{Edited} - The Chaotic Traveler: Chapter 16 (Patreon)

AN: Edited chapters do not count toward monthly quotas.

Chapter 16: French Magical Creatures

The start of October brought with it the full force of autumn, and to a certain bearded, black-haired, golden retriever assassin, that meant only one thing.

“Jin! Ya ready for some good ole pumpkin farming?!”

“It’s five in the morning, Hagrid!” Jin peeked out of his front door in utter bafflement.

"But pumpkins!" Hagrid insisted.

Jin rubbed his brow, not even wearing a shirt at this hour. “Crazy man trying to kill me say what now?”

"Pumpkins!" Hagrid held up a seemingly ordinary hoe. "It's planting time for my pumpkin patch."

Jin shut the door in the half-giant's face.

If he pretended it was a dream, it was just a dream.

"Jin?" Hagrid scratched his head with the hoe and knocked gently, just enough to only vibrate the wall of the house. “Are ya ok?”

“I’m here.” The door opened back up, and Jin eyed the hoe like one would a dangerous viper, phantom wounds aching across his body in a foreboding warning. "Normal pumpkins?"

“Aye!” Hagrid smiled brightly.

Jin wasn’t buying it. “You’re not going to crossbreed them with a magical creature?”

“Ha! Don’t be silly." Hagrid raised the hoe as if it were an explanation. “It’s a vegetable.”

“…” Jin rolled his jaw as he tried to find the correct way to phrase his question. “You’re not going to breed pumpkin plant monsters that try to eat/strangle/molest/digest/or in any way harm me, correct?”

“Nonsense.” Hagrid scoffed and fixed his jacket. “I make big pumpkins; you wouldn’t be much of a meal.”

Jin narrowed his eyes. “Answer the question, Hagrid.”

Despite his misgivings, Jin was soon roped into helping the big guy with his pumpkin patch.

A patch that was by no means just a small hobby.

Looking out at the garden's fenced-off field, Jin could only deadpan at the happily humming man. "Hagrid, you said growing pumpkins was a hobby."

“It is!” The half-giant took a deep breath. “Love me the autumn air. One of me favorite times of the year.”

“This is easily a few acres of land.” Jin pointed out.

“Aye, they need space to grow big.” Hagrid stated with pride. “I don’t raise no itty-bitty fellas.”

“…” Jin felt his unease grow. “How big?”

“The size of me head to the size of me body.” Hagrid gestured to himself with a thumb.

Jin took in Hagrid’s twelve-foot-tall frame, not even counting his protruding stomach.

‘And now it’s too late to go back to sleep.’ Jin sighed and gave up on resisting. “Halloween is a month away; pumpkins don’t grow that fast.”

“Aye, but we got me special fertilizer mix.” Hagrid pointed to a stack of bags in one corner and winked. “True and tested, it is.”

Jin blinked in surprise. “It grows pumpkins to your size within thirty days?”

“Aye.” Hagrid nodded.

Jin raised a finger to object, then thought about what Hagrid was capable of and slowly lowered it. "Can you share the formula?"

“With pleasure!” Hagrid didn’t even hesitate.

And that’s how Jin learned a secret recipe for growing vegetables to giant proportions in just weeks.

Jin soon learned that Hagrid was obsessed with pumpkins.

The guy knew every little detail about their growth and how to change their flavor, color, and texture through trial and error.

The man was responsible for the entire school's stock of pumpkin juice, using each autumn season to grow enough for not only Halloween decorations but also a winter supply of pumpkins for his own vegetable pantry and to give the House Elves enough materials to make dozens, if not hundreds, of gallons of pumpkin juice to last the full school year.

'If he can do all that in a month…'

Jin was very interested in the potential of using his warehouse for such a task.

'I can section off a portion of the warehouse for a greenhouse, maybe see if I can get an expanded trunk for that stuff.’

Hagrid confirmed his formula was less effective on magical plants, but even so, it was still better than what you could buy at a store.

Jin’s thoughts spiraled off from there as he considered what he could grow and the sheer potential in future worlds while his body got to work.

He could have assigned his House Elves to do the farming work when Hagrid wasn’t looking, but Jin was enjoying the fresh experience.

Every day, every activity, everything was new in Jin’s eyes.

With each passing day, his body grew stronger, and Jin actively wanted to move.

Farming, ironically enough, provided the perfect outlet.

Working on giant pumpkins and learning about gardening from a master of his craft like Hagrid was a lot of fun.

'Neville could probably learn more practical experience from Hagrid than he could from the Herbology professor.'

It was already the morning of October 4th, and Jin knew the schools were arriving today. But Professor McGonagall didn’t say exactly when they'd arrive, so Jin shrugged and went about his day as usual, figuring someone would inform him.

The cooling weather was already adding a bite to the early mornings and late nights, yet with the sun shining down on his slightly tanned skin from being out and about for a month, Jin was working up a steady sweat and had already shed his shirt for a tank top.

He wiped his forehead with the towel around his neck and groaned as he stretched his back. 'It's almost lunchtime. Ugh, I need to cook for myself today. Me and my stupid morals.'

Jin gave his House Elves the day off for completing the Room job, much to their protests.

'They spent a whole month cleaning up the Room of Requirement and still want more to do.' Jin shook his head in wry amusement. 'At least I finally know what kind of resources I'm dealing with.'

Shaking his head at his money troubles, Jin returned to pruning pumpkin vines until Hagrid came calling.

“Jin!” The half-giant waved his arm in the air as if Jin couldn’t hear him long before he saw him.

“Yeah?” Jin looked up from his work to see Hagrid running over, clearly out of breath.

“The schools are arriving; Professor McGonagall wants us there now.” Hagrid gestured for them to get going.

Jin hopped to his feet and looked down at his dirt-covered pants. "Do I have time to clean up?"

He couldn’t exactly cast Charms in front of the guy.

"No time! Let's go." Hagrid plucked Jin like a chicken and started moving at a brisk pace, ignoring the fact that Jin couldn’t even grab his shirt.

“Hagrid, I can just-.”

Jin almost bit his tongue off as the half-giant hopped over the fence with all the grace of a rodeo bull seeing red.

'Hagrid's entered panic mode.’ Jin deadpanned as the wind tore at his face from the big guy's pace. ‘He won't even hear me if I speak now.' Over a month of working together had taught Jin Hagrid's habits. ‘It doesn't look like I'm getting out of this.'

He fixed his pipe to his lips and watched the changing scenery. 'Oh well. Free ride.'

Did it matter that he was coming from the pumpkin patch in a tank top?

Jin hoped not, but he subtly cast a Cleaning Charm on his clothes to remove the dirt stains just to make sure.

‘I doubt McGonagall will care.’

0000

‘She cares.’

The death glare Jin was getting from the boss bitch said it all as he puffed away at his pipe and desperately avoided eye contact.

‘She cares a lot.’

The disruptions from the female student population seeing him in a tank top only made said death glare harsher as Jin attempted to imitate a tree.

‘I am not Jin. I am a tree. A pine tree. I have stood here for many years.’

A frigid gale passing by told Jin that McGonagall wasn’t buying it.

He couldn't speak in his defense, though, because Durmstrang had just shown up in their impressive ship when Hagrid arrived with Jin in tow.

The headmaster of the foreign school walked up, menacing and all, with his students dressed in heavy furs as if they had just left a Siberian winter.

Jin could only stand there stoically with his arms crossed and puff on his pipe while, at the same time, he subtly pointed a finger at Hagrid and shrugged helplessly at the woman staring at him, who turned her ire on a half-giant who wouldn't understand social cues if it hit him over the head with an anvil.

Was it morally wrong to throw Hagrid under the bus? Probably.

Would the guy get more than an earful from the woman? Probably not.

Did it help improve Jin’s current situation? Yes.

The older woman looked away with a huff, and Jin could finally breathe easy knowing he had dodged a bullet.

‘I’ll remember your sacrifice, Hagrid.’

"Dumbledore!" The Durmstrang headmaster, a tall Russian man with a striking goatee in sleek silver robes, led the way, calling out with his arms spread, one of which Jin noticed held an old-style staff.

‘Is that a magical focus? I’d love to take a look at that.’

Jin's eyes narrowed on the rare tool as the older man paused and shivered momentarily before continuing on to Dumbledore. “How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?”

“Flourishing, thank you, Karkaroff.” Dumbledore replied while standing at the head of the Hogwarts procession in front of the entrance doors.

The two headmasters embraced as old friends.

“Dear old Hogwarts.” The Durmstrang headmaster smiled up at the castle, yellow teeth gleaming. "How good it is to be here again."

“I’m sure.” Dumbledore responded with his customary eye twinkle and waved an arm toward the doors. "Please step inside with your students. My deputy headmaster, Professor McGonagall, will be happy to show you the waiting area while we await the ladies of Beauxbatons."

"Ah, I see the French arrive late, as always." Karkaroff laughed openly as McGonagall stepped up, looking unimpressed at the Durmstrang headmaster.

"Right this way, gentlemen." She turned without waiting, leaving Karkaroff to chuckle shrewdly, a dangerous glint in his eye, as he waved his students to follow him inside.

‘I wouldn’t follow through with those thoughts, mate.’ Jin noticed the look and had to bite back a chuckle at Karkaroff's offense. 'McGonagall would chew you up and spit you out in seconds.'

Jin broke out of his thoughts when Filch, the school janitor, rushed up to Hagrid's side. "Hagrid."

“Huh?” Hagrid turned. “Oh, Filch. What’s wrong?”

“It’s your damn Skrewts again!” The squib janitor was out of breath. “They broke out of their cages.”

“Now?!” Hagrid tried to keep his voice down and pulled the caretaker and Jin aside. “That’s not good. Not good at all. We need to contain them.”

"We?!" Filch's voice rose in alarm, and a few heads turned before Hagrid shushed him. "What do you expect me to do? Be bait?"

“Nonsense.” Hagrid explained calmly. “Ya just get their attention while I rope 'em in."

“That’s called being bait, Hagrid!” Filch objected.

Hagrid ignored the man's complaints and turned to Jin. "Jin, the French schools are coming in a min. Ya handle the horses.”

“What?” Jin blinked, almost choking on his pipe. “I thought I was helping you handle the horses?”

"Change of plans.” Hagrid patted Jin’s shoulder with enough force to have knocked one-month-ago Jin off his feet. “Ya got this. I believe in you."

The half-giant tucked a protesting Filch under one arm and rushed off.

“…”

A cold wind blew by, and Jin was left standing there alone with shadowed eyes, smoke drifting calmly from his pipe.

'Fuck.'

He had read up plenty about Abraxan, considering it was supposed to be his job to take care of them, but that didn't mean Jin was excited to mess with horses that literally ate humans in the wild.

‘I was counting on Hagrid to take their attention.' He took a deep drag on his pipe and let the smoke calm him. ‘Alright, just play it cool and roll with it. That’s what you’ve been doing so far.’

Jin silently nodded to himself, his confidence growing.

Confidence that took a dive when the French school actually came in for a landing.

The front row of Hogwarts students drew back as the carriage approached, hurtling down at a tremendous speed, only to rapidly slow at the last second before giant winged horses half the size of an elephant touched down with hooves the size of dinner plates, their fiery red eyes spinning to take in their new surroundings disdainfully.

Jin watched as the solid stone blocks beneath their hooves cracked, and stoically blew out a thick cloud of smoke.

‘Fuck me.’

000

A few minutes earlier, within the French carriage, another individual was sharing future Jin’s thoughts.

‘Merde, I should have stayed in France.’

A blond student blew a strand of hair out of her face with a huff.

“Ladies.” Madame Maxime looked over at her students in the main lounge of their mansion.

A mansion that existed within the carriage currently hurtling through the air and pulled by a dozen Abraxan.

The half-giant headmistress made sure she had everyone’s attention. “We’ll be approaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Remember what we practiced.”

“Yes, Madame Maxime.” A chorus of tittering voices responded as the imperious woman nodded and walked off to speak to the head of the mansion's staff.

The two dozen female students sat in groups, gossiping and chatting about the year to come and which one of them would be chosen for the tournament.

Each was a beauty in their own right, raised in wealth and etiquette from a young age.

The students here were all the top scorers from the current seventh year at Beauxbatons, and each aimed to secure the position of representing their school, no matter who they had to surpass to reach it.

Only one student sat alone by the window, gazing out with a dull expression.

'Why did I agree to this again?’

The young woman was tall and willowy, with an air of grace that made her seem like she lived in her own world.

Something her fellow students envied her for quite viciously.

A few mocking comments were shot at her back; whether they knew she could hear them or not, she didn't think they cared.

“Think she will get in?”

“Not unless she enchants the judges like she did the teachers.”

“As if a creature could represent us.”

Fleur Delacour gritted her teeth in suppressed anger.

‘Enchanted the teachers, did I? As if these little girls knew how much effort I put into my studies. I earned my place here. My heritage has nothing to do with it, unlike most of you spoiled bitches.’

Fleur was a Veela, and she was proud of it.

Her family and distant relatives would never let her hate her nature like that.

However, wizarding culture wasn't the same as that of the secluded Veela conclaves. They saw her as lesser.

'Even if France isn't nearly as xenophobic as England, humans are all the same.'

Society had beaten Fleur down.

In her youth, she had been fascinated with magic, and when she entered Beauxbatons, she had been ecstatic to make friends and learn.

Sadly, her natural bloodline talents woke early in her first year; she was an early bloomer, and with it came an allure Fleur had struggled to control since the day it awakened.

The friends she thought she had learned to fear her, and it only got worse with each passing year.

But Fleur refused to bow her head; to duck and hide. She was too proud for that.

She threw herself into her studies instead, working harder than anyone else to prove her mind was sharper than her natural talents.

Her childhood fascination for magic had never faded; it had only grown stronger through the years.

Yet, no matter what Fleur did, her hard-won intelligence only made the envious and vicious turn their noses up at her.

Women hated her for what she had; men wanted her for what she was, and sometimes the two overlapped.

No one wanted Fleur for herself.

No one acknowledged Fleur as anything more than a Veela.

Even her headmistress, Madame Maxime, despite being a half-giant herself and able to ignore Veela allure, saw Fleur as a chess piece to enhance her school's reputation.

'That might be a bit mean.' Fleur admitted to herself. 'Madame Maxime has been good to Gabrielle and me. I can't blame her for wanting to make Beauxbatons famous.'

Fleur could see herself performing similarly in Maxime’s shoes.

‘That doesn’t mean I have to like this situation.’

She scowled as more pointed comments were aimed her way and looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at a trio of girls who were louder than the rest.

An idle flick of her wand beneath her robe made the girls' chairs snap beneath their weight, spilling their drinks over themselves.

“Oh dear, you girls should watch your weight.” Fleur idly commented with fake concern.

The three threw her nasty looks, but not a single one dared raise their wand in retaliation, not directly, anyway.

'Cowards.' Fleur scowled in disgust and turned back to her view. 'They're all cowards.'

No one dared to face her directly, always skirting behind her, especially after Fleur punished the men who got too forward or the women who snapped her patience.

‘How am I supposed to find anyone to equal me, Maman?’ Fleur's finger traced idle patterns in the fog her breath left on the window.

She had grown up on the romance stories her mother told her. Stories of how Maman found Papa and fell in love.

Albeit they always ended up becoming raunchy stories in the end.

'Never put it up to a Veela to take things slow.' Fleur couldn’t help but snort in humor, wiping away her artistic creation and plopping her chin on her palm.

Veela were creatures of fire, air, and passion.

It was within their nature to claim a prize and make it theirs. Not unlike a Harpy, but Veela were more sophisticated about it.

Their beauty made it difficult to see through others' nature, and their allure made it hard to express emotions; the more frantic or surprised a Veela became, the less control she had over it.

At best, the allure was a filter for those with a strong enough will. At worst, and most of the time, it was a curse to live with.

'It took Maman years to train Papa’s Occlumency high enough to build his resistance, but people like Papa aren't around anymore. No one willingly opens their mind to a Veela like that now.'

Fleur scowled at her own attempts at finding a straight man she could even have a simple conversation with.

And she really did make an attempt.

'I don't need it. I just need to focus on my studies. The tournament is a chance to make a name for myself and catch the attention of an Enchanting Master to let me apprentice under them after I graduate.'

She wanted to strike out on her own without her family's help and explore the nature of magic, have grand adventures, and solve ancient mysteries.

Her family kept warning her away from such a dangerous path, but Fleur refused to be deterred.

'My future is mine. I love my family, but they can be so suffocating sometimes.' Fleur rolled her eyes at the last argument she had with them.

‘I just need to win the tournament. That’s my first step.’

Fleur had a plan, and she was going to make it work.

Her personal life didn't matter in that.

The mansion shook, and Madame Maxime called for them to assemble at the door.

"Remember, ladies, shock and awe.” Maxime raised her chin proudly and swept her gaze over their uniforms, checking for any imperfection until her eyes landed on Fleur, a trace of warmth entering her gaze. "You have my full confidence, dear.”

Fleur stifled a twitch at the immediate dark glares the others sent her way and inclined her head. “Thank you, Madame Maxime.”

"Mn." The carriage came in for a rough landing, and Maxime cursed in French as the door opened and she stepped out.

The whispers started the second Maxime left, and Fleur wanted nothing more than to be back in France, where she could escape the stares and lock herself in her own corner of the library.

'I'll need to find a new hiding spot for the year.’

She hung back and let the other students go first when called. The girls were in such a rush to be first and show off their vanity that Fleur didn't see the point in pushing through.

‘We’re all going to a waiting area, anyway. Did they forget that we practiced our entrance show?’

Fleur internally shook her head and waited until she was the last one, then took a deep breath and stepped out.

Immediately, she was hit by chill air far too cold for early October, and a shiver ran through her beneath her robe.

'What I would give for France's sun right now.'

Maxime was already heading inside the castle with Dumbledore when she stepped out, leaving her to walk at the end of the line of her fellow students. Yet, her mind wasn't on where she was walking but where she wished she was at that moment.

Which is why she was shocked when her walk came to an abrupt halt by what felt like her face smooshing into a heated brick wall that smelled of cinnamon.

“Merde!”

"Huh?" A confused, deep-toned voice called out, and Fleur had only a moment to look up into the most fascinating amber eyes she had ever seen before her allure instinctively activated from surprise.

‘Oh no!’

000

A few minutes before, with Jin.

The carriage rolled to a stop with its side door facing the Hogwarts entrance, and Jin caught sight of a sweating carriage driver jumping out of the driver’s seat to rush to open the door.

Golden steps popped out of the carriage as the door opened, a plush red carpet rolling down to cover them.

A shining, high-heeled black shoe emerged from inside, and Jin wasn't the only one who had to keep looking up as the shoe's owner stepped out.

‘Damn, legs for days.’

Madame Maxime, headmaster of Beauxbatons and the only other half-giant Jin knew by name, stepped forward with an air of haughty imperiousness, scanning the Hogwarts crowd with unimpressed eyes.

Dumbledore was the first to clap to appease the woman's vanity, and the students quickly followed his lead.

"My dear Madame Maxime.” He smiled brightly. “Welcome to Hogwarts.”

"Dumbly-dorr." Maxime responded in a deep, accented voice, offering a hand to the aging headmaster. "I 'ope I find you well?”

“In excellent form, thank you.” Dumbledore bent his head to kiss her hand politely.

“My pupils.” Maxime waved toward the carriage, where around two dozen beautiful young women in blue school robes were disembarking. “I have brought my best and brightest.”

Jin's eyes scanned the French students, taking in aristocratic-looking males in butler uniforms as they assisted the female students down.

“You and your students are more than welcome to step inside.” Dumbledore waved them forward. “I'm sure it's a bit chillier than you are used to. Professor Flitwick will be happy to show you to your waiting area.”

“But ze ‘orses-." Madame Maxime started but was cut off by a raise of Dumbledore's hand.

“Our Care of Magical Creatures professor will be delighted to take care of your Abraxan.” Dumbledore said with a calm smile.

A smile that dipped as he looked toward the area Hagrid had been standing in a minute earlier. “The moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation. Until then-."

Snape leaned in to whisper in Dumbledore's ear as the old man continued without missing a beat, his eyes locking onto the smoking Jin. “We have a fine young man on staff with more than enough experience handling Abraxan. Mr. Fluff, if you would please?”

Jin heard the headmaster's words and nodded with a grunt before heading for the horses, his thoughts unknown.

Maxime spared Jin a glance and, beyond a second look at his state of dress, sent Dumbledore a concerned look. “My steeds require, er, forceful ‘andling. Zey are very strong.”

"I assure you we hired the best of help for just this occasion.” Dumbledore lied out of his ass with a twinkling smile. “I'm sure Mr. Fluff will be up to the job.”

The man had barely paid attention to Jin being part of his staff beyond some paperwork he shoved off to McGonagall during the summer.

“Very well.” Maxime subsided. “Will you please inform zis… Mr. Fluff… zat ze ‘orses drink only Ogden’s Finest single-malt whiskey? Zey can be temperamental otherwise.”

“It will be attended to.” Dumbledore assured with decades of false political confidence. “Now, please, let me lead you inside.”

Maxime nodded and waved her students forward without a backward glance.

Meanwhile, Jin had reached the horses and put away his pipe.

"Are you sure you can ‘andle them?" The French driver, a grey-haired older man, spoke in accented English as he glanced at Jin, who was staring the lead horse directly in the eyes.

“Hn.”

“They are not friendly.” The driver tried to warn.

“Hn.”

“They will take direct eye contact as a challenge.” The driver was growing concerned.

“Hn.”

"Are you listening to me?" The driver tried to break Jin's eye contact.

“Hn.” Jin pulled a ball of fluff out of his pocket. “Have a Puffskein.”

The man was taken aback as Jin walked past him, idly dropping the happy, long-tongued creature in his hands.

The man blinked, and the Puffskein blinked back. “What?”

Jin ignored him and approached the lead horse, his instincts rearing up and pushing him forward for a reason he couldn’t explain, but after a month of dealing with them, Jin had learned to trust them.

The lead horse lowered its head and stared Jin in the eye, close enough for its breath to make Jin's hair flutter.

Jin’s lips pulled back as he growled in reply, low enough for only the horses to hear as they each snapped their gazes to the standoff.

Jin silently reached into his pocket, and the watching driver’s heart sped up at the thought of the crazy young man feeding a Puffskein to the magical creature, only for the older man to pause in confusion as Jin pulled an entire bottle of liquor from his pants.

“Peace.” Jin held it up, and the lead horse snorted as it took in the scent, snapping its razor-sharp teeth over the bottle and caring little for the glass as it took in the fine liquor.

It neighed happily and licked Jin's hand.

“Good horse.” It tried to take a nibble at his flesh, and Jin swatted its nose. "No biting. I am the alcohol bringer.”

The horse neighed but bobbed its head in acceptance.

"Your name is now Alfred." Jin declared.

The driver was flabbergasted as Jin grabbed the reins and walked off, seemingly speaking to the lead horse as he passed, with the other horses following obediently.

“You ever try anything besides Malt-Whiskey?” Jin asked.

Alfred neighed negatively in reply.

"I'll give you some Scotch later; it's got a different flavor." Jin hummed and reached back into his pocket for his pipe.

His answer was an interested neigh.

Meanwhile, an irritated whine got the driver's attention as he looked down to see the Puffskein grinning far too widely. “Mercy.”

Ignoring the sounds of distress behind him, Jin had an interesting conversation with Alfred, his new horse friend, and unintentionally crossed in front of a certain blond Beauxbatons student at the back of the line who wasn't looking where she was going.

“Merde!”

“Huh?” Jin felt something soft bump into him.

Hidden behind Alfred’s bulk from the rest of the crowd, Jin turned and matched eyes with the bluest sapphire eyes he’d ever seen before a wave of mental force hit him like a truck, and his perception slowed.

00

Like a moment when your life flashes before your eyes, two opposing forces met in the blink of an eye as amber met sapphire.

Fleur's allure shot through Jin’s mind in a way he had never felt before.

Rather than the corruptive taint of a curse or the vibrating hammer blows of a Fwooper, this intrusion felt less direct and more like someone changed the backdrop of his mind, switching the color of the sky from blue to pink.

He was pulled within as a primal feeling of desire washed over his mental plane, the pink sky darkening as misty rain fell, attempting to coat his inner world with a haze.

Yet that haze lasted only a moment before his passive defenses repelled the foreign intrusion, his gravity alone enough to counter the indirect attack.

But this wasn’t a direct attack meant to inflict harm; it was a passive one meant to gently coax.

Fleur’s allure took the blow and bounced back like a rubber band, only to be repulsed further and snap back harder.

The immovable object met the unrelenting wave and began to vibrate Jin’s mental plane until something else broke the stalemate.

Cracks formed in Jin's central island, tropical trees sprouting like grass as a roar like never before shook the space and violently slashed through the intruding force, throwing Jin back out of his mind with a pounding headache before he could even blink in real time.

Along with the mental change came a shot of adrenaline shooting to the heart, snapping Jin back into focus as his animal side’s instincts went haywire.

His animal's wrath became his own, overwhelming his mind with the instinct to attack, his mana boiling beneath his skin without his conscious input.

Yet unknown to Jin at the time, the subconscious flow of mana opened a channel he didn't even know existed. His excited mana ran through his brain and into his eyes, and his Mana Scan perk activated for the first time.

Like a switch being flipped, Jin's amber eyes ignited with an inner light, and the world before him was overtaken by a dazzling array of sparkling lights.

Fearful blue eyes stared up at him as Jin growled deep in his throat, muscles tensing in preparation to pounce. Yet the second he saw the sparks, his mind froze as his animal instincts abruptly halted.

Jin’s first Mana Scan was of the woman before him.

And it was… sparkly.

Like a feline with a laser pointer, his wrath vanished into thin air as he was mesmerized.

Fleur was in the same boat as Jin; if for different reasons.

She had felt extreme shame for letting her allure out in full force like that, something she hadn’t done in years.

Yet her shame turned to confusion as she saw the amber eyes before her not dilate in a trance like most others did but narrow in growing fury.

Fleur’s confusion froze her in place, turning to fear as those bestial eyes locked onto her, glowing with an inner light that fascinated a small part of her mind and sent a spark of something down her back.

Then, in barely a blink, she saw the fury fade as he looked at her in a way she had never felt a man look at her before.

A look without lust, desire, want, or possessiveness.

It was a look of honest appreciation and awe.

"Beautiful."

The word slipped from Jin's lips in a whisper as he stared at the sparkles only he could see, but Fleur felt heat rise up her neck as she took his comment differently, staring further into an amber color she thought she could get lost in.

They were like two crossing stars getting trapped in the gravity of the other, a cycle that grew with each rotation, pulling them only deeper within.

Then a neigh sounded, breaking the trance as the two blinked back to wakefulness. Their trance had lasted only seconds, but it stretched far longer in their shared perception.

“What…”

“What just…”

The two shook their heads in shared confusion, but a call from the carriage got Fleur’s attention before either of them could fully comment.

“Ma’am, you should hurry.” One of the butlers reminded her as her classmates were almost all through the school doors.

"Merde." Fleur cursed in panic and stepped around Jin. "Excuse me." 

"No, it was my fault." Jin admitted, stepped out of the way, and pulled the horses with him.

Fleur gave him a thankful nod and rushed off to catch up with the rest, only sparing a glance back to see Jin watching her go with the same confused expression she felt inside.

Her last thought before the door closed behind her was one that she wasn't sure how to feel about. 'He looks cute when he tilts his head like that.’

It was the first meeting between Jin Fluff and Fleur Delacour, and despite their individual life plans, fate was about to throw them a curveball.

Chapter End.

AN: Hope you enjoyed!

Hagrid loves pumpkins.

Hagrid should really not be allowed around without adult supervision.

Jin discovers the joys of farming.

Hagrid yoinks a Jin.

Prof McG is not pleased.

Hagrid grabs live bait and abandons Jin.

Jin employs the smile-and-wave strategy.

The bestest French magical creature is unveiled in all their glory.

Fleur counts too, kinda. XD.

Jin is the alcohol bringer. No eating the flesh of the alcohol bringer.

And a chance encounter may just kick off a Korean romance drama.

See you next time!