At Horace Slughorn's party, there had been a vampire named Xue Ni. He had looked utterly ordinary, the sort who vanished the moment he blended into a crowd.
The vampire Pomona encountered this time, however, was handsome and drew everyone's attention.
Severus was not a vampire, yet he lived apart from others just like one in vampire films. Actual vampires, on the other hand, were rather sociable.
The vampire the waiter had called "Mr. Giovanni" was chatting and laughing with a group of women dressed as French aristocratic ladies, each holding a feather fan.
He wore a formal suit with a black background patterned with red flames. His black hair lay sleek and flat as if treated with conditioner, and he had a small mustache above his lips. He wore no mask, yet Pomona felt that he did indeed have one on—a persona mask.
This mask was the boundary between one's true self and the outside world. Its purpose was to present a public face, make a good impression, gain society's recognition, and ensure one could get along harmoniously with people, even those one disliked.
Had anyone ever seen a weasel living peacefully with chickens? That was the scene Pomona was witnessing. Pluck the feathers off these French ladies, and they could be made into New Orleans chicken wings.
Carnival originated from the Bible. There was a devil who trapped Jesus in the wilderness and gave him no food for forty days. Though Jesus was hungry, he did not yield to the devil's temptation. To commemorate Jesus's forty-day fast in the wilderness, believers set aside the forty days before Easter each year as a time for fasting and repentance.
But people had clearly twisted the purpose of the festival around. As night fell, this private gathering of adults grew increasingly