Albert had left.
The girls had finally managed to extract this terrible news from Krum's broken English. It meant they would never again have a chance to invite Albert to dance. The few girls who had danced with Albert became the objects of everyone's envy and jealousy.
Especially Albert's dance partner, Katrina. She was now surrounded by girls, all of them curious about how Katrina had become Albert's partner.
Left with no choice, Katrina could only briefly explain why she had become Albert's dance partner.
"Albert had originally planned to invite Isabelle to be his partner. You all know about their relationship, but for certain reasons, Isabelle refused. So he turned around and invited me, saying he needed me to help him ward off some trouble. Don't look at me like that—that's exactly what he said." Katrina shrugged, indicating that she was only telling the truth. "Albert invited me so I could shield him from your harassment. As for why, he didn't say, but I think it was because we knew each other. The people Albert danced with earlier were all acquaintances and friends."
"He knows the Beauxbatons champion?" someone could not help asking.
"Probably. Albert usually takes better care of acquaintances and friends." Katrina shrugged and repeated what Albert had taught her to say before. She had not expected it to actually come in handy.
So, the reason no one around them had managed to dance with Albert was that they simply were not familiar with him.
"I thought he liked you and wanted to pursue you," Laurina said gloomily.
"You're overthinking it." Katrina glanced at the girls, who were so fond of wild fantasies, and found it inexplicably amusing. But in the end, she did not laugh. She merely said calmly, "Albert has always liked Isabelle."
"Aren't you