Chapter 236: Advanced Earth Elemental Inscription
The system chime rang through his mind. Leonardo stood looking at the Fountain of Beauty, water trickling steadily from its carved wands.
He had merely glanced at a fountain and triggered a loan. An Earth Elemental Inscription, and at the Advanced tier, no less.
Combined with the Lightning and Water inscriptions from before, that made three elemental inscriptions collected.
[Progress: +1.]
Earth was one of the four base elements. Working in tandem with the Water Elemental Inscription, it would likely offer some further boost to his Alchemy.
Still — the loan task. Improve the Fountain of Beauty at Beauxbatons?
He would need to understand how the fountain worked first. Writing to Nicolas would get him answers quickly enough, but the Fountain of Beauty was one of Beauxbatons' landmark structures. If he was actually going to modify it, he would need the Headmistress's permission before touching anything.
His gaze drifted toward Madame Maxime. She happened to be looking at him at the same moment.
Madame Maxime: "You're interested in the Fountain of Beauty, Grafton?"
Leonardo didn't hesitate to confirm it. Beyond the Earth Elemental Inscription he had just triggered, he had been genuinely curious about this fountain ever since he first heard of it — it was Nicolas's work, after all, and practically everyone he'd spoken to before leaving had made a point of mentioning it.
"The fountain's water carries magical properties. It is exceptionally effective at cleansing impurities, and regular bathing in it has a beneficial effect on the skin over time… The fountain was built by Nicolas Flamel and his wife. It is one of the gifts they gave to Beauxbatons."
At the mention of Nicolas Flamel, Madame Maxime glanced at Leonardo again, with an air of quiet significance.
Leonardo listened carefully to the description. He hadn't heard anything suggesting the water could make someone more beautiful or reverse ageing — not in any meaningful sense.
The rumours circulating outside were an exaggeration. The Hogwarts girls were going to be disappointed.
Wait. The system was asking him to improve the fountain. What exactly counted as an improvement?
Did it actually want him to give it the effect of making people more beautiful and younger-looking? That seemed rather ambitious.
Though this was only a monthly loan. The difficulty shouldn't be unreasonable.
No time to review the full loan details now. Leonardo continued following the group through the Beauxbatons grounds.
They walked at an easy pace, Madame Maxime leading them toward the main palace. Along the way, they passed several groups of Beauxbatons students, each of whom stopped immediately upon seeing the Headmistress and greeted her with composed, respectful bows.
Watching this, Leonardo noted that Beauxbatons seemed to be run with a degree of discipline. The posture of the students as they bowed, the measured tone of their greetings — it all had the quality of something trained and practiced. Etiquette was clearly part of the curriculum here.
The pale stone doors of the main entrance swung open, and a sense of opulence swept over them at once.
Leonardo took in the interior as they entered. Sunlight poured through the tall windows, making an already lavish hall dazzle. Up in the air, small faeries with translucent wings drifted back and forth, tiny sparkling fragments falling from their wings as they moved.
They were led to a side room and seated at a long table.
"The inter-school tournament will run for a fortnight. I hope each of you will leave Beauxbatons with fond memories."
"After your journey, please — eat first."
Madame Maxime offered a brief welcome and clapped her hands gently.
Food appeared on the plates.
Sampling the dishes, Leonardo thought the Beauxbatons students had it rather well. French cuisine was every bit as refined and delicious as its reputation suggested—no argument there.
The meal followed the formal French sequence to the letter: cold appetiser, soup, warm appetiser, fish, main course, hot dish...
The portions were, naturally, small. By the time the next course arrived, the previous one had likely already been digested.
Fortunately, magic made up for it. Once a plate was empty, a light tap with a spoon was enough to summon the next course.
As he ate, Leonardo found himself thinking back to Hogwarts' usual fare. Day after day of fish and chips, meat cutlets, and other staples of classic British cuisine. Fresh ingredients and the house-elves' genuine best efforts notwithstanding, it was relentlessly monotonous.
Just as well I'd stepped in and taught them a few Eastern dishes.
He had done the Hogwarts students' palates a genuine service.