Slug Club Gathering

As seven o'clock in the evening quickly approached, Xiwen, Elshiona, Abraxas, and Walburga, the four young Slytherin wizards, headed together to the seventh floor of the castle. There lay Professor Slughorn's office, as well as the venue for the Slug Club gathering.

Along the way, Xiwen and the others wondered how so many students could hold a dance in such a small office. Wouldn't the cramped space make it impossible to relax?

Only when they arrived at the professor's office did Xiwen and the others realize how narrow-minded they had been.

Professor Slughorn's office door stood open. A cluster of vivid flowers decorated the doorframe, and above it hung an exquisite sign bearing the words "Slug Club."

The vastness of the space inside stunned every newly arrived young wizard.

The office, greatly expanded by the Undetectable Extension Charm, had been divided into three areas. The reception area connected to the entrance, with a bright green carpet stretching inward. Pots of flowers lined both sides of the carpet, resembling the ceremonial welcome of distinguished guests at an upscale establishment.

To the left was the banquet area. Two long rows of tables were laden with all kinds of dishes, main courses, and desserts, looking exceptionally abundant and tempting. Beside them stood a huge round table covered with a white cloth edged in gold. Golden-backed chairs matched the gold and silver tableware, and luxury practically washed over them.

The area on the right occupied the most space. The candlelight there shifted through countless colors, dazzling the eye. Against the far-right wall stood a large stage, where a band of house-elves was already playing light, melodious music.

Professor Slughorn stood in the reception area by the entrance, waiting for the first-year students to arrive. Numerous upper-year students sat on the sofas behind the reception area, chatting happily.

"Welcome to the Slug Club!" Professor Slughorn said brightly when he saw the four young wizards arrive.

Xiwen entered the club first, with Elshiona linked through his arm.

Today, Xiwen finally wore the formal outfit he had bought but never worn again. His short, slightly curly brown hair and azure eyes were paired with a plain teal-blue dress robe whose hem fell loosely to his calves. A pale blue shirt lay beneath it, while a light green tie hung at a casual angle. Most striking of all was the dark blue embroidered rose displayed over the left side of his chest, with a line of cursive script beneath it—"Roses Never Die."

Elshiona, who was holding Xiwen's arm, had her glossy bright golden hair pinned behind her head in a beautiful bun. Several sparkling diamonds adorned it, making it especially lovely. She wore a pale yellow formal gown, with golden knots decorating its center in a luxurious line that extended all the way to her shoulders, forming shoulder straps like blooming flowers.

Abraxas and Walburga, who followed behind them, were no less impressive. Abu's unruly platinum-blond hair fell behind his head, and together with his knight-like pure white formal attire, it gave him an air of aristocratic elegance. Walburga wore a pink gown; although Elshiona overshadowed some of its color, she was still utterly charming.

The people in the club looked at the newly joined young wizards in amazement and began applauding without thinking. Professor Slughorn happily beckoned them over to sit down.

"Today is the first gathering of our Slug Club for this school year. I'm delighted that every member currently at school has come!" Professor Slughorn said, beaming. "I would like to formally introduce the four new members who have just joined us—Xiwen Rosier, Elshiona Greengrass, Abraxas Malfoy, and Walburga Black!"

Warm applause rang through the hall.

After waiting a few seconds, the professor made a calming gesture with his hand. "It's getting late, and I imagine everyone is hungry. Why don't we begin the banquet while the food is still hot?"

The upper-year students eagerly rushed toward the long tables to take the food they wanted. Professor Slughorn personally guided Xiwen and the other three through the banquet arrangements.

As expected of a lavish banquet carefully prepared by a wealthy Potions master, the Slug Club's food was more refined than that of the Hogwarts Great Hall, both in variety and taste. Xiwen and the others nearly forgot to maintain their elegance, but for the sake of their formal clothes, they ultimately restrained their urge to wolf everything down.

Finally, once the last desserts had been cleared away, everyone welcomed the long-awaited event—the dance!

To accompany the dance, the house-elves switched to a lively, rhythmic tune.

With a thoroughly unwilling expression on his face, Xiwen was forcibly dragged onto the stage by Elshiona, who tugged him along by the arm. She first pulled his arm into position, then carefully explained the points he needed to watch out for.

"Follow the music. You step forward with your left foot first, and I'll step back with my right foot at the same time," Elshiona said. "Remember, the emphasis in the first measure is on the left foot, then it switches to the right foot in the second measure. After that, the emphasis alternates between left and right."

Xiwen nodded nervously and took his first step with Elshiona, only to immediately feel that something was wrong beneath his foot.

"Ah!" Elshiona cried out in pain. "Your step was too big!"

"Sorry, Elshiona," Xiwen said apologetically. At the same time, he released her slender waist, pulled out his wand from his pocket, and used a Cleaning Charm to clean her little golden shoes.

"Don't bother casting spells. You'll just step on them and dirty them again in a moment." Elshiona rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "Also, just call me El. Isn't it troublesome to use my full name every time?"

"Okay, El." Xiwen nodded, but he had no spare attention to notice Elshiona's slightly flushed cheeks. He merely focused intently on following the music, terrified of stepping on his partner's feet again.

Fortunately, he had always possessed decent physical ability and coordination, and his sense of rhythm was not bad either. Within a few minutes, after stepping on El's feet three or four times, he finally managed to roughly keep up with her rhythm and barely learned how to dance.

After several lively songs ended, Xiwen sat on a tall round stool nearby, drenched in sweat, and asked a house-elf for a glass of honey water. Even his intense morning training every day had never left him this exhausted!

El, on the other hand, sat beside him with ease, elegantly sipping a glass of lemon juice.

"Not bad. You don't even look like a beginner anymore!" she said happily.

"Mostly because the dance teacher is good," Xiwen said modestly, making Elshiona laugh even more happily.

The two sat there chatting and laughing, leisurely watching the club members spin merrily across the dance floor. It felt exceptionally pleasant.

Just then, an unwelcome visitor interrupted their pleasant moment.

"So you really were invited by the professor at your very first gathering. Just what one would expect from a pure-blood aristocrat." A teasing voice came from beside Xiwen.

Xiwen turned and saw a witch in a black velvet formal gown walking gracefully toward them.

Her smooth silver-gray hair draped behind her shoulders, one strand covering her ear and falling before her fair collarbone, contrasting beautifully with her black gown. Compared to Elshiona's girlish charm, she possessed a slightly more mature beauty and a curvaceous figure. The only flaw was the ordinary black-rimmed glasses on her face, which concealed her gentle features.

"Goshawk?" Xiwen looked at the Ravenclaw prefect in surprise.

"What, only aristocratic families like yours are allowed to join the Slug Club?" Miranda raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what I meant..." Xiwen touched his nose, thinking that judging by Ravenclaw's method of selecting prefects, Miranda was undoubtedly first in her year. There was no way Professor Slughorn would pass over such an outstanding student.

But Miranda's next words left Xiwen rooted to the spot.

"Would you be willing to dance with me?"

Miranda curled her lips into a smile.