“Now I’ll reveal the winner of this year’s Best Animated Feature Film. Oh, I was quite surprised to see this title.”
“Yes, if your child hasn’t seen this film over the past year, then you’re definitely not a qualified parent,” another presenter joked.
A burst of laughter erupted throughout the auditorium.
“Today, we may be witnessing the birth of a genius. While other children were sitting in cinemas watching animated films, someone had already reached the pinnacle by creating one. The winner of this year’s Best Animated Feature Film is… The Lion King.”
Applause~
“It’s The Lion King! Congratulations, Luke!” Hermione exclaimed first, excitedly throwing her arms around him.
“Thank you.”
“I’m so proud of you, son.” Helen walked over, hugged Luke, and kissed him on the forehead.
“Luke, Luke, you’re amazing!” Anna probably didn’t know what an Oscar represented, but she didn’t want to be left out.
She ran over, hugged Luke, and kissed him on the cheek.
No wonder so many people dreamed of creating famous works.
Even Luke couldn’t help feeling excited.
The Lion King went on to win Best Original Song and Best Original Score.
For the next few hours, the phone at Luke’s house never stopped ringing.
Everyone he knew called to congratulate him.
His grandfather, maternal grandfather, best friend Will, and many teachers and classmates from school…
“Luke, Anna told me you have another new book coming out?” Hermione asked.
“Yes, but it isn’t finished yet. I was busy with another project first,” Luke replied mysteriously.
“Another one?” Hermione asked in surprise.
“Yes. It’s a birthday present for Anna, called Frozen. Don’t tell her about it. I’m planning to surprise her,” he whispered into Hermione’s ear.
Hermione looked at Luke in disbelief.
“Anna is so lucky to have a brother like you.”
“The one I’m working on now is called The Polar Express. I came up with it last year at Stockholm Central Station. There’s also a really nice song that Anna can sing for you.”
“Anna, come here. Let’s sing ‘When Christmas Comes to Town’ for Hermione. I’ll accompany you.”
Luke sat down at the piano.
“I’m wishing on a star…”
“And trying to believe…”
…
“Was it good?” Anna asked as soon as she finished singing, running over to Hermione, eagerly waiting for praise.
“That was beautiful, Anna. You sang wonderfully!” Hermione smiled before looking at Luke.
“When your new book comes out, you have to sign a copy for me.”
Luke had almost forgotten that Hermione was still his biggest little fan.
“I’ll sign a copy for you when it’s released. You should be able to read it during the summer holidays.”
“Alright, Anna, go play for a while. And drink some water after singing,” Luke reminded her.
After watching Anna run off for a drink, Luke lowered his voice.
“Actually, you should be looking forward to Frozen. I think it’s even better. And it won’t be released as a book first. The animated film will come out before the picture book. The current plan is to premiere it on November 22, Anna’s birthday. Even though it’s a Monday, that won’t be a problem.”
“And if everything goes according to plan, the premiere will be held in London. I’ll invite you to attend, and you can bring your parents with you.”
“Really? Thank you, Luke!” Hermione said excitedly.
After dinner, Helen drove Hermione home, while Luke stayed behind with Anna and continued answering the endless stream of congratulatory phone calls.
…
Monday
Luke became the center of attention on the school bus.
“I watched Luke finish drawing The Lion King.”
“Luke told me about The Lion King before anyone else.”
“Luke even drew The Lion King for me.”
Wait a minute…
Luke looked at the last speaker, a little girl who had only started school that year.
I drew it for you?
Does your mother know about this?
Luke thought speechlessly.
…
School
As soon as Luke stepped off the bus and entered the school grounds, a crowd surrounded him.
Most of the students simply wanted to see him, while others wanted his autograph.
Even his best friend Will, despite his sturdy build, couldn’t squeeze through.
In the end, a teacher at the school gate stepped in.
Worried someone might get hurt, the teacher dispersed the excited crowd.
“It’s getting harder and harder to see you. Next time I’ll make an appointment in advance,” Will joked.
“Want an autograph? I can sign a few extra for you,” Luke teased.
“Why would I need your autograph? My house is full of your notebooks, and every single one already has your signature.”
As the “other people’s child” in Will’s father’s eyes, Luke was often used as the example whenever Uncle Johnson lectured Will.
“If you spent the time you use trying to train that owl to deliver messages on your homework instead, Uncle Johnson probably wouldn’t scold you so much.”
Ever since Will became convinced that his owl could deliver messages, he had tried everything he could think of.
The owl hadn’t flown away, but it hadn’t delivered a single letter either.
Luke had examined it himself.
It wasn’t an owl from the wizarding world, just an ordinary owl.
He had even considered giving Will a magical owl, but then remembered that owl post relied on magic.
Without magic, even a magical owl wouldn’t be able to deliver letters properly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely train it to deliver messages,” Will declared confidently.
“Come on. We’ve already spent too much time standing at the school gate. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be late.”
The school’s lessons were easy for Luke, but he didn’t want to spend every day shut away cultivating.
Moreover, he had discovered that the Vermilion Bird Burning Technique, modified by the system, differed from traditional cultivation methods.
It didn’t require constant secluded meditation.
Even without actively cultivating, his strength still improved over time, albeit at a much slower pace.
British primary schools have many holidays throughout the year, including not only the summer and winter breaks, but also half-term breaks, the Christmas holiday, the Easter holiday, and other school breaks.
This gave Luke plenty of time to study the books he had bought from Diagon Alley.
Through careful research, he discovered that wizarding magic was heavily influenced by the caster’s thoughts, emotions, and state of mind.
For example, Transfiguration required the caster to truly believe that the object being transformed had become something else.
The clearer the mental image, the more successful the transformation.
The Patronus Charm was an even more obvious example, as it reflected the caster’s happiest memories and most positive emotions.
To Luke, wizarding magic felt somewhat similar to the Reality Stone, while the spells granted by the system were based purely on energy manipulation.
At present, the system had only given him the Flame Spell, which wasn’t enough for meaningful comparison.
He would have to wait until he acquired more spells before continuing his experiments.
As time passed, Luke steadily expanded his knowledge by reading a vast number of books.
During this period, he also frequently helped Hermione answer questions about magical theory.
Although she had not yet begun practicing magic, her theoretical foundation had already far surpassed that of her original timeline, where she only started studying magic after receiving her Hogwarts letter at the age of eleven.
James returned home after attending the Oscars with Kevin, the head of Huadi Films’ UK branch.
Meanwhile, Luke devoted considerable effort to the animated film he was preparing as Anna’s birthday present, frequently discussing ideas with the production team to achieve the results he wanted.
The project was progressing smoothly.
The Polar Express was published in early August.
Although it lacked the Christmas atmosphere that would have enhanced the experience, Luke still received a system notification in early September announcing that the mission had been completed.
“System, begin the lottery.”
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an Ice Phoenix Cub.]
“That’s fantastic! An Ice Phoenix, one of the Five Elemental Phoenixes, and a rare mutated variant. Hermione is definitely going to love this.”
Luke checked his quest log and found that the “Get Famous Early” series had already advanced to Part 4.
…
On September 17, Luke received an invitation to Hermione’s birthday party.
Meanwhile, James arranged a meeting with an animation studio in London on September 19 to discuss acquiring the company.
Luke had brought up the idea with his father long ago.
He knew that he might not be able to create everything himself in the future, but he could provide the stories and creative direction while leaving the actual production and operation to a professional team.
After all, Luke still had countless outstanding works in his memory, and he didn’t want them to go to waste.