Lakeside Manor

"Evreux Manor's location is a secret." Fleur proudly lifted her chin, a glimmer of pride flashing in her sapphire-blue eyes. "Anyone who hasn't been invited won't just be unable to enter—they won't even know where it is."

She raised a slender finger and lightly pointed at the silver invitation card in Skylar's hand. "This invitation card is your pass."

Skylar lowered his head to glance at the smooth silver card, thoughtfully running his fingers over its patterns. "So we can't Apparate? Nor use Floo Powder or a Portkey?"

"Of course." Fleur's smile carried a trace of smugness. "The Evreux Family is even more cautious than you imagine. The manor is protected by many powerful magical defenses. Not even Broomsticks can fly in."

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "Then how are we getting there?"

Fleur lightly tossed her silver-gold hair, the curve of her lips deepening as she said with considerable pride, "Naturally—the most elegant means of transportation."

She lifted her chin and gave her wand a gentle flick. The next moment, rings of golden ripples spread through the air, as though the faint light of dawn had condensed before them. As the magic took effect, an ornate golden carriage slowly emerged from thin air.

It was a carriage straight out of a fairy tale.

Its body was inlaid with exquisite golden carvings, its sides adorned with delicate patterns of stars, like a dream drenched in moonlight. Its wheels were light and graceful, seeming not to touch the ground at all, but to float through the air.

Four immaculate white Abraxans stood proudly before it, each tall and powerfully built, their manes gleaming with a lustrous sheen beneath the sunlight, without a trace of another color. Whenever their hooves lightly touched the ground, tiny motes of golden dust drifted through the air,