In the past, a very small number of students registered to stay at school during the Christmas period because everyone wanted to go home and enjoy the festive atmosphere with their families.
Well, actually I want to let go and have fun, because there is always a sense of restraint in Hogwarts.
But Harry always stayed at school for Christmas, because otherwise, he would have to go back to Privet Drive, and he didn't want to face his aunt and uncle who didn't like him.
But this year is different. It seems that all students in grade four and above have to stay!
It seemed to Harry that they were all obsessed with the upcoming ball—at least all the girls.
He was suddenly surprised to find that Hogwarts accommodated so many girls, which he had never noticed before.
Girls giggled and whispered in the hallways, girls laughed shrilly every time a boy walked by, girls excitedly exchanged ideas about what to wear on Christmas night...
"Why do they all move in groups?" Harry asked Ron - at this time, a dozen girls were walking by. They looked at Harry and secretly giggled, "How can you wait until they are alone?" Activities, how about grabbing one to make a request?”
"Put one in a noose?" Ron suggested. "Have you thought about who you want to invite?"
Harry didn't answer. He knew exactly who he was willing to invite, but whether he could muster up the courage was another matter... Qiu Zhang was a year above him, very beautiful, and a very good Quidditch player. Her popularity was also very good.
Ron seemed to see through Harry's heart.
"Listen, you're not going to be in any trouble. You're a warrior. You just killed the crazed dragon and lion, and I bet they'll be lining up to dance with you!"
There was a strong bitterness in Ron's voice.
Probably because of Maka's call, Ron finally gradually let go of his inhibitions.
At first he was not comfortable with it because it would undoubtedly reveal his inferiority complex. But gradually, he discovered the benefits of doing so: he gradually became more daring to do certain things that he never dared to do in the past.
"Be brave enough to invite, Harry!" He patted his good friend on the shoulder and whispered, "Maybe I can also benefit from it!"
Harry was surprised to find that Ron's judgment proved to be very correct.
The very next day, a curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl, whom Harry had never spoken to before, took the initiative to invite Harry to the ball with her.
Harry was so surprised that he refused without even thinking.
Probably because his words were too direct, the girl walked away, looking hurt.
Throughout the History of Magic class, Harry had to endure the sarcasm and ridicule of the girl from Dean and Seamus, but Ron, who had always been one of them, did not join in this time.
"Maka is right. I used to be immersed in my own thoughts and ignored other people's feelings too much." Ron looked at Dean and Seamus, twitching his eyebrows and thinking hard, "If that girl listens It will definitely feel uncomfortable if they laugh at her like this... But, what exactly will she think... "
Ron's change is obvious. Although he still doesn't quite understand how to "empathize", one day, this change will bring him unexpected benefits.
The next day, two more girls came to invite Harry. One was a second year, and the other - Harry was horrified to discover that she was actually a fifth year!
It looked like she would knock Harry out immediately if he dared to refuse.
"She's quite pretty." Ron said impartially after he had laughed enough, "And her personality is very similar to that of Hufflepuff's great beauty Werther, isn't it?"
"She's a foot taller than me!" Harry said in shock. "Imagine me dancing with her... and you won't make a fool of yourself!"
Harry often thought of what Hermione said about Maka: "They only like him because he's famous!"
Harry doubted very much whether the girls who asked him to be their dance partner would still be willing to go to the prom with him if he wasn't the school's champion.
Then he asked himself, if Qiu Zhang took the initiative to invite him, would he still consider this issue
"Wait!" Because of his current mood, Harry suddenly seemed to understand something, "Could it be that Hermione... likes Maka!"
"Did you just realize it?" Ron sighed with a depressed look.
"But - oh -" Harry's eyes and mouth opened as wide as possible, and even his nostrils dilated in surprise, "Merlin's trousers... no, I mean, Merlin's beard! This..."
Ron felt that he could say anything now, but he really didn't want to mention this matter at all.
"Don't think about it, just keep it in your heart!" His tone was a little frustrated, as if he was saying it to Harry, but also to himself.
"Well..." Harry closed his mouth and said with a complicated expression, "I think... okay! No matter what happens to them, we will still be best friends."
"Yeah, that's it..." Ron agreed dully.
Harry's dance partner is up in the air - trust me, he won't find his partner that easily! But this time, Maka was also a little hesitant about her dance partner.
As far as he knew, Luna had never been very interested in activities like dancing. Compared with this, having her wearing a puppet costume and waving flags next to her might be more attractive to her.
But who else could he invite besides Luna
"Willie?"
The idea just came to his mind, but it was killed in the blink of an eye.
"Dancing with two paralyzed faces?" Maka immediately shook her head, "That picture is too beautiful, let's forget it..."
But in this case, it seems that only...
This is the last week of this semester, and the school is getting busier and noisier day by day.
Rumors spread about the Yule Ball, most of which were hard to believe - for example, Dumbledore bought eight hundred barrels of flavored mead from Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks.
However, everyone is always happy with these rumors. Who cares whether it is true or not? Being able to talk about these interesting topics is enough.
However, there is a piece of news that sounds quite similar: Dumbledore seems to have booked the Weird Sisters to hold a concert at Hogwarts.
Those little wizards who have been listening to WWN (Wizards Radio Network) since childhood are extremely excited, because the Weird Sisters are indeed the most popular wizard band in recent years.
"Weird sisters, that's so cool!"
Some teachers, such as the little Professor Flitwick, saw that their classmates were obviously distracted and simply stopped teaching.
He allowed them to play the game in his class on Wednesday, and he spent most of the time talking to Harry and Hermione about the two wonderful flying birds they had used in the first project of the Triwizard Tournament. curse.
But other teachers are not so easy to talk to.
For example, nothing could divert Professor Binns' attention, and he continued to trudge through his pile of notes on the Goblin Rebellion.
The classmates speculated that since Professor Binns did not let his death stop him from continuing to teach, there was no way a small thing like Christmas could distract him.
It's really strange to say that even though Professor Binns can always make the bloody and thrilling goblin rebellion as boring as Percy's report on the bottom of the cauldron, there is one person who still often comes in and listens to the class attentively.
That person is Maka. He may not be interested in other classes, but whenever he has time, he will still go to the History of Magic classroom and listen carefully for a while.
But usually, he would just sit secretly at the back and not alert anyone. In that sleepy history of magic class, few people would notice him.
Professor McGonagall and Moody never let the students sit idle, and they would always talk until the last second before get out of class ended.
Not to mention Snape, who would rather adopt Harry as his godson than let his classmates play games in class.
He looked darkly at the class and told them that he would be testing their antidote in the last class of the semester.
"He's so mean," Ron said angrily in the Gryffindor common room that night, "for testing us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a ton of homework."
"Well... you didn't actually study too hard, did you?" Hermione raised her head and looked at Ron from above a pile of messy books.
At this moment, Ron is busy building a castle with his crackling exploding cards! Hearing Hermione's sudden words, he shook his hand, and the castle that was halfway up shook slightly, and then exploded with a bang.
"Oh—" Ron wiped his blackened face vigorously and muttered in a low voice, "I've been working very hard recently."
"It's Christmas, Hermione," Harry said lazily. He was sitting in an armchair by the fire, reading "Flying with the Cannon" which he had read nine times.
Hermione looked at him seriously again.
"Harry, I think even if you don't want to learn the antidote, you will do something more creative!"
"Like what?" Harry asked, watching Joey Jenkins of the Cannons smack a Bludger hard into a Chaser from the Barryburg Bats.
"Your box!" Hermione whispered through gritted teeth. "It's important, isn't it?"
"Okay, Hermione, we can rest until February 24th—"
His attention was focused on the book in front of him. He spoke carelessly and stopped it when he wasn't paying attention.
"Besides, have you invited Maka? I don't think Maka will refuse you..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong, but it was obvious that he couldn't take it back after the words had been spoken.
"I won't invite him."
Hermione's unusual calmness made Harry feel a little creepy.