Chapter 208: The House Battle (Part 1)

Time rewinds to 1.5 hours earlier during dinner time.

Hogwarts Great Hall.

"I have a few words to say to everyone," Professor McGonagall announced, "The Yule Ball is approaching, which is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament."

"The ball is only open to students in fourth year and above—however, if you wish, you may invite a younger student—"

The hall suddenly became noisy, with students bursting into laughter and cheers.

"The ball will be opened by the champions and their partners—"

Professor McGonagall's voice was drowned out by the clamor in the hall.

The younger students loudly complained about this unfair rule, while the older students scanned the room, trying to make eye contact with their ideal dance partners. Some quickly smiled, while others hung their heads, wishing they could bury them in their plates.

Some were happy, some were worried, and Ron was clearly one of the worried ones.

"Merlin, do I have to use a rope to catch a dance partner?" he groaned loudly, slapping his good friend Harry's arm hard, "Harry, have you decided who you're going to ask? You heard McGonagall, the champions must find a partner—"

Harry said nothing, his gaze sweeping over the Slytherin table.

But unfortunately, Jane Yu had not yet returned from Snape's, and he could only see the empty seat and Greengrass packing food for her.

Ron caught the heaviness and conflict on his good friend's face and asked curiously:

"What are you worried about, Harry?" Ron scratched his head, "You're a champion! You just defeated the Hungarian Horntail, I bet they'll all be lining up to dance with you—ow!—what are you doing, Hermione?!"

Hermione pinched his arm hard, her face scrunched up, her eyes squeezing towards the Slytherin table.

Ron finally deciphered the meaning in her eyes, gasped, and looked at Harry with the eyes of a super champion:

"This is indeed something to worry about. If it's her, even though you're a champion, I suggest you prepare more, after all, the competition is fierce—"

"Honestly, I think the difficulty of challenging a fire dragon might be lower—"

Hermione slapped her hand over his mouth, saying irritably:

"Have some mercy, Ron, stop giving bad advice!"

She observed the commotion at the four long tables carefully, speaking to Harry in an urgent tone:

"You must act quickly, opportunity won't wait for anyone, and neither will she—"

"Did you see that Nott and that Malfoy next to her empty seat? They're both Slytherins, and there have been some rumors..."

Ron mumbled something, and Hermione could only vaguely hear words like "be prepared to be foolproof," which made her roll her eyes:

"Oh, fine, just keep preparing!"

"Prepare until there's only the two of you left, and you can pair up without inviting a girl to dance—"

She stormed off with her textbooks, leaving Ron staring after her in surprise:

"What's she angry about?"

Hermione suddenly turned back from the door of the hall, snorting at Harry and Ron:

"As a friend, I think I should remind you, Fred and George have already set off with fake wand-made flowers to the Slytherin common room—"

Ron raised his eyebrows, and after a brief surprise, he grinned:

"I told you, among my five brothers and one sister, there's always someone suitable—ow, are you crazy, Hermione!"

His head was hit hard by Hermione's book, nearly giving him a concussion.

But this seemed to open up Ron's mind, making him suddenly wise:

"Alright, I get it, I won't be without a dance partner. If worst comes to worst, Ginny is only in third year and can't attend the ball, I can take her—right, Ginny?—ouch ouch ouch ouch!"

He was hit hard on the head by his sister with her textbook, and tears filled his half-squinted eyes.

Ginny glared at him fiercely, loudly declaring:

"Impossible, I'd rather jump off the Gryffindor tower than go to the ball with you—"

She stormed past the three of them, carrying her packed pizza out of the hall, forgetting her textbook on the table in her anger.

"Why is she so upset?" Ron looked completely bewildered, "Otherwise, she's not old enough, how can she attend the ball?"

"And why did she leave without finishing her meal? Carrying so much pizza, won't she get fat?"

But sharp-eyed Hermione stared at the textbook Ginny left behind, lost in thought:

"I should remind you, your sister is probably heading to the Slytherin common room too—"

"How do you know?" Ron asked in confusion, "Although there doesn't seem to be a rule against girls dancing with girls, this seems more and more absurd... luckily, the Weasley family's odds are getting better—"

His voice weirdly paused as he saw the hand-drawn portrait of Jane Yu on Ginny's textbook, and he turned to persuade his friend:

"Harry, maybe you should prepare more, I'm saying this with absolutely no ulterior motive—"

Harry refused to listen to his advice, having quickly realized his friend's unreliability.

If he hadn't seen the Weasley family members moving en masse, he might have listened to Ron's advice to prepare more, agonizing for ten days and half a month before finally inviting someone with a sense of impending doom.

But now an inexplicable sense of urgency occupied his mind, making him hot-headed, throwing down his fork, and standing up abruptly.

Ron watched in horror as his friend pushed back his chair and rushed towards the hall's exit without saying a word.

"Well, no wonder Harry can be a champion." He mumbled to Hermione, "I wouldn't dare, if I went to invite Yu, or the Beauxbatons champion, they'd definitely look at me like a sea cucumber."

Hermione ignored him, her brow furrowed as she hugged her books and chased after Harry.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked in surprise, "You're not going to invite her too, are you?"

Hermione stopped in her tracks, another book hitting his head, and said exasperatedly:

"Wake up your brain, Ron! That's the Slytherin common room, don't you know who they'll run into?"

Ron clutched the swelling bump on his head, tears welling up as he looked towards the Slytherin table.

Only to see that table was already missing nearly half its people!

He gasped, quickly standing up and rushing out of the hall, deciding to back up his friend and the Weasley siblings.

Entering the serpent's den, can his good friends and siblings really come back alive?

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