"Oh—Elizabeth—look what I just bought!"
New York.
In an old Brooklyn house, a girl was humming to herself while strumming a guitar.
Warm sunlight poured through the dusty windows, spilling across the creaky wooden floor. Footsteps thudded up the stairs, followed by a sudden shout that twanged through the strings like an invisible finger plucking them.
The chord buzzed, the rhythm broke, and the girl lost her train of thought.
Elizabeth Grant, a blonde with thick hair and tired eyes, looked up helplessly. When she saw her uncle rushing in, his excitent and the shiny thing in his hands caught her attention.
"This is…"
She squinted, studying the object curiously.
"Isabella Haywood's mini-album just dropped!"
Her uncle hurried over, tearing open the plastic wrap as he proudly showed it off.
"You love Harry Potter, right? And you've always said you envy Isabella for singing so freely? Well, the mont I heard her CD was out, I ran to buy it for you. Don't thank —call it an early birthday gift."
Elizabeth Grant was born June 21, 1985, turning eighteen soon.
Her real ho was in Manhattan, but she'd been living with her uncle. Her parents were both mid-level employees at Precision Global, one of the world's top independent advertising and communications groups—her father a copywriter, her mother an account manager. She grew up comfortable, never wanting for anything.
But her parents were too busy to raise her properly. A few years ago, she went off the rails—drinking, smoking weed, pushed along by bad friends. By the ti her parents found out, she was already addicted.
Horrified, they begged her uncle—a teacher at an Anglican boarding school—to take her in and help her get clean.
The process was painful. To distract her from withdrawal, her uncle taught her guitar, hoping the joy of music could balance out the misery of recovery.
And it worked. She ca to love music deeply.
Being a hardcore Potterhead, she admired Isabella's smooth leap from acting to singing. She dread of one day standing on stage like Miss Beaver, singing her heart out.
And now, Isabella had released an album?
"Oh—thank you!"
She smiled at her uncle as he loaded the CD into the player. Soon, familiar songs from the movie soundtrack filled the room.
Isabella's clear, bright voice made Elizabeth beam. When "Love Story" began, she leaned forward, listening closely—
"Roo, take sowhere we can be alone~"
"I'll be waiting, all that's left to do is run~"
"You'll be the prince, and I'll be the princess~"
"It's a love story, baby, just say yes~"
"Wow~~~ This song is amazing~~~"
After just one listen, Elizabeth's eyes sparkled.
The mont it ended, she jumped up from her chair.
"What's gotten into you?"
Her uncle thought the song was good too, but he didn't expect this reaction.
"I need the lyric book!" she said, flipping through the deluxe edition. "I want to learn this song!"
"I think this song could get a regular gig!"
Elizabeth had been chasing her dream the old-fashioned way—performing at bars and clubs around Brooklyn, hoping to catch an agent's attention.
New York was full of them, after all. One right look could change everything.
She hadn't been lucky yet, though so of her friends had landed deals.
But now, she could feel it—her chance had co.
Because singing a hit song made you stand out.
And how did she know "Love Story" would blow up?
Easy:
It sounded amazing. It was by Isabella Haywood.
That was enough.
"Whoa—Katheryn—I like your thinking!"
anwhile, in Los Angeles—
A girl nad Katheryn Hudson had the exact sa idea.
Born in 1984, she was nineteen now.
She'd been taking vocal lessons since age nine, learned guitar at thirteen, and released her first album at seventeen—unsuccessfully.
It was gospel music. The audience for that wasn't exactly huge.
Her debut sold fewer than two hundred copies. The small label that signed her went bankrupt soon after.
A sad story, really.
Now unemployed, she sang in cafés and bars around L.A., still hoping for a break.
But heaven didn't seem to be listening.
Still, she wasn't giving up.
Life, she thought, was like mining—you could fail ninety-nine tis, but if you struck one diamond on the hundredth, every miss would've been worth it.
So she kept digging.
And right now, her plan was simple: sing popular songs, grab attention.
"I'm gonna make it!" she declared, clenching her fist.
Her friend cheered her on, and she grinned wide:
"I believe my life will be just like Isabella sang in The Climb—
"There's always gonna be another mountain~"
"I'm always gonna wanna make it move~"
"Always gonna be an uphill battle~"
"Sotis I'm gonna have to lose~"
"Ain't about how fast I get there~"
"Ain't about what's waiting on the other side~"
"It's the climb~"
"Oh—this song is so good—why can't I write sothing like this—"
At the sa ti, in another part of Los Angeles.
A young man nad Peter Hernandez was also listening to Isabella's mini-disc.
"The Climb" was his absolute favorite song. After watching The Voice, he'd fallen in love with it—it made him feel like he could draw strength from it, and strength was exactly what he needed most right now.
Born in 1985, he was eighteen that year.
His family was all in the music business: his mother was a singer in Hawaii, his father played in a band, and his uncle was a well-known Elvis impersonator on the islands. So, naturally, he'd been imrsed in music since childhood.
He imitated Elvis—people called him "Little Elvis."
He imitated Michael Jackson—people nicknad him "the Honolulu Moonwalker."
He imitated everyone.
It made him famous as a kid.
In fact, back in '92, thanks to that "fa," he even got a bit part in Nicolas Cage's Honeymoon in Vegas. Soone from Dr. Dre's team noticed him then.
They said he was talented.
So when he got the invite, he moved to Los Angeles earlier that year.
He'd thought it was the start of sothing great—but who could've guessed that even in music, height was a problem? The people who'd brought him in decided he was too short and shoved him into behind-the-scenes work. It broke his heart.
He loved singing. He wanted to be onstage.
But even though things weren't going his way, he didn't give up. After all, Isabella had said in The Voice: "As long as you're not hurting anyone, it's fine even if you chase your dreams with your life."
He believed he wasn't hurting anyone. So he'd keep chasing, until the dream beca real.
With a sigh, he kept listening—and then "Love Story" started playing.
The boy who'd been slumped over his desk suddenly sat bolt upright.
"Wow~"
"This song—"
"Is amazing!"
After Isabella Haywood officially dropped, discussion of it sprang up everywhere like mushrooms after rain. The buzz crackled through the air—sothing Warner cared about, but only up to a point. Public chatter only showed how big a fanbase soone had; what really mattered to investors was whether that fanbase bought records.
So when Warner's field reps reported that people were talking about Isabella everywhere—record stores, schools, radio stations, supermarkets—Barry yer, the company's chairman, felt thrilled… and nervous.
He knew the mini-disc was expensive. He had set the price himself.
Other artists' full albums sold for $19.99, while Isabella's mini-disc cost the sa. A ripoff on paper.
But when the night dragged into the early hours on the West Coast and he finally got the numbers—
"You said what? How many copies did Isabella's disc sell?"
In his bedroom, half-asleep against the headboard, he suddenly shot up.
It was a miracle he didn't have high blood pressure, or the excitent might've killed him.
On the other end of the line, Nathan "Unlucky Kid" Bailey was yelling:
"Boss! Forget the soundtrack—just Isabella's mini-disc!"
"In the U.S. alone, we sold 410,000 copies yesterday!"
"In the U.K.—190,000!"
"Canada—140,000!"
"Australia—110,000!"
"And in Europe, mainly Germany and France—250,000!"
"Add it all up—her first-day sales hit 1.1 million copies!"
"She topped the charts everywhere!"
"We won the bet!"
Boom.
Barry yer felt like his brain exploded.
Because the numbers were insane.
Sure, 410,000 in the U.S. wasn't record-breaking.
No, not really.
That figure only put her in the top ten. The top two? The Backstreet Boys' Millennium—500,000 first-day sales in the U.S.—and NSYNC's No Strings Attached—a ridiculous 1.1 million on day one.
Yes, that NSYNC record. Michael Jackson hadn't even done that.
But the difference was, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC hit those numbers after years of fa and buildup.
Isabella Haywood?
It was her first project in music.
A test run.
At a premium price.
And even with all those handicaps, she'd still scored the third-highest first-day debut in history?
Barry had been in the business for decades, but this—this was beyond him.
That 410,000 felt crazier than NSYNC's 1.1 million.
"Damn…"
He wondered if he was dreaming.
"Too crazy… this is just too crazy…"
He muttered to himself, lost for words—but he knew this was only the beginning.
"Nathan! Keep steering the narrative! Manage the reviews!"
"Today we won, but it's not over—I want us to keep winning!"
Everyone in pop knew how fast the market moved. Hype and herd instinct could do more than critics ever could. But reputation still mattered.
Unless you were doing a one-off cash grab, you needed to protect your work and its public image. If people thought your songs sucked, they might buy once—but never again.
And with Isabella, that was even riskier.
Because her main job was acting.
Movies lived and died on reputation.
So Warner's top priority was making sure her disc got good reviews—or at least, not bad ones that could hurt Harry Potter.
But as Warner rolled out their carefully planned promo campaign and set up 24-hour market monitoring… none of their fears ca true.
The market didn't just stay calm—it went absolutely berserk.
The next day, March 29, Isabella Haywood's sales went up.
U.S.—450,000
U.K.—230,000
Canada—160,000
Australia—130,000
Europe—280,000
Total: 1.25 million copies on day two.
Up by 150,000.
Then ca day three, March 30. Sales dipped—but still raged on.
U.S.—320,000
U.K.—140,000
Canada—80,000
Australia—60,000
Europe—160,000
Day-three total: 760,000.
Three-day total: 3.11 million copies.
The world went into shock.
Anyone following entertainnt news was stunned. Sure, everyone knew it would sell well—but 3.11 million in three days?
She was gunning for world records.
As dia headlines flooded the air, The New York Observer ran a column saying Isabella Haywood's success was "surprising, but not too surprising."
"Selling 3.11 million copies in three days is an extraordinary feat in pop. With seven days in a week, our Miss Beaver could easily, with a bit of effort, break the Backstreet Boys' 2000 world record of five million in a single week."
"If she does it, she'll beco the most dazzling young star since the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. Even if she doesn't, she's already surpassed every peer—she's the brightest star of the new century. Or maybe the sun itself."
"Because her achievents are overwhelming. In film, she's racked up two billion in global box office. In music, her debut mini-disc already ets the A tier of pop standards."
"We even questioned at first if these numbers were real. How can one person succeed this many tis, this dramatically? But after reviewing her life story, we realized—her success was almost inevitable."
"And there are three reasons why."
"First: Isabella is Hermione Granger."
"As the face of the world's best-selling book series, Harry Potter, she starts with hundreds of millions of fans. Her base audience is colossal."
"That ans she doesn't have to introduce herself like others do. Her face, her na—they are her brand. Everyone knows her. That kind of recognition wipes out tons of obstacles."
"Even now, she's benefiting from that. Everyone knows she released a mini-disc—yet she's done no promo."
"And people accept that."
"Because everyone knows she's busy filming Prisoner of Azkaban."
"That's terrifying, really. It's like she has forty-eight hours in a day."
"And if soone had forty-eight hours in a day, whatever they did, they'd succeed."
"Second: Isabella is a sincere girl."
"She rarely appears in public, but whenever she does, her words ring with honesty. In her People interview, she said she fought for the Hermione role herself. And earlier this year, on ABC and BBC, when asked what she'd do after The Voice, she said her next step was simple—to play Hermione Granger well."
"Perhaps to many people, this would seem like a very ordinary answer."
"Or to so people who value individuality, her answer might seem completely boring."
"But we want to say, Isabella's answer was excellent, truly outstanding."
"Because her words can convince those who like her."
"Isabella doesn't think her success is because she's exceptionally talented. She clearly knows that countless people like her because she played in Harry Potter. So when she can state this plainly, and show that she, like everyone who admires her, is a fan of Harry Potter, she essentially becos one with her fans."
"She gives everyone the feeling that—"
"We are all Potterheads."
"I was just a little lucky."
"Since I earned J.K. Rowling's favor, I won't let her recognition or everyone's expectations down."
"This honesty, this sincerity, may be the key to her continuing to wield magic even after leaving Hogwarts."
"In our editorial view, this is why countless Potterheads support her personally."
"Authenticity is her greatest personal charm."
"The third reason is that Isabella truly is talented."
"Her mini-disc Isabella Haywood is indeed impressive."
"And her new song Love Story is even more creative."
"Love Story is a country song, borrowing Shakespeare's Roo and Juliet to tell a beautiful love story. Since love itself is a yearning of youth, when the song's the overlaps with Isabella's fanbase, she naturally earns their support."
"Then, her mini-disc sold out on the first day."
"As the light, excellent music unfolded, we noticed that Isabella modified the ending of Roo and Juliet. In Shakespeare, Roo and Juliet are a tragedy—their fate is death. But in Isabella's song, Roo proposes to Juliet. This happy ending is a brilliant adaptation."
"As we said before, young people crave love, but they are inherently rebellious. So when a traditional tragedy, familiar to everyone, is turned into a fulfilling ending by Isabella, that romantic idea of 'against all odds, we'll be together' suddenly cos alive."
"If we had to describe it, our editorial team even feels that the romance in Love Story rivals that of Titanic! Or rather, it's Titanic's dream-co-true version."
"At the end of Titanic, we all wanted Jack and Rose to end up together, growing old side by side—but Jas Caron didn't do that. He said tragedies move people more than codies."
"Six years ago, we reluctantly accepted that. But now, Miss Beaver, wand in hand, tells Jas Caron that a happy ending can be just as beautiful!"
"That's really cool!"
"From a musical standpoint, Love Story's structure is simple."
"But the creativity—perfect score."
"And perhaps that's why Isabella Haywood sold 3.11 million copies in just three days."
"Harry Potter's popularity her sincere persona rebellious romance and a happy ending = unstoppable. If this can't be embraced by the public, then it's not Isabella's problem—it's the world's."
"The world has no problem. That's why Love Story blew up."
"As of publication, Love Story has begun climbing charts across markets. We believe it could top the Billboard in North Arica within a week, because Isabella's potential is limitless."
"Also, we believe the 3.11 million in three days may just be the beginning for Isabella—"
"She is destined for an even broader future!"
"She may beco a flagbearer for Generation Z!"
"Because Harry Potter has seven books, she will grow alongside everyone!"
"Because she is beautiful, sincere, and imnsely talented!"
"When she can bring extraordinary magic to the world while acting in Harry Potter—"
"The sky might not even be her limit!"
"Interesting souls cannot be confined by a boring world!"
Isabella read this in The New York Observer while on the set at Leavesden.
Well…
Actually, it was Chris Columbus reading it aloud to everyone during dinner.
His expressive reading had Isabella laughing uncontrollably.
She wasn't embarrassed.
She even thought The New York Observer did a good job.
Not because she's thick-skinned—she just likes being praised.
When the reading ended, applause and cheering erupted, and she kept thanking everyone.
After a while, she finally sat down, cheeks flushed with happiness.
anwhile, Columbus gave her a look of regret—
"Isabella."
"Hm?"
"You don't bla , do you?"
"Bla you for what?"
"For blocking your path." Columbus shrugged, pouted, and raised an eyebrow. "If I hadn't killed Love Story, you might have beco a diva two months ago…"
"Hahaha—"
Isabella waved her hands and laughed heartily.
She simply ant Columbus was exaggerating.
Indeed, as Columbus said, Love Story wasn't in The Voice because he had rejected it—he felt it didn't fit the movie.
Here's why Love Story ca to exist:
Earlier, when Columbus suggested that each competition song could tie into the previous scene's story, Isabella thought carefully and realized that Love Story could beco the "the song" for the parents.
Even though Columbus had said it was best to use covers.
Because in The Voice, the parents didn't have relationship problems. Their conflict was simply the father being inattentive and the mother feeling wronged. When they reconciled, Love Story could appear.
So Isabella decided Lily Zeller would sing Love Story in the second competition.
From the daughter's, third-person perspective, telling the audience about her parents' love story.
At first, Columbus thought her idea was brilliant.
Because the narrative of Love Story connects to Roo and Juliet.
Shakespeare in a British movie? This addition would enhance the local flavor.
But after reconsidering, Columbus still killed the idea.
Two reasons:
It was an original song. Since Love Story hadn't been released publicly, audiences unfamiliar with it might be confused, leading to two outcos: They think it's good. Then The Climb won't feel as stunning later, causing conflict between main and side plots. They think it's average. Then the whole movie suffers—if audiences dislike your song, how can you win?
From a dramatic perspective, using covers for the first few competitions was the safest choice.
If Love Story appeared in the film, Lily Zeller would need flashbacks to explain the parents' love story.
Without it, the song's narrative would feel thin.
With it, the movie's focus shifts awkwardly.
The Voice is ultimately Lily Zeller's story.
Adding supporting characters' backstories in her dream competition would feel off-topic.
So, Columbus could only apologize to Isabella.
But Isabella didn't mind.
Releasing Love Story as a mini-disc worked better.
In her previous life, Taylor Swift's Love Story was the ultimate country hit.
It broke sales records for the entire genre and earned Swift the title of country queen.
By 2025, total sales had reached twenty million.
Using a song like that as movie score would be wasteful.
A mini-disc release as a surprise could boost her disc's sales even more.
Yes~~~
The results were entirely within her expectations~~~
With Harry Potter's popularity and the strongest-ever magic, if she could still lose, then the world itself had a bug!
Hehe~
Dinner passed with laughter and casual chat, keeping Isabella happy.
After the al, amidst congratulations, she happily returned to the dorm.
She wanted to go online, check the news…
Well…
She really just wanted to check Yahoo and see how people were praising her.
She wanted to show off~
At that mont, she noticed little Robbie, who had co back early, sitting at the computer in the living room.
Since Disney's film wouldn't start shooting until June, Robbie stayed with her, learning acting or helping out. So her presence didn't surprise her.
Her serious posture, staring at the screen, made her think she was looking at posts about her.
She quietly crept over, peeking—
"Oh~ Marg~ are you checking online buzz for again?"
As she spoke, her eyes fell on the screen.
Scanning quickly… huh—
She realized Robbie wasn't looking at posts about her at all.
"Oh—Isabella—you're back?"
Her voice startled Robbie.
But he quickly smiled.
"What are you looking at?" Isabella asked curiously.
"Oh—I was just checking posts about you. The internet is full of praise—"
"Everyone says your new song is amazing—super amazing—"
Robbie completely ignored her question.
"Hmph~"
Isabella snorted and continued: "Then I want to know, what made you stop looking?"
"What could be more interesting than ?"
"Uh…"
Robbie dragged out his voice, her bossy narcissism making her laugh and sigh at the sa ti.
Still, he answered: "Charles Ingram's case seems to be concluding."
"He really did cheat."
"What?" Isabella didn't understand.
Robbie scrolled, explaining: "The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire cheating case."
"The 2001 case has a result."
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