Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 163 The Battle for a Dance Partner

This year's Hogwarts has probably been the most fun ever, with one interesting thing after another.

Having just finished the first event of the three-way competition, the students received another piece of exciting news:

A grand ball will be held on Christmas Day!

"This is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament; the warriors will dance the first dance with their partners," Professor Flitwick said with a smile to his students as the Charms class was about to end. "To showcase our style to our foreign friends, I hope you will all wear your most beautiful dresses and display your graceful dance moves."

"All students in fourth grade and above will be attending the dance this year, so in order not to feel too lonely on the day, I think you'd better find your dance partners as soon as possible..."

"By the way, we can also invite younger students." Professor Flitwick winked as he finished speaking.

In the days that followed, Ike witnessed firsthand just how terrifying the girls at Hogwarts were, and how impatient the boys were.

They would always walk in groups of three or five down the corridor. Whenever a boy passed by, he would attract their attention, and they would huddle together and whisper among themselves, occasionally letting out screams. The boys would also come in groups, but usually one of them would walk towards the group of girls while the others followed behind, making various encouraging gestures.

Then, if they succeeded, cheers erupted; if they failed, they were relentlessly ridiculed, until the next girl went to the next group...

"You shouldn't be with us, Ike." Stewart and Terry kept pushing Ike aside.

"I'm cheering you on, Stuart," Ike said with a smile, nudging back towards him.

"Damn it, get out of here! We don't need you!" Stuart threatened in a low voice, then turned to Hermione, who was covering her mouth and laughing, "Get him out of here!"

"Sorry, Stuart, I was just cheering you on!" Hermione chimed in, of course. "Hurry up, she's leaving!"

"Damn it..." Stuart cursed under his breath, took a few deep breaths, straightened his robe, and then mustered up the courage to walk toward the group of girls not far away in the corridor.

Not long after, he made a V sign behind his back...

"marvelous!"

"Well done!"

Ike and the others cheered loudly, and Michael whistled.

Of course, the consequence of his actions was that he was chased by Stewart for an entire corridor.

"You knew all along, didn't you, Ike?" Hermione asked Ike, who was leaning against the railing, as she watched the group chasing and playing.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb." Hermione stretched out her wicked little hand. "You know what I'm talking about."

"Don't pinch me, don't pinch me, don't pinch me..." Ike quickly begged for mercy, "Yes, I know, it's not a secret."

"Hmph." Hermione withdrew her hand. "I'll forgive you this time for the sake of the dress."

"Thank you so much..."

The two joked around for a while, then walked out of the castle together. On the way, Hermione kept talking about Harry and Ron, how many people had rejected them.

"A Hufflepuff girl invited Harry out, but he refused without even thinking and just ran away!" Hermione complained. "And just yesterday, two more girls invited him out, and he refused again."

"I really don't know who he's going to date."

"Well... I think I know a little bit," Ike leaned closer and whispered. "Remember the Seeker on our Quidditch team? Didn't you notice how Harry always seemed so awkward whenever Cho appeared?"

"Autumn?" Hermione thought for a moment before remembering who Autumn was.

"Then why didn't he invite Qiu?"

"It's too late, Hermione," Ike said with a wicked grin. "Cedric invited Cho a few days ago, and Cho has already accepted."

"And it seems they're more than just dance partners..."

As they were talking, someone suddenly blocked their way—it was Krum. Hermione frowned involuntarily upon seeing this.

"Hello, Streid." Krum greeted Ike with a smile, then looked at Hermione beside him. "Miss Granger, may I borrow a moment of your time?"

"Is something wrong? You can say it here," Hermione replied.

After glancing at Ike, who was watching with amusement, Krum finally said, "Miss Granger, would you please be my dance partner at the Christmas ball?"

"Sorry, Krum." Before Hermione could speak, Ike stepped in front of her and said, "Hermione is my dance partner."

"Oh, sorry." Only then did Krum notice their clasped hands, and he quickly said, "I...I didn't know you two..."

"terribly sorry."

After Krum left, Hermione said angrily, "How could he think I would agree? Every time we're in the library, he and his bunch of admirers always make a huge commotion!"

"Even Mrs. Pince doesn't care!"

"Don't be angry, Hermione," Ike comforted her. "After all, he's a brilliant Seeker who shone at the World Cup, and many people are his fans."

It took a while of persuasion for Hermione to calm down a bit. This was already quite an achievement, considering that one of the things Hermione hated most was having people making noise next to her while she was reading in the library.

Harry and Ron have been brought up by her countless times because of this.

"By the way, Ike, do you know the secret of that golden egg?" Hermione suddenly asked.

"It won't be until February next year, Hermione, there's no need to rush."

"So... you knew, didn't you?" Hermione stared at his expression and saw right through Ike's disguise.

Seeing Ike nod helplessly, Hermione exclaimed happily, "I knew it! Tell me quickly, what is the second project?"

Looking around and seeing that there weren't many people nearby, Ike beckoned Hermione to come closer.

"The second project is... I'm not telling you!"

"Ike Streid!"

"Don't rush, don't rush." ​​Ike dodged Hermione's attacks one after another, grabbed her hand when she wasn't paying attention, pulled her close and whispered, "There's a reason I didn't tell you, because you'll be involved too."

"I'll participate too?" Hermione asked with a "guess if I believe you" look, while Ike shrugged as if to say, "I'm not lying."

"Don't worry, I feel this project is much safer than the first one; no one will be in danger."

"So... how did you unlock the secret of the golden egg?"

Ike looked at Hermione thoughtfully, a strange smile on his face.

"Harry has absolutely no clue."

"Him? He's not even in a hurry." Hermione was immediately annoyed. "I dare say, he's the only one who doesn't know what the second project is!"

"That's more or less true..." Ike said with a smile, then leaned closer and whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Go back and tell Harry to take the golden egg with him when he takes a bath."

"That's a great bath toy."

(End of this chapter)