As Christmas drew closer, the festive atmosphere in Hogwarts Castle grew stronger. Students everywhere were talking about the Yule Ball, and everyone seemed a little overly excited.
The boys liked to gather together and discuss which girls were prettier. Their favorite topic was Miss Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, speculating about whom she would choose as her dance partner. Some troublemakers even tried to egg their friends on into inviting Miss Delacour.
The girls were no better. They had suddenly taken to appearing in groups in the corridors, as though their companions gave them tremendous courage. Whenever a boy passed by, the girls would burst into shrill laughter and openly discuss and judge him.
Most of the time, the girls liked exchanging opinions about what they would wear on Christmas night, or chatting about exclusive gossip and private details about Albert.
Since Albert had announced early on that he already had a dance partner, he successfully avoided the delightful problem of being surrounded by girls competing to be his partner. But Diggory, the handsome boy in his year, was not so lucky.
As the boys jealous of Diggory described him: Diggory, the pretty boy. And girls happened to like pretty boys, so Diggory had recently been suffering from the trouble of being constantly invited by girls. Although Diggory had repeatedly claimed that he already had a dance partner, just like Albert, no one knew who it was. The girls all assumed it was merely an excuse.
"Good-looking people really can do whatever they want."
Watching Diggory surrounded by a group of girls, Fred turned to George beside him and said, "Some people worry they won't find a dance partner, while Diggory has so many partners to choose from that he's spoiled for choice."
"Actually, I'm more curious about why no girls