This was actually a very ordinary photo, just like the ones before, the protagonists were still Link and Emily.
The only difference was that in the photo, Link and Emily seemed to be attending a banquet, because the two of them were both wearing specially tailored formal attire.
But somehow, the moment Link saw this photo, he froze, and at the same time, a unique emotion rose in his heart.
It was as if this photo had extremely important meaning to him.
This instinctively made Link narrow his eyes, focusing his vision to try and see more clearly.
However, in the next moment, a sharp, drilling pain suddenly surged from inside Link's brain. This pain was so intense that he cried out and fell to the ground.
Strangely, even so, Link's gaze remained firmly stuck on that photo, it was as if he had been electrocuted.
"Link! What's wrong with you?!" Seeing this, Emily at the side was also shocked.
And upon seeing Link's strange reaction, she too shifted her gaze onto the photo.
Right after that, Link saw Emily dart forward like flying, taking the photo frame off the bookshelf and throwing it out.
Crack!
The photo frame drew a parabola in the air and finally hit the ground, shattering into several pieces.
Link's eyes followed the frame's motion throughout.
Only after the frame finally landed face-down, with the photo no longer visible, did the pain in Link's head finally ease.
"Link! Are you okay?" Emily choked out as she slowly helped Link up. "It's all my fault! All my fault!"
"I'm fine. Don't cry, Emily. How could this be your fault?" Link's voice was a bit weak; the pain earlier had drained too much of his strength. Even so, he still comforted Emily.
Only, Emily at this moment could no longer hold back her tears. No matter how Link consoled her, she kept crying nonstop, while constantly repeating phrases like "It's all my fault."
This made Link start to have some guesses.
The key turning point that caused the original host's personality to suddenly change might lie in that photo, and it had something to do with Emily. Otherwise, Emily wouldn't react like this.
And Link wouldn't have such a strong reaction just from seeing that photo. Link hadn't inherited any memories of the original host, which means, the pain behind this photo was already deeply engraved in the original host's body as a conditioned reflex.
Of course, the follow-up still needed further investigation. Right now, hoping for others to tell him directly was unrealistic, Link had already tried this earlier.
After coaxing her for a while, Emily finally calmed down. Link also no longer had the heart to continue "touring" Emily's room, so after saying goodbye to her, he simply returned to the main hall.
It wasn't until Link's figure had long disappeared that Emily slowly stood up, wiped away the tears remaining at the corner of her eyes, and picked up the frame from the ground again, holding it in her arms.
———
At this time in the hall, the once lively scene had vanished; all the guests had left, even Wilson and his son were nowhere to be seen.
In the vast hall, only Mrs. Flamel and Snape were still standing, facing each other.
Only, the atmosphere between them wasn't very friendly, the look in their eyes toward each other was filled with obvious anger.
"Mother, Professor Snape, what's going on with you two?" Link asked with some confusion.
He had originally thought that Mrs. Flamel and Snape had a good relationship, but judging by the current situation, that didn't seem to be the case.
Hearing Link's voice, the expression on Mrs. Flamel's face instantly melted like snow, smiling as she walked toward Link.
But Snape's reaction was even faster than Mrs. Flamel's, expressionlessly saying, "Your mother has gone mad."
"I've gone mad?" Mrs. Flamel's face turned stern again. "I think it's you who's gone mad! Have you forgotten who saved your worthless life? It was Link's father!"
"No! I haven't forgotten!" Snape suddenly became emotional.
"I think you must've forgotten!" Mrs. Flamel sneered, "Otherwise, why would you be unwilling to help Link with even such a small favor?"
Upon hearing this, Snape fell silent. He was silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "I have principles."
"Principles? How many knuts are your principles worth?"
The two began arguing again, and after listening for quite a while, Link finally roughly understood what had happened.
As it turned out, after Link had left earlier, Mrs. Flamel followed old Victoria Wilson into the guest lounge. After going through a traditional round of threats, intimidation, and face-slapping showing-off, she successfully drove off old Wilson, forcing him to leave in embarrassment with his son.
Mrs. Flamel herself was very puzzled by Victoria's actions. After all, the Wilson family was absolute trash. If Victoria's intention was purely to rely on the Wilson family to contend with the Flamel family, then she was simply being stupid. And after asking further, Mrs. Flamel finally found out Victoria's true thoughts.
She wasn't trying to climb the social ladder through a marriage of mutual interest, she simply thought that if Emily married someone as foolish as Link, it would be far too unfortunate for her.
So she took the risk of being figuratively punched to death by the Flamel family to help Emily find a husband with a normal body and wealthy background.
Of course, Mrs. Flamel spoke of the above somewhat euphemistically, and even avoided some parts. But Link still understood the meaning.
He had to admit, he somewhat admired Victoria. After all, she truly loved Emily. From a parent's standpoint, Link believed that many would make the same choice.
But from Link's standpoint, this kind of stubbornness was rather annoying. Because even after being driven off with the Wilson family, she still didn't give up. Instead, she proposed an even more excessive demand.
That Link must prove he had fully recovered and returned to being that lively, smart boy he once was, only then would she allow Emily and Link to be together.
What's worth noting is, this so-called "proof" didn't mean just getting top grades in exams. It meant achieving even more outstanding accomplishments.
To this, Mrs. Flamel's proposed answer was, the Order of Merlin medal.
"So you plan to get me a Third-Class Order of Merlin medal?" Link said in disbelief, because this was simply too outrageous.
The Order of Merlin was the largest, most prestigious organization of excellent wizards in the magical world. It was also the only wizarding body not under the Ministry of Magic's jurisdiction, while also being officially recognized by the Ministry as an international elite wizard organization.
And the Order of Merlin medal was the highest-level honor in wizard society.
Only wizards who had made outstanding contributions to the entire wizarding community could receive this honor.
Such a level of honor, Link felt that with himself being just a third-year small wizard, there was absolutely no way he could even touch it.
However, Mrs. Flamel didn't think so.
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