American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 15 Learning Magic Can't Save a Brat

"Oh, Isa! The way you answered the question just now was so cool!"

"Isa, did you finish reading the script? How do you know all the questions the director asked?"

"Isa, you're amazing! Although I've read Harry Potter several times, I admit I can only remember the general plot; I can't possibly recite the details of each chapter like you just did—"

"Yeah, yeah, me too. Do you have such a good memory?"

"I don't think so. You must have watched it many times?"

"No wonder Aunt Rowling strongly recommended you to play Hermione; you are exactly like the Hermione in the book..."

As the tea party came to an end and noon approached, everyone who had been busy all morning went to the restaurant to enjoy lunch.

Although it's called a restaurant, it's more like a canteen. Everyone lines up with their trays to get their food and then freely finds a table. However, even so, it has something special about it: the food here is much better than that of a typical canteen.

In the UK, a culinary wasteland, even in Cambridge's canteens you can find pork pies, eel jelly, and lamb tripe. But in the project supplies of the world's largest media group? Only genuine Michelin-starred dishes appear here.

Regardless of its taste, just based on its appearance, even a Shanghainese man would have to shell out 8888 yuan.

Choose your dishes and sit down at the nearest table.

Immediately afterwards, Isabella discovered that one after another, little radishes were popping up in the area centered on her.

The children, carrying their trays, spontaneously sat down beside her. Everyone looked at her with surprise and greeted her with astonished tones. What was most remarkable was that no one was trying to flatter her; everyone was genuinely sincere.

Isabella admitted that she was startled when she first glanced at it.

The ever-increasing heat made her think she was wearing an African star around her neck!

Is a flower about to bloom from the side in the next second?

She only smiled with relief after she heard what everyone was saying.

That pure joy is a love for Harry Potter.

Every child who comes here loves Harry Potter.

So, when they discovered that the characters in the book had real-life counterparts...

"Oh Rupert, thank you for the compliment."

"Bonnie~ I did read the script, and that's why I was able to answer the director's questions."

“Daniel, I can’t actually retell Rowling’s novels completely. What I remember are the differences between the script and the original. They are different, after all. As for the similarities? I have a brain on my neck, not a computer.”

"But that's still pretty impressive."

Sean Biggsstaff, who plays Oliver Wood, said this sincerely.

"Thank you~"

Isabella was all smiles.

And it shook the fur off its body.

No normal person can resist being loved by others.

Not to mention, right now, the emotions of those around us are still very sincere.

"Chris, it seems you've achieved your goal."

Isabella's rise to become the leader of the children was noticed and discussed by the adults around her.

Looking at the scene where everyone was surrounding him like stars around the moon, Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore, was somewhat moved.

His words amused Chris Columbus, who glanced at the gathered children with satisfaction. At that moment, he had to admit that J.K. Rowling was quite skilled at casting.

"I'm relieved to see that they're having a good time chatting."

Columbus sighed, lowered his head, and began to eat.

"To be honest, HP is the project with the most children I have ever encountered."

"I'm really afraid of messing up."

"After all, it requires a large investment."

"Hahaha~"

The honest words elicited a soft chuckle.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cafeteria, there was a line of parents...

"Oh Vivian~ Your daughter is amazing~"

"Thank you, your son is great too."

"I really can't imagine how a ten-year-old girl could be so outstanding? Vivian, is Isa really ten years old?"

"Of course~ She was born in 90 and is exactly ten years old this year. However, she wasn't like this before. All the changes actually happened recently, so... I can only say that she suddenly grew up."

"Oh, Vivian, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up your sad story."

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize. It's been a long time since then, and I've already moved on from my grief."

Minors cannot work alone, but adults cannot stay by their side all the time, as that would inevitably be seen as being a third wheel. Therefore, the morning chat was actually conducted in two camps.

Those sitting around Columbus were the main members of the film crew, while those lagging behind were the children's parents.

At first, the parents were getting to know each other, and many of them were meeting for the first time. If I had to describe it, the scene was like a scene from a major Eastern country where, before elementary school let out, countless parents gathered at the school gate, knitting and chatting.

But after Isabella rose like the sun...

Vivian then became the focus of attention among the parents.

There's nothing we can do; other people's children enjoy the same treatment no matter which country they're in.

On the first morning of the day, Columbus helped everyone get to know each other better. In the afternoon, seeing that everyone could call each other by name, he led the children into the dressing room to try on costumes and take photos.

If Hollywood were to follow the normal procedure, this step should have been done during the audition, but Columbus and Rowling had a falling out. During their previous arguments, the two couldn't even sit at the same table, so the actors' makeup and styling couldn't be determined.

Furthermore, Warner Bros. genuinely supported Columbus making an American version of Harry Potter. When designing the costumes at the beginning, Warner Bros. even asked the designers to follow the illustrations in the American version of Harry Potter books. This fact greatly annoyed Rowling, who directly stated that she would not use them.

Therefore, once Rowling officially took control of the production team, the previous designs were immediately thrown into the trash. All the costumes were scrapped and remade, and all were designed in the British style. For example, the Quidditch uniforms, which Warner Bros. commissioned to design were very simple and not much different from those worn by American football players, were now replaced by British school uniforms by Rowling.

After this incident, it's already very fast that HP's makeup and styling confirmation work can proceed at this point.

And now...

“Oh, Daniel, you should probably stop wearing contact lenses. I think Harry could have blue eyes.”

“Isa, you shouldn’t wear braces anymore. Susie is right. Hermione in the book can be ordinary, but the one in the movie can’t.”

Rowling was also present when they tried on costumes and took makeup test photos.

When she discovered that Daniel Andrew was very uncomfortable wearing colored contact lenses, and Isabella's appearance changed after trying braces, Harry Potter's eyes changed from green to blue, and Hermione Granger went from a little beaver to a little princess.

Isabella bought Hogwarts robes in her past life, but how can Universal Studios items compare to the costumes?
To be fair, Rowling's decision made the two of them very happy.

Egg Girl doesn't like to suffer without effort, and Isabella doesn't like to pretend to be ugly.

Rowling's words evoked some emotions in Rupert.

"Sigh, I initially thought I was the only special one, not needing to wear colored contact lenses or braces, but now I see..."

"I just became the least special one."

"Because you are quite different from the descriptions in the novel, but I... seem to be no different?"

His words, full of regret, made everyone in the dressing room burst into laughter.

Indeed, among the trio, Rupert's appearance best matches Rowling's Ron.

Other characters, whether Harry or Hermione, also have out-of-character (OOC) situations.

Of course, those who read the Chinese version of Harry Potter may have questions because Ron is depicted as having red hair in the Chinese version, while Rupert in reality is not red-haired. This issue is purely due to translation errors.

In the original English novel, Ron's hair is called 'flaming red hair,' which is indeed a literal translation of 'fiery red hair.' However, the 'flaming red hair' in the eyes of the British is not the bright red like Karin's in Naruto. Darker blonde hair, blonde hair that appears orange-red in sunlight, or even orange-yellow blonde hair are all 'flaming red hair.'

“Okay, Daniel, I need you to look at me with your arms crossed.”

"Yeah, turn your body a little to the side, great!"

"Rupert, can you give me a naughty smile?"

"Yes, yes, your smile looks very cheerful."

"Isa, could you please hold the book while taking the picture? You know, books are the perfect match for a top student."

"Oh, that's great, your smile is so sweet~"

"Next... Tom? Decola is a cocky young master, so... you know what a Hitchcockian gaze is?"

"Very good—it would be even better if you could raise the corners of your mouth a little—"

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Isabella followed the group into the dressing room.

Just after three o'clock, she received a notice to leave work.

Minors are only allowed four hours of work per day.

If two hours of conversation in the morning is considered work under the law, then wouldn't the crew only have two hours available in the afternoon?

When this fact came to light, Isabella's first reaction was bewilderment. She hadn't expected the Harry Potter crew to be so law-abiding. Her second reaction was that she felt like she had really become Hermione Granger.

Because he followed in his father's footsteps, he was possessed by Yu Hua's spirit!
Only four hours of work a day?

Wow……

This place was definitely the right choice!

Even though Isabella had lived two lives, this was the first time she had done such an easy job. Just as she was about to turn around and look for her mother, wanting to head home, Rupert suddenly called out to her.

"Isa, where are you going?"

“Isn’t it time to get off work?” Isabella said. “I’m going to find my mom and then go home.”

"what???"

Everyone around was stunned.

Whether it was Daniel, Tom, Bonnie, or Matthew, at that moment, everyone stared at her with astonishment.

"Is there a problem?" Isabella asked, puzzled. "Can't we go home?"

"Uh... I can go back, but..."

Rupert wasn't sure if Isabella was feigning ignorance or genuinely didn't know, and after a long pause, he finally managed to finish his sentence.

"But we still have to go to class."

"We still have three hours of classes left today, so... you're leaving already?"

"..."

Isabella lost her voice.

Yes!

They leave work early because they still have time to study!
This fact made Isabella hang her head.

If you have to go to school after get off work, is there any point in finishing work?

Unhappily, Isabella followed the group to the film set's teaching building. With the help of the staff, she understood the film crew's class schedule. Currently, the UK has 11 years of compulsory education, with primary school for ages 5-11 and secondary school for ages 11-16.

Therefore, when the children in the production crew were of different ages, Warner Bros. hired teachers for both stages.

In this way, everyone can attend classes according to their age.

For example:
Isabella was born in 90 and is currently only ten years old, receiving Year 5 education, so she will be attending primary school. Daniel is in the same situation; although he is older than Isabella, he is also in primary school and uses Year 6 textbooks. Rupert is different; he was born in 88 and legally attends GCSE, which is secondary education. Therefore, following the rules, Isabella's classmates will be Ginny, Harry, Neville, and others.

Ron shared a room with the young master and the others.

Then, the nightmare began.

Although the basic education in the UK is indeed quite good, with history and geography taught in the upper grades of primary school, even so, the breadth of knowledge that primary school students can't compare to that of adults. Not to mention, Isabella wasn't a slacker in her past life.

She studied art because she loved it, and she wasn't illiterate.

So?

After receiving the textbook from the teacher and flipping through it briefly, Isabella realized that if she had to sit here for three hours every day in the future, she would go crazy. It would be no different from being in prison!
She wanted to save herself.

Each class lasted fifty minutes, with a ten-minute break between classes. After three rounds of this, get out of class finally ended. Isabella found the substitute teacher and said with a serious face, "Teacher Harya, I would like to ask you a question."

"Yes, go ahead."

"I want to know if this class is mandatory?"

"Yes, it's the law. Our classes are all recorded. If the educational institution comes to check and finds you absent, the film crew will be fined. It's the same as your situation of working without a license, which is £20,000 per instance."

Haliya Schmidt is a teacher who specializes in giving lessons to underage employees of entertainment venues.

After all, London has a West End.

The demand for tutoring over there is actually quite high.

So when Isabella found her, she felt that she might have guessed the little girl's intentions.

Or perhaps, children who leave school and embrace the stage at the age of ten or so generally don't like studying. Given the vast number of exceptions, Isabella probably wanted to tell her that she didn't want to go to class when she spoke to her alone.

Haliya Schmidt guessed half right.

As for your other half...

"Teacher Haliya, is there really no way to skip class?"

"Uh……"

Harya Schmidt looked worried. She really wanted to tell the young girl that although the entertainment industry doesn't value academic qualifications, knowledge is always a valuable asset, and learning even a little is better than learning nothing at all.

But, after all, she's not the child's mother, so...

"Then you'll have to have your guardian come and talk to me."

Harya Schmidt decided to let go of her desire to help others and respect their fate.

"Is there no other way?"

Isabella doesn't want to look for her mother.

If she tells her mom she doesn't want to go to class, her mom will be worried sick.

Vivian and Eric share the same wish: they both hope their daughters will attend Oxford or Cambridge.

In other words, St. Paul's Girls' School is a secondary school, and the minimum enrollment age is 11. Otherwise, Eric would have already squeezed both sisters in. It's just £60,000 a year in tuition fees! He paid it casually before going all in.

"Another way..."

Haliya Schmidt felt somewhat helpless; Isabella's beauty made her regretful. "There are other ways," she said.

"What is it?"

"The Education Bureau's verification of the education of you school dropouts is very limited; they only look at the SATs. I will ask the affiliated school for some test papers. As long as you can pass the assessments for the two main subjects, English and Math, I can help you apply for self-study. After doing this, it won't matter if the Education Bureau comes to check."

The SATs are the primary school graduation exams in the UK, equivalent to the entrance exams for junior high school in China.

This exam determines which school a child will attend for Year 7. Of course, only public schools value this, not only because private schools consider it but also because parents do, and more importantly because British schools are highly autonomous, and each school creates its own SAT exams.

Even if it's not that important, exams are still the only way for the education bureau to check children's learning progress. After all, they can't follow children who don't go to school every day to see how well they're learning outside of class, right?
and so……

"I want to take the exam."

"what?"

"Teacher, can I have the test paper?"

"..."

Haliya Schmidt thought Isabella had gone mad.

Why would a normal art student take this exam?

But, three days later...

"What? Isha can teach herself?"

The children could only work four hours a day, but it was different for the adults. So while the children rested, Columbus and the other adults made the final preparations before the start of filming. Then, he heard some amazing news.

"Yeah~"

The assistant who came to report said, "Her teacher, Schmidt, said that she gave Isha three SATs tests today, and she got full marks in both English ability and logical reasoning. Then she gave her a CAT4 test, and Isha excelled in verbal reasoning, visual reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and spatial reasoning..."

"In the words of Professor Schmidt, it's a real pity that she went into art."

"..."

Chris Columbus lost his voice.

The next second, he felt he had discovered the key point: "Isha doesn't want to go to class, right?"

"Yes." The assistant nodded.

"What was her mother's attitude?"

"Her mother..."

The assistant hesitated, as if he had something to say but didn't know whether he should say it or not.

Meanwhile—

“Oh—Vivian—how did you raise your child? Can you teach me? My Rupert really doesn’t like to study. He sneaks out of school, he sleeps when I ask him to read. I’m so annoyed with him every day…”

In a classroom in the film set's teaching building, Rupert's mother was holding Vivian's hand, crying loudly.

Many parents around nodded in agreement.

Outside, Rupert stood there awkwardly, while Isabella was with him.

Oh no, at this moment, Isabella is standing alone on the right side of the classroom door, while on the left are a group of helpless figures.

"You really don't have to go to class anymore?" Rupert asked incredulously.

"Okay." The blonde girl nodded innocently.

"Oh—that's a bit too much—"

Egg Girl shook her head and said, "You studied the script while learning? That's really... unbelievable..."

"Maybe top students have 48 hours in a day?" Bonnie said with a hint of envy. "To be honest, I don't want to go to class either."

"Who wants to go to class?!" came a complaint from the back.

Isabella could understand how the children felt, but... that sounds a bit pretentious, doesn't it?
But she did know that there were very few true academic geniuses among the main characters of Harry Potter.

Like Harry and Ron, in her previous life, these two were terrible students in college, and they openly stated in interviews that they didn't like studying.

Even though Isabella felt that making these two study was no different from making them suffer, at that moment, she could only save herself, not the others. After all, Hermione Granger was studying magic, not literature.
Isabella felt a bit dizzy seeing his dejected figure.

Two devilish little horns grew out.

She can already yo-yo before her tutoring classes have even started for a week?

For others, that was truly a nightmare of news...

After chatting for a while, I said goodbye to the children who regarded her as a genius—no, a devil—and went home with my mother.

Vivian's emotions were somewhat complicated on the way.

On one hand, her daughter's excellence makes her very happy; on the other hand, her daughter's impulsive and unpredictable nature makes her somewhat helpless.

Taking advantage of a break in the traffic jam, she glanced at the rearview mirror.

Isabella, leaning back in the back seat, was resting with her eyes closed, swaying gently to the music playing in the car.

"So can you tell me why you did that?"

Isabella opened her eyes when her mother asked her question.

They looked at each other across the distance, and Isabella laughed and said, "The director made me do it. Because on the first day I joined the crew, he made me play Hermione Granger, and Hermione is a top student, so not attending classes and relying on self-study is the most obvious characteristic of a top student, isn't it?"

Ok.

Isabella pinned the blame on Chris Columbus.

She's skipping class now on official orders!

Vivian was speechless at this line of reasoning.

Just as she was pondering whether her daughter was too naughty and should be given a beating, Isabella stopped joking.

"Okay, Mom, to be honest, if it's for filming and requires staying on set, I'd be more than willing. But if it's not for filming, does that mean we have to stay until 6 PM every day? We can't expect my sister to wait until 8 PM to eat every day, can we?"

Vivian remained silent.

St. Paul's Girls' School is a day school among the nine public schools.

Isabella needs a guardian to accompany her while she's filming on set, but what about Catherine?
You can't just leave her alone, can you?

In fact, Warner Bros. provided on-set services for the creative team, allowing Isabella to stay in Leavesden with her mother.

For example, the young master lived on the film set with his older brother.

He was the youngest in his family, and his older brother was much older than him, so one of them became his guardian.

But for the sake of her family and for peace of mind, even though Vivian hired a nanny for Catherine at the beginning of the month who would take her to and from school and cook her dinner, she still had to go back to check on her every day.

With her mother running around, how could Isabella possibly stay alone on set?
Of course, she also admitted that she didn't want to repeat the same knowledge over and over again.

"Eric is disgusting!"

Vivian couldn't hold back any longer and cursed her deceased husband.

But her relaxed facial features revealed her easygoing nature.

"So you'll be able to teach yourself, right?"

"Of course~"

Go back and look at your sister's textbooks.

"Mom—don't you trust me to do things?"

"Right now, you're the person I worry about the most in the whole family."

Vivian was outspoken.

Isabella was very sad.

After a while, the two of them laughed at the same time.

Yeah, they're faking it.

　Thank you Qianhewan for the donation.

　　Thank you for your votes.

　　thank you very much
　　Finally, if it's convenient, I'd like to ask you to follow the story. Just flip to the last page of the latest chapter each day and look for the words "To be continued." That's fine. Qidian has changed its recommendation rules again. Previously it was a weekly cycle, but now it's a two-day cycle. I didn't quite understand the new rules, but the editor said the core is still following the story.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)