tire tracks left by Petunia were assumed to be from a Muggle who had gone the wrong way. Some Aurors even thought that the murderer had the Muggles create the tracks to fake the scene.

The wizards' pride, subconsciously preventing a Muggle from blowing up the Hogwarts headmaster's house, caused the investigation to veer off course and become irreversible.

Charles didn't bother with what the Aurors would do about the case, nor did he care about how Snape would fix the house. Seeing that it was getting late, he decided it was time to take Gabrielle home.

In a country cottage north of Le Havre, the study is lit, and Fleur, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, is intently reading a paper.

She's now a working adult and no longer lives with her parents; she rents a room from a classmate.

The area is surrounded by farmland, and the sea is less than a kilometer to the west, making it quite peaceful.

She had originally planned to apply for a job as an unraveler at Gringotts after graduation, but now that Charles's case has happened, she has given up on that idea.

Currently, Falbaddon Castle is negotiating with the French to promote Delicious Tablecloths, and Furong works part-time there, responsible for contacting and coordinating the work with the locals.

In addition, Charles helped her contact Cordostadt, so that she could study the knowledge of making magical dolls as an advanced student when school started there.

This was Fleur's own new choice, and Charles and her family naturally supported it.

A glass of milk sits on the corner of the desk, next to a small dish containing two Brest cream puffs shaped like bicycle wheels.

Furong simply said "thank you" softly, adjusted her glasses to relieve eye strain, and then continued reading the paper.

She wasn't familiar with making magical dolls before, and neither was Beauxbatons, so they had a lot of prior knowledge to learn.

Charles was very familiar with people in this state, and Hermione was one of them. Without disturbing her too much, he left the study silently.

Gabrielle had just come out of the bathroom, yawning as she went to the dining table to drink a large glass of milk, then rubbed her eyes as she prepared to go to the bedroom.

Don't forget to brush your teeth!

"Oh...where are we going tomorrow?"

"Your castle."

"Great!"

(End of this chapter)