Christmas Ball (Final)

Joyful notes began to play, and amidst cheers and laughter, Grindelwald and Dumbledore clasped hands.

Both of them put on a serious dancing expression, but they couldn't stop smiling.

They put their arms around each other's shoulders, clasped their other hands together, and danced a traditional England country dance.

The two elderly men danced with great lightness and grace. They would occasionally hop on their tiptoes. Although the dance steps were simple, they allowed everyone around them to feel the joy in the dance and the genuine happiness of the two men.

The music grew increasingly cheerful. They faced each other, their hands hanging down at their sides, their hands swinging naturally with their body movements.

Sean, who had been staring in disbelief, started laughing as he watched. He smiled and clapped along with the people around him.

Only on occasions like this can these two dance joyfully together in public...

Everyone cleared out the dance floor. One was Hogwarts' most popular headmaster, and the other was the newly appointed Iron-Blooded President of the International Confederation of Wizards. The wonderful pairing didn't feel abrupt at all. They danced simple steps in such harmony, and their smiles were so radiant.

Someone nearby clapped their hands and exclaimed, "I wasn't even enrolled when Mr. Grindelwald was still the headmaster of Newmontgard. I heard back then that the headmasters of the two schools were really at odds..."

"Don't be silly, they must be old friends." Fred and George were the most excited, one whistling and the other scolding the freshman next to them.

After hearing this, others exclaimed, "Yes, they seem to have such a good relationship."

Sean was taken aback by what he heard, and a slight bitterness welled up in his heart.

While everyone thought these two were old rivals, they were actually the most steadfast comrades-in-arms.

While everyone thought the two were old friends who had been hiding their relationship for a long time, only Sean knew that their relationship was actually extremely fragile—when the final truth was revealed, no one could predict how things would turn out.

Whether it's Dumbledore or Grindelwald.

The cheerful music echoed in the Great Hall, Dumbledore and Grindelwald seemed completely absorbed in it, repeating the dance steps they knew over and over again with great enjoyment, oblivious to the stares of others.

Sean's smile also changed from being all smiles to looking slightly stiff.

I know you can't help it, but could you please tone it down a little...?

The two of them have been jumping for almost twenty minutes!

He had just heard people whispering, and Rita Skeeter had just appeared on one side of the Great Hall, her quill pen flying across the page.

Skeeter looked incredibly excited, like a mouse that had spotted cheese.

This is English, and people's imaginations are incredibly rich.

Meanwhile, in the center of the dance floor, a conversation was taking place that no one else could hear.

"How many years has it been, Albus?"

"It's been many years, Gellert."

Grindelwald still smiled, but his voice carried a hint of melancholy. "How pathetic..."

Dumbledore's eyes twitched with laughter. "Perhaps this was destined..."

"You know everything? Whether I know it or I don't?"

"When the time comes, you will regain all your memories, and then you will naturally know everything." A hint of sadness, which made Grindelwald uneasy, appeared in Dumbledore's eyes.

He was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Now, it's none of my business."

"You haven't changed at all." Dumbledore smiled as well.

Although no sound reached the ears of others, they weren't blind; some were whispering among themselves.

"Hey, look, aren't Mr. Grindelwald and Professor Dumbledore whispering to each other?"

"It certainly looks like it, although I didn't hear any sound..."

Sean inwardly cursed his bad luck. If he could, he would never have interrupted the two's long-awaited dance and conversation, but now...

Most importantly, Sean knew that the two of them did not want to make their relationship public.

But today, I'm hooked...

As the best student, what should I do...?

Sean looked around and then winked at Daisy.

"Huh?" Little White Flower had been clapping vigorously and hadn't yet realized what Sean was trying to do.

"Come with me."

He took Daisy's hand and led her onto the dance floor, feigning displeasure but with a broad smile on his face.

"Professors, how can Progressive Double Circle Country Dance be without other participants?"

Grindelwald looked over with a satisfied expression, and laughed heartily, "I almost forgot, it's not us two old men who should be in the limelight today."

Dumbledore also cast a grateful glance his way.

Sean smiled and joined the dance, putting his arm around Daisy's waist.

In Progressive Double Circle Country Dance, dancers move in a specific formation, following a pre-determined sequence, performing one segment after another. The steps are generally simple, but the changes in formation and the route of movement are strictly precise.

Of course, once these two old men got into the swing of things, they didn't care about anything else.

But Sean's involvement at this point was perfectly reasonable, because each new "trick" required a different pair of dance partners to lead the dance. The lead partner could come up with something unique, and the others would have to imitate them.

Sean and Daisy first imitated Dumbledore and Grindelwald's dance steps for a while, and then exchanged smiles with the old men during the breaks in the music, before taking their places as the lead dancers.

The two began to dance joyfully, and others joined in. Grindelwald and Dumbledore mingled in the crowd, imitating Sean and Daisy's lively dance steps.

Everyone was laughing heartily—except Snape.

Every time Sean grabbed Daisy's hand or put his arm around Daisy waist, he felt like crushing the wine glass in his hand.

Led by Sean and Daisy, everyone joined in the double column country dance. Now the lead dancers were the brothers Fred and George, who had abandoned their partners and were at the front of the line, stroking each other's faces with ecstatic expressions.

Their dance partners Angelina and Spinnet, didn't seem unhappy at all; they were laughing heartily and appeared extremely satisfied with their partners.

Of course, no one tried to imitate the twins' dance moves, but when the dance ended, everyone gave them a warm round of applause.

Grindelwald and Dumbledore stood to one side, clapping softly and smiling as they watched the people.

Sean looked over and his eyes met those of both men—he didn't even know who to signal to first.

Dumbledore smiled gently at Sean, while Grindelwald raised an eyebrow.

Sean turned to Daisy, whose face was flushed, and said, "Mr. Grindelwald called me. I'll go out for a bit and get you some drinks. What would you like to drink?"

Daisy, slightly out of breath and clutching her chest, nodded understandingly. "A warm Butterbeer, please," she said.

Sean followed Grindelwald, who had slipped out silently, and the two soon arrived at the edge of the corridor.

"You're getting better and better at seizing opportunities, Sean," Grindelwald complimented.

Sean shrugged. "It's a rare opportunity, I don't want to bother you."

Grindelwald, hands behind his back, gazed at the horizon, the smile on his lips slowly fading, "Sean, tell me, in that future I hid myself, what did I do, and what role did he play?"

Sean turned to look at him, somewhat surprised— Grindelwald didn't seem like the type to be so troubled and conflicted.

Sure enough, Grindelwald seemed to only sigh, and before Sean could answer, he said to himself, "This is really interesting..."

Sean blinked. "Is this funny...? The world almost ended..."

However, he was also very curious about what would happen in the future.

Grindelwald gazed at the waning moon hanging in the sky for a moment, then stretched his neck and took a box from his robes, handing it to Sean.

"What is this?" Sean asked, taking the item with a puzzled look.

He said in a relaxed tone, "I made a run for the MacFasty family and had some... ha, friendly exchanges."

Sean: "..."

Do the MacFasty family think the same way...?

"In the previous bet, they were supposed to pay a price, and under my merciful gaze, they decided to give you a little trinket from their family collection—this is it."

Sean opened the box and was surprised to find a crystal inside.

The pale green crystals expanded and contracted as if they were alive. Upon closer inspection, a vein-like structure could be seen pulsating inside—this was the structure that caused the crystals to expand and contract.

"This is... Dragon Heartstring?" Sean looked up in surprise.

"That's right." Grindelwald nodded easily.

Sean was even more surprised. He knew that the Dragon Heartstring used as materials for wands were all inanimate objects. A powerful creature like a dragon could not possibly allow you to extract the Dragon Heartstring while it was still alive.

Even after death, it will take a long time before the Dragon Heartstring can be used again—because the Dragon Heart gathers the powerful magic of the Fire Dragon, and the Dragon Heartstring is the most resilient part of the Dragon Heart.

If a fresh Dragon Heartstring is used rashly, the wand itself will carry completely uncontrollable magic. This magic may even backfire on the wizard. It is possible that just by holding the wand and using a few minor spells, the dragon magic on the Dragon Heartstring will turn around and cause uncontrollable harm to the wizard—similar to a failed Transfiguration.

The Dragon Heartstring can only be used long after a dragon has died. In order to maintain the Dragon Heartstring's ability to channel and withstand magic, it must remain in the dragon's heart.

Therefore, the Dragon Heartstring used as the core material can never be vibrant.

The Dragon Heartstring before them was still beating, as if it had just been taken from a living dragon—yet Grindelwald said it was a treasured possession of the MacFasty family, and had obviously been preserved for a long time.

"This Dragon Heartstring is quite a treasure," Grindelwald explained slowly. "Its owner was probably the true owner of the Hebrides Islands a thousand years ago, a mutated Hebridean Black Dragon."

"A mutated black dragon?"

"Just like your Swooping Evil, that black dragon is very special in the records— the Hebrides Islands were not originally the territory of black dragons. The mutated black dragon drove away the then lord, a group of Ridgeback Dragon."

Sean's eyes widened. "A group of Ridgeback Dragon? Ridgeback Dragon are actually a type of dragon from Scotland? Wait, a black dragon wiped out a whole group of Ridgeback Dragon?!"

Ridgeback Dragon is the most powerful of Fire Dragon, and only the Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragon can barely put up a fight against it.

Grindelwald nodded. "So, you can think of it this way—all the existing Hebridean Black Dragon, except for some scattered groups around the world, are descendants of this black dragon. Hmm, if this black dragon were still alive, one dragon could probably destroy a country."

Sean looked at the box in his hand, increasingly surprised that the origin of this Dragon Heartstring was so significant.

"After the black dragon died of natural causes, the Dragon Heartstring was preserved by the MacFasty family at the time using some kind of magic. I'd like to ask about that magic, but those idiots can't even learn their ancestral spells, it's shameful... But at least something was left behind, so here you go."

"I can't accept this..." Sean quickly put the box away.

Grindelwald glanced at him. "You're getting more and more shameless."

"It's all thanks to the teachers' excellent instruction," Sean said modestly.

"You've learned well." Grindelwald smiled smugly.

Sean was also burning with excitement. After gaining the honor of being a wand maker, he was troubled by the lack of powerful wand materials to improve or create a new spell.

However, with this Dragon Heartstring, his new wand may reach a terrifying level of power, perhaps not as good as the Elder Wand, but definitely surpassing all other wands!

More importantly, Sean believed that Grindelwald had also taken another point into consideration when he snatched the Dragon Heartstring from the MacFasty family.

Sean can Transfiguration Fire Dragon based on the core of his staff!

A Hebridean Black Dragon, powerful enough to destroy a country, and Sean happens to have the power of the Obscurus to support it, which will greatly enhance his combat power!

The satisfied master and apprentice chatted for a few more minutes before preparing to return to the Great Hall. Sean remembered a question and asked, "Teacher, I have a question."

"Explain."

"You and Professor Dumbledore told me that the more people know and believe in that Prophecy, the more likely it is to come true. But now, Pride is real, and I seem unable to resist its awakening. If I tell this Prophecy to others..."

Grindelwald raised an eyebrow. "What Albus still holds true. You can think of it as the more people who know, the faster the Sin will awaken, and the stronger it will be when it awakens. If this Prophecy were announced to the world now, even if Albus and I joined forces, we might not be able to deal with the awakened Pride. And there are other bastards lurking in the shadows, eyeing us covetously."

Sean lowered his head in disappointment. He had originally wanted to find an opportunity to explain this to Daisy Hermione.

Grindelwald glanced at him, then smacked him hard on the head.

"Aww—"

"Idiot, do you have to tell me the exact details of the Prophecy? Can't you just say it another way?" Grindelwald said, looking at him with exasperation.

Sean rubbed his head and suddenly realized, "Yeah, why do I have to get hung up on the truth of the Prophecy? Can't I just put it another way?"

"Alright, let's go back." Grindelwald put his hands behind his back and walked leisurely toward the Great Hall.

When they returned to the Great Hall, the Weird Sisters were playing a soothing tune, and men and women were embracing each other and swaying slowly on the dance floor.

Sean returned to Daisy's side, the two smiled at each other, and went back onto the dance floor.

The Little White Flower leaned on Sean's shoulder, and they swayed gently.

"What a wonderful Christmas!"

Inside the Great Hall, countless people sighed in hushed tones.