Conte's prank had some benefits after all.
At the very least, they had fully realized how stupid I was and could barely be bothered to speak to me.
I stayed in the manor, yet hardly anyone ever thought of me.
Thankfully, food and drink were never a problem for me.
My allowance had never been reduced, either.
House-elves even took me out to buy clothes.
They could not possibly let me, their future marriage-alliance prospect, appear before outsiders in rags.
I felt that I should thank them for that.
After all, many of these pretty little dresses were styles I had never seen in my previous life.
They were probably unique to the wizarding world.
I rather liked them.
Throughout the entire summer holiday, I tried my best to practice the Water Mist Charm at home.
I tried to create a layer of mist before my eyes, which could effectively prevent the Basilisk from looking directly into them.
Although the school had made us sign an agreement not to practice magic during the summer, it was obvious that, in wizarding families, this was supervised by parents.
My parents would never supervise me. I practiced day and night.
I was terrified that I would die at school next year.
I believed this would be a very dangerous year.
After all, it was an animal. Even Darren probably had no way of controlling whom that snake chose to look at.
I thought irritably.
The closer the start of term came, the more tense I became.
In August, Father brought back some news. Apparently, Nicolas Flamel wanted to take Darren Potter as his apprentice.
As I listened to Father sigh over Darren Potter's good fortune, I kept wondering why he wanted to build a good relationship with Nicolas Flamel.
Did he also want