The great hall buzzed with noise.
The walls on all sides are covered with glittering silver frost, with a starry sky on the ceiling, and snowflakes drifting down from high above, disappearing before they reach the area above their heads.
Hundreds of flower fairies danced high in the air, sprinkling handfuls of colourful flakes down.
Felix stood at the door and looked around. The four house tables are gone, replaced with hundreds of small tables with candles lit on them, with about ten students seated at each table.
In front of the great hall, there is a long podium where the judges of the tournament are seated, and two faculty tables are symmetrically placed on either side of the podium for the Hogwarts professors and other guests who have come from afar to be seated.
In front of the podium and the faculty table are two large, spacious round tables that belong to the champions.
Bagman and Percy each approached the podium side by side, while Felix made his way to one of the faculty tables and sat between Snape and Professor McGonagall, Snape was still dressed in his black robes while Professor McGonagall wore a long red checked tweed robe with a wreath of thistle adorning the brim.
“Minerva, what a rare attire.” Felix joked, “Severus on the contrary is unchanging …”
Snape gazed at Felix, and watched him flip through a small menu placed on the table with interest, as he slowly said, “I don’t remember you learning dance when you were at school, perhaps you could join me later on in my castle tour?”
“Oh, don’t be such a killjoy.” Professor McGonagall said.
Felix flipped the menu in his hand to the back as he stared at the top row of dessert names, “No problem, but I’m going to taste this first.” He said, pointing to a small line of letters.
“Opéra?” Snape glanced at it and commented, “It’s too sweet.”
“Good name.” Felix said with a smile.
After waiting a few minutes, Professor McGonagall got up and left, “I’m going to go organize the entrance of the champions.” She said, as she braced the peaked cap on her head, and walked in stride towards a corner of the great hall.
In a small open space near the great hall, the champions and their partners were standing together, and Professor McGonagall explained to them how to enter: “Wait a little longer, and when the great hall is almost full, you will enter in a line, champions and partners together. You have to go through the great hall from the left aisle, and eventually turn a corner to sit on the big round table on the right side of the podium, understand?”
At that moment, Harry and Ron rushed into the great hall, Ron had finally changed into his new robes in the lavatory, so they rushed in the direction of the podium.
“This way! Potter, Weasley.” Professor McGonagall shouted.
Harry and Ron froze in place and turned their heads woodenly to look at Professor McGonagall who had a stern expression on her face and the bunch of champions who were also looking at the pair in unison; the burly champion from Uagadou, Eliphendy, towered above Krum who stood next to him, and the considerably tall witch Nona Leibert who stood alongside them looked like a baby bird.
Harry and Ron walked back with their heads down, and as they passed Draco Malfoy, Draco shouted, “Potter, Weasley, are you practicing your dance steps and forgot the timing?”
His dance partner, Pansy Parkinson, let out a loud “tsk” sound.
Harry glared at them, Draco Malfoy was dressed in a black velvet high-collared formal robe, which looked like a country vicar, Harry secretly despised his aesthetics. As the duo made their way to the corner where the champions stood, both Patil sisters hooked their arms and looked at Harry and Ron with displeasure.
Professor McGonagall came striding over and said quickly, “Pair up, you two! No, do not stand together,” she looked at Harry and Ron with a headache, “stand side by side with your partners, for goodness’ sake, you don’t understand what partners mean, do you?”
She stepped forward and separated Harry and Ron from each other, then she looked at the Patil sisters with a hesitant expression. She couldn’t tell which is which for a moment, so she simply ordered, “Stand next to your dance partners, girls. You need a little tacit understanding … frankly, it’s a little late for that kind of talk.”
Professor McGonagall quickly went to the front of the group once again, and they could barely hear Professor McGonagall’s faint voice: “This … Mr. Eliphandy, please stand with your pair, you are too close to Mr. Krum. Mr. Krum, where is your dance partner?”
“She is still on her way here.” Krum said in a low voice.
Professor McGonagall looked not so happy as she made sure, “Are you sure she won’t be late? I can find a temporary replacement if needed …”
“No thanks.” Krum said glumly.
Harry and Ron at the end of the line looked around, and Ron said incredulously, “I can’t believe Krum does not have a date! He’s a big star, what girl would stood him up? Oh, crap, Harry, stand in front of me …”
He bent his knees slightly and hid behind Harry as Fleur Delacour looked toward the back. She looked stunningly gorgeous in her silver-grey satin robe and beside her, there is a tall, handsome boy, who Harry sort of recognized as a seventh-year Slytherin student, supposedly the Head Boy.
When Fleur looked back, Ron blushed and straightened up.
“Can’t really blame you, she’s gorgeous.” Harry said unbiasedly; when Fleur invited Cedric in the entrance hall two days ago, Ron, as if he was possessed, went straight usked Fleur to be his dance partner, and failed justifiably.
Since then, Ron has been avoiding her, and he still hasn’t gotten over it.
At that moment, a beautiful girl in a flowing light purple and blue robe came into the great hall and brushed past Harry and Ron. As she made her way next to Krum, she spoke quickly, as if apologizing for being late, but they were at the end of the line, so it was hard to hear exactly what she was saying.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Krum … I was prepared … hours in advance but … Niffler gave me a return gift and I didn’t expect … too surprised …”
“Niffler? Do you mean that magical creature that makes holes in the ground to dig for gold coins? It sent you a gift?” Krum’s deep voice is recognizable, and it was deep enough to reach Harry and Ron’s ears.
“Valen doesn’t make holes in the ground! Oh, Valen is her name … Yeah, she did send me a present … I think it might be because I gave her a Christmas present first … Maybe Professor Hap helped with the selection of it …,” the girl explained.
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
“That voice sounds a bit familiar.” Harry said uncertainly.
“She also mentioned Valen and said that Valen had sent her Christmas presents, is that possible?” Ron looked at Harry hesitantly.
“If I heard correctly, she sent the present first … Valen just returned the gift … wait, I think I know … “Harry’s pace of speech got slower and slower, and his eyes moved from the girl in the flowing robes to Ron.
The two men looked at each other for two seconds and said in unison and with great surprise, “Hermione?” The guess left them in disbelief, they had no idea that the cute girl a dozen feet away would be the person they knew best.
Harry stared at the girl’s back, she did not look anything like Hermione. But if it is true, she must have done something to her hair, they no longer looked messy, instead, they have become soft and shiny, and also an elegant bun pulled at the back of her head.
At this point Professor McGonagall walked to the front of the group and said to all the champions standing at the front entrance, “Champions please get ready, ladies hold the arms of the gentlemen, and enter like I said before.”
The group started to move forward, while Harry and Ron were still trying to confirm whether Krum’s dance partner is Hermione or not, they both felt their arms being pulled at the same time, they turned their heads and looked at their respective dance partners –
The two Patil sisters took their arms, with big smiles on their faces. Parvati fiddled hard with the gold bracelet on her wrist, lifted the hem of her pink skirt with her other hand, and said in a soft whisper, “It’s our turn.” With that, she dragged Harry forward with force.
The champions walked into the great hall in pairs and walked through the gaps between the small tables. The people in the great hall applauded enthusiastically, Fred and George whistled loudly, as Harry’s nervousness calmed down slightly. They walked around the great hall in a small half circle and sat in order at the two large tables in front of the podium.
Their seats are very distinguished, as one male and one female are seated with a little gap between each other, everyone dressed up nicely, Harry found many familiar faces became more handsome and beautiful than usual.
Especially Hermione.
Harry finally identified Krum’s dance partner, despite only seeing the side of her face, but he is too familiar with Hermione, it is just that when she removed the usual books she carried around, her temperament has completely changed, so he did not recognize her for a while.
When Hermione noticed their gaze, her head tilted over her shoulder as she waved at the two across a table as she smiled, Harry couldn’t help but smile, Hermione’s trademark big teeth were so conspicuous that he couldn’t think of anyone else.
Hermione had complained to them before that her parents, as dentists, were resistant to the idea of making any connection between the words dental and magic, as well as the fact that she had never found the opportunity to get Madam Pomfrey to agree to adjust her teeth; left her teeth still like this.
…
The champions were the last people to enter the hall – and when they were seated, the dinner naturally began. Harry stared at the empty, gleaming golden plates. As he looked around, he saw Dumbledore carefully look at the menu in front of him, then at his plate, and said very clearly, “Pork chops!”
The pork chops immediately appeared.
It was then it dawned to the students, and they all picked up their small menus to choose their favourite foods.
Not far from Harry and his group, Roger Davies got sandwiched between Collins and Fleur, he looked left and right with a torn look on his face as Fleur criticized the décor and layout of Hogwarts to him and the Slytherin Head boy.
“It’s hardly remarkable,” she said contemptuously, looking at the sparkling walls around the great hall: “At Beauxbatons Castle, our hall was decorated with ice sculptures during Christmas. Of course, they don’t melt … and the food is superb. We also have a choir of mountain fairies who will quietly serenade us while we eat. …”
The expression of both Head boy and Roger Davies next to her increasingly became entranced, and Harry guessed that they had completely failed to listen to what Fleur had actually said, and when Davies stuck his fork through his hair, Collins, next to him, grunted heavily.
He tried to smooth things over, as he stammered, “I think both schools have different beauties, Hogwarts’ Black Lake has big squid, and in the summer you can swim in it and pretend to drown that way the big squid will come to help you; and Beauxbatons, I mean … although I’ve never been there, but just from listening to Fleur’s description you can know how beautiful it is.”
As a result, he offended two girls at once, with both Collins and Fleur looking away from him, which made Davies a little embarrassed.
Collins moved her chair further away, as she leaned over to the next table and whispered to Ron, who sat closest to her, “Have you guys cracked the mystery of the golden egg yet?”
“What?” Ron asked dully, he was staring at Krum and Hermione – they seemed to have cleared up their misunderstanding and were having a fairly decent conversation so far.
When he looked back, Collins glared at him fiercely and his body went cold, his mind desperately trying to recall the question she just asked, “Uh, not yet, but soon, probably within the next few days.”
Collins gave him a skeptical look as she quickly blurted out to Ron, “… if … try the water … ”
“What did you say?” Ron didn’t hear her clearly, so he asked in a hurry, but that’s when Dumbledore stood up holding a goblet and Collins moved her chair back.
“What did she say, did you catch that?” Ron asked his nominal dance partner.
Padma Patil rolled her eyes at him and huffed, “I don’t know.”
“Ding!”
The crisp sound of a metal striking glass broke throughout the chaotic great hall and rang precisely in everyone’s ears as the crowd quieted down, and they looked towards Dumbledore on the podium.
“Students, please stand up, I need to relocate your tables to make room for the dance floor.” He said with a wide smile.
Then he waved his wand and all the tables flew “whoosh” against the wall, leaving an open space in the middle. The students stood with their dance partners, Harry noticed Parvati’s arm around his arm again, so he tried to struggle twice, but could not break free.
Then Dumbledore cast a spell on the right side of the great hall, as a long and narrow stage appeared near the wall, with a set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and several organs.
The lights around the great hall completely dimmed, leaving only the central dance floor lit up.
“Students, professors, and foreign guests – enjoy the beautiful music!” Dumbledore opened his arms wide and said happily, at which point the Weird Sisters appeared onto the stage together as the crowd erupted with thunderous applause.
Dumbledore’s left hand held behind his back, and his right hand extended an invitation to Madame Maxime, then they walked onto the dance floor and danced together along with the soft, soothing music.
Felix felt very grateful that he took a seat near the back of the podium and not within range of getting pulled over. As he settled comfortably on his chair, he watched with interest as the oddly dressed Weird Sisters group played instruments, and then he flipped his menu to the last page.
“Opéra.” He pronounced it clearly.
The next second, delicately tempting chocolate and coffee glazed cake appeared in front of him, and when he raised his fork, he noticed a stern gaze.
“Do you know what you’re supposed to do now?” Professor McGonagall said with pursed lips.
Felix froze for a moment and looked around, “Oh …” he asked courteously as he stood up with a slight bow, “May I have the pleasure of dancing with you, ma’am?”
“Of course.” Professor McGonagall smiled and held out her hand, “Drop the fork you’re holding, Felix.” She whispered.
The two walked towards the dance floor.
At that moment, Felix’s mind worked at high speed, and everything in the great hall turned into slow motion – he could see Dumbledore holding Madam Maxime’s hand, the tip of his peaked cap just touching her chin; Mad-Eye Moody dragged Professor Sinistra around, Professor Sinistra looked like an unfortunate arrested dark wizard, and he also saw Ludo Bagman was laboriously bending his stomach to invite Professor Sprout …
He used his thought acceleration magic to the extreme.
Everything that happened in the great hall came into his mind. Basic poses, dance steps, hand-holding movements, matching beats … By the time he had taken a dozen steps from the faculty table to the dance floor, he had gone from a layman to a rookie dancer.
“Waltz, Minerva?” Felix asked, casually flicking away a flower fairy that had flown down from the ceiling, the unlucky little creature stumbled and landed on the shoulder of a stiff-faced Harry.
“Of course.” Professor McGonagall said.
The two danced, Felix while moving around, continuing to absorb the essence of the dance moves of everyone present, and he was surprised to find that the best dancer turned out to be Dumbledore.
Sure enough, being older is an advantage, Felix’s head filled with strange thoughts.
A few minutes later, when the first song was over, Professor McGonagall smiled and said, “So you can dance, and dance so well, I thought you are new to this.”
Felix wiped away the bead of sweat on his forehead unnoticed, “I really haven’t practiced much before.” He glanced in the direction of Snape, who remained standing at the edge of the hall, as he blended into the darkness.
The weird sisters’ group in the corner played another jolly dance song. “Shall we continue?” He asked politely, glancing over her head as he saw Hagrid swallowing his Opéra cake in one gulp and headed toward Madame Maxime, who had parted from Dumbledore.
Professor McGonagall’s eyes tinged with a smile, “It certainly seems like you’re not familiar with these things, you can’t spend the whole ball with one person, the wonderful girls are waiting.”
“What?”
Professor McGonagall stepped back two steps, when a beautiful girl suddenly appeared before him, “Professor Hap?” Bethany blinked and looked at him with expectation in her eyes, so Felix offered his hand in a gesture of invitation, to which Bethany readily accepted.
The style of the dance changed completely, and Felix had to speed up his thoughts again, trying to capture the movements of the others, and in a few seconds, he was masterfully leading Bethany around the dance floor in a long, graceful arc.
By the end of the song, Bethany’s face flushed red.
She gently stood on tiptoe and whispered, “You were a great dancer, and BTW … thank you for saving me.” The corner of her lips gently touched Felix’s cheek.
Bethany fluttered away.
He looked up and found Fleur standing in front of him, “Are you good at this piece?” Fleur asked playfully. At this point, the weird sisters’ group changed their play to a more lively and jumpy polka.
Felix: “… ok.”
After swapping seven or eight dance partners, Felix found himself in front of someone who switched to Hermione.
“Oh, Professor, I saw it all from the side, you are dancing wonderfully.”
“Thank you, more than one person said that.”
Felix smiled, as he silently wished for no new tune, and when the music started, he felt relieved that he was finally able to relax without the need to speed up his thinking.
He waltzed across the dance floor, spinning and moving in circles with poise.
At the edge of the dance floor, Seamus and Dean sat at the table, eating their desserts. As Seamus said with a blank look, “I didn’t realize that Professor Hap excelled at so many types of dances … He should be the one who stayed on the floor for the longest time, right?”
“Yeah, how did he do that?” Dean also felt amazed.
“Who is that girl he’s dancing with? Beauxbatons or Durmstrang’s student?” Seamus asked with his eyes narrowed.
“What are you looking at, she’s Hermione!” Dean exclaimed.
Seamus stared at Dean, who pointed towards the dance floor: “Look at her big teeth, they’re obviously so obvious …”
In the middle of the dance floor.
Hermione bit her lip as she asked in a quiet voice, “Did you know what Valen gave me as Christmas present?”
“I Know.” Felix said.
” Is it your idea?” Hermione asked pointedly.
“Of course not,” Felix explained, not quite understanding what she meant: “I spent the whole day unwrapping presents and writing back, and it was close to an evening when I realized that you had actually prepared a present for Valen as well, and she felt happy about it, since no one except me had thought about giving her a present, so she gave you something in return …”
“But the gift is too precious!” Hermione said.
“Precious?” Felix laughed, “No, Granger, it is just a memento, I’ve researched it and there is no hope of getting it fixed.”
“Yeah… But…” Hermione looked down as she thought about it.
At that moment, the ring on Felix’s
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