James was currently being surrounded by Anna, who kept asking about her gifts.
The only thing he had bought for her in Diagon Alley was some candy.
So far, Anna hadn’t shown any signs of magical ability, and he wasn’t sure whether she could safely use magical toys.
“Dad, come upstairs with me for a minute.
I need to talk to you about something.” Seeing Anna happily unwrapping candy, Luke added, “Anna, don’t eat too much candy.”
“I’ll only eat one, really! I’m not a little kid anymore.”
If Luke hadn’t just seen her unwrap a second piece, he might actually have believed her.
…
James followed Luke upstairs and was surprised to see Helen holding the Wind Qilin.
Luke explained everything to him again.
“If it isn’t dangerous, I don’t mind Anna keeping it. But how are you going to raise it, and what does it eat?” James asked.
As for food, Aster had never shown any signs of hunger.
Perhaps spirit beasts didn’t get hungry while inside the Spirit Beast Space, or perhaps they absorbed some kind of energy from it.
Luke wasn’t sure.
“Let’s not feed it for now. If the little guy gets hungry, we’ll find out what it likes to eat,” Luke said.
He planned to test whether spirit beasts summoned by the system actually needed food and, if so, how long they could go without eating.
“Oh, right. There’s one more thing. The spirit beast needs a drop of Anna’s blood to recognize her as its master. Once the bond is formed, it definitely won’t harm her,” Luke added.
Anna had always been afraid of needles, so they would have to explain everything to her first.
Otherwise, she would definitely cry and throw a tantrum.
“You’ll have to figure that part out yourself,” James said with a grin.
Luke put the Wind Qilin away for the moment, planning to surprise Anna downstairs.
“Anna, I have a present for you.”
“Where is it? Where is it?” Anna asked excitedly.
Luke summoned the Wind Qilin.
“Ah! Is this a puppy?” Anna wasn’t frightened at all.
She immediately ran over, picked up the Wind Qilin, and gently petted it.
A red glow suddenly flashed on the Wind Qilin’s forehead.
…
So it had already recognized its master?
Luke had spent all that time thinking of ways to persuade Anna to let him prick her finger.
“This is the Wind Qilin. It’s your gift. But you can’t take it outside, and if guests come over, you have to keep it in your room. Understand?”
“Does it have a name?” Anna asked, tilting her little head.
“No. You can name it yourself.”
Luke hated naming things.
Even Garfield’s name had been borrowed.
“Then your name is Bella from now on. Come on, Bella! Let’s go play.”
Anna happily carried Bella back to her little room.
It seemed he’d have to forget about the other Bella.
He wondered what expression Bellatrix would have if she ever learned that a mythical beast had been named after her.
In the days that followed, Luke immersed himself in the books he had bought from Diagon Alley.
The first spell he mastered was the Fire-Making Spell.
While learning it, he went to a deserted path outside town, cast the spell with his wand, and immediately hid nearby.
He waited for a long time, but no one came to investigate.
He repeated the experiment at another location, again casting the Fire-Making Spell with his wand.
Even after several days, no one from the wizarding world came looking for him.
After several successful tests confirmed there were no problems, Luke began learning various fire spells, starting with the Fire-Making Spell, followed by the Fire Rope Spell, Blasting Fire Spell, Fire Condensation Spell, Fire Arrow Spell, and Fire Shield Spell.
However, he couldn’t find the Fiendfyre Curse.
After all, Fiendfyre was an extremely dangerous branch of Dark Magic, and books sold at Flourish and Blotts naturally wouldn’t contain it.
The fire spells he learned were generally easy to control, but their power was far below his expectations.
The most obvious example was the Fireball Spell, whose flames dissipated very quickly.
Luke guessed the reason was his age and limited magical power.
After all, adult wizards in the original stories rarely struggled with magical exhaustion.
Once he had gained a basic understanding of wizarding magic, his next goal was to integrate it with the abilities granted by his cultivation system.
James soon departed for the United States with Kevin, bringing along the birthday project Luke had prepared for Anna.
The work had already been completed, and Luke planned to release the picture book after the animated film.
One of James’s tasks during this trip was to persuade the studio to prioritize production of the new project.
On February 8, Luke, Helen, and Anna watched the Grammy Awards together at home.
“The Lion King” won Best Original Song.
Soon afterward, Grandpa Zhang called to congratulate Luke.
Hermione only found out about it afterward and was a little upset that Luke hadn’t told her in advance.
She finally forgave him after Luke told her the Oscars would be held on the 29th and invited her over to watch the ceremony together.
Another piece of good news was that Huadi Films had agreed to Luke’s request to fast-track the production of the new film and ensure its release on November 22.
This involved not only the studio’s production schedule, but also the release date, theater bookings, and many other arrangements, showcasing Huadi Films’ strong capabilities.
On February 29, after lunch, Mr.
Granger drove Hermione to Luke’s house so they could watch the Oscars ceremony together at 3:30 p.m.
As soon as Hermione arrived, Anna pulled her into her room and excitedly introduced Bella to her.
Since they had already become close friends, Anna didn’t consider Hermione an outsider who needed to be kept in the dark.
The moment Hermione entered Anna’s room, she saw three little animals.
One was Garfield, whom she already knew well.
Another was a fiery red bird with long tail feathers, though she couldn’t identify its species.
The last was a blue creature that clearly wasn’t an ordinary animal.
She had already finished reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, yet she still couldn’t figure out what kind of magical creature it was.
“Anna, what are those two?” Hermione asked, pointing at the phoenix and the Wind Qilin.
“This is my friend Bella. Luke gave her to me,” Anna said proudly.
“And the little bird is Luke’s Aster.”
She then pointed at Hermione.
“Bella, this is Hermione.”
After hearing Anna’s introduction, Bella trotted over to Hermione and curiously sniffed her from head to toe.
A phoenix?
Hermione knew about phoenixes from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but this one looked completely different from the description in the book.
Just as she was wondering about it, Luke walked in.
“That’s an Eastern phoenix. It’s completely different from the phoenixes in the wizarding world.”
“Anna’s Bella is a Wind Qilin. Like Aster, she’s a divine beast.”
“Fire? Wind? Can they use magic too?” Hermione asked curiously.
“Aster, Bella, show us your abilities.”
Aster had long since mastered controlling and releasing flames.
Otherwise, Luke wouldn’t have dared let her stay home and play with Anna.
Bella had only recently learned to control wind.
Her wind magic wasn’t very destructive; at most, it could stir up a gentle breeze or send nearby objects drifting.
Aster spread her wings and flew into the air.
Flames surrounded her body, making the tiny phoenix look incomparably majestic.
Bella’s display was much subtler.
Several faint whirlwinds formed around her, so light that they were almost invisible unless someone looked carefully.
“Aster is so beautiful!” Hermione exclaimed.
“Bella is beautiful too!” Anna protested, a little unhappy that her own companion hadn’t received any praise.
“Bella is still young, but she’ll become very majestic when she grows up. And don’t let the fact that she runs on the ground fool you. She’ll be able to fly when she’s older,” Luke explained.
“Oh? Bella can fly?” Anna’s eyes lit up.
“Bella, Bella, hurry up and grow big so you can take me flying!”
Seeing the envy in Hermione’s eyes, Luke silently wondered if he could give her a spirit beast someday.
He hadn’t cared much about spirit beasts before because each person could only bond with one.
Now, however, he actually hoped his next lottery draw would reward him with another spirit beast.
“Luke, bring Hermione and Anna downstairs. The awards ceremony is about to start,” Helen called from downstairs.
Luke led the two girls to the living room, where they sat together on the sofa in front of the television to watch the Oscars.
The most anticipated Academy Awards were naturally Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director, all of which were among the most fiercely contested categories.
Of course, every Oscar represented an important recognition of excellence within its respective field.
…
TN: Grandpa Zhang is now Granpa Chang for lore correction reasons.