So Much for Having a Dance Partner... / You've Got Some Nerve-Look Who's Talking!

Some say he also specially invited the Weird Sisters —a band that is said to be very famous—to perform at Hogwarts.

In short, everyone is now full of anticipation.

Of course, while people are looking forward to it, some will inevitably feel anxious, such as those who still can't find a dance partner, and those who want to go to the ball but can't.

"This is clearly a grand event that could promote international exchange, but students below the fourth grade are not allowed to participate. This rule is simply outrageous!"

In the doorman's hut, while Filch was out on patrol, Will was grumbling to Harry.

"I even dug out my formal attire, but Professor Flitwick still won't let me participate!"

"What international exchange nonsense? I think you just want to use this opportunity to dance with that Greengrass Family girl, don't you?" Harry saw right through Will's thoughts. "Besides, you can't just wear that suit out like that. Do you want everyone to know who you are, my noble prince?"

"Ah..." Will was taken aback when he heard this, and then belatedly realized that the formal attire he had specially prepared was actually a children's version of the military uniform dress often worn by the Britain Royal Family.

If he were to wear this outfit out in public, his identity would essentially be exposed internationally.

But Will quickly noticed the crux of the matter. "Then what about you? Don't think I don't know, you've also prepared that valet's uniform for yourself! You're worried about me being exposed, so how come you're wearing it out?"

"Because that dress is nice!" Harry laughed matter-of-factly. "Besides, you said it was just a servant's uniform, so why can't I wear it out? Or do you think I shouldn't reveal my relationship with your Royal Family?"

"Uh..." Will's expression froze again upon hearing this. He could actually answer Harry's question instantly without even thinking about it.

Let's put it this way: if Harry's father, who is likely to be the heir to the throne for life, knew what Harry was wearing at the Yule Ball, he would absolutely approve of it and be so happy he'd practically grin from ear to ear.

Harry is an extremely special wizard, and the British Government is well aware of his reputation and deeds. Now, for such a powerful figure in the Wizarding World to publicly display his relationship with the Royal Family is undoubtedly a very valuable political asset for Prince Charles.

Harry wore Royal Family sergeant's uniform to the wizarding ball. If this gets out, he'll be permanently associated with the Royal Family...

But as Will thought about it, he felt very strange, because based on his understanding of Harry shouldn't have willingly formed such a bond with the Royal Family.

"Harry, I have a question..." After a long pause, Will asked cautiously, "What exactly is your relationship with our Royal Family?"

"My relationship with you is simply one of sponsorship and being sponsored."

Harry answered without hesitation, and Will's expression immediately darkened.

Sure enough, I should have been prepared from the beginning... Harry would never accept a Royal Family appointment, nor would he ever become my, the future King of England's, page.

"Kid, you're not even thirteen yet, there's no need to think so far ahead." Harry chuckled and patted Will on the shoulder. "My relationship with you guys is none of your business. But since you call me brother, I'll definitely do my best to help you with your affairs. For example..."

"For example?" Harry's tone gradually became serious, which also made Will unconsciously become somewhat solemn.

However, the next second, an unexpected hairpin turn nearly threw Will off the track.

"For example... if you want to go to the ball with Astoria Greengrass, or even do something after the ball under the cover of darkness, I can totally help you with that~"

"Cough cough... What did you say?!" Will coughed violently twice, feeling like he almost choked and passed out.

Honestly, he had just started mentally planning his future "big things," and who would have thought Harry would talk about this!

However... he said he could find a way to get himself and Leah to the ball together!

Thinking of this, a look of expectation clearly appeared in Will's eyes.

"Hey, interested now?" Harry grinned mischievously and put his arm around the boy's shoulder. "Not old enough but still want to take your crush to the ball? It's actually quite simple. First, go find Astoria Greengrass and tell her you want to take her to the ball. Try to get her to say yes."

"Harry, are you kidding me?" Will's face fell. "Even if Leah agreed to come with me, we still won't be able to get into the Great Hall."

"What's the rush? The next step is the important part." Harry rolled his eyes at the boy who interrupted him. "After she agrees, find a group of upperclassmen who are already together and ask them to help you both get in."

"This... you mean, swap dance partners?" Will suddenly realized.

Yeah, it's such a simple method, I don't think anyone in the whole school would have thought of it.

Students below fourth grade are not allowed to attend the lunch assembly, but they can accept invitations from older students. So as long as an agreement is reached privately beforehand, the older students can bring them and Leah into the Great Hall, and then they can temporarily regroup later!

Moreover, this method can be used not only by himself, but also by Colin, as long as he can find a suitable younger girl to accompany him!

"That's right, it's about exchanging dance partners on the spot." Harry nodded as if he were a quick learner. "The rules only say that you have to have a dance partner to attend the ball, but they don't say whether you can change partners during the ball. It's a social event, so it's more fun to exchange partners!"

"Easy for you to say. What about you?" Will rolled his eyes, speechless. "What if someone wanted to replace Hermione with you..."

"Then I'll immediately pull out my wand and smash him to death."

Will:...

See? This double standard tells you he's a seasoned opportunist.

"Anyway, thank you." After receiving Harry's guidance, Will got up to leave.

He needed to quickly tell Astoria Greengrass the good news, and also find a pair of senior students willing to help them.

Also, Will felt it was necessary to tell Colin and the other students in the same grade, after all, sharing happiness is better than keeping it to yourself~

Chapter 654 The promised dance partner is gone...

"Oh dear, you're leaving in such a hurry! But it's good that you're in a hurry, that way you can gather more people."

After Will left, a playful smile crept onto Harry's face.

To be honest, he was actually quite looking forward to the huge group dance at the Hogwarts Yule Ball... and the live dance partner exchange!

In fact, given that Hogwarts has a roughly equal ratio of male and female students, and a larger number of upperclassmen than lowerclassmen, it is theoretically possible for all students to participate in the Yule Ball together, provided that the distribution is reasonable.

Of course, that's just theory.

Because there will always be a group of upperclassmen who want to date younger men, and not all upperclassmen are willing to take underclassmen along. At the same time, there will definitely be those unfortunate people who can't find a dance partner no matter what they do.

However, Will probably doesn't have such concerns. Even if it's just for his sake, the older students would be happy to lend a hand.

Well... Harry, who was busy worrying about others at the moment, had no idea that he had become one of the most miserable people in his heart.

What he didn't expect was that the method he taught Will had already been thought of by others, who had even come up with the same idea...

"I should probably go meet up with Hermione soon; I wonder how her preparations are going."

Muttering to himself, Harry got up expectantly and strolled off to find his 'pre-arranged' dance partner.

Regarding attending the ball, the girls will definitely have a lot of preparations to make, so Harry will have to help Hermione.

For example, he should help her wash her hair and help her decide on a nice hairstyle, right?

For example, Hermione's dress has back buttons, so it's definitely inconvenient for her to handle it herself with her hands behind her back. Shouldn't she have to help herself put it on and take it off?

There's also the dance. Although Hogwarts takes this very seriously, and Professor Flitwick even used class time to have the students practice, Hermione is, after all, the lead dancer, so there can't be the slightest mistake.

So I really need to practice with her a lot, even if it takes a little longer, since I'm carrying Ageing Potion... no, I mean Invigoration Draught.

Lost in these random thoughts, Harry made his way to the library.

Aside from the time she was sparring with Norberta a while ago, Hermione's life is usually quite regular. At this time of day, she should be in the library studying and doing her homework, even though tomorrow is Christmas.

After greeting Madam Pince, the caretaker, Harry found Hermione and Luna Lovegood in the common area.

With the holidays approaching, students at school are generally not in the mood to study, so the library is almost empty. Apart from the two girls, there's only a small group of people, including Ravenclaw's Quidditch captain Roger Davis.

However, Roger Davis didn't seem to be in good shape, as if he had just been hit over the head, with a look of dejection written all over his face.

"You're here!" Hermione, who had just looked up from her book, saw Harry and a smile appeared on her face.

However, unlike usual, Hermione's smile now carried a hint of cunning and mockery.

"I knew you'd come here," Harry said with a smile, sitting down opposite Hermione. "Stop studying now, shouldn't you be getting ready for the ball?"

"Preparing... for the ball?" Hermione blinked, seemingly puzzled. "But... I've already finished all the preparations."

"Huh?" Harry was taken aback. "No... when did you prepare this? How come I didn't know?"

Are you planning to... how are you going to prepare all by yourself? Shouldn't you be with me?

At this point, Harry was starting to feel a little dazed.

"Harry, I'm the lead dancer at the ball, of course I need to prepare in advance," Hermione said matter-of-factly, but then suddenly her face lit up with surprise. "Oh my god...you don't still not have a dance partner?!"

"What are you talking about? My dance partner is... wait a minute!"

At this point, Harry suddenly realized what was going on. "What do you mean by saying I didn't find a dance partner? Does that mean... you found someone else to be your dance partner?!"

No way, what kind of international joke is this?

Hermione... how could she choose someone else as her dance partner?

Indeed, Harry hadn't explicitly told her about it, but he had hinted at it. Shouldn't everyone have understood at this point?

Now she tells herself that she already has a partner, and she's the one who's miserable because she can't find one!

"Miss Granger, this joke isn't funny at all." Harry looked at Hermione with suspicion. "Are you sure you've really found a dance partner?"

"I really found it!" Hermione giggled happily at Harry. "And my dance partner, coincidentally, is also in the library."

"Here too?" Harry looked up abruptly, frowned, and glanced around before finally fixing his gaze on the dazed Roger Davis.

"Hey, stop guessing, okay? How could it be Senior Davis?" Hermione sighed and turned Harry's head back towards her. "The reason he looked like that is because he just went to ask Phoebe Delacour to be his dance partner, and he got a bad experience."

"And you..."

"Anyway, I'm not going to dance the opening dance with you at the Christmas party." Hermione got up, went to Harry's side, grabbed him, and began to push him forcefully toward the library exit.

"Harry, there's only one day left until the Christmas party. You should focus on finding your dance partner!"

"Hey! Don't push me... Hermione!"

"Quiet down!!"

Finally, after a stern warning from Madam Pince to keep quiet, Harry was shoved and kicked out of the library by Hermione.

Even now, he still hasn't figured out who Hermione's dance partner is...

"You really managed to keep this from him quite a bit this time," Luna Lovegood said calmly in a singing voice after Hermione returned. "You could have easily told him..."

"You need to reflect on yourself for this!" Luna Lovegood's words only earned her a big eye roll from Hermione. "If he wasn't trying to take care of your feelings, he wouldn't have played this tacit understanding game with me."

Students below the fourth grade are not allowed to attend the ball, so Luna Lovegood is naturally among those forbidden. However, the method Harry taught Will cannot be used on Luna Lovegood.

Because of her personality, it's simply impossible for her to go to the dance with any unrelated upperclassman.

But precisely at this crucial moment of choosing a dance partner, Luna Lovegood was inseparable from Hermione every day, even going to the toilet together, and going straight into the same room when she came home from school at night.

With them doing this, Harry felt too embarrassed to openly say he didn't want to bring Luna Lovegood to the ball, so he could only communicate with Hermione through his eyes.

Hermione had previously given her a clear "I understand" look.

And then... Harry got tricked.

"He's really overthinking it. I've never been interested in the ball in the first place," Luna Lovegood shook her head slightly. "Besides... wasn't it you who forced me to follow you around every day?"

"So you think... if it were someone else, would he still think so much?"

At this moment, Hermione in front of Luna Lovegood reached an unprecedented level of sullenness...

Chapter 655 You've finally met your match!

That said, Hermione's sour grapes are now perfectly justified.

It takes time for a young girl to accept things she couldn't accept before; and it also takes time for a man to go from being a womanizer to completely going astray.

Sadly, the latter often progresses faster than the former.

Hermione felt that she was currently facing such a predicament.

She certainly wouldn't fully accept Luna Lovegood's situation, but in some ways she had already begun preparations.

After all, the attitudes of Scamander, the Flamel couple, and Harry towards Luna Lovegood all speak volumes.

Luna Lovegood is a responsibility that Harry must shoulder; he will never abandon her. Therefore, Hermione also made the decision to help Harry shoulder this responsibility.

But sometimes, responsibility can become distorted if you carry it too long... just like the adopted sibling relationship we once had.

Have you ever seen a godson who spends all his time plotting to give his adopted sister Ageing Potion?

Therefore, in Hermione's view, the sense of responsibility between Harry and Luna Lovegood has also begun to change.

To Hermione's dismay, she was still unable to stop it.

Since the Quidditch World Cup ended, Luna Lovegood has officially moved into the Granger family, and they have maintained a three-person commute mode using the Vanishing Cabinet ever since.

Harry's reasons were certainly valid: to avoid being alone and to ensure safety. However, since everyone had been living under the same roof for a long time, many things were bound to change.

Hermione foresaw this change and tried to stop it, which is why she decided to sleep with Luna Lovegood herself.