The Ball, Snape's Gaze

The Entrance Hall was packed with students. The Great Hall doors were closed, and everyone was wandering around outside, meeting up with their dance partners from other colleges while waiting for eight o'clock to arrive.

When Kyle and Kanna walked over, they naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Fortunately, at that moment, Phoebe arrived. She was wearing a silver-gray satin robe and was stunningly beautiful, attracting everyone's attention as soon as she appeared.

Everyone instinctively looked at her dance partner...

"Fred?" Kanna couldn't help but exclaim.

"No, he is George ..." Kyle said.

"Yes, it's me." George winked at them. "But speaking of which, Kyle, how did you recognize us?"

"Because Fred said he had already found Angelina to be his dance partner."

"Oh, how could I forget that?" George slapped his forehead.

The oak front door opened, and everyone turned to see Durmstrang's students and Karkaroff walk in together. Krum was at the front, with a beautiful girl in a blue robe beside him.

"Wait a minute..." George rubbed his eyes. "Am I seeing things? Why does that girl look a lot like Hermione?"

"You're not seeing things," Kyle said. "That's Hermione."

"Merlin ..." George clicked his tongue. "Hermione's actually this beautiful? The ball is truly magical..."

George was right; after Hermione tidied up her messy hair, she really looked like a different person.

Harry didn't even recognize her as she walked past, and kept asking, "Where's Hermione...?"

It's a pity he didn't bring a camera; it would have been quite interesting if he could have filmed this scene.

At that moment, the Great Hall doors opened, and Professor McGonagall's voice rang out.

"Champion, come this way!"

Kanna nervously straightened her skirt, took Kyle's arm, and walked forward. The chattering crowd parted to make way for them.

"You wait here for a bit." Professor McGonagall led them to a Christmas tree near the entrance of the Great Hall, letting the others go Great Hall first.

The wait was a bit long, but since everyone there was someone I knew, it wasn't awkward.

Professor McGonagall came over again after everyone was seated in the Great Hall. She had the Champion and their dance partners line up in pairs and follow her inside.

They filed in, and the people in the Great Hall applauded enthusiastically. Kyle even heard a whistle, turned around, and saw... sure enough, it was Fred.

George instinctively wanted to respond, but a glare from Professor McGonagall immediately silenced him.

The Great Hall had completely transformed. The walls were covered in Winky silver frost, the night sky overhead was ablaze with stars, and hundreds of mistletoe twigs and ivy hung from the ceiling.

The biggest change is that the four college desks are gone, replaced by more than a hundred small tables lit with lanterns.

The same was true for the High Table, where five referees sat, watching them with smiles.

Kyle had intended to sit next to Chris, but before he could take two steps, he felt his hand being tightly gripped. With no other option, Kyle followed Kanna to sit down next to Professor Dumbledore.

To be honest, Kyle didn't really want to sit here... It had nothing to do with Professor Dumbledore, it was just that Snape happened to be right behind him.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, except for Snape, whose face was ashen as if he had discovered that his treasured Potions had been stolen.

And judging from his expression, Kyle really couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't add something else to his food later.

Unfortunately, in that brief moment of distraction, all the other seats were already taken, leaving him with no choice but to sit here.

As it turned out, Kyle's concerns were not unfounded; as soon as he sat down, he felt a chill on his neck.

Just like the completely transformed Great Hall, tonight's banquet was also quite unique.

After the Champion were seated, Professor Dumbledore picked up the menu beside his plate and, looking clearly at his plate, said, "Pork chop!"

The pork chop appeared immediately.

Ordering food... This is not unfamiliar to Hufflepuff students, but it's the first time it's appeared in the Great Hall.

However, Kyle had no appetite. The malice behind him was too obvious. If you put a Sneakoscope on the table, it would definitely spin sparks or drill a hole in the table.

Kyle couldn't help but straighten his collar; he really wanted to ask Professor Dumbledore if Snape had been in the kitchen before this.

However, compared to the restless Kyle, the others behaved much more normally. George was telling Phoebe some interesting things that happened at school, and Phoebe seemed very interested, even asking about the Hogwarts Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

She had heard of this amazing position even in Beauxbatons.

George suddenly became stammering. Although it was true, he wanted to protect Hogwarts ' reputation, so he just said a few simple words to brush it off.

Meanwhile, Krum was explaining Durmstrang's situation to Hermione, but Karkaroff stopped him halfway through.

He didn't seem to want others to know about Durmstrang, worried that if Krum talked too much, people would guess the school's location.

"Igor ..." Dumbledore a smile, "You keep this a secret so tightly that people will think you don't welcome visitors..."

"Oh dear, Albus ..." Karkaroff said, "We all want to protect our own private property, don't we...?"

"Hmph..."

As he was saying this, Kyle suddenly heard an undisguised laugh behind him.

It was Professor Moody. Although his back was to everyone, Kyle was certain that his magical eye was watching them through the back of his head.

"Dumbledore ..." he said, "If I had known Hogwarts was your private property, I should have asked for a raise."

"Hogwarts belongs to no one; it belongs to all the students..." Dumbledore said. "Of course, that doesn't affect your reasonable request for a raise, which I will consider."

Interrupted by Professor Moody, Karkaroff lost interest in continuing the conversation.

"I was just joking, Professor Moody," Karkaroff said, chuckling, but there was no hint of amusement in his cold eyes.

Half an hour later, all the food was finished.

After the barely touched Hungarian Goulash on Kyle's plate disappeared, Dumbledore stood up and told the students to stand up as well.

He waved his wand, and the table disappeared, replaced by a huge stage in the middle of the Great Hall, complete with various musical instruments.

Amidst screams, the Weird Sisters surged onto the stage.

As the only band featured on Chocolate Frog Card, they enjoy immense popularity throughout the Wizarding World; even a brief appearance is enough to send the Great Hall into a frenzy.

As they picked up their instruments, the Champion also stood up.

The first song they played was "The Glorious Hippogriff." Kyle walked into the brightly lit dance floor, feeling more nervous than he had been during the First Task the Triwizard Tournament.

Then he took Kanna's hand and placed his other hand on her waist.

He could clearly feel Kanna's body tense up for a moment, but then return to normal.

The cool sensation on his neck became more pronounced, but Kyle couldn't care less about it anymore.

He recalled the movements Professor McGonagall had taught him, and as the melody began, he led Kanna in slowly taking steps.

When he actually jumped, Kyle wasn't as nervous as before. His movements became more and more skillful, and he slowly spun around in place with Kanna.

Strangely, although all three Champion were dancing, and although Phoebe and Krum were also quite eye-catching, most people's attention remained on Kyle and Kanna, as if the stage had been specially built for them.

"That's wonderful..." Dumbledore's eyes flickered, and he lowered his head slightly as if wiping his glasses.

Professor McGonagall looked proud.

The person who amazed everyone now was taught by her... As for Professor Flitwick and Nearly Headless Nick, they were just teaching assistants and didn't deserve to be mentioned.

Of course, there are happy moments and unhappy moments.

With a snap, Snape broke the knife he had been holding. His eyes were fixed on the dance floor, and he didn't even notice Sirius Black, who was dangling around him.

Perhaps bored, Sirius when Snape ignored him. He found Professor McGonagall and politely invited her to dance.

Professor McGonagall readily agreed.

When the music was halfway through, more people entered the dance floor, and the Champion were no longer the center of attention. However, people subconsciously left the middle area, where Kyle and Kanna were, empty.

Soon, the music ended.

Then came the second song, which was much faster-paced than the first one.

"It's ' Magic Gadgets,'" Kyle said. "It's their most popular song, and it got them on the Chocolate Frog Card."

As they spoke, Kyle released Kanna and switched to a different, more cheerful dance.

They danced three dances in total before finally leaving the dance floor.

It's not that he's tired, it's because Kyle has only learned these three songs, and if he doesn't continue, he'll just be dancing randomly.

He looked at Kanna, whose face was flushed and who was panting, and asked, "Would you like something to drink? How about Pumpkin Juice?"

Kanna nodded.

Kyle walked toward the round table with drinks and desserts, where he saw Ron and Harry devouring pudding.

"You guys... you're not going to be eating desserts here the whole time, are you?"

"Yeah," Harry swallowed a big mouthful of pudding and said matter-of-factly, "We don't have to dance, do we?"

"Luckily I'm not Champion, otherwise I'd be in charge of the opening dance, otherwise..." He couldn't help but shudder, as if thinking of something terrible, and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Try this, it's Panna Cotta Jam Pudding. Ron and I both agree it's the best dessert of all."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. Good grief, this is practically a buffet.

However, he accepted Harry's suggestion and, in addition to the Pumpkin Juice, also took a serving of pudding.

Harry ate here for the time it takes to sing three songs, so the things he recommends should be pretty good.