The next day, Kael sat up on an antique bed, rubbing his head. He stared blankly at the unfamiliar surroundings for a while before remembering that he was in Paris, at Nicolas Flamel's house.
"Honored guest, would you like some breakfast?" A sharp voice came from the other end of the room.
It was a house-elf wearing goggles.
"Tata?"
Kael recalled that this little elf should have this name.
"Yes, honored guest... I'm honored you remembered Tata's name."
Unlike the house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen who were always timid, Tata seemed much more normal.
With its clean and decent attire, it looked more like a butler from an ancient manor.
But they also shared a common trait: a bit too enthusiastic.
After seeing Kael get up, it brought over all the washing supplies and breakfast in one go.
Steak, sausages, bread, foie gras, French soup... various breakfast items piled up the entire table, enough to feed an elephant.
"Enough, I really can't eat all this!" Kael hastily stopped it from bringing more breakfast, took a hot towel from a tray beside him, wiped his face, and asked, "What exactly happened yesterday, and why am I sleeping here?"
Kael only felt his head was muddled; he just remembered being invited to Nicolas Flamel's home and meeting Fleur from Beauxbatons and Ms. Maxime.
As for what happened afterward and why he was sleeping here, he had no impression at all.
"Honored guest, you drank some strong water yesterday, and then you fell asleep," Tata said. "It was the master who asked me to bring you here to rest."
"Strong water?" Kael frowned, seemingly recalling something, but it was still a bit vague.
"Oh, it's this." Tata took out a bottle. "After they drank it yesterday, I specially saved it."
Kael took the bottle, and his expression turned somewhat unsightly.
Vintage Flaming Whiskey.
Looking at the date on the bottle, 1933...
Good heavens, did he drink whiskey nearly sixty years old? No wonder his head felt so terrible.
Ever since he learned Occlumency, he hadn't felt like this for a long time.
And Occlumency is only for spiritual magic; strong liquor is clearly beyond its scope.
"The master said you might need this."
At this time, Tata handed a sky-blue magic potion to Kael.
Kael opened the cap and took a small sniff, then tilted his head back and drank it.
The next second, Kael felt a cool breeze washing over him, and his originally groggy mind instantly cleared up a lot, and he remembered.
Yesterday, while dining together, indeed someone gave him something like wine.
And it was none other than McPhail, who delivered the Merlin Medal to Hogwarts.
But at that time, he said it was honey wine, even young wizards could have a couple of cups, so Kael didn't think much of it and took a sip.
Then here he was now...
Kael only felt his head pounding with every heartbeat.
Who would have thought... McPhail, this wizard over a hundred years old, one of the few recipients of the First Class Merlin Medal, would trick a child not even thirteen into drinking Flaming Whiskey!
Oh, and the Bafe Awakening Potion he planned to brew for him.
That gooey, bubbling, weird brown liquid... Kael had only seen that in Mikel's cauldron.
Even a Fire Dragon couldn't handle that stuff, right?
For a moment, Kael suddenly suspected McPhail had some vendetta against Dumbledore... but because he couldn't fight him, he decided to extract some interest from Kael instead.
...
After breakfast, Kael left the room and followed a golden corridor to the hall from yesterday.
At this moment, the hall had completely transformed, the ceiling gone, the walls and floor had turned dark gold.
As Kael walked in, he saw an astonishingly large orchestra, filling every corner, intently playing their instruments.
And Nicolas Flamel was lying on a beach chair, sunbathing while enjoying a splendid opera performance.
He noticed Kael coming in and smiled, saying, "I guessed you were awake when Tata took all the food from the kitchen."
Kael, amazed, walked over to Nicolas, but his eyes never left the vast orchestra.
"Mr. Flamel, this is..."
"Oh, you're talking about this," Nicolas said with a proud face. "This is the most precious treasure of my long life."
As he spoke, Nicolas got up from the beach chair.
The melodious opera continued, but the orchestra was gone, and the hall transformed back to the way it was yesterday.
Kael noticed that some golden symbols on the walls flashed just now.
Those symbols seemed familiar to him, as if he'd seen them somewhere... oh, right, Dumbledore's Headmaster's Office!
These symbols were almost identical to those on the Pensieve.
"Mr. Flamel..."
"We agreed before, call me Nicolas."
"Alright, Nicolas," Kael asked, "are these your memories?"
"Exactly..." Nicolas reminisced, "A memorable encounter a hundred years ago, I can't help but want to experience it a few more times."
"Amazing!" Kael marveled.
A room-sized Pensieve... you could probably only see that with Nicolas Flamel.
"This is my proudest creation." Nicolas said, switching to a new piece of music.
Kael looked around; the hall was empty except for him and Nicolas; there was no one else here.
Only then did Kael quietly ask, "Nicolas, does Mr. McPhail have some personal vendetta with Professor Dumbledore?"
"As far as I know... no." Nicolas replied, "In fact, they're quite good friends, and they're both ardent fans of ten-pin bowling.
Before you came here, he even expressed to Albus that he would help look after you."
"Tricking me into drinking whiskey?" Kael asked skeptically, "That's quite a unique way of watching over someone."
"It has nothing to do with Albus," Nicolas laughed, "since Dugald retired, his personality has become more and more capricious. Not only you, but even Fleur wasn't spared.
But he apparently forgot Olympe was also here... oh, by the way, maybe this will cheer you up."
Nicolas clapped his hands, and instantly, the hall's atmosphere changed, the originally melodious music turned into shrill screams, mixed with a series of clear and vigorous knocks.
Kael was very familiar with this sound; it was obviously McPhail's.
Yesterday, when he entered that potion room, he had heard the same screams, thus leaving a deep impression.
Kael softly asked, "Could it be Ms. Maxime again..."
"Just as you thought." Nicolas winked, showing a mischievous smile, "I suppose, he won't be able to go out for a long time."
Kael chuckled twice along; he believed now that this matter had nothing to do with Dumbledore.
Tricking him was one thing, but Fleur had connections; McPhail even dared to pick on her?
The beating he took was well deserved.