Hogwarts: Lacus doesn't want to be a witch who destroys nations.

Chapter 118 Time

Dumbledore withdrew his gaze, resuming his usual gentle demeanor: "Please come in."

The door opened, and Minerva reappeared in the doorway.

She glanced at Lux, then said to Dumbledore, "Professor, Professor Slughorn asked me to inquire about the timing of Miss Lux's portrait. Mr. Vickrey has been waiting for quite some time."

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Thank you, Minerva. Tell Horace we'll be done here soon."

McGonagall nodded, turned and left, carefully closing the door behind her.

This little incident seemed to have dampened the atmosphere surrounding the guardian deity.

Dumbledore looked at Lux, his tone becoming more relaxed again: "It seems our genius has another honor awaiting her. Go, Lux, leave your mark. As for the Patronus Charm—"

He said meaningfully, "Keep practicing, but don't force the form. Remember that feeling of mobilizing joy and light; it can dispel gloom to some extent. This may be more useful to you in the present moment than a specific form."

Lux nodded, and although she still had many questions in her mind, she said goodbye to Dumbledore and left the office.

As Lux walked toward the Potions classroom, she touched the key in her pocket and thought back to the restless silver energy.

"Happiness—" she murmured to herself, "It seems that just thinking about swindling, cheating, beating people up, and stacking steel isn't enough—"

We need to find something more upbeat and positive to have fun.

For example—when we're painting the portrait later, could we ask the artist to name it "Family Portrait"?

After all, she is an orphan now.

Lux shook her head, amused by her own ridiculous joke, and quickened her pace.

Lux pushed open the door to the reception room and saw Professor Slughorn, beaming, having a lively conversation with a man wearing a red velvet vest, sporting a meticulously groomed goatee, and holding a long, thin paintbrush.

Beside the man stood a huge, wheeled easel, on which stretched a canvas already primed. Next to it, a small cart was filled with colorful, shimmering paint cans and all sorts of brushes and palettes.

"Ah! My little genius has arrived!" Slughorn greeted Lux ​​warmly as soon as he saw her.

"Lux, come and meet Mr. Vickery! The best magical portrait painter in all of Britain, no, in all of Europe!"

Mr. Vickery stroked his beard with a reserved air, his eyes scanning Lux up and down. His gaze was less like looking at a person and more like assessing a raw material awaiting processing.

"Hmm—good foundation, hair color looks great on camera, but the eyes look a bit—hmm—tired?" He clicked his tongue critically.

"Didn't sleep well last night? Young people should pay attention to their sleep schedule; dark circles under the eyes are a major enemy of portrait painting, and retouching them later takes a lot of time."

Lux's lips twitched: "Hello, Mr. Vikrie, thank you for your help."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!" Slughorn said eagerly, even more excited than Lux herself.

"This is an honor for Hogwarts! Mr. Vickery, you must capture Lacus's most intelligent and focused side! Ideally, it should showcase her profound understanding of Potions and—uh—that spark of genius!"

Mr. Vickery gave a noncommittal hum and directed Lux ​​to stand in a specially cleared area in the center of the classroom, with several crystal bottles containing colorful potions and a row of heavy ancient books in the background—a typical academic-themed photo shoot.

"Alright, Miss Crownguard, please maintain this posture. Yes, look this way, imagine you're pondering a complex potion recipe—not the 'this problem is too difficult' look! It's the 'Ha, such a simple recipe is an insult to me' look! Yes! A touch of arrogance! The arrogance of a genius!"

Lux tried her best to strike various poses according to the director's requirements, and her face almost got stiff from smiling.

Mr. Vickrey, meanwhile, wielded his paintbrush, the tip of his wand guiding the paint to flow, outline, and shape automatically on the canvas at an astonishing speed, quickly creating a clear outline.

In the painting, Lux is holding a stirring stick and giving a mysterious smile to a bubbling cauldron, while the potions in the background automatically change color.

"That's really great." Slughorn rubbed his hands excitedly, as if he could already see the scene of this painting hanging on the wall and attracting the attention of countless students.

Lux looked at the female scholar in the painting who looked at least five years older than her and whose eyes were full of inexplicable confidence, and silently wondered: Is this really me?

Slughorn nodded in agreement, making Lux wonder if he was looking at her through some strange filter.

"Miss Lux, now you need to start communicating with your portrait. You need to tell her what you do every day, what you like, basically your lifestyle. You need to express all of that."

Just then, the classroom door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

Minerva returned, her expression even more serious than before, with a hint of anxiety she couldn't hide.

Lux saw this prefect an unusually high number of times today.

Minerva, disregarding formalities, quickly said to Slughorn, "Professor! Excuse me for interrupting! Professor Dumbledore wants me to take Lux to his office immediately! It's an emergency!"

Slughorn's smile froze on his face: "Now—now? But the portrait is still there—"

Mr. Vickrey frowned, his paintbrush hovering in mid-air, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

Lux's heart sank.

An emergency? Could the Aurors really have arrived?! So quickly?!

McGonagall's sharp gaze swept across the scene, her tone leaving no room for doubt: "It's extremely urgent, Professor, it concerns—a review of Hogwarts' security regulations."

She gave a seemingly respectable reason, but the tightness in her lips betrayed the seriousness of the matter.

"Okay—alright—" Slughorn clearly realized something might have gone wrong, and nervously wrung his hands. "Lax, hurry—Mr. Vikrie, look at this—"

"Most of it is finished. You can work with the portrait yourselves from now on," Mr. Vickery said irritably, but he still waved his brush and temporarily froze Lux on the canvas with a smiling expression.

Lux was practically dragged away from the Potions classroom by Minerva.

As soon as they stepped outside, McGonagall lowered her voice and spoke rapidly: "It's not Professor Dumbledore looking for you, it's three Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. They're already in the downstairs foyer, and Professor Dumbledore is trying to talk them out of it. But they've come with a formal search warrant and interrogation warrant! They specifically want to see you!"

Although she was mentally prepared, Lux still felt a little nervous the moment she heard the confirmation.

It finally happened.

"How are those three Aurors?"

McGonagall pursed her lips, a hint of disgust flashing in her eyes: "Standard bureaucratic manners. The one in charge is from the Crouch family, a rising star in the Department of Law Enforcement, and the other two seem to be his lackeys."

,

Instead of heading downstairs, McGonagall led Lux ​​quickly down a secluded corridor: "Professor Dumbledore means you shouldn't show yourself yet. Come with me, we'll wait for news in the vice-principal's office; it's safer there."

Clearly, Dumbledore was trying to buy time.