The walls of the Great Hall were covered with glittering silver frost, the ceiling was a starry night sky, and there were hundreds of wreaths made of mistletoe and ivy hanging. It was not difficult to see that the professors at Hogwarts had put a lot of thought into this Christmas ball.
The warriors came to the guest of honor seat amid the applause of Dumbledore and the referees.
No one saw Karkaroff, and Mr. Crouch was not there either. He was replaced by Percy Weasley, an acquaintance of Albert.
Percy smiled and waved to Albert, and pulled open a door beside him. The meaning was obvious. Albert took Katrina and sat down next to Percy.
"I've been promoted and am now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, representing him here at the Yule Ball," Percy said in a boastful tone.
"Congratulations, I suddenly realize that you have the potential to be a workaholic." Albert smiled and picked up his menu, looking at the dishes on it.
"Working hard is one of the ways to be promoted quickly by your boss." Percy ignored Albert's ridicule and continued, "Mr. Crouch is very good at handling various things."
"You really think so?"
"What's the meaning?"
"You are lucky now, but it will not be so good soon." Albert waited for Dumbledore to demonstrate and ordered a pork chop for everyone, then ordered a French fried foie gras for himself, and said to Katrina next to him: "I suggest you don't order steak. There have been a lot of troubles recently. There may be problems with cattle all over Europe. Now, except for milk, I dare not touch any food related to beef. You can try foreign food, which is a good experience."
Harry, who had just taken a bite of Hungarian goulash, suddenly had a very interesting expression on his face.
Katrina glanced at Albert and ordered a plate of French fried foie gras. She cut a small piece of foie gras with a dinner knife and put it in her mouth, and found that it tasted really good.
"I think you will be transferred to the Minister of Magic's assistant soon."
Albert ate some French-style pan-fried foie gras and found that the chef's level was only average. After all, house-elves could not be compared with those chefs who studied cooking skills, and they were cooking in large quantities, so it was good enough if the taste was above standard.
"Minister of Magic's assistant?" Percy was a little stunned. He didn't suspect that Albert was deceiving him, but he didn't understand what this meant.
"How did I suddenly become the assistant to the Minister of Magic? Could it be that Mr. Crouch will become the Minister of Magic? However, the election for the next Minister of Magic still needs to be..."
"When did Mr. Crouch's health start to deteriorate?" Albert interrupted Percy's soliloquy.
"He's been acting strangely since the World Cup. It's not surprising - the work has been very hard during that period. Besides, Mr. Crouch is not as young as he used to be." Percy ate absent-mindedly, seeming to be still thinking about his position as assistant to the Minister of Magic.
Albert continued to chat with him, talking to Katrina about the dishes on the plate, and by the way, he led the topic to travel and talked about some of the countries he had visited.
He hoped that after Katrina graduated from school, she would be able to travel around the world. It would not be safe to stay in the UK in the next few years unless she was willing to hide.
"Are you planning to travel too?" Katrina understood what Albert meant, but she couldn't understand why he wanted her to travel.
Could it be that he thinks he is in the way
This wasn't right either. Albert's words always made her feel confused.
"Yes, I have planned it." Albert ordered another pan-fried fish fillet for himself and continued, "Except for some bad countries, there are still many good places to travel."
Katrina was a little confused, eating the food on the plate slowly, sometimes agreeing with him, and ordering the same food as Albert every time, but she had to say that it tasted really good.
"Are you curious about what I want to do in the future?" Katrina asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I just want to give you some kind reminders to prevent you from encountering something bad." Albert said gently, "I hope you won't be angry about it."
"So, you suggested that Isobel write a book." Katrina stared at Albert for a moment, and suddenly said, "I don't think she might be interested in those things. She has never even written a diary before."
"Oh, so what does Isobel like?" Albert asked. He really didn't know much about Isobel's interests.
"Actually, I don't know. Almost no one knows what she is thinking." Katrina glanced at Albert and said casually: "Just like no one knows what you are thinking. In a way, you are very similar and a good match."
Can they not match
They're already engaged!
"What about you?" Albert asked casually, "What do you like?"
"Me? I haven't decided yet. I plan to wait until I graduate from school." Katrina was indeed a little confused. She kept chasing Isobel's back.
"Think about it first. There's still a long time before graduation."
"Maybe, after I graduate, I will also study beauty potions. Catherine and Valeria once invited me. They also seem to be interested in opening a chain of beauty stores in the UK, saying that this thing can make a lot of money." Katrina is indeed very interested in beauty potions. In fact, she is using them now, and the effect is very good.
A beauty salon again
Albert felt depressed and distressed. He found that most of the beautiful girls he knew were taken away by those two guys to open beauty salons.
"I remember my sister seemed to care about it too," Katrina recalled.
"Not working for the Ministry?"
"I remember you didn't like the Ministry," said Katrina.
"The Ministry of Magic is going to be in big trouble soon. It's better to stay away from there." Albert muttered.
Katrina looked at Albert in surprise. She felt that she seemed to have guessed why Albert wanted her to leave England and travel somewhere else.
"What about you?"
"Certainly not in England."
Albert turned his eyes to the other warriors. Harry was struggling with the plate of Hungarian goulash because he had remembered what Albert said. Fleur Delacour was criticizing the decoration of Hogwarts to Roger Davis. Hermione was teaching Krum to pronounce her name correctly. After meeting Albert's eyes, she smiled at him.
Although English is the international language, many people actually cannot speak it. Fleur Delacour spoke it very poorly, and even spoke a few words of French from time to time. I really don't understand how Roger Davis understood her.
Perhaps he didn't understand at all, but just responded like a fool, "That's right, that's it, that's right."
Of course, Albert doubted whether Furong could understand. After all, there were only a few students who could understand several languages like Yanila.
Maybe, you know your native language, and then you know French, because you spent several years at Beauxbatons School of Magic in France and you had to know French to study there, but what about other languages
Albert had studied English for nearly ten years in his previous life, but he still had to give it all back to the teacher. He did not deny that there were people who were self-taught, but such people were very rare, and wizards were not language geniuses, otherwise there would not be only a few who achieved excellence in ancient magic.
After everyone finished their Christmas party dinner, Dumbledore waved his wand, cleared a space, and then conjured up a bunch of musical instruments including drums, guitars, and lutes.
Before anyone knew what was happening, a group of extremely hairy men wearing deliberately tattered black robes swarmed onto the stage.
That's right, man.
The so-called "Weird Sisters" are not a pair of sisters, nor are they anything like sisters. They are actually a band of eight sloppy, homeless wizards.
"I really don't appreciate so-called trends."
Albert complained quietly as he heard the thunderous applause erupting in his ears.
Before Katrina could speak, she heard Fleur Delacour's slightly sarcastic voice: "You have really special tastes here."
"Maybe, you should ask other audience members." Albert shrugged, took Katrina's hand, and walked into the brightly lit dance floor.
Anyway, the four warriors had a very average reaction to the "weird sisters" on stage.
Albert put his hand on Katrina's waist, held her hand with his other hand, and began to dance to the music.
"What were you talking about?"
Katrina didn't understand French. She was being led in dancing by Albert and was careful not to step on his feet.
"Miss Delacour is complaining about the band's dress sense on stage." Albert said softly, "Relax and just follow my lead."
"I quite like the songs of The Weird Sisters," Katrina hummed.
"Isobel once said the same thing." Albert asked curiously, "Did Isobel teach you how to dance?"
"Well, I practiced for a long time during the summer vacation, and I often stepped on her feet." Katrina found that she had never been so relaxed as she was now. She was led by Albert to spin slowly in circles. She didn't feel unfamiliar at all, and she didn't have to worry about not being able to keep up with the beat.
"Do you dance often?"
Katrina gradually relaxed and began to enjoy the dance.
"No, I don't really like dancing."
Albert danced with Katrina in light steps. When their eyes met, Albert saw the smile on Katrina's face, which was sweet and lovely, a bit like Isobel. Perhaps, as Katrina said, they were sisters very similar.
"You don't look like you don't like dancing." Katrina was a little obsessed with this feeling and even hoped that the music would never stop.
"That's because I learn everything quickly," Albert said shamelessly.
After the four warriors danced for a while, others also entered the dance floor and the warriors were no longer the center of attention.
In fact, the dancing level of most students is very average, or even terrible, so dancing is not very enjoyable. For example, being stepped on by your dance partner all the time is definitely not a pleasant thing, especially when you are just starting to get used to each other.
The slow, sad piece that the Weird Sisters played at the beginning was actually a time for the dancers in the audience to get used to each other. When the organ played the last trembling note, the band on the stage stopped playing and the auditorium burst into warm applause again.
"Do you want to continue?" Albert asked. He certainly wouldn't treat Katrina as a tool and throw her aside after using her once. Look at the savior Potter over there. After the song ended, he hurriedly led his partner away from the dance floor, obviously not planning to continue dancing.
"This song is beautiful!" Katrina's eyes sparkled with light and a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Tonight, he belonged to himself, at least for now.
The second song had a much faster tempo than the previous one. This time, Albert sped up a little. Katrina, who was completely relaxed, was in good condition and quickly got used to the rhythm of the song.
All the girls nearby looked at the two with envy, but those envious and jealous eyes seemed unable to disturb the two people who were immersed in the dance.
As long as Katrina didn't refuse, Albert invited her to continue dancing and let her enjoy it.
After dancing for an unknown amount of time, Albert noticed that Katrina's breathing began to become rapid, her cheeks were slightly flushed, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. He knew that Katrina's physical strength was almost reaching its limit, so he moved her to the edge of the dance floor while dancing.
"You need to rest for a while." Albert found an empty seat and asked Katrina to sit down and rest. Dancing is an extremely physically demanding activity. It was normal for her physical strength to be almost drained after dancing several times in a row.
"I'll get you something to drink."
"No, we've got it for you." Lee Jordan walked over with Luna and handed them two cups of butterbeer. He said with envy, "You dance so well. I bet there will be countless girls coming to invite you to dance."
"Didn't you go dancing?" Albert asked, staring at Lee Jordan for a while as he took the butterbeer.
"I danced, but my level was average, so I gave up." Li Jordan shrugged and asked, "When are you going to take Luna to dance for a while?"
"Let me rest for a while." Albert took a sip of butter beer and said to Luna, "You don't mind waiting for me for a while!"
"Don't mind, you dance very well." Luna said happily.
"Oh, by the way, this is for you." Albert handed the handkerchief to Katrina.
"Thank you." Katrina took the handkerchief handed to her by Albert and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Where are Fred and George?" Albert glanced at the desserts on the table, picked up a piece of chocolate cake and tasted it slowly, and handed a piece to Katrina. "Eat something to restore your strength. The dance will probably not end until twelve o'clock."
"They are there."
Lee Jordan pointed at Fred and Miss who were dancing passionately not far away and complained, "Fred always said he couldn't dance, but he danced much better than most people. George was dancing with Sana, and she didn't seem to have found a partner."
"You dance better than I expected." Yanila walked over here, followed by a beautiful silver-haired girl.
"Long time no see, big brother." Gabrielle waved hello to Albert.
"Long time no see, Gabrielle." Albert handed her a piece of cake.
"Thank you, I just ate."
"It should be my turn next!" Yanila said, ignoring Katrina's gaze.
"Someone has already reserved it. You may have to wait a little longer!" After finishing the cake, Albert took out a candy from his pocket and threw it into his mouth to quickly restore his strength.
"You really work hard!"
George was walking towards this side with Alia and Shanna, and just happened to see this scene. He couldn't help but laugh and tease.