Not Charming Enough

When Soisen heard between whispers that the person next to him was Fleur Delacour herself, his first thought was that they were deliberately trying to trick him to play a prank on him as a newcomer.

Isn't Fleur supposed to have veela blood and be very charming?

Isn't she supposed to be a fatal attraction, especially to those of the opposite gender, to the point of reducing them to drooling idiots?

No matter how Soisen thought about what he had just seen, she seemed like an ordinary girl like any other in the classroom, she had nothing special from his point of view other than perhaps, being somewhat too proud, as her nose was much more turned up than he would see on anyone else.

Maybe her charm didn't mature for another year or two? Yes, it sure was that.

But it wasn't the first time reality had deviated from what he knew from his memories, so he quickly lost interest in Fleur and waited for the lesson to begin eagerly. She was also not a character that would leave much of an impression on him other than participating in the Triwizard Tournament and later marrying Charlie Weasley.

Using her as a model to promote his products? No way!

Leaving aside whether she was willing to work for someone younger than herself, the veela charm is only effective in person, so it wasn't functional in billboards or newspaper ads.

Given this, it was better to hire someone who better fit the image Soisen wanted to convey.

When Amelie saw that Soisen was not reduced to a slimy idiot by being near Fleur, she pushed her astonishment down and coughing a few times to shake the rest of the students out of their stupor, began the lesson she had prepared for today.

They didn't start studying any new Transformations, he always used the first day after returning from the holidays to go over what had already been taught so that the students could dive back into their lessons, catching up on practice.

Soisen performed without a problem and proved she had the level to be in the fourth year lessons with the others, but was somewhat uncomfortable with the gaze she felt continually on her side and occasionally from different directions.

By the time the bell rang announcing the end of the lesson, the students left the classroom and Soisen stayed behind to talk to Amelie.

-Yes, Mr. Galegold?

-Professor Amelie, I know there are few male students in the school, but everyone's behavior at the moment is too anomalous. Is it because I don't use any wands or is there something I'm missing that I should know about? -Soisen had to pretend not to know Fleur's background before asking, as it would have been very strange if she didn't want to know more after what happened.

-Before answering that question, tell me, did you feel any different after taking a seat? -Amelie wanted to confirm that the exchange student was indeed immune to the veela charm.

-Should I feel anything? -Soisen put on an expression of utter incomprehension and turned to look at where he was sitting just a few seconds ago -Did the seats include some heating charm or something that I didn't feel?

-No, don't worry," Soisen's answer really confirmed his suspicions, "You see, the thing is..." he explained Fleur's ancestry and its effects on others.

Soisen fell silent and looked at Amelie steadily.

-Are you sure there's no mistake? She really looks like an ordinary child like any other.

Amelie grimaced when she heard Soisen's statement, she forgot for a moment that the student in front of her was too young and had not yet discovered the attractiveness of the opposite, otherwise, if her lesson partners heard what she said they would be very offended.

That meant that her words were her honest thoughts.

-We are sure. In any case, you should hurry to your next lesson," she commented while with her hand she made discreet gestures that were understood as activating the time-turner, "Remember to use it in discreet places," Amelie wiped the board with a wave of her wand and left the room.

Soisen was about to follow her, but after taking two steps, he had a strange feeling and cast the incantation to become invisible before going through the doors. It turned out that Fleur along with some of the students now were waiting for him outside, forming a semicircle as if it was an ambush. Soisen hurried to use the path Amelie opened between the girls and was able to escape from whatever that situation was.

-I have to learn the battle transition when I can," he thought as he wiped away imaginary sweat as he remembered how Mortifages and Order of the Phoenix members flew using clouds of dark smoke or light.

Sure he could make his own version with some study, but right now he had too much on his plate with research and projects going on. He would have to settle for invisibility for a while, until I passed the novelty.

Was it rude to keep the ladies waiting?

No, from his point of view, it was impolite to corner him like that.

He never understood why the girls had to go in a group, like a herd of creatures looking for prey or a school of fish wanting to intimidate others.

Is it so hard to have a sincere face-to-face conversation without bodyguards or followers?

After finding a secluded garden, Soisen maintained his invisible state and used the time-turner to attend the next lesson. Just like in the movie, it seemed that it was the others who moved backwards while he was motionless.

-I'd better make the most of my stay in this place as much as possible.

...Two months later...

Soisen's presence brought an air of novelty to the school, as it was highly unusual for a younger student to attend different lessons in different upper years. His small store, located in one of the empty classrooms on the east side of the school with set hours for weekends, was moderately successful, with his biggest sales being magical hygiene products along with some music boxes.

Professor Chloe helped him a lot with the bottlenecks he encountered and he was confident he could finish the spell within the next two months or less if he managed to fix some problems he didn't consider before, which resulted in him having green skin for several days.

The Potions professor, Simon, was seen much more often in the library as he consulted various advanced potions books while pulling his hair, muttering under his breath. They had watched as he debated with Soisen about distilling potions and as the professor ran out of answers to many of the questions he posed to him. It was even rumored that they heard him cry on occasion, feeling that his standards as a Potions teacher were a joke.

Headmistress Maxime had to step up and convince him!

The students discovered that looking for Soisen in groups would make him impossible to locate, but they could find him as long as there were no more than three of them, so they chalked it up to him being shy. Little did they know that he simply got headaches when so many people asked him questions at once, he was not antisocial.

The most outrageous thing was that Fleur seemed to have established some sort of misunderstanding with him, after everyone at school knew he was immune to the veela charm. It was as if she was relieved that he wasn't affected by it, but at the same time she was offended that he didn't find her charming.

Her behavior was too contradictory and annoying!

So apart from the time when they coincided for lessons and during the opening of her store, Fleur could hardly ever find Soisen.

She even went to complain to Chloe, because she felt she was avoiding her on purpose!

Girl, not that you're imagining it, I'm actively avoiding you until you decide on an attitude!

Either you're happy or upset! Don't bother me until you make a decision.

Naturally Chloe went to ask Soisen what was going on and explained the erratic behavior Fleur was having towards him, expressing her dissatisfaction and incomprehension.

Heck, he even made some friendships during these two months, it was clear that the problem wasn't coming from him!

On another note, Soisen corresponded with his home and friends at Hogwarts. He learned that the Diagon Alley store had already begun to turn a profit thanks to Valentine's Day sales, that Potter was being constantly attacked by an unknown house elf who kept telling him he was in danger, and that both Hermione and Sylvia managed to keep the Hall under wraps and made good progress on the training sheet he left them.

She also received some letters from Ginny and Luna. The first one updated her on events related to House Galegold, how the members' Occlumency practice was going and how effective the Reason Filters she left behind were.

No one in the house was a victim of Amortentia!

Luna for her part, asked about the Hofurin and how Hermione was scandalized by the house elves. Phew, looks like she really dodged a bullet there.