With a sudden clap of her hands, Lys thought she could ask her neighbor to help sell some alchemical products. Her parents weren't suited for bustling crowds, but if Loralyn Eber didn't find a suitable source of income soon, she might have to close her shop. Perhaps Lys could ask her.
After the reading room was empty in the afternoon, Lys visited her neighbor, bringing along some of her homemade cookies, the kind that didn't crumble.
Loralyn was very interested in Lys's proposal and agreed to it. Lys immediately brought over some of her normal works from her fourth year.
As she was leaving the shop, Lys noticed that Loralyn seemed to have something to say, so she paused and looked at her inquiringly.
Loralyn's cheeks were as red as ripe apples. "Do you... have a girlfriend?"
Lys didn't know how many times she had been asked this question. She felt so awkward that her neck creaked as she turned it. "Miss Eber, I'm a girl. I'm from Slytherin, and I'll be in sixth year next year."
"Oh!" Loralyn's face immediately returned to normal, and she exclaimed with her hand over her mouth, "I'm so sorry, you're just so dazzling that I didn't dare to look at you closely. Actually, you're closer to the description of beautiful. Oh, I really apologize!"
Blinking twice, she continued to ask, "Do you have a boyfriend then?" Seeing Lys shake her head, she added, "If you don't mind, my brother, Er Eber from Hufflepuff, I don't know if you know him, but he's very good-tempered. Would you be interested in meeting him?"
Surprised, Lys looked at the chubby girl. "I know him. We were pretty good friends in our first and second year. But you should know, I'm a Slytherin. If we hang out together, it involves taking a stand."
"So my silly brother listened to the family and wouldn't play with you?" Loralyn was surprised. "I bet you didn't look like you do now back then. He must regret it. Our Eber family has a good trait of liking good-looking people!"
Seeing Loralyn's proud expression, Lys smiled slightly and didn't continue the topic. She simply said goodbye and told her neighbor to come to her if there were any issues with the protective gear before returning to the reading room.
The grumpy old man was already sitting in his usual spot, reading several alchemy books, muttering about taboos and marveling at them.
Lys glanced slightly; it was about puppet magic, the false regeneration of limbs, where all actions and will of the prosthetic were controlled by the spellcaster. If the spellcaster did anything tricky, the cursed person wouldn't even know how they died. Although terrifying, it required very high alchemical knowledge and strong magical power and manipulation skills.
For now, Lys couldn't achieve it; her alchemy level and magical manipulation skills weren't up to par.
"I heard you set off fireworks last night?" The old man teased Lys.
"Hey, no, I didn't mean to. A magic array exploded, and to avoid burning down the house, I threw it all out," Lys briefly explained and then nestled back into her corner to continue studying the wand-making book.
Her wand casing still hadn't been removed, and she had even prepared the inlaid diamonds and materials.
"Recently, Knockturn Alley has been unstable. The Death Eaters seem to be looking for someone or something. You're close to the alley entrance, so try to keep a low profile," the old man glanced up at Lys.
Lys nodded perfunctorily. She didn't even leave the house. Last night was really an accident. She couldn't let her parents come back to find the shop already razed to the ground, could she?
She continued scribbling on parchment, occasionally using magic to construct something in the air. Her magical control was still noticeably lacking in detail, but overall, she could achieve complete order.
After blowing up another amber pendant, Lys sighed. It wasn't successful, never successful. It was just too unstable. One after another exploded, and her shirt was full of holes, her hands bloody from the blasts.
Impatiently, she cast a healing spell on herself, pulled out the relevant book, and continued reading, realizing her theoretical knowledge was complete, but her magical control in details was insufficient. She had to give up.
Instead, she began multitasking during her free time, weaving magic into strands in the air while reading, knitting a sweater.
The grumpy old man, about to leave in the evening, watched Lys demonstrate so many abilities, itching with curiosity. He ran out, did something unknown, and returned after a while. Lys was about to close up and focus on researching her magic.
Seeing the old man return and just stare at her without reading, Lys looked back in confusion. Just as they were staring at each other, the door chime sounded again, and a young man rushed in, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"
Seeing his grandpa standing there fine, he was momentarily at a loss, "Grandpa, you called me so urgently, is there something wrong?"
The young man had jet-black hair and light brown eyes. When he saw Lys, his eyes lit up. "Hello, classmate. My grandpa is a bit hot-tempered. Has he been bothering you?"
Seeing Lys shake her head, he quickly added, "Do you remember me? Behind the tapestry, I think you might have been a bit unhappy then, right?" After speaking, he realized mentioning it might not leave a good impression and blushed.
The grumpy old man glanced around, no longer minding his grandson's comment about his temper. "You two know each other? That's great. I've always said my grandson is excellent. Miss Black should get to know him well!"
Such straightforward words made the boy's face even redder. "You, you don't mind, my grandpa is just, he's just... um, I'm..."
Before he could finish, Lys interrupted him, "I'm a Slytherin, studying dark magic like eating and drinking, running a shop in Knockturn Alley like going home, and my dad's a werewolf. Are you sure?"
"Don't look at your grandpa. Are you sure? I believe only acceptance can lead to understanding. What do you think?" Lys was fed up with being asked about boyfriends, family situations, and marriage abroad. She didn't want to waste any more time.
She still had so many things and knowledge unfinished, and even her soul had unresolved issues. Now was not the time to consider these things with someone hesitant.
Seeing him constantly glance at his grandpa, Lys decisively issued an eviction order, "It's late tonight. The reading room is closing. You're welcome to come back tomorrow if you want to read."
The boy, disappointed, followed his exasperated grandpa out of the store. After a few steps, his grandpa started scolding him, pulling his hair, "First impressions matter! You'll never find a wife like this. Your grandma was a dark magic master, your mom a German dark magic researcher. What's wrong with her?! Can't you compliment her? How did your dad raise such a tongue-tied sandworm!"
Lys recalled the significant events of the past century, realizing the old man's wives were all people at the forefront of events. Marrying his grandma during wartime when dark wizards had the worst reputation, and his mom likely during the end of the first Dark Lord's era when some German wizards had terrible reputations.
Tsk, not ordinary people.
But what did that have to do with her?
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