The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 407: Eat enough to have strength

The ball is finally coming, and the whole castle is filled with joy on this winter night.

The Gryffindor common room looked strange. The students were no longer wearing black robes, but colorful dress robes.

The boys combed their hair into adult styles, ironed their robes, and polished their shoes. The girls also changed into various skirts and robes, competing with each other for beauty.

The twins wore identical robes, and seemed to enjoy being confused. The two brothers stood in the common room, watching the girls coming and going.

"I never realized there were so many girls in Gryffindor before," Fred sighed.

"Yeah, I haven't realized that some of them are quite pretty." George also said.

While the two brothers were admiring the beauty, Harry and Ron also appeared in the common room. The robe Ron was wearing was not the one bought by Mrs. Weasley, but a Christmas gift from Bill and Charlie.

"Hey, Ron, why don't you wear the purple robe that mom bought you?" Fred laughed and teased Ron. George chimed in, "Yeah, if you do that, mom will be sad!"

"Shut up," Ron said, blushing and grouchy.

Then Parvati Patil came up. She looked very beautiful in a striking pink gown, her dark hair braided with gold ribbons, and her wrists sparkling with gold bracelets.

Parvati Patil said, "Let's go down, shall we, Harry?" and then she said to Ron, "Padma will meet you in the hall."

Padma is Parvati Patil's sister, a Ravenclaw student, and Ron's dance partner tonight.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Ron said, looking around. "Fred, George?"

The twins shook their heads. They did not see Hermione. Fred said, "Let's go. You don't have to worry about Hermione. Have a good time tonight, my brother."

Harry, Ron, and Parvati then left the common room, but on the way out Ron was still looking around, probably looking for Hermione.

The hall was also crowded with students, milling about, waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors of the auditorium would open. Some were trying to meet partners from other colleges, and were sidling through the crowd, trying to find each other.

The hallway was filled with the calls and conversations of students, and everyone was releasing their charm to the fullest on this night.

The crowd suddenly became much quieter, and Ron hid behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour came over. She was wearing a silver-grey satin gown and was stunningly beautiful. Her partner was Roger Davies of Ravenclaw.

A bootlicker whose loyalty is not as good as Hector Rozier's.

More and more people gathered in front of the entrance hall. After a group of Slytherin students arrived, students from Durmstrang also came. Next to Krum was a beautiful girl in a blue robe that no one knew.

Everyone was marveling at the beauty of this strange girl, and gradually some people recognized her and exclaimed, "Hermione Granger!"

Her usually messy hair became smooth and shiny, and was tied into an elegant bun at the back of her head. Her whole temperament also changed. Now Hermione was like a proud white swan.

The people in the lobby couldn't believe it. Was this girl really the "Second Generation Know-It-All" and "Miss Beaver"? How did she become Viktor Krum's dance partner?
Before the students could get rid of their confusion, the door of the hall was opened. Professor McGonagall came out and shouted, "Warriors, please come over here!"

The three warriors and their partners squeezed through the crowd and walked to Professor McGonagall, who was wearing a red tartan robe.

Professor McGonagall asked again, "Where's Ada?" Harry shook his head. He hadn't seen Ada since the afternoon.

"Fred Weasley, where is Ada?" Professor McGonagall called to Fred in the crowd, "Have you seen her?"

"Professor, she should be here soon!" Fred shouted.

Professor McGonagall shouted again, "Tell Angelina next to you to urge her. If she doesn't come, I will go to the common room myself!"

Professor McGonagall didn't know that Ada had overslept. She thought Ada was being petty and wanted to avoid the opening.

"No need, here it is! I'm coming!"

The students heard the voice before they saw the person. When they looked in the direction of the voice, they saw Ada's anxious head sticking out from the staircase platform.

Her long golden hair was tied up behind her head, and an exquisite crown sparkled in the light of the torches.

The students in front of the lobby did not think that Ada's actions were indecent or abrupt at all. Instead, they felt as if they had seen a deer in the woods. The only pity was that the deer was a carnivore.

Ada walked out from behind the stairs. She was wearing an ink-black long dress that looked like the night sky was draped over her body. The diamonds dotted on the dress were like stars in the night sky.

When Ada walked down the stairs, the students found that Ada seemed taller tonight, and the inky long skirt made her skin look whiter, so white that it glowed.

The exposed collarbone and neck are just the right amount of beauty, and the recessed gap is like an intoxicating spring. One can't help wanting to kiss it, but cannot bear to desecrate it.

Unlike Fleur Delacour who outshined all the other beauties when she appeared on the stage, and also unlike Hermione Granger who was stunning when she first appeared, Ada tonight was like a graceful fairy in the forest, or a noble enchantress in the lake.

The crowd in the lobby, both men and women, were stunned and forgot to continue entering the venue. Some people were even more fascinated, with their mouths wide open, and they did not react even when their dance partners pinched their arms until they were blue.

At this moment, George happened to appear next to Ada. Everyone woke up in shock, cursed the bad luck, and started to enter the venue again.

Seeing that the dance was proceeding normally as planned, Professor McGonagall withdrew her unfriendly gaze and decided to discipline these students after school started.

After all the students were seated in the hall, Professor McGonagall asked the champions and their partners to line up two by two and follow her in. The champions filed in and walked towards a large round table at the front of the hall where the judges sat, and the people in the hall applauded enthusiastically.

The walls of the auditorium were covered with glittering silver frost, and the ceiling was a starry night sky, which perfectly matched Ada's long dress.

When the warriors took their seats, the Christmas dinner officially began.

Ada thought this arrangement was very good. She could fill her stomach first so that she would have the strength to escape... No, she would have the strength to dance. But looking at the empty golden plate, Ada frowned. Where was the food?
Fortunately, Dumbledore was always considerate. He picked up the small menu next to his plate and said very clearly to his plate: "Pork chop!"

A delicious pork chop immediately appeared on the golden plate. Everyone suddenly realized what was going on and followed suit, ordering their favorite food on the plate.

The hall was soon filled with the sounds of cups and plates, as well as the voices of people talking, including the table where Ada was sitting.

Roger Davis showed his true colors as a licker, serving Fleur with all his heart, which made Hector in the distance almost gnaw his teeth. Krum happily shared everything about Durmstrang with Hermione, and this was the first time that everyone heard him talk so much.

"I suddenly feel that it's normal for my brother to lose compared to Krum." George whispered in Ada's ear.

"If your brother can't find a girlfriend in his life, it's not because of anything else, it's because of his poor emotional intelligence." Ada also responded in a low voice.

Soon Karkaroff cut Krum's fun short and stopped him from talking. Krum shut up and his face returned to his old self, but he still looked after Hermione tenderly.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes sparkling.

"Igor, keeping secrets like this... people will think you don't welcome others to visit. Oh, we have another warrior here who has a deep connection with Durmstrang!"

Everyone at the table didn't know what Dumbledore was going to say, so they all looked at him, but Dumbledore looked at Ada and said, "Right, Ada?"

Everyone turned to look at Ada again.

Putting down the knife and fork in her hand, Ada wiped her lips gracefully and said, "Yes, Professor. My father graduated from Durmstrang. At that time, the headmaster of Durmstrang was not yet Mr. Karkaroff."

This old story was still unknown to everyone. Just when I was about to say something to show my support, I heard Ada continue, "Fortunately, I can't go to school at Durmstrang. I can't stand the cold and the bad environment there."

Ah, this... I swallowed all the words in my heart.

The people sitting at this table were all smart people, so who could fail to hear the hidden meaning behind Ada's words? It sounded like she was talking about the freezing cold environment in Durmstrang, but in fact, it was full of disdain for Karkaroff.

Dumbledore quickly tried to smooth things over, saying with a smile, "You should transfer to another school! Without you making mischief at Hogwarts, I might have lived a few more years!"

Even when sitting, Ms. Maxime was much taller than others. She kept shouting in her heart: Come, come to Beauxbatons! If you come to Beauxbatons, I will pick the sun from the sky for you!

"No, I'm not going anywhere. I'm nostalgic." Ada said. You old bastard, you want to follow Grindelwald's example and chase me away? No way!

Madam Maxime clenched her fists under the table and screamed like crazy: "The Pyrenees is not much warmer than Scotland! What do you mean by not cold-resistant? You are such a liar!"

(End of this chapter)