Rejected Together, What a Pair of Brothers in Misfortune

"Have you found any clues about that Golden Egg?" Snape asked Aaron seriously in the Potions Class professor's office.

"Found it. The first challenge is breathing underwater for at least an hour."

"The Bubble-Head Charm," Snape said. "You can go to Professor Flitwick and he'll teach you the spell. With your talent, you can definitely master it before the match."

If you find that troublesome, I have some herbs in my private storage room that might be able to help.

"Uh..." Aaron raised an eyebrow slightly, "Thank you for your concern, Professor, but I think I have a better way."

Don't push yourself!

"Not at all." Aaron waved his hand and led Abei out of the office.

When he arrived at the Entrance Hall, he saw Cedric talking to Phoebe and curiously went over to investigate.

"Gaius," Phoebe greeted him familiarly.

What are you talking about?

"Of course it's Golden Egg," Cedric said with some pride. "I finally managed to decipher the clues inside."

"You didn't untie it while taking a bath, did you?" Aaron sneered.

Cedric's expression froze instantly. "You didn't untie it too, did you?"

Is it difficult?

Wait, you didn't actually unbutton your clothes while taking a shower, did you?

Cedric smiled sheepishly, "I was thinking of eliminating the noise, and since it happened to be in the Prefects' Bathroom at the time, I dipped the Golden Egg in to try it out."

"Krum has also untied it," Phoebe Rong said casually. "Someone in Beauxbatons told me he's been practicing diving lately."

It must be said, the Durmstrang ship was truly an excellent training tool.

"Has Harry untied it yet?" Cedric asked curiously.

"In my judgment, there shouldn't be any."

Based on my understanding of him, he wouldn't have considered such a thing before the Christmas Ball.

"That's really capricious," Phoebe said disdainfully. "What do you think of the clues about the Golden Egg?"

"Mermaid, the Mermaid in the Black Lake steal our most precious things." Aaron didn't voice his speculation; the Mermaid might not be stealing objects, but rather living people.

If nothing unexpected happens, the boys who are going to rescue the girls from the Black Lake will be their respective dance partners, and the Phoebe is going to rescue might be her younger sister.

"I think so too. The key is how to breathe underwater for an hour."

Delacour and I decided to use the Bubble-Head Charm, which would allow us to obtain enough oxygen underwater.

What about you? What are you planning to do?

"It's a secret." Aaron's lips curled into a slight smile, his expression enigmatic. "I'm going to use a spell that consumes more energy than the Bubble-Head Charm, but it's the most practical."

"What kind of magic?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"I already said it was a secret."

By the way, Miss Delacour, you're not a Hogwarts student, so there are some things you might not know.

"The Blackbeard Clan isn't just Mermaid. If you have time, you can ask Hagrid; no one knows more about the dangers than him."

Phoebe paused for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. "Why are you telling me this? Shouldn't we be rivals?"

"Because my sister made unreasonable demands," Aaron said wearily. "You're the last ones to pass the competition, so you'd better perform well and not cause me so much trouble this time."

Phoebe's lips twitched slightly. "She really has no sense of romance!"

"Heh!" Aaron rolled his eyes. "I'm only fourteen. Why would I need to know so much about romance and culture?"

"Hmph! The fact that you can say that shows you do know a little bit about this."

"So what? I'm just a fourteen-year-old kid."

"This is the first time I've ever seen a child fight against several adult Dragon."

Cedric stood there blankly, inexplicably feeling that his presence was somewhat out of place.

"How about... I excuse myself for a moment?"

"No need, if anyone should be avoiding me, it should be me!" Aaron said, waving his hand. "See you at dinner time!"

"Miss Delacour," Ron's voice suddenly came, "May I invite you to be my dance partner?"

His voice was so loud, almost a shout, that it was hard not to notice him.

The Entrance Hall fell silent. Everyone stared at Phoebe with curiosity, wondering if the melon was ripe.

"You idiot." Aaron rolled his eyes and said speechlessly, "If I were you, I would have asked somewhere where no one was around, at least I wouldn't be as embarrassed as I am now."

"This only proves that Delacour is still charming," Cedric said with an awkward laugh.

"Perhaps! But I'm more inclined to believe it was someone who was lustful at first sight."

Upon hearing this, Ron blushed and looked humbly at Phoebe Delacour, anxiously awaiting her reply.

Phoebe smiled sweetly, and Ron felt a tingling sensation all over his body, a silly smile appearing on his face.

This time it's a sure thing, Fred's words make a lot of sense.

No time like the present. With such a great dance partner as Phoebe, Ron Weasley will definitely be the most dazzling guy at the ball.

"Gaius." Phoebe suddenly looked at Aaron, her eyes filled with amusement and teasing, "I wonder if you need a dance partner right now?"

Holy crap!

Aaron stared in astonishment, his eyes wide, momentarily speechless.

He didn't answer immediately, but silently mourned for Ron for a second in his heart.

What is a large-scale social death scene? This is it.

Turning his head, he saw that Ron seemed to be under a dark cloud, and he exuded an unprecedented sense of dejection.

"Uh... sorry, I already have a dance partner."

"That's a pity." Phoebe shook her head regretfully and walked straight past Ron without even glancing at him.

"Sigh!" Aaron sighed, went to Ron, whose eyes were vacant, and helped him step by step toward the Gryffindor Common Room.

"How could this happen? Why would I say such a thing?"

"You're a man, can't you stop being so fragile?"

"Aaron, believe me, I really lost control just now," Ron said, covering his face in pain, almost pleading.

"I believe you, I believe you," Aaron said dismissively, though he didn't believe it at all. He just felt that Ron had suffered a severe blow and was trying to deceive himself.

It is true that Phoebe has Veela blood, but that is only one of the four.

This bloodline might make her more attractive, but not to the point of being irresistibly alluring.

At that moment, Harry walked over looking dejected. Aaron sensed Ron's utter dejection from him and asked incredulously, "You confessed your feelings, or... did your invitation fail?"

Harry nodded blankly, then went to Ron's other side and took his arm. "What's wrong with you?"

He invited Phoebe Delacour to the Christmas Ball.

"You were rejected?"

"Pretty much, but the other situation was much more serious." Aaron said, suppressing a laugh. "He extended the invitation in the Entrance Hall in front of at least twenty people, and then... his dignity was shattered."

"Hiss!" Harry gasped. "You're too brave!"

Ron, on the verge of tears, gasped for breath and said, "I don't know what to say. She was talking to Aaron and Cedric when I suddenly lost control and extended the invitation."

"It's not your fault, Ron," Harry comforted him. "She has Veela blood, and she was probably trying to cast a spell on Cedric or Aaron. You just happened to run into her."

"To cast spells on two Warlock who are no less powerful than her in the Entrance Hall —that's incredibly audacious!"

Harry seemed not to hear Aaron's teasing and continued, "But she wasted her breath this time. Aaron has Hermione, Cedric has Cho Chang."

"Wait, how do you know that Cedric and Cho Chang attended the ball together?"

You didn't go and invite her, did you?"

Harry nodded silently.

Aaron was speechless. What a pair of unfortunate brothers!

I finally mustered up the courage to invite others, but they all rejected me.

"At least I wasn't rejected in public," Harry said with a forced smile. "I waited until she was alone before extending the invitation."

"Much better than me," Ron said sarcastically. "Harry, we desperately need a dance partner right now, or we'll lose face."

"Your time is running out, and the number of opponents you can choose from will become increasingly limited."

So, lower your expectations a bit and think twice!

Upon hearing this, Harry and Ron exchanged a knowing glance.

They are now filled with a sense of urgency. As for dance partners, they can just find any girl to make do with. They don't dare to hope for anything else.

They did indeed find dance partners in the afternoon: Harry went to Parvati Patil, who shared a dormitory with Hermione, and Ron went to her sister, Padma Patil, from Ravenclaw.

Because there is Christmas Ball this year, many more students are choosing to stay on campus than in previous years.

After the first semester ended, most students put their homework aside and played to their hearts' content at school.

On Christmas Day, it snowed heavily outside.

Aaron sat up in bed; a pile of gift boxes were placed on the bedside table.

My parents sent me a few postcards with photos of Lin Haixue, which were quite poetic and picturesque.

Jeans sent a piano and some sheet music, which could add some decoration to the Divine Thunder Hall.

To his greatest surprise, Adrian also sent him a gift box.

When he opened it with a mix of trepidation and curiosity, he found a piece of pure black ore inside, presumably intended for use in the unfinished Divine Artifact.

In addition, there is another sentence: I wish you a memorable dance.

"Baffling."

Aaron pursed his lips, quickly washed up, and then left the dormitory with Abei.

Draco is showing off his tuxedo in the Common Room, with his dance partner Pansy Parkinson offering occasional comments.

"There are still more than ten hours until the ball, do you have to be so serious?" Aaron teased.

"Get used to it beforehand; there are some differences between Warlock robes and formal attire."

You're one of the Champion about to start dancing, so I suggest you practice with your partner beforehand, otherwise it'll be embarrassing if you don't dance well tonight.

Aaron:...

"You don't need to worry about that, I'm a professional."