A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“Sharp Blade, this spell imbues a weapon with magic, greatly enhancing its sharpness and durability, much like a solidified cutting spell, but far superior. When a Gryffindor wields a goblin sword, it can easily slice through a dragon’s skin,” Hermione explained, completing the last part of her notes.

At this moment, Professor McGonagall walked over and saw Ron carrying the tin-plated parrot—Harry's rubber black-striped cod head had been interrupted during their playful fight. She pursed her lips and said nothing.

Then, she turned around and walked onto the stage to announce the news of the Christmas ball.

"The ball is only for students in their fourth year and above. If you intend to, well... let your hair down and relax," Professor McGonagall paused, then said dismissively, "you'll have to find yourself a dance partner... Of course, you can invite younger students too..."

Lavender Brown let out a shrill, silly laugh, but she wasn't alone. Parvati Petit nudged her, and both of them turned to look at Harry. In fact, at that moment, more than half the girls in the class were staring at Harry, and he had never felt such intense gazes before.

After the class, Professor McGonagall kept Harry, Hermione, and Ron behind and told them some amazing news.

“You should know by now,” McGonagall said curtly.

Harry looked at Hermione with a puzzled expression and nodded matter-of-factly. He then looked at Ron, who was equally confused. Harry had thought that Professor McGonagall had kept them behind because of his headless rubber black-striped cod, but it seemed that his understanding was flawed.

“Potter, the warriors all have their partners—” Professor McGonagall said.

“Companion—what!” Harry gasped, interrupting her.

“Partner, dance partner, interpret it however you like,” McGonagall said, noticing Harry’s blush and giving him an understanding smile. “Yes, traditionally, the ball is started by the champions and their partners.”

Harry was still stunned. He tried to put on a cheerful expression because Professor McGonagall clearly believed that this was a privilege and honor belonging to a champion, but after only imagining himself in a top hat and tailcoat, he couldn't wait to throw away this honor.

"Ron might like it," Harry thought, but he quickly realized that Ron was one of the champions, as was Hermione.

Emerging from the classroom, Harry and Ron were both listless, which prevented them from noticing Hermione standing anxiously beside them. Professor McGonagall's last words struck them like a whip, crackling and echoing in their hearts—

"As the most important representatives of the school, you must do as everyone expects. Therefore, you must find yourselves a dance partner."

As they walked toward the Great Hall, Ron said with a wry smile, “You’re actually in a better position, Harry. You’ve always been popular; the girls are practically begging you to go out and invite them, and maybe… someone will even ask you out. It’s much harder for me. And did you hear what Professor McGonagall said? Everyone has to wear formal gowns… Damn it, I have one of those embroidered dresses from my grandmother…”

Indeed, Ron was right; Harry was far more popular than he had imagined. The very next day—this morning—while he and Ron were having breakfast in the Great Hall, a curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl invited Harry to the Christmas Ball, even though he hadn't spoken to her before.

The situation was a little awkward. He was discussing dance partners with Ron, and they were both worried about it. Ron even pessimistically suggested using a binding spell to get one back. "Don't use the most powerful spell," Ron said with deep feeling.

Harry chuckled as he stuffed pumpkin porridge into his mouth, just as the girl approached him and extended an invitation.

“Oh, uh, what did you say… Sorry, I haven’t thought about it yet.” Harry looked at her in surprise, and because it was so sudden, he refused without even thinking.

The girl walked away with a hurt expression on her face.

Afterwards, Hermione hurried downstairs and dragged them toward Ilvermorny's quarters. "We were just thinking about dance partners, Hermione!" Ron complained at the time, but Hermione dismissed his excuse by saying that the Christmas Ball was still two weeks away. Harry and Ron were both eager to escape, so they went with Hermione—until they sat in front of Ilvermorny's quarters, extremely bored, for two hours.

If you asked him now, Harry couldn't say which was scarier: challenging a dragon, inviting a dance partner, or squatting in the snow for two hours. But what was scary was that it was already evening, and he was planning to take a shower and go to bed after entertaining Niffler Valen. Ginny's question suddenly brought him back to reality.

……

As he tossed and turned in bed that night, unable to sleep, Ginny's words to Hermione kept echoing in his mind: "Have you thought it through? Are you going to ask someone to dance with you, or wait for someone else to ask you? You can't end up being left out."

He had a name in his mind, but he knew it was just his own wild imagination. But a secret thought told him, what if Cedric didn't invite Cho? Collins is pretty too, isn't she?

But now, he's not so sure anymore.

Chapter 411 Movie

The Christmas ball had a greater impact than expected, even affecting Felix.

As he ate breakfast, he noticed a fiery gaze. Looking up, he saw the warrior of Vagado, the witch named Nona Ripper. She was staring at him with interest, but the intense gaze vanished after Felix gently fed the Niffler a piece of strawberry cake.

The corridor was filled with chattering girls, who wandered around in groups. Whenever a nice boy passed by, they would hold their breath and look at him with expectant eyes.

Of course, they might have made a mistake; so many people shouldn't have gathered together. While companions can boost one's courage, they can also diminish the confidence of the other side. Felix had seen eager wizards repeatedly succumb to a group of girls.

"It's quite interesting," he thought to himself.

Inside the Magic Rune Club, Felix sat lazily on the sofa, surrounded by club members in twos and threes.

"Today is the last event of this session. The next time we can gather you all together will be after Christmas. The exact time hasn't been set yet, so keep an eye on your Ouroboros Rings... Getting back to the point, I don't have high expectations for you. Continue to deepen your control over the runes, based on the progress of the last event."

Felix waved his arm, and a metal cage covered with a dark tarpaulin flew out from the corner of the room, emanating an annoying buzzing sound.

All the students pursed their lips, looking at the cage with complicated expressions; they knew what was inside.

“Oh, right, the usual rule: if you get stung, the potion is on the table.” Felix said, as seven or eight bright blue potions flew out of his ring and landed on the small round table in the room.

The club members skillfully pulled out their thick leather gloves, lined up one by one to walk to the cage, resignedly reached in, and with a sickening "squeak," Draco Malfoy pulled a half-inch-long blue worm out of the cage.

“I hate Billywig bugs,” he whispered. While he was still wearing gloves, he flicked it a few times with his other hand. The Billywig bug’s jade-like body writhed, and a long, thin stinger at its base kept pricking his glove.

“Maybe I should remove your needle so you won’t sting me,” Draco whispered threateningly. “Or perhaps, it wouldn’t be bad to throw it in someone’s collar.”

Harry immediately turned to look at him warily, while Draco let out a silent laugh.

After a while, everyone received a Billywig bug. Harry stared at the one in his hand, feeling that it was more active than the others, until he saw Ron secretly cast "Petrify All".

"You can do that?" Harry's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to do the same as Ron. But the next second, the spell was broken. "I'm watching, Weasley," the professor's voice slowly reached their ears.

Many students who had prepared in advance showed regretful expressions, and Fred and George put away a small pair of tweezers.

Hermione snorted, expressing her dissatisfaction with their opportunistic approach. She sat down next to Ginny and Luna. Luna was in third grade and had submitted her application in the first month of the semester and passed the assessment smoothly.

After her, five more members joined the club.

Hermione whispered a demonstration to Ginny and Luna, her fingertips shimmering with pale blue magic, enveloping the Billywig bug in layers, like a glowing blue cocoon, confining it to a very small area.

“Look, first wrap it with magic, then take off the gloves, it will be easier to use both hands… Ginny, I need your help.”

Ginny helped her take off her gloves, and then Hermione's hands started waving in the air.

The Billywig worm's wings are located on both sides of its head and flap very quickly, but at this moment it can only futilely remain trapped in the pre-planned space.

"Like this, and then gradually increase the distance. You need to make sure you can do that."

Hermione stared at Ginny and Luna, opposite her the Greengrass sisters, who were staring at her intently. The sisters were in identical poses, each holding a Billy Wiggles bug in their gloved hand, their eyes burning and mouths bulging.

Meanwhile, Harry resignedly fiddled with his bug. Unlike Hermione, he wasn't adept at magical control. According to the professor's teachings, she had reached the second stage, allowing her to control the Billywig bug within a foot of its body. He, and most of the others in the club, had to keep it firmly locked in by magic, because it would quickly fly away if they weren't careful.

What followed was a nightmare... Harry didn't want to recall the last gathering. He did a good job, but when you're surrounded by danger, whether you get stung or not is no longer up to you.

According to his observation, after that, the club members from Gryffindor seemed to have lost interest in "sizzling honey candy" because the candy reminded them of their painful experience of being stung.

Harry carefully and intently manipulated the magic. Feeling he was in good form today, he tentatively loosened his control, allowing the magical net around the Billywig bug to expand. The insect fluttered its wings, startling him. He quickly withdrew the magic, and the bug's legs immediately straightened.

He was still alive—that was the conclusion he reached after repeatedly confirming. Harry glanced around guiltily, then looked on with satisfaction to see that Malfoy's wing had become wrinkled. At Professor Hyp's prompting, Malfoy had to cast a healing charm on it.

Time passed quickly, and even Malfoy and Ron's cries of pain didn't affect him.

As the assembly drew to a close, Harry had successfully expanded the Billywig bug's range of movement. He watched it flap its wings but couldn't fly more than half a foot away, and nodded in satisfaction.

Everyone else in the class has also made progress.

Harry discovered a secret. Professor Hyp always explained the benefits of doing something before asking them to do it. For example, at the recent gatherings, everyone was impressed by his descriptions of "wandless spellcasting, the ability to control magic at will, and the quick mastery of spells."

Especially when they saw Professor Hyp sitting on the sofa, yet able to control any of the rapidly flying Billywig bugs in the room, they had no choice but to believe the truth of his words.

After the gathering ended, the young wizards filed out.

Hermione stayed behind to help them clean up the remaining bottles and jars. "Oh, it looks a little pitiful..." she said to a Billywig bug that had lost its wings.

“These are the most suitable teaching aids I could find, Miss Granger, and they are also ingredients for a potion… I heard you’re still involved in the House-Elf Rights Promotion Association?”

Hermione nodded. She hesitated for a moment, somewhat confused, "I don't know if I should continue. The house-elves don't seem to need my help, and Harry and Ron aren't interested either..."

Felix expressed his understanding.

“I know you disapprove of the way wizards treat house-elves, thinking they are being abused, so I suggested you investigate first. It seems to have worked well. In the past, you could only see the unfair treatment they received as a whole and projected that feeling onto each individual elf, which naturally led to setbacks everywhere you went.”

There's a saying that you can only understand by experiencing it firsthand, Miss Granger: you must first realize that you are dealing with a race, a group, and the demands of different individuals within that group are often vastly different.

First, you need to identify who is hindering you.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You are... a pureblood?"

Felix chuckled softly. “I have nothing to say, Miss Granger. I have read your report. It is very detailed and even mentions the goblins of Ephamoni… You know yourself that the house-elves at Hogwarts live quite well. Those tragic fates often come from certain special groups, and with your current influence, I must say, there is very little you can do.”

“But,” Hermione thought slowly, her thoughts gradually becoming clearer, “I know what to do, I want to…”

“No, don’t let it out, it won’t work anymore. Keep it in your heart, remind yourself of it all the time, that’s how you’ll have the motivation to move forward.” Felix winked at her.

“Oh, Professor…”

Hermione laughed. She felt a sense of relief, as if she had solved a long-standing problem. But she also felt more motivated.

"Has the secret of the second project been revealed?"

“Not yet,” Hermione shook her head. “Actually, I’ve devised a method to analyze the golden egg, but I’m worried I might break it, so I’m going to wait a while longer.”

Felix nodded slightly.

"By the way, Professor, will you be attending the ball?" Hermione asked.

"I might show up briefly, maybe grab something to eat or something," Felix said uncertainly, directing the cage to be placed in the corner. "I'm not very good at dancing."

"A quirky sisters duo is rumored to be performing a new song at the dance! Don't you want to give it a try?"

"I know, I've already listened to it. Do you want me to send you an album?"

“Uh…no, thank you.” Hermione said disappointedly.

……

“.n?” Harry asked, puzzled.

“It’s the wizard radio. You’ve heard of the magical radio, haven’t you?” Seamus glanced at Harry uncertainly. Seeing him nod, Seamus continued, “That’s it. It’s similar to a Muggle radio, but if you listen to it for a while, you’ll find that the songs are always nostalgic…”

"New songs are hard to come by," he sighed at the end. Everyone else stared at him, and he smiled and explained, "They belong to my mother."

“Yeah, after all these years, the quirky sisters have finally released a new song… I bet Mom’s going to be ecstatic,” Ron said confidently.

The last week of the semester was getting busier and busier every day.

The young wizards were putting almost all their enthusiasm into the upcoming Christmas ball. Because of the students' distraction, Felix simply stopped attending classes. The Ancient Runes course was progressing much faster than other subjects, especially for fifth and seventh graders, who had already begun reviewing.

He moved his small projector into the ancient magic script classroom and showed movies to the students.

“Professor Hyp, I’ve heard something from the other grades… We don’t want to see dinosaurs, or little boys playing pranks on silly thieves when they’re home alone. Are there any romantic movies?” Lavender Brown boldly asked.

“Romantic?” Felix repeated. Seeing all the girls muster the courage to meet his gaze, Seamus thought he'd rather see what Muggle-imagined dragons looked like, but with Petil glaring at him, he had to shut up.

“Alright,” Felix agreed, rummaging through the rings, “there’s one that should meet your needs, I suppose…”

The thick curtains in the classroom were drawn, dimming the light, and the movie began, accompanied by the creaking of the machines.

This is an animated film. It begins with a beautiful natural landscape: green grass, red flowers, waterfalls, and babbling brooks. Deep within a dense forest stands a magnificent castle. The students, seeing the film for the first time, chattered excitedly.