great-warnovel Chapter 131 The Tears of Galatea
Chapter 131 The Tears of Galatea
Chapter 131 The Tears of Galatea
That very evening, Hermione heard about Mrs. Sinta flying out of Hogwarts on a broomstick.
Hogwarts' anti-Apparition ability is quite powerful; even inside their own carriage, they cannot move instantly.
Beauxbatons' Floo Net is even worse than Hogwarts', with very poor stability during continuous movement, so they rarely use fireplaces.
Fortunately, it's very close to Beauxbatons School, so it won't take long to get there by plane.
As for Portkeys, after the Ministry of Magic lost control, many wizards recklessly manufactured them without proper management, leading to considerable chaos in many areas. Even the slightest disturbance could result in disastrous consequences, so wizards are reluctant to use this method of travel unless it is an emergency.
And as Lily said, Beauxbatons is probably conducting emergency testing and reverse engineering of the trigger spray. They would never be willing to spend money if they could handle it themselves, and the amount is not small.
During their three-day stay at Hogwarts, there was no further news. Beauxbatons' carriage flew away from the castle, and the school set off for Spain. The students had been complaining for a long time about not having any field trips.
Professor Lockhart repeatedly assured them that this was just a rescheduling of classes, moving the later theoretical lessons to the beginning, and that they would still have their required field practice session.
Hermione remained calm and unhurried, not letting Beauxbatons' silence disrupt her rhythm. She was confident that the alchemists couldn't bypass the technical barriers to understand perfumery theory, but if Beauxbatons intended to give her the cold shoulder and use it to lower the price, she could easily find another partner, given that she already understood the value of the inducing spray. The nobles of Malfoy Castle might seem disgusting, but making money was no problem.
However, I believe Beauxbatons wouldn't be so unwise. They have enough alchemy professors and business managers; these smart people wouldn't treat Lily like a fool.
Mrs. Potter has already spoken with Professor Sprout about increasing the proportion of spice crops in the next planting cycle.
She had also talked to the students in her club. These upperclassmen did not look down on Hermione because of her young age, or rather, they took Hermione's reputation at the school for granted, considering her a genius.
They didn't see anything wrong with working for a junior high school girl. On the contrary, with Lily's explanation, they learned about the commercial value of inducing sprays. It was an industry that could be run for a long time, and they might become the first perfumers to be employed by Hogwarts and have a secure job.
Moreover, Hermione is constantly developing new perfumes, which means that this discipline has a bright future.
Thinking about it this way, what is there to hesitate about? At this stage, there is not a clear boundary between potion making and perfume making, and it is not difficult to switch careers. If I refuse this contract, am I supposed to go to Malfoy Castle to work as a slave after graduation?
As for the Unbreakable Curse, although it sounds somewhat like a dictatorship, Hermione's oath with them only stipulates responsibilities and obligations in the field of perfumery, which is even more lenient than the contracts of many workshops and shops.
These senior students agreed without much hesitation. However, there weren't many who were qualified to enter Professor Lily's club and whose character and personality were recognized by the professor. In the end, there were only seven people who became the first perfumery apprentices.
After making a vow with Hermione, they will begin learning the basics of perfumery.
Although the number of people is somewhat small, the cooperation with Beauxbatons is unlikely to have large orders at the beginning. Both parties need to work together and test each other, so seven people are more than enough.
While waiting for Beauxbatons' feedback, Hermione wasn't idle; she focused more on developing the Iron Kettle Incense.
This perfume, invented by a fallen perfumer, has only a few basic ingredients, aside from the forbidden material of a shard of a living pot.
Asta pollen, which served as the base material, was blended by Hermione using spices she found in the kitchen and greenhouse—another additional ingredient.
A moss bud in a cave, though rare in the Muggle world, was replaced by a similarly characteristic alternative, thanks to Professor Sprout.
The remaining part is simply adjusting the proportions and improving the mixing process. Potions Master Lily can provide some help with this. Although the theories are different, she can list most of the commonly used processes in this world. With these as a reference for Hermione, she can quickly learn from them and improve them into the methods she needs.
Therefore, she successfully concocted the Iron Pot Fragrance in just a few days. However, unfortunately, due to constant trial and error, she consumed too many fragments of Galatea's offspring, resulting in only three finished products.
This highly practical incense is listed as taboo because its main ingredient comes from the living pot of intelligent life. In this world, if you want to produce iron pot incense in large quantities, you have to go to Cyprus to hunt down the offspring of Galatea. Apart from their ivory bodies, they are exactly the same as humans in appearance and intelligence, which is obviously unjust.
Therefore, Hermione does not intend to spread this perfume. If she is fortunate enough to find more fragments in the future, she can make more, but her conscience makes her unable to accept actively hunting intelligent life to make perfume.
It's worth mentioning that the original Iron Kettle Incense, while turning people into iron blocks, also weakened the user's resistance to lightning. However, whether it's because the Galatea offspring were made of ivory or for some other reason, this flaw in the original version was actually improved in this world.
In Hermione's initial experiment, after using the perfume, her body turned a beautiful milky white, like a work of art, an ivory carving.
She became stronger and more resilient, and her mind became more tenacious. She tried to use the Disarming Charm on herself, but there was no effect. The Stunning Charm was also deflected. Even the Confusion Charm and Oblivion Charm she learned from Lockhart's Notebook could only produce a slight dizziness, which had little impact on the battle.
She estimated that spells like the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius Curse, which are specifically designed to target the mind, would be greatly weakened. Even the Killing Curse, if cast by someone with weaker magical power, would probably only cause a nosebleed at most.
She was very satisfied with the effect, but the name "Iron Pot Fragrance" was not quite right. After thinking for a long time, she decided to name the new version of the fragrance "Tears of Galatea" in memory of the Galatea children who sacrificed themselves for it.
With Christmas just around the corner, she decided to give one bottle as a gift to Professor Lily, who had gone to so much trouble for her.
The remaining two bottles will be kept for personal use. It would be even better if this master could develop a similar potion based on this perfume.
As for the gifts from the other professors, she decided to give away some of the anti-curse tablets that Mrs. Sinta had given her. These were universally applicable and would be suitable for anyone, including Draco. She remembered that last year, Draco had quietly given her a box of Malfoy pastries, and she hadn't prepared a gift for him at the time, which was somewhat impolite.
Hermione never liked owing favors, even the smallest ones, so she decided to return last year's gift this year. A spell-protecting plate wasn't cheap, so she used a beautiful and exquisite Slytherin badge, with the plate on the back and a Stunning Charm cast inside. It was both aesthetically pleasing and practical, and not shabby at all. She figured that the sensitive little dragon wouldn't find it an insult.