A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

"So these are all...socks?" Felix asked, somewhat lost in thought.

“That’s right!” Dobby exclaimed happily, “All sorts of socks! We each picked our favorite color, and Dobby got a good deal because he knew Mr. Hyp liked blue!”

“Yes, you’re right, I do like blue. Thank you, Dobby,” Felix said. “Have you decided how you’re going to spend the year? I remember Remus said he was going to give you a week off—”

“Yes! Mr. Lupin is a good man too; he gives house-elves the same holidays.” Dobby’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m going to celebrate with my friends and invite all of them!”

“Great idea! I remember there’s a magic camera at the company. I’ll take some pictures then. Merry Christmas, Dobby.”

……

Felix spent the entire day in the office, receiving an astonishing number of gifts and a staggering amount of work to reply to.

Occasionally, when he had a moment to spare, he would stand by the window and gaze at the forbidden forest covered in snow in the distance.

Beauxbatons' carriages and Hagrid's huts resembled pastries of varying sizes, adorned with glistening icing. Ifamoni's encampment peeked out from behind only a spire, while Durmstrang's black sailing ship, finally unaffected by the storm, remained firmly locked to the frozen Black Lake. The remaining Vagado delegation, revering nature, chose the spot closest to the Forbidden Forest and built a row of wooden huts—very much in the style of Hagrid's huts.

Felix stood on high ground and could barely see the footprints left by people from other schools as they traveled to and from Hogwarts Castle; otherwise, there were only large patches of white.

By the afternoon, the crowd had grown significantly, far exceeding the number of people in the previous two years.

Felix remembered that last Christmas, even with all the professors and students staying on campus, only one table was full, and this year's Christmas was almost no different from a normal school day.

This was because of the Christmas ball, and almost all the fourth-grade and above students chose to stay at school for the holiday, which made the castle crowded.

But Felix knew it was purely psychological.

He watched the students having a snowball fight for a while. As dusk fell, Felix changed into his formal attire, estimated the time, and left the office.

At the entrance to the Great Hall, he saw Harry and Ron, who were gazing longingly out of the oak doors.

“Are you waiting for Miss Granger?” he asked.

“What? Uh, actually no…we didn’t see her either,” Harry said. “We’re waiting for Ron’s brother.”

“Percy Weasley?” Felix asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yes,” Harry said, pointing to Ron’s tattered robes. “Mrs. Weasley bought Ron a new gown and had Percy bring it over because she heard he would be representing his boss, Mr. Barty Crouch.”

Ron muttered to himself, "Mom should have packed it in the Christmas package instead of having Percy bring it. If she thought Piglet (Ron's owl) couldn't carry that much stuff, she could have left the purple sweater at home first. I mean, what if Percy forgot? His big head can't remember anything except work..."

Just then, a loud voice rang clearly in their ears from outside the oak door. "Is this your brother, Percy? He's quite interesting." The speaker was Ludo Bagman, who was wearing a bright purple robe with large yellow stars printed on it tonight.

Accompanying him was Percy Weasley, who wore a brand-new navy blue tuxedo and beamed. He spotted the three men standing in the doorway immediately, strode over, and shook hands firmly with Felix, a bright smile on his face.

“I never expected that the first person I would see upon returning to campus would be you, Professor Hyp. Thank you for taking care of Penelope. I’ve been wanting to visit you for a while, but I’ve been too busy lately. You may not know, but I’ve been promoted from one of several assistants to the most senior one. Today, I’m here in place of Mr. Crouch…”

As he spoke, he pushed Ron aside as if he hadn't seen him.

Harry grinned, wanting to ask Percy if Mr. Crouch no longer called him "Wetherby," but he resisted the temptation.

Ron stared silently at his body, searching for a place to hide a robe. A few seconds later, he yelled angrily at Percy, "Where's my robe?"

"What?" Percy asked in astonishment.

“The robe! The robe my mother bought me!” Ron shouted. Judging from his expression, if Harry hadn’t been holding him back, he would have rushed over and strangled Percy.

Percy's expression remained unchanged for a few seconds, then he magically produced a robe of the same color as his own, leaving Ron, who was being held back by Harry, stunned.

"This is mine?" Ron said incredulously.

“You should thank Penelope; I did forget when I came, and she reminded me,” Percy said sternly.

Ron snatched the brand-new gown, gently stroking its navy blue satin surface, and said bluntly, "You're living with her?"

“Uh, not yet,” Percy replied awkwardly.

"So how did she remind you before you left?" Ron asked with a suspicious look.

“Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t!” Percy hissed, his face flushed. “If you still want your clothes.”

“Do you want me to put in a good word for her? There’s no need for that. Mom and Dad both like her,” Ron said.

Percy's face seemed to be turning purple. Ludo Bagman and Felix watched the scene in silence. Luckily, Harry pulled Ron back at that moment. "Parvati and Padma are waiting for us." So they hurriedly ran towards the bathroom.

“I remember you took out a small heart-shaped mirror before you left, it looked like a kind of sound transmission mirror? Then you rushed back to your office, why didn’t you tell your brother? He seemed to have misunderstood,” Ludo Bagman said.

Percy, his face stiff and expressionless, said, "Penelope said I have no sense of humor."

Bagman's eyes widened. "Is this how you show humor?"

“Is something wrong?” Percy gave him a strange look.

“Ahem!” Felix interrupted their conversation. “Let’s go inside soon. As for humor, Percy, I remember a book title. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Really?” Percy’s eyes lit up. “That would be wonderful.” As they entered the hall, he was still babbling on and on, defending himself: “I don’t think I lack a sense of humor. In fact, everyone has a different definition of humor…”

Felix and Bagman quickened their pace in unison.

Chapter 414 The Ball

The auditorium was noisy.

The walls were covered with shimmering silver frost, and the ceiling was a starry night sky. Snowflakes drifted down from above, disappearing before reaching their heads.

Hundreds of flower fairies danced in the sky, scattering handfuls of colorful confetti.

Felix stood at the door and looked around. The four college tables were gone, replaced by hundreds of small tables with lanterns lit, each with about a dozen students sitting around it.

At the front of the Great Hall was a long, rectangular platform where the referees of the competition sat. On either side of the platform were two symmetrical staff tables for Hogwarts professors and other guests who had traveled from afar.

In front of the podium and the faculty desk were two spacious round tables belonging to the warriors.

Bagman and Percy walked side by side to the podium, while Felix went to a faculty table and sat between Snape and Professor McGonagall. Snape was still wearing his black robe, while Professor McGonagall wore a red plaid robe with a wreath of thistles on the brim of her hat.

“Minerva, that’s quite a rare outfit,” Felix joked. “Severus, on the other hand, never changes…”

Snape looked at Felix, watching him flip through a small menu on the table with interest, and said slowly, "I don't remember you learning to dance in school. Perhaps you could come with me on a tour of the castle later?"

“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport,” Professor McGonagall said.

Felix flipped the menu over and stared at the list of desserts. "No problem, but I'll try this first," he said, pointing to a line of small print.

“Opera?” Snape glanced at it and commented, “Too sweet.”

“It’s a very good name,” Felix said with a smile.

After a few minutes, Professor McGonagall got up and left. "I need to organize the warriors' entrance," she said, adjusting her pointed hat, and strode toward a corner of the auditorium.

In an open area near the entrance of the auditorium, the warriors and their partners stood together, and Professor McGonagall was explaining the rules for entering: "Wait a little longer, until almost everyone in the auditorium has arrived, then you can line up and go in, warriors and partners together. You will walk through the entire auditorium from the left aisle, and at the end, turn the corner and take priority to sit at the large round table on the right side of the stage, understand?"

Just then, Harry and Ron rushed in from the Great Hall. Ron had finally changed into his new robes in the restroom, and they hurried toward the podium.

“Over here! Potter, Weasley!” Professor McGonagall called out.

Harry and Ron froze, turning their heads blankly to look at the stern-faced Professor McGonagall and the throng of champions. They all stared at the two of them. The burly champion from Vagadot, Elephanty, was much taller than Krum next to him, while the equally tall Nona Ripper stood petite on the other side.

Harry and Ron walked back with their heads down. As they passed Draco Malfoy, Draco shouted, "Potter, Weasley, did you forget about the time while practicing your dance moves?"

His dance partner, Pansy Parkinson, let out a chorus of jeers and "tsk tsks."

Harry glared at them. Draco Malfoy, dressed in a black velvet high-necked robe, looked exactly like a country parish priest, and Harry inwardly despised his taste. The two walked to the back of the warriors' procession, where the Petit sisters crossed their arms and looked at Harry and Ron with displeasure.

Professor McGonagall strode over and said quickly, “Line up, you two! No, not together,” she looked at Harry and Ron with a headache, “but side by side with your dance partners, good heavens, you don’t understand what a dance partner means?”

She stepped forward and separated Harry and Ron, one in front of the other. Then she looked at the Petit sisters, her expression hesitant. Unable to tell which was which, she simply commanded, "Stand next to your dance partners, girls. You need some coordination... Frankly, it's a bit late to say that now."

Professor McGonagall quickly went to the front of the line again, and they could barely hear her weak voice: "This... Mr. Eiffendy, please stand in the line. You are too close to Mr. Krum. Mr. Krum, where is your dance partner?"

“She’s still on her way,” Krum said in a low voice.

Professor McGonagall looked displeased. She confirmed, "Are you sure she won't miss the time? I can find a temporary replacement if needed..."

“No need, thank you,” Krum said with a gloomy face.

Harry and Ron peeked out from the back of the line. Ron exclaimed incredulously, "I can't believe it! Krum doesn't have a dance partner! He's a big star, what girl would stand him up? Oh, wait, Harry, get in my way..."

He bent his knees slightly and hid behind Harry because Fleur Delacour was looking back. She was wearing a silver-grey satin robe and looked stunning. Beside her was a tall, handsome boy whom Harry vaguely remembered; he was probably a seventh-year Slytherin student and the head of the boys' council.

Ron straightened up only after Fleur turned around.

“Actually, it’s not your fault. She really is very beautiful,” Harry said fairly. A couple of days ago, when Fleur invited Cedric to dance in the foyer, Ron seemed to be bewitched and went straight up to ask Fleur to be his dance partner, and unsurprisingly, he failed.

Ron has been avoiding her ever since, and he still hasn't recovered.

Just then, a beautiful girl in a flowing, light purple-blue robe entered the Great Hall, passing by Harry and Ron. She came to Krum and spoke rapidly, seemingly apologizing for her lateness, but they were at the end of the line, making it difficult to hear the voices of those at the front.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Krum… I was preparing a few hours in advance… but… I didn’t expect the Niffler’s return gift… it was such a surprise…”

"Niffler? You mean that magical creature that digs up gold coins in the ground? It sent you a gift?" Krum's deep voice was so distinctive that it reached Harry and Ron's ears.

“Valen doesn’t burrow in the ground! Oh, Valen is its name… Yes, it did send me a present… I think it might be because I sent it a Christmas present first… Maybe Professor Heap helped pick one out too…” the girl explained.

Harry and Ron looked at each other in bewilderment.

“That voice sounds familiar,” Harry said uncertainly.

"She also mentioned Varen, saying that Varen sent her a Christmas present. Is that possible?" Ron looked at Harry hesitantly.

“If I heard correctly, she sent the gift first… Varen just returned the favor… wait, I think I know…” Harry’s speech slowed down, and his gaze shifted from the girl in the flowing robe to Ron.

The two stared at each other for two seconds, then said in unison, quite surprised, "Hermione?" This guess was hard for them to believe; they never imagined that the beautiful girl a dozen feet away would be someone they knew best.

Harry stared at the girl's back; she didn't look like Hermione at all. But if she were, she must have done something to her hair; it was no longer messy but smooth and shiny, and styled into an elegant bun at the back of her head.

At this moment, Professor McGonagall walked to the front of the line and said to all the warriors standing at the door, "Warriors, please get ready. Ladies, take the arms of the gentlemen and enter in the manner I have described before."

As the procession moved forward, Harry and Ron wanted to confirm whether Krum's dance partner was indeed Hermione, but at the same time they both felt their arms being tugged. They turned around and looked at their respective partners—

The Patil sisters clung to their arms, their faces beaming with smiles. Parvati fiddled with the gold bracelet on her wrist, then lifted the hem of her pink dress with her other hand and whispered, "It's our turn." She then pulled Harry forward with a jerk.

The warriors entered the Great Hall in two rows, weaving through the gaps between the small tables. The people in the Great Hall applauded enthusiastically, Fred and George whistled loudly, and Harry's nervousness subsided slightly. They walked about halfway around the Great Hall and, in order, took their seats at the two large tables in front of the stage.

Their seating arrangement was quite unique, with men and women sitting alternately, and everyone was dressed up. Harry noticed that many familiar faces looked even more handsome and beautiful than usual.

Especially Hermione.

Harry finally decided on Krum's dance partner. Although he could only see her profile, he was very familiar with Hermione. However, when she took off the several large books that she usually carried with her, her demeanor completely changed, and he didn't recognize her at first.

At this moment, Hermione noticed their gaze, turned her head, and waved to the two across the table. Harry couldn't help but laugh; Hermione's signature big front teeth were too conspicuous, and he couldn't think of anyone else.

Hermione had complained to them before that her parents, who were dentists, were very resistant to associating the words "reduced teeth" with "magic," and she had never been able to find an opportunity to get Mrs. Pomfrey to agree to fix her teeth.

……

The warriors were the last to enter—and once they were seated, the banquet naturally began. Harry stared blankly at his empty, gleaming plate. He looked around and saw Dumbledore carefully examine his menu, then, pointing to his plate, say very clearly, "Pork chop!"