Chapter 208: School War (I)
Time goes back to meal time 1.5 hours ago.
Hogwarts Great Hall.
"I have a few words for you all," Professor McGonagall announced. "The Yule Ball is just around the corner, and it's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament."
"The dance is open only to students in the fourth grade and above - but if you like, you can invite a junior -"
The auditorium suddenly became noisy, and the students began to laugh and cheer.
"The dance will be opened by the warriors and their partners—"
Professor McGonagall's voice was drowned out by the noise in the Great Hall.
The lower grade students complained loudly about this inhumane rule, while the higher grade students looked around, trying to make eye contact with their ideal dance partners. Some of them smiled quickly, but others looked dejected and wished they could bury their heads in the plates in front of them.
Some are happy while others are sad, and Ron is obviously one of the sad ones.
"Merlin, do I have to use a rope to find a dance partner?" He groaned loudly and slapped his good brother Harry's arm. "Harry, have you thought about who you want to invite? Did you hear that Professor McGonagall requires warriors to find dance partners--"
Harry said nothing, his eyes scanning the Slytherin table.
But unfortunately, Jane had not yet returned from Snape, and all he could see was the empty seat and Greengrass packing food for her.
Ron caught the heaviness and confusion on his good brother's face and asked curiously:
"What do you have to worry about, Harry?" Ron scratched his head. "You're a brave warrior! You just defeated the Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll all be lining up to dance with you - hiss! - What are you doing, Hermione?!"
Hermione twisted his arm hard, her face screwed up, her eyes straining towards the Slytherin table.
Ron finally understood the meaning of her eyes. He took a breath and looked at Harry with the eyes of a super warrior:
"That's something to worry about. If it's her, even though you're a brave warrior, I suggest you make more preparations. After all, the competition is fierce—"
"To be honest, I think challenging a fire dragon might be a little easier—"
Hermione slapped his mouth and said unhappily:
"Come on, Ron, stop giving me bad advice!"
She looked carefully at the commotion at the four long tables and said to Harry in an urgent tone:
"You must act quickly. Opportunity won't wait for anyone, and she won't wait for you either—"
"Did you see Nott and Malfoy sitting next to her empty seat? They are both from Slytherin, and there were some rumors before..."
Ron mumbled something, and Hermione could only vaguely hear something like "preparedness is the key to success", which made her roll her eyes.
"Oh, okay, just get ready!"
"We're ready until there are only two of you left. If you two are a perfect couple, you don't have to ask the girls to dance—"
She grabbed her textbook and walked away angrily, causing Ron to look at her in surprise:
"What is she mad about?"
After walking out of the hall, Hermione suddenly turned back to the long table and looked at Harry and Ron with her nose:
"As a friend I suppose I should remind you that Fred and George have already set off for the Slytherin common room with their fake wand flowers -"
Ron raised his eyebrows, and after a brief moment of surprise he smiled:
"I always thought that among my five brothers and one sister there would be the right one - oh, you're crazy, Hermione!"
His head was hit hard by the book in Hermione's hand, and he almost got a concussion.
But this seemed to open up Ron's Ren and Du meridians, making him suddenly wise:
"Okay, I understand. I won't have trouble finding a dance partner. If it doesn't work out, Ginny is only in the third grade and can't go to the dance. I can take her out to play - right, Ginny? - Ouch! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
His sister picked up his textbook and hit him hard on the head, which made his half-closed eyes filled with tears.
Ginny gave him a stern look and announced:
"No way, I would rather jump off the Gryffindor Tower than go to the ball with you—"
She angrily passed by the three people and walked out of the auditorium with the packed pizza, even forgetting her textbook on the table in her anger.
"Why is she so excited?" Ron seemed completely at a loss. "How else can she attend the dance if she is not old enough?"
"Also, why did she leave without finishing her meal? And she brought so much pizza with her. Won't she get fat if she eats all that?"
But the sharp-eyed Hermione looked at the textbook that Ginny dropped and fell into deep thought:
"I have to remind you that your sister should have gone to the Slytherin common room as well—"
"How did you know?" Ron said in confusion. "Although there doesn't seem to be a rule that girls can't dance with each other, this seems to be getting more and more ridiculous... Fortunately, the Weasleys' winning rate has become higher--"
His voice paused strangely when he saw the hand-drawn portrait of Jane Yu in Ginny's textbook, and he began to persuade his friend:
"Harry, why don't you make more preparations? I'm not saying this out of any selfish motive—"
Harry refused to listen to his advice, having quickly realized how unreliable his friend was.
If he hadn't seen the collective action of the Weasley family members with their families, he might have followed Ron's advice and made more preparations, allowing himself to struggle for another ten days or half a month, and finally making the invitation with a fearless attitude.
But now an inexplicable sense of urgency took over his mind, making him hot-headed, and he dropped his fork and stood up suddenly.
Ron watched in horror as his friend pushed his stool aside, stood up, and rushed towards the entrance of the auditorium without saying a word.
"Well, no wonder Harry can become a brave warrior." He muttered to Hermione, "I wouldn't dare to. If I were to invite Jade or the brave warriors of Beauxbatons, they would definitely look at me like a sea cucumber."
Hermione ignored him. Her brows were furrowed and she ran after Harry with her textbook in her arms.
"Where are you going?" Ron looked at her in surprise. "Are you going to invite her too?"
Hermione paused, and knocked his head with another textbook, saying angrily:
"Wake up, Ron! That's the Slytherin common room. Don't you know who they're going to meet?"
Ron covered the big bump on his head and looked towards the Slytherin table with tears in his eyes.
But I saw that almost half of the people at that table were gone!
This time he took a deep breath, stood up quickly and rushed out of the hall, determined to support his good friend and the Weasley brothers and sisters.
When a lion falls into the snake's mouth, can his good brothers and sisters really come back alive?
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