Christmas Ball (IV)

Sean's gaze toward Stephanie became strange. This "help"...

Noticing his gaze, the Silver-haired Girl chuckled softly, "In Mr. Wallop's eyes, am I the kind of girl who secretly goes to other girls and uses various methods to keep them away from you?"

"That's not it..."

Stephanie turned her head, stretched out her fair hand, and then held up two fingers.

"You have two choices, Daisy and Hermione. Which one do you think would be better as your dance partner?"

Sean frowned. "What do you mean..."

"Isn't this the task Professor McGonagall gave you? You have to bring a dance partner to the dance—or, instead of Daisy and Hermione, do you want to find another girl?" Stephanie completely lost her usual aloof demeanor, smiling like a cunning little fox.

"I'm really not used to you looking like this..." Sean's eye twitched.

"Then..." Stephanie suddenly reverted to her expressionless look, "Like this?"

Sean rubbed his temples, a slight headache in his eyes. "How come I never noticed before that you could change your expression so quickly?"

Stephanie gave a detached smile, "Sean, I don't think this is a face-changing act. Both are the real me. I won't pretend in front of you—besides, people aren't static, are they?"

"I'm just not used to it yet," Sean said, scratching his head.

"I won't ask you which one you like—" a sly glint in her eyes, "I want you to like them all."

Sean: "..."

Why didn't I realize before that I was so vulnerable to direct attacks...?

Stephanie smoothed her bangs, then stopped her attack and brought up the previous topic again. "I already promised to help you, but you still haven't given me an answer. Have you decided on your dance partner yet?"

Sean got a headache just thinking about it. He pinched his brow, his mind a complete mess.

"That's about what I was thinking... That makes sense. If you could make a choice this quickly, you wouldn't be struggling with this now, even if it's just choosing a dance partner—" Stephanie stood up, clutching her chest. Her long dress today had a rather low-cut neckline. "Then I'll just pick an easy one?"

"Simple?"

Stephanie held out a hand and gestured with her lips under Sean's questioning gaze.

Sean was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized what was going on.

He grabbed Stephanie's hand, which she gripped tightly, and then pulled him up.

She Sean up and immediately let go of his hand. Then, while smoothing out the wrinkles on her long dress, she said, "If you can't make a choice, I suggest you don't ask too many details, otherwise you'll only add to your troubles. The purpose of what I did was to help you alleviate your worries—don't misunderstand, of course I personally hope that the person you hold hands with at the ball is me, but right now I hope you can relax a bit more."

She straightened her long gown, turned around, and gave a gentle smile, "Of course, you don't need to worry that I'll say anything I shouldn't. Well, I can guarantee that—our relationship is currently unequal..."

Sean opened his mouth to speak, but Stephanie gently placed a finger in front of his lips.

"I know you didn't mean it that way, but our experiences and my personality inevitably lead to this. I'm bringing this up to prove that I won't ruin your relationship with those two girls, and simply to solve your current problem—after all, given the facts, first, you hate being lied to; second, I like you a lot; and third, both Daisy and Hermione are intelligent girls."

"Therefore, there is no point in me sabotaging your relationship with them behind their backs. You will simply distance yourself from me and quickly clear up any misunderstandings with them. I don't care about anything else, but I cannot accept you distancing yourself from me again."

"Is that clear enough, Mr. Wallop?" Stephanie tilted her head, smiling broadly.

Sean was speechless. He hadn't even thought that much about it, while the other party had considered almost every possibility in order to dispel all his concerns.

She's such an amazing girl... but her amazingness isn't off-putting; on the contrary, it's...

Stephanie smiled even more sweetly, "Am I a little more attractive now?"

Sean smiled helplessly; this girl was really smart.

"Alright, leave it to me... I'll handle one person's problem, and then you can invite the other one?"

Sean hesitated for a moment before nodding. He really needed help in this area... even though it sounded shameful and embarrassing...

"Oh, right..." Stephanie walked lightly to the side. The magic candles on the cake Sean had brought were still burning quietly. "We haven't blown out the candles and made a wish yet. Want to do it together?"

Sean was slightly lost in thought, then stepped forward and joined Stephanie in holding the cake.

The Silver-haired Girl was a head shorter Sean. She raised her hands slightly so that Sean could hold the cake to his chest.

Through the flickering candlelight, her eyes, like those of a starry night, seemed to breathe with an inextinguishable flame.

"Happy birthday, Sean." Stephanie flashed her brightest smile.

Sean laughed too, "Happy birthday, Stephanie."

The candle was blown out, but the flame was still flickering.

"Wallerup ..." In the hallway after class, Snape stopped Sean, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Is there something you need, Professor?" Sean, somewhat puzzled.

His recent performance in Potions has been unparalleled; even Snape, who is extremely good at nitpicking, could only come up empty-handed, at most picking out some minor, insignificant flaws.

Harry suddenly faced a much stronger barrage of criticism, especially since he was secretly practicing late at night wearing his Invisibility Cloak in preparation for his dance with Ginny — Ron and Neville, who had each found their own dance partners, were also in cahoots.

Of course, the consequence of going out at night was that he was prone to dozing off in class the next day—which gave Snape a perfect reason to unleash his full power.

However, for Sean, it's just that other people's kids can't all die...

Snape raised his head and asked in a somber tone, "What was your purpose in appearing in the underground classroom yesterday?"

Sean scratched his head. "Professor Flitwick asked me to get the Christmas magic candles from the storage room on the basement floor. He's in a hurry to change the color and flickering of the flames on those candles—Professor, you should know that...and you watched me walk away..."

Snape remained silent with a sullen face. After a while, he seemed to have figured it out and then snorted coldly, "Have you seen anyone go to the basement level outside of class time recently, especially my office?"

Sean thought for a moment and shook his head, "Never seen him before... Professor, what's wrong?"

A hint of anger flashed across Snape's face. "A petty thief has sneaked into my storeroom..."

Wow, that's a bit bold... Sean blinked innocently.

Snape glanced back at him, seemingly realizing that with Sean's wealth, there was no need for him to steal the herbs from his storeroom—he then casually scolded Sean for his actions in class that day, before leaving behind two bottles of Potions, one large and one small.

Same old routine: one bottle of Daisy, and one bottle of myself...

After putting away the Potions, Sean walked towards a deserted corner. He planned to go to the Room of Requirement and then check on the two black dragons Leoreus and Leorea, in his ring.

After all, they're new here and need my help.

Five minutes later, Sean, standing in the Ring Space, was speechless—he had overthought things.

Leoreus and Leorea are having a lively ball-balancing contest. The sleeping Basilisk is positioned in the middle as a net, while Thunderbird circle overhead, occasionally unleashing lightning and light rain as obstacles. The other Magical Creatures are craning their necks to watch the ball being tossed back and forth in the air by the two Fire Dragon.

Incidentally, the ball that was being pushed was Aero-Wing Bird had inhaled air...

This idiot is still yelling and shouting happily...

They even had time to shout, in a daze, for Sean to act as the referee.

Could it be that a certain kind of owner is associated with a certain kind of Magical Creatures? A terrifying thought popped into Sean's mind.

This is too much...

However, he was called away after only a short time as referee— the Little White Flower Daisy had arrived.

Climbing down the rope ladder out of the ring, Sean saw Daisy looking terrified; she was all alone.

"What's wrong, Daisy?" Sean asked, puzzled.

Daisy swallowed hard, her face filled with terror, and she even became a little angry after seeing Sean's expression.

"You! You didn't know?!"

This seemed to be the first time Daisy had spoken to her in such a stern tone...

Sean immediately became serious and asked solemnly, "What exactly happened?"

"Hermione, Hermione!"

"What's wrong with Hermione?" Sean asked as he headed towards the door.

Daisy grabbed her arm and said through gritted teeth, "What good will it do you to go there now! You're driving me crazy!"

"No..."

Daisy forcefully shook off his hand. "Hermione has a dance partner!"

Sean was taken aback. "Dance partner?"

"Yes, she was just trying on a dress—doesn't that mean she has a dance partner?"

Sean licked his lips. "Did she say who her dance partner is?"

Daisy gave him a disapproving look. "So you do care who the other person is? But Hermione has already accepted the invitation—who told you not to invite her beforehand!"

Hermione's dance partner... Sean immediately thought of Stephanie.

Stephanie said she would help herself solve this problem, and now it seems her methods are starting to work...

However, Hermione found a dance partner—was this Stephanie's solution...?

Sean stroked his chin, deep in thought. He wasn't the type to act impulsively, his blood rushing to his head, although he did initially feel uneasy when he heard the news from Daisy ...

But upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that Stephanie would never do such a thing.

So, the identity of that dance partner...

Seeing that he seemed unhurried and was slowly thinking, Daisy suddenly became anxious. "Sean, what are you doing? Hermione is going to be kidnapped!"

"Ah—" Sean scratched his head, "But Hermione already agreed, didn't she..."

Daisy was speechless for a moment, then looked at Sean with a disappointed look, like a top student looking at a struggling student she had been tutoring for a long time but who had not made any progress.

She wandered around in circles like a lost little bee for a while before finally collapsing onto the mat in despair.

Hermione has been kidnapped...

Sean patted her on the shoulder. "It's just dancing, and I'm having some thoughts about who your dance partner is..."

"Who is it?" Daisy immediately looked up.

"I'm not sure, but Hermione will definitely tell you before the ball, so don't worry," Sean said softly.

Daisy looked left and right, seemingly lost in thought.

Finally, Little White Flower lay down unhappily and kicked her legs a few times.

"So annoying..."

Sean, who had never seen Daisy throw a tantrum before, found it somewhat amusing. He thought for a moment, then handed her the Potions Snape had given him.

"Here, I've received my salary."

Daisy took the Potions, pouting, "I don't feel comfortable taking this salary. How can I keep accepting other people's kindness..."

Sean shrugged. "He'll be unhappy if you don't accept it—by the way, have you picked out a Christmas present for Professor Snape yet?"

"I've picked it out," Daisy said excitedly at first, then pinched her cheek in distress, "What if he doesn't like it..."

"I think 'dislike' would never be one of his options..."

The two chatted for a while longer. Daisy, who had another class to attend, stood up to head to class. Before leaving, she glanced hesitantly at Sean but ultimately remained silent.

Sean waited until Daisy left before lying down, burying his face in his hands, and staring at the ceiling. Stephanie's plan was about to be implemented, which meant he should invite Daisy to be his dance partner...

But not now, otherwise, it would be too stupid for Hermione to invite Daisy right after she got a dance partner...

Hopefully, Hermione and her dance partner have a great time...

December is passing by day by day, and the ball is getting closer and closer.

The Hogwarts students and staff consistently demonstrated a desire to impress the guests from the other three schools, and they seemed determined to showcase the castle at its best this Christmas.

The school was brightly decorated, Sean found he had never seen such beautiful decorations since he entered the school. The Marble Staircase railings were covered with icicles that would never melt, and the twelve Christmas trees that usually stood in the Great Hall were decorated with all sorts of little trinkets, from Winky holly berries to live, chirping golden owls.

The armors in the corridor were enchanted; they would sing Christmas carols whenever someone passed by. Hearing an empty helmet sing "Oh, come, you pious people" always had a strangely comical quality.

Moreover, the armor only knew half of the lyrics, Filch had to pull Peeves out of the armor several times because Peeves would hide inside and make up lyrics to fill in the gaps when the armor couldn't sing, and they were all vulgar words.

After a dance class, Professor McGonagall called Sean and Daisy to her office.

"Have you two not found your dance partners yet?" she asked seriously, sitting in her office chair.

The two looked at each other simultaneously.