Cassandra bit her lip.
"But... but... who can be proud in front of you?"
"You... can't compare with me," Blake said calmly. "I'm not normal. I came from a lab.
Maybe my crazy dad put something in my brain to make it stronger.
So, you should compare yourself with people like you."
Blake couldn't explain his system, so he shifted the blame to Grindelwald and his future self.
Cassandra considered his words. They made sense—humans couldn't compete with computers in terms of speed, and she couldn't compete with Blake, who wasn't exactly "human."
Her confidence, briefly shattered by Blake's words earlier, began to recover.
Blake noticed the familiar spark return to her face. The real Cassandra was back.
Her recent emotional outburst had shaken her, but he didn't want her spirit broken.
He needed someone by his side who had her own mind—not someone who always followed him blindly.
Otherwise, he'd never hear the truth when he needed it most.
"I like your gift a lot," he said gently.
He carefully placed the seed she gave him into his plant bag. Cassandra beamed, her effort finally acknowledged.
Nothing was more fulfilling than seeing her hard work recognized.
"Then let's keep opening gifts!" she said brightly.
"Good."
Blake reached for another present but paused when he noticed Cassandra discreetly sliding one aside.
His enhanced vision caught her sneaky movement.
"Ahem. Let's open all the gifts," Blake said with a mischievous grin, eyeing the one she'd hidden.
Cassandra scowled. "Can't I just skip that one?"
"Why?" he asked, glancing at the tag.
"Fleur Delacour…"
Well, that explained everything.
"Please stop seeing her," Cassandra muttered. "She's not a good person. She's a Veela! They turn into monsters when they're mad!"
"What a coincidence," Blake said. "I'm not a good person either."
"And Fleur only has Veela blood. She won't turn into a monster."
He grinned, amused by her attempt to sway him. Cassandra huffed and pulled the hidden box back out.
"Don't badmouth people for no reason. You should be good sisters from now on," Blake teased.
Her fury reignited. She lunged and bit his shoulder.
Forget Granger. Hibiscus? No thanks!
"Hey! Easy!" Blake yelped. "I'm not scared of pain, but mind your teeth! Don't knock them out!"
He gently peeled her off him.
"How about this—skip Fleur's gift, but I'll accept anything else," Cassandra mumbled, rubbing her aching jaw.
"Don't be like that. You're all my wings," Blake said with a warm smile.
Cassandra groaned inwardly. He was being honest again.
Before, he at least acted like a gentleman in front of her.
Now, this shameless flirtation was driving her mad.
She thought about Fleur's outrageously beautiful face and grew more anxious.
What if Blake completely forgot about her once Fleur showed up?
While Cassandra simmered in frustration, Blake happily opened Fleur's box.
Inside were gifts from both Fleur and her younger sister, Gabrielle.
Gabrielle had sent a palm-sized doll that looked suspiciously like herself.
It held a little note, written in messy English:
"Let this Gabri accompany Brother Blake, otherwise you will definitely be very lonely."
Despite the many misspellings, Blake's name was perfectly written.
Cassandra read the note and felt her scalp tingle in horror.
"You… don't tell me… both sisters?"
"Ahem. I totally don't have those thoughts. Do you believe me?" Blake said, not very convincingly.
In truth, he was wary of Fleur.
But Gabrielle… well, that had been an accident.
She'd accidentally ended up in his master ball once—purely a mistake.
"Do you think I believe that?"
Cassandra was spiraling again.
Dealing with one Veela was already difficult.
But two nearly identical ones, both with Veela blood?
Meanwhile, Blake set Gabrielle's doll down and opened Fleur's part of the gift.
It was a custom wand handle, sleek and black, seemingly handcrafted by Fleur herself.
Blake slipped it onto his Ruyi Wand—it fit perfectly.
Cassandra stared at the elegant handle and resisted the urge to throw it across the room.
They moved on. Blake opened more gifts—most were sweets and desserts.
Everyone knew Blake had a sweet tooth.
But he didn't dare eat candies from the younger girls at school.
Those sweets often hid love potions—very well-concealed ones at that.
Even Blake had to examine them closely to spot the trickery.
Blake and Cassandra continued opening gifts for a long while before Cassandra suddenly burst out:
"Haha! Granger didn't give you a gift!"
She clapped gleefully.
Blake frowned. "Why are you happy about that? Hermione didn't give me a gift… You don't care about me?"
"Maybe she's still mad," he guessed.
"Haha, maybe! She's disappointed in you!" Cassandra said, twirling with joy.
"One less rival!"
Suddenly—
Stab!
The sound of a dimensional door opening echoed through the room.
Hermione stepped out.
Cassandra's grin froze on her face.
"Blake, happy birthday," Hermione said softly, ignoring Cassandra completely.
She pulled a small box from her pocket.
=============
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