Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

The conflict between Harry and Sirius stemmed from their previous agreement that Harry would have to return to his Uncle Dursley's house after his summer vacation until the eve of the new school year. Harry was puzzled by this arrangement—he simply couldn't understand why he had to go back to that place filled with indifference and exclusion.

Faced with Harry's question, Sirius could only explain in a slightly awkward tone: "After all, they are your last Muggle relatives in this world, and the blood ties cannot be severed."

“But you are my family!” Harry retorted immediately, his tone firm and unwavering, his eyes filled with dependence and recognition for Sirius. In his heart, this godfather who was willing to fight against the entire wizarding world for him was far closer than those indifferent Muggle relatives.

Upon hearing Harry's words, Sirius's face instantly lit up with a bright smile, his eyes filled with relief and emotion. However, he still gently shook his head and said solemnly, "Harry, that's your home, the place where you grew up. No matter what, you must always remember that. It's very important to you."

Harry looked at Sirius's serious eyes, and although he was still somewhat unwilling, he silently nodded, accepting the arrangement.

"Madam, what are you regretting for me?"

"Haha, it's nothing. Actually, I'm just sorry for what you were originally considering."

In Beauxbatons' carriage office, Mrs. Maxim, her long fingernails holding the saucer and teacup handle respectively, took a sip of warm black tea, smiled, and gently placed the saucer and teacup back on the table. The porcelain cup clinked against the table with a crisp sound. Her gentle smile remained on her face as she changed the subject, asking, "Since you don't have any definite plans for the time being, Mr. Hawkwood, are you interested in the study of alchemy?"

"Alchemy?" Dylan blinked slightly and nodded. "Mrs. Maxim, I am certainly very interested."

“Since you’re interested,” Mrs. Maxim said with a knowing smile, “and since you don’t have any definite travel plans, why not take advantage of this summer to visit Beauxbatons?”

She began to patiently introduce the place, her tone tinged with pride: "I think you've heard Fleur mention it before. Beauxbatons Castle is also extremely spacious and magnificent, with elegant and exquisite interior decorations. What's even more special is that whenever you dine, a forest fairy will softly sing a serenade in a corner of the restaurant, creating a truly wonderful atmosphere."

"And as you know, Beauxbatons, like Hogwarts, has a long history and profound heritage. The number of books in the school library is also quite astonishing, including many rare books on alchemy, many of which are unique copies that are not found in the Hogwarts library."

Mrs. Maxim's enthusiastic promotion of Beauxbatons aroused some suspicion in Dylan. He couldn't understand why she was so eager to invite him, so he simply asked, "Mrs. Maxim, thank you for your kind invitation. But I'm curious, what do I need to do in return for accepting this invitation?"

Hearing Dylan's direct question, Mrs. Maxim was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle. Her laughter was deep and pleasant. She quickly composed herself, took a few deep breaths, and her tone returned to its previous calmness: "Mr. Hawkwood, it seems that my wording caused you to misunderstand and frighten you? Don't worry."

“Of course you don’t need to do anything extra; this is just a very ordinary, friendly invitation,” she explained. “Beauxbatons has always hoped to establish good relationships with outstanding young wizards in the wizarding world, and you, as a representative of youth, deserve our recognition and respect in terms of both knowledge and character. We simply want to take this opportunity to get to know you.”

“I think there are always some universally accepted core theories in the field of alchemy.” Dylan still had doubts. He looked at Mrs. Maxim and said sincerely, “From what I understand, these theories seem to have formed a general consensus within Beauxbatons—you always have to pay a price to gain something. Mrs. Maxim, isn’t that the truth?”

Dylan's insistence made Mrs. Maxim nod slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief, her smile fading and replaced by a hint of seriousness: "Alright, since you're so insistent on this point, I won't beat around the bush."

“If we must put it this way, the price we are willing to pay is the knowledge and books that Beauxbatons have accumulated over many years, and what we want to gain is peace and mutual assistance in the future of the magical world.” Her tone became solemn. “Since you have also mentioned alchemy, then I will lay out the whole thing in its entirety, just like conducting an alchemical experiment—I think this way, we can completely avoid any misunderstandings.”

Seeing this, Dylan nodded: "Mrs. Maxim, thank you for your understanding and honesty."

“If we’re going to trace this back to its origins,” Madame Maxime said slowly, her gaze drifting out the window as if lost in thought, “we have to start with Beauxbatons’ connection to other magic schools, or rather, with the past ties between the French magical world and other magical worlds…”

“You should know very well that before the Muggles painstakingly explored the so-called ‘New World’ and even set foot on the land of other continents, the wizards had already known about the existence of other continents through various magical means—whether it was magic carpets, apparition, or the power of magical creatures—and had even established preliminary contacts with wizards in various places.”

She took a sip of tea and continued, "In the past, French Muggles landed on other continents and started a wave of colonization. But before that, the relationship between us French wizards and wizards from other continents was relatively harmonious. We would exchange some simple goods and occasionally share some basic magical insights. If you know Muggle history, you can probably guess that the conflicts in the Muggle world eventually affected the relationship between us wizards."

"Let's talk about something unrelated first," Madame Maxim said, her tone becoming more complicated. "It's because of the predatory actions of French Muggles on other continents that those wizards have developed a deep estrangement from us. Our relationship with them has changed from harmonious to extremely ambiguous and delicate. We haven't completely broken off relations, but we can never go back to the trust and honesty we once had."

“As you mentioned before, one of the core consensuses of alchemy is that you have to pay a price for everything you want to gain.” Madam Maxim’s gaze became serious again. “This was also the core direction we adhered to when we first established exchanges with wizards from other continents.”

"Besides exchanging supplies, what we valued even more was the exchange and sharing of knowledge. Unfortunately, the wizarding communities on other continents at the time were quite conservative. No matter how much we tried to befriend them or how generous the exchange conditions were, they were only willing to maintain the most basic exchange of supplies and remained tight-lipped about the core magical knowledge."

Mrs. Maxim gently shook her head, a hint of regret in her voice. "Furthermore, the later arrival of French Muggles on other continents had a significant impact on local Muggles and wizards. This conservatism completely transformed into distrust of European wizards, making communication even more difficult." "It wasn't until the last century that English wand-making techniques truly spread to other continents and were accepted by wizards there." She paused, looked at Dylan, and asked, "Mr. Hawkwood, you should be able to guess the reason behind this, right?"

Upon hearing Mrs. Maxim's question, Dylan immediately recalled a history intertwined with Muggles and wizards. After a moment's thought, he said, "I think it's because the Muggles here also set foot on the lands of other continents and established colonial rule there?"

“That’s right. As wizards on other continents have gradually accepted wands as a spellcasting tool, our communication with them has finally become more frequent. Although there are still barriers, we have finally made substantial progress.”

"But this period of peace was short-lived. A major event that affected the entire magical world occurred—the devastating 'Wizard World War.' The outbreak of war dealt another heavy blow to the already fragile intercontinental wizarding relations. Since then, wizards from other continents have become conservative again, closing the door to in-depth exchanges with European wizards once more."

She sighed softly and drank the rest of the tea in her cup in one gulp. Considering her tall stature, that small cup of tea was probably equivalent to an average person taking only a sip.

So she had to keep pouring herself tea, which meant the kettle was almost never put down.

Mrs. Maxim raised her hand to refill her teacup with black tea, and then drank it all in one gulp.

Mrs. Maxime began, “I believe that Beauxbatons today faces a similar predicament to that of wizards on other continents in the past, and we need a radical transformation.”

“Mr. Hawkwood, Beauxbatons’ curriculum is very different from Hogwarts’. Our students begin systematically learning about alchemy from their second year, which is quite rare among other magic schools in Europe.”

“However, as you know, learning alchemy requires a lot of time and effort. Not only do you have to memorize the properties of various materials, but you also have to master complex conversion formulas. It places extremely high demands on a student’s patience and talent.” She paused and added, “That’s why we thought of combining alchemy with spellcasting to create a unique way of casting spells—using alchemy as a foundation to quickly construct magical effects.”

"For a long time after this method was created, it was the core of Beauxbatons' main teaching, which allowed our school to gain a place in the magical world." Mrs. Maxim's tone was tinged with nostalgia, which then turned to helplessness. "But as the magical system continued to innovate, new spells were created one after another. Most of these spells were simple and efficient, without the need for complicated preliminary preparations. Our proud method of casting spells gradually became impractical."

Mrs. Maxim looked at Dylan with a questioning look in her eyes, "Mr. Hawkwood, you should understand what I mean, right? This method has too high a threshold and can no longer keep up with the pace of development in the magical world today."

“Mrs. Maxim, I understand completely.” Dylan nodded earnestly, indicating that he understood the predicament she was referring to.

“This is the biggest problem facing Beauxbatons today.” Mrs. Maxim shook her head gently, her tone full of worry. “Our school has always been famous for its alchemy, which is the core attraction that draws students from all over the world to study here.”

"I can say without exaggeration that as long as you can become a student of Beauxbatons and successfully complete seven years of study, especially in alchemy, you can almost always find a pretty good job in the magical world after graduation—whether you enter a magical artifact workshop or become an independent alchemist, you can have a decent life."

"A predicament?" Dylan blinked slightly and offered his opinion. "Mrs. Maxim, focusing on alchemy and perfecting this skill seems like a good choice. There aren't many truly top-tier alchemists in the magical world these days, and Beauxbatons could continue to cultivate this field and become a training ground for alchemical talent."

“You’re right, but reality is far crueler than we imagine,” Mrs. Maxim said gravely. “With the emergence of various powerful spells, many functions that originally required alchemical tools can now be accomplished with a simple spell. This has directly led to many traditional magical tools losing their market, and related industries are gradually shrinking.”

Her tone suddenly shifted, becoming increasingly serious: "In addition, the rapid development of the Muggle world is accelerating this change, and even indirectly impacting our magic system."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Dylan's eyes flickered.

He had actually anticipated this.

After all, the technology in the Muggle world is developing rapidly, and his parents even deserve credit for this.

Or rather, his contribution.

Mrs. Maxim sighed softly again, a hint of helplessness in her voice: "Mr. Hawkwood, perhaps this is something you hadn't considered before? This is where our perspective differs from Hogwarts'. Hogwarts' teaching focuses on spells, and the application of magic is relatively direct. They haven't yet felt the indirect impact of Muggle technological development as profoundly as we have." (End of Chapter)