Belgium is a small country sandwiched between several large countries in Western Europe. It has experienced many ups and downs until it became independent in the mid-19th century. But the history of this land is equally long and long.
As for the Belgian wizards who have always stood outside of conventional conquests, their ancestors can even be traced back to the ancient Celtic period.
As a result, the enthusiastic and wild banquet customs were gradually inherited by them.
To be honest, the style of this banquet is actually somewhat incompatible with this Gothic palace - the strange scene of lighting a bonfire indoors was the first time even the well-informed Madame Maxime had seen it. .
But... what should I say? This kind of wanton banquet is really the most relaxing activity.
At present, the empty hall is already full of people. Everyone is sitting around a circle of low tables on the periphery, enjoying wine and food freely.
The elegant and light sound of the harp is mixed with the drumming of the African conga drum, plus the saxophone invented in Belgium, and it doesn't seem awkward at all. The melody and rhythm blend together to make all guests feel the most special style of this land.
As the sun sank below the horizon and dusk turned into night, the pile of logs stacked in the center of the hall was instantly ignited by soft magical flames. There was no choking billowing smoke, but a faint fragrance that spread throughout the hall, making the atmosphere of the banquet even more imaginary and real.
Not long after, the guests saw a group of people walking into the hall from the door. The person in the middle was the Prime Minister of Belgium. Hermione noticed that the other party seemed to be surprised when he saw this scene in the palace.
Ms. De Guin followed the old housekeeper to say hello to the Prime Minister, and then they did not disturb too many people's interest at the moment. They just very low-key invited the Prime Minister and others to sit down inside the hall.
Soon, Dequin returned to Hermione's side of the main table, and Madam Maxime nodded slightly towards her.
"Pop."
The next moment, Ms. DeQuin raised her hand and patted her twice. Then everyone saw two teams of beautiful women dressed in dance costumes, dancing all the way from the side door of the hall, and sliding lightly to the bonfire in the center.
They pulled the magic flame that was not scalding to swirl in the middle, and also touched the hearts of all the guests and fell into the colorful dance floor.
"These girls should all be like me and have more or less Veela blood," Fleur whispered in Hermione's ear, "Ms. DeQuin has put a lot of thought into this time."
Hermione heard this and nodded slightly.
Yes, compared to finding some Veela to dance with, it is obviously more difficult to find so many Veela mixed-blood girls, and I don't know where she was invited from.
"After all, there are still some Muggles here today," Hermione also whispered. "If you invite a Veela, they won't be able to see you."
And to be honest, Veela's charm ability is so powerful that even if they are invited to dance, not many men can truly appreciate it. Just like at the Quidditch World Cup, many male wizards were just confused for a while, and those Veela were finished. Where could they enjoy the dancing
It's a pity that even though Dequin put a lot of effort into this dinner and organized such a wonderful banquet in a short period of time, Hermione could not get into it at all.
Looking at the beautiful dance in the field, listening to the melodious and atmospheric music in the hall, and smelling the fragrance of food, wine and burning spices, she only felt that she was a little out of place in her heart, and she became more and more dissociated from the world outside the banquet.
Well, to be precise, what lingered in her heart at this time was still the misty British land across the strait.
And at this moment, a figure suddenly walked in quickly from the back door, passing through the slightly messy guests, and came to Hermione's side.
"There is news from Granger Camp that Mr. Potter and his party of five have returned to Weymouth Port."
"What?"
Hermione was startled when she heard the wizard's message.
"Wait... 'Five'?"
"Yes," the other party nodded, "it is said over there... that they are Mr. Potter, the two Weasley brothers, as well as Mr. Longbottom and Miss Abbott, a total of five people. More specific information has not yet reached us. But it should be soon."
"What about... Mr. Blois?"
Hermione understood that the other party probably only got this information, so she just muttered to herself, then turned her head and gently pulled Madame Maxime next to her.
"There's new news from the camp, saying that Harry is back - I'll go take a look first, so I can only ask you to keep an eye on him here."
"Oh?" Maxim couldn't help but frown slightly after hearing this, "So soon? According to your previous estimate, shouldn't it take a few more days at the earliest?"
"I don't know, maybe something happened." Hermione said, "Anyway, I'll go see Harry and the others first! They must have a lot of very important information when they come back this time."
"Well, go ahead! If you get to Cherbourg and they haven't come over yet, remember to be careful when going to Weymouth."
After saying a few words, Hermione quietly left the banquet hall following the wizard who came to report the news without disturbing the others.
Especially since the head of the Blois family didn't seem to be returning with Harry and the others, she thought about it and decided that it would be better to wait until everything was confirmed before telling the old housekeeper about the situation.
…
Moments later, Camp Granger near the port of Cherbourg, France.
Hermione, who appeared outside the camp gate, nodded to the guard at the gate and walked straight through the camp to the tent in the center of the camp.
And then she discovered that Percy was the only one in the tent, and it seemed that Harry and the others had not returned to France from Weymouth.
"Hermione, you're here." As soon as Percy saw Hermione arriving, he immediately stood up from the table and came over, "I know what you want to ask, but I only received one message from my side, and then I responded The secret message I sent never received a response.”
As he spoke, he handed over an open note.
"no respond?"
Hermione took the note and looked at it, and then said:
"The handwriting is not hasty, and it should not have been written in a hurry... In other words, there was either a small accident that was not a big problem; or there was something that happened at the Weymouth camp after the secret message was sent... Percy, organize your team, I want to go over."
Upon hearing this, Percy nodded immediately.
"Already preparing."