When it was time to leave the Flamel Residence, Nicolas proactively gave small gifts to both Harry and Draco.

One was a book titled Alchemy: Basic Theory, which seemed to have been added to the alchemy curriculum at Beauxbatons. The other was a silver tulip badge that, when worn, could eliminate unpleasant odors and emit a faint, adjustable fragrance.

Harry was clearly more interested in the book, while Draco carefully stored the badge away, apparently intending to give it to his mother later.

Afterward, Lupin took the two children to make final preparations in Paris, while Severus returned to the French Ministry of Magic to complete the final steps of the improved Wolfsbane Potion they had brewed earlier and bottle it.

Except for Yuma, he didn't bid farewell to anyone else. After leaving the Ministry, he met up with Lupin and the others and went directly to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

When Yuma reported to Girard that Severus and his group were about to leave, the Head of Auror Office clearly became restless.

"When did they say they were leaving?"

"Mr. Snape came to the Ministry half an hour ago to collect their belongings. They should have left by now." Yuma said.

Girard frowned deeply. She clearly hadn't expected Severus to leave so quickly and decisively!

Seeing her reaction, Yuma couldn't help but ask, "Are we... supposed to stop them from leaving?"

The question left Girard momentarily speechless.

The French Ministry of Magic certainly had no grounds to prevent Severus from leaving. From the very beginning, when he first arrived, he had made an agreement with Girard: his assistance to the Auror Office was solely to rescue Nicolas Flamel.

Even if Nicolas Flamel hadn't been rescued, they would have stayed for only five days at most.

Now, although the five days weren't up, Nicolas Flamel had already been rescued, so there was clearly no reason for them to stay any longer.

But...

From the perspective of the French Ministry of Magic, this matter couldn't simply end with Nicolas Flamel's rescue!

The French wizarding public was more concerned about the safety of the Flamels, but that didn't mean they would forget the other atrocities committed by this group of criminals.

Not to mention they had broken into the Ministry and stolen confidential documents, which was a slap in the face to the entire French Ministry of Magic. The complete destruction of the monastery also demanded an explanation.

That noon, Aurors had found the Muggle staff and adopted children of the destroyed monastery in another monastery in Val-de-Marne.

However, the witch, Sister Aimee, who managed the monastery, had vanished without a trace. According to the Muggles' recollections, they all said Aimee had died. A group of rioters had stormed the destroyed monastery, and Aimee had tried to protect them but was struck down by countless curses.

In the end, when the rioters used Exploding Charms to destroy the monastery, she had perished in the flames along with it.

Such a high-profile murder case naturally required the Aurors to continue investigating and pursuing the rioters, who had been confirmed as Death Eaters.

The kidnapping of the Flamels also couldn't be brushed aside. Even though they had been rescued, the perpetrators had to be caught.

Over the past few days, Girard had recognized Severus's capabilities. If they wanted to apprehend the criminals quickly, they needed to keep him… if not in France, then at least within a joint investigation team formed by British and French Aurors!

Moreover, given the current public sentiment, all French newspapers were trying every means possible to secure an exclusive interview with the group of four. Letters from newspaper managers were piling up on Girard's desk.

Since they couldn't interview the Flamels, they absolutely couldn't let Severus slip away. The statements he provided in the morning were far from enough for the newspapers to dig into.

Paradoxically, the return of the Flamels had made things more complicated and difficult to handle.

But these matters were no longer relevant to Severus and his group because the French Ministry of Magic had no idea how they had left France or where they were headed next. There was no way to track them down.

That afternoon, special edition newspapers printed by the press were delivered to thousands of wizarding households in Britain and France.

French witches and wizards, who are already deeply concerned about the Flamel kidnapping case, were now almost universally discussing the names Severus Snape, Dudley Dursley, Draco Malfoy, and Remus Lupin.

Even without securing an exclusive interview, French wizarding newspapers exerted all their efforts to dig up every possible piece of news, even uncovering Severus's past!

Hogwarts Slytherin graduate, a less-than-glorious period in his life, returning to teach at Hogwarts under Dumbledore's guarantee, the youngest Head of House in history, Potions Master, a reformed man turning over a new leaf...

His life story itself was highly remarkable and legendary.

In contrast, the boy who had never attended a wizarding school yet single-handedly defeated a wand-carrying goblin, Dudley Dursley, had no family background dug up at all.

Even in Britain, this boy seemed to have appeared out of thin air, with no one knowing who his parents were.

But Draco's family background made up for this nicely.

The only son of a famous British pure-blood family, suspected of betraying the family's traditions… this was clearly a topic worth elaborating on.

Lupin's identity as a werewolf was also uncovered, adding to the adventuring party vibe of the group of four.

Many French witches and wizards were curious about their original purpose for coming to France and what they planned to do next.

These were the revelations French wizarding newspapers had planned to extract in exclusive interviews, but now they had nothing.

They could only invite commentators to speculate and opine, using various eye-catching headlines to attract public subscriptions and attention.

In Britain, the situation was even more lively.

Originally, few people had paid attention to events in France.

Nicolas Flamel was indeed a household name, but with two Azkaban prison breaks having just occurred in Britain, no one was in the mood to worry about the safety of a wizard in a foreign land.

The Aurors' lack of progress in capturing Sirius and Barty Crouch Jr. had left British witches and wizards feeling insecure. Every day, countless Howlers were sent to the Ministry of Magic, venting the public's frustration.

Now that Severus and his group had made a splash in France, and it involved those Death Eaters, the Ministry of Magic finally had an opportunity to divert public attention!

With officials actively promoting it, the story quickly made front-page headlines in the Daily Prophet.

As Scrimgeour had said, the witches and wizards, who are long suppressed by the panic over the prison breaks, erupted into a celebratory frenzy.

The French are still inferior.

Their own living fossil wizard got kidnapped, and in the end, they had to rely on British wizards to rescue him!

Their headquarters, the Ministry of Magic, was treated like a public restroom anyone could walk into, and it was a British boy who helped drive away the intruders!

After such news spread through the newspapers, the vast majority of British witches and wizards were discussing it.

Those most affected by this were the Hogwarts' students.

They had only been home from school for less than two months, so how could Professor Snape, whom no student from the other three houses liked except Slytherins themselves, have such a dramatic turnaround?

But no matter how the news spread outside, the group of four preparing to board their flight at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport were unaware and indifferent.

Only Draco, seeing the airplanes through the terminal glass, wore an expression of utter disbelief.

"Their broomsticks are so big!"

"That's a plane." Harry corrected him for the third time.

Severus, who had been reading a Muggle financial newspaper, turned around and thoughtfully said, "If we compare it to magical transportation, an airplane is more like a flying carpet. It's a multi-passenger aerial vehicle."

Draco was still staring at the massive machines. Having never been exposed to such things growing up, he had no basic knowledge of Muggle transportation.

According to the ideas routinely instilled in the Malfoy Family, Muggles, as inferior beings, should live far more backward lives than wizards.

So Draco wondered how did they make this big thing fly.

At that moment, many things crossed Draco's mind, especially the medieval witch-hunting stories Narcissa had told him as a child.

His expression began to change: from initial shock, to thoughtfulness, to gloominess. Finally, he pointed at the airplanes outside and said, "Did the Muggles capture wizards and stuff them into these... airplanes? Forcing them to use magic to make this big thing fly!"

This left Severus, Harry, and Lupin, who had just returned with two cups of coffee and two ice creams, completely speechless.

Seeing their silence, Draco thought he had exposed the Muggles' secret, leaving them too ashamed to speak. This made him even angrier.

"Aren't you wizards too! How can you not be outraged by such behavior! I'm not getting on! I'm reporting this to the Ministry of Magic!"

"How did your brain come up with the idea that airplanes fly because of wizards?" Harry looked at Draco with utter bewilderment.

Even though he hadn't finished primary school, he understood the basic principles of how airplanes fly. Draco's train of thought was completely incomprehensible to him.

Severus grabbed Draco by the hair, mussing his pale blond hair up thoroughly.

"Based on Young Master Malfoy's knowledge, can you name a few wizards who can fly without any external help?"

"If they can't even fly themselves, how could they possibly make such a large machine, plus all those passengers, fly into the sky? Do you think that's possible?"