Sudden News

"Would you be willing to dance with me?" Miranda asked with a smile.

Xiwen noticed Elshiona's expression growing darker and darker. He then glanced at Miranda, who was more than half a head taller than him, and decided that dancing with her would be far too embarrassing. He firmly refused.

"I'd better not. Besides, I'm not very good at dancing. You can find some older students who are good dancers."

Miranda's expression did not change. She merely gave Xiwen a look and said with an amused smile, "I heard you wanted to borrow my class notes?"

In an instant, Xiwen shot to his feet. Elshiona's expression, which had only just eased, immediately darkened again.

"It would be my honor!" Xiwen said, giving a slight bow.

What was dignity compared to the notes of an academic genius?

Elshiona finally could not sit still any longer. After glaring at Xiwen, she turned and glared furiously at Miranda.

"Senior, Xiwen is my dance partner! You can find your own partner to dance with," she said through gritted teeth.

Miranda was completely unfazed. Smiling, she said, "First, I don't currently have a dance partner. Second, at a ball, you don't necessarily have to spend the entire night with your partner. A dance partner is only a partner, not a lover. Don't you agree?"

Elshiona was so angry that she could not speak. All she could do was glare at Xiwen indignantly, warning him with her eyes not to agree.

Xiwen looked innocently at Elshiona, then at Miranda, and decided it was best to remain silent.

At that moment, Miranda brought out her trump card.

"I heard things haven't been going too well for you in Herbology lately. Do you need some help?"

Xiwen immediately could not stay put. He gave Elshiona an apologetic look and followed Miranda onto the dance floor.

Miranda placed her left hand on Xiwen's shoulder and held his left hand with her right, assuming a standard dancing posture. Then she casually teased, "That little girl seems to like you quite a bit."

Xiwen wore a helpless expression as he retorted, "What does an eleven-year-old girl know about liking someone?"

Miranda looked at him with some amusement. "You say that as if you aren't eleven too."

"To be precise, I'll be twelve soon!" Xiwen said solemnly. "By the way, how did you know about my situation in Herbology?"

"Don't you know? The Ravenclaw first-years often talk about you. I happened to overhear it."

"That actually happened?" Xiwen found it a little hard to believe. He thought he had usually kept a fairly low profile.

Then he thought of his outstanding performances in Transfiguration and Charms, the way the Herbology professor had singled him out, and even the fact that he had skipped class on the second day of school. He really did seem rather conspicuous...

"All right, enough about that. I didn't come here specifically to dance with you." After Xiwen stepped on her foot, Miranda swiftly stepped on his in return. Then, as if nothing had happened, she casually added, "It isn't easy to catch you alone normally."

"Hiss!" Xiwen sucked in a sharp breath. Getting stomped on by high heels really did not feel good.

"What is it?" he asked, grimacing in pain.

Miranda said, "Has your family been in frequent contact with the France branch lately?"

Upon hearing that, Xiwen turned serious. "Did something happen?"

Miranda nodded. She leaned a little closer to Xiwen and whispered, "Headmaster Dippet convened all the prefects for an emergency meeting today. He told us that one of the magical nodes in Hogwarts Castle's magical network has been damaged."

"What?" Xiwen's pupils widened, and he nearly cried out. Fortunately, Miranda quickly covered his mouth, preventing anyone else from noticing.

Neither of them noticed that, from a distance, Elshiona saw their seemingly intimate gesture. She stomped her foot hard, her expression turning extremely ugly...

"Don't spread this around," Miranda reminded Xiwen. "It could cause panic."

Xiwen nodded and asked, "Did a professor ask you to question me?"

"No. I came to ask you on my own. The professors think a first-year student should not be dragged into this. So remember, don't tell anyone!" Miranda shook her head, warning him as she spoke. "So, is your family actually in contact with the France branch?"

Xiwen frowned and slowly shook his head. "I don't know. Even if there is contact, my mother would be the one handling it."

Then his eyes suddenly widened. "You suspect Grindelwald is involved?"

Miranda said, "It's only a slight suspicion. That's why I came to ask you in secret, isn't it?"

Xiwen thought for a moment before saying, "How about this? I'll write to my mother when I get back and ask her about it, though I can't guarantee it will be useful."

Miranda nodded. Then she stepped on Xiwen again with her high heel, casually released his hand, and went to sit on a nearby sofa to read.

Xiwen stood awkwardly where he was. He had not been skilled at dancing to begin with, and after being hit with such shocking news, his distracted mind had thrown off his rhythm completely. He had no idea how many times he had stepped on Miranda's feet...

Xiwen ultimately did not have the nerve to approach Miranda about borrowing her class notes just then. He could only return to the sofa beside Elshiona, only to find that she merely gave him a cold glance. She was too angry to speak to him at all.

Xiwen, burdened with worries, was not in the mood to talk either. He endured until the gathering ended, then hurried back to his dormitory and began writing a letter to Sandrine—

"Dear Sandrine: Everything has been well at school these past few days, except that I overslept on Tuesday afternoon and missed two classes, earning some special attention from the Herbology professor..."

Xiwen first told her about the interesting things that had happened over the past few days, along with the more embarrassing parts of his experiences. Only then did he casually bring up whether the family had any contact with the France branch. He did not mention Grindelwald's name. After all, Miranda only suspected that the Dark Lord might be behind it and had no real evidence. Telling Sandrine would only make her worry for nothing.

After hesitating slightly, Xiwen still shamelessly mentioned Elshiona to Sandrine.

"...Your son seems to be quite charming. Elshiona, whom you praised before, probably has a little crush on me now. However, considering that we are both still too young, I think it is far too early for such things, so I have no intention of responding for the time being..."

Xiwen reread the letter. The more he looked at it, the more embarrassed he felt, so he silently crossed out the lines below, leaving only the words, "I get along quite well with Elshiona."

Then he borrowed the owl Mobley kept on the dormitory windowsill, rolled up the letter and placed it into the message tube attached to the owl's leg, and sent it out.

Watching the poor owl leave through the main entrance and, like a young wizard, take the stairs down to the ground floor, Xiwen could not help complaining about the location of the Slytherin common room again...

Meanwhile, ghost Xiwen had run into quite a bit of trouble.