Hogwarts Castle was dressed up in a particularly grand way tonight, and it seemed that the professors of the school did not want to lose face in front of the teachers and students of the other two schools, and a lawn in front of the castle was turned into a grotto, and there were sparkling fairy lights in it, from hundreds of living fairies.

They sat among the magically conjured roses or flapped their wings on statues that appeared to be Santa Claus and his reindeer.

The Great Hall was decorated with glittering silver frost on the walls, a starlit night sky on the ceiling, and garlands of hundreds of mistletoe sprigs and ivy, and hundreds of tables with small lanterns piled up on the walls, which had been moved to make room for singing and dancing in the middle.

The Witch Choir's Quirky Sisters threw off their thick hair on the very central stage, dressed in deliberately torn black robes, and picked up their instruments, plunging the entire auditorium into a sea of music.

On the brightly lit dance floor, countless people danced, this is the third dance music tonight, the rhythm of the weird sisters is getting faster and faster, many people start to dance wildly, Fred and Angelina's unrestrained dancing posture makes the people around them push away one after another, so as not to be injured.

"Eight out of ten of the people who come to this ball are stupid."

Ron poured a large gulp of butterbeer and slammed the quilt on the small round table, foaming and leaving a wet little spot on the table.

"I hate butterbeers, they don't have alcohol, you can't get drunk with this, do you?"

Ron frustrated himself as he played with an empty cup on the table, staring blankly at the crowded dance floor in the distance.

"Uh...... yes......"

Harry was absent-mindedly coping, he and Parvati coping with a casual dance and came to Ron to rest, after the opening dance, the warrior was no longer the protagonist, he was finally able to catch his breath, but Parvati clearly hadn't danced enough, and after Harry made it clear that he didn't want to continue dancing, she and her sister were invited away by the two Durmstrang boys.

Ron didn't pay any attention to his dance partner, just drank his drink to himself.

"Sweet inverted teeth."

Ron touched the quilt and rolled around on the table before returning to him, Harry just echoing the "mm-ah" and his eyes on the other side of Cedric and Akihari.

Qiu Zhang frowned, wasn't she happy? Maybe now I can go and invite her?

"What do you think Hermione is doing? This school-wide celebration day, Christmas, reviewing homework in the dorm? Ron grumbled, his hands clenched into fists, and hammered the table again, causing the cup to shake again.

"yes—probably—"

Harry coped, he stared at Qiu Zhang, and when he saw her laughing again, he felt a sense of loss in his heart, and thought maybe she was having fun with Cedric? I definitely can't invite her to do a dance, and besides, dancing by myself sucks.

"Seriously, if Hermione just wanted to refuse, she didn't have to come to the ball, unless the would-be dance partner wasn't here, you said yes, Harry-"

Ron didn't seem to care if Harry was listening or not, he looked at the clearing in front of him with hazy eyes as if he was really drunk.

"Let's go for a walk," Ron whispered to Harry, "to a place where there aren't so many people." ”

Harry was about to refuse, but he saw Chozhang suddenly get up from his seat, skirt the dance floor, and run towards the foyer that led to the rose garden, and Cedric got up to follow, chasing after him.

"Let's go—"

Halfway through his mouth, Harry immediately changed his mouth and pulled Ron off guard, and he trotted out of the hall to the back garden, and down the stairs he found all around him low bushes and old oaks swaying with mottled shadows.

A winding path leads to the depths of the garden, stretching out into numerous branches, where there are all sorts of ornate decorations and huge stone statues, the sound of splashing and splashing, and apparently there is one or more fountains not far away, and a number of openwork benches, on which the occasional talkative dance partner rests and talks.

Harry didn't have time to pay attention to them, he ignored Ron behind him, "Where are we going?" You don't have to be in such a hurry, I won't run", he stood on tiptoe and looked around, and finally vaguely saw the bright corners of Cedric's gown, and he hurriedly followed.

“…… What the hell is wrong with you, Diggory!? ”

Under the shade behind the bushes, there was an angry question, and Harry immediately heard that it was Qiu Zhang, and quickly pulled Ron to crouch down behind the low bushes, and through the gap in the branches and leaves, he saw Qiu Zhang's body trembling, as if he was angry.

Only then did he realize that the smile he saw just now was not because of happiness, but because he was angry, she didn't call Cedric, but called the other party's surname Diggory, for some reason Harry was a little happy in his heart, and even vaguely hoped that Qiu Zhang would scold him a few words.

"You've been mentioning that man's name all night, and I said I had nothing to do with him, how many times do you want me to say it?"

That person? Harry's heart moved, who was it? Who could make Cedric bring it up repeatedly in front of Akihari, and why would he bring it up?

"But Megan? Jones said you knew each other. Cedric looked calm and said unhurriedly.

"So what?"

Harry had rarely seen Qiu Zhang's tone so unkind, and she often had the impression of a soft-spoken and gentle appearance.

"I invited him, yes, summer vacation, I invited him to my house, but so what? What problems can this be? Diggory, you tell me? ”

"I don't know, I just think if there's anything else between you and Ning An, it will make me ...... You know, you're culturally connected, you must have a lot of things in common, and maybe even look a little better at each other's looks? ”

Cedric's words not only made Qiu Zhang's eyes widen, but even Harry and Ron froze together, and Ron, who was not interested before, came closer now, pricking up his ears to listen a little more.

Harry only felt his hands and feet tingle, his heart beating extremely fast, oh my God, what were they talking about? Qiu Zhang invited Ning An to her house? Did they have such a good idea before? How did you not know?

Yes, he and the two of them were not in the same house, and they only met Qiu Zhang when they were in the third year, ah, oh my God, Harry didn't know what to think, and the sudden involvement of the people made him confused, his mind was blank, and even the idea of inviting Qiu Zhang with great enthusiasm just now disappeared.

"I didn't expect you to be that kind of person, Cedric,"

Qiu Zhang's eyes were red, she had never felt so wronged, and she recalled that she invited Ning An to come to her house as a guest, she waited for a whole summer vacation, but there was no news, and she was suddenly even more sad, and now she was still said, "Maybe you will look more pleasing to the eye when you look at each other?" ”

What are these words!?

"It sucks."

With red eyes in her eyes, she dropped a word, then turned her back and left without looking back.

Harry only reacted at this time, and wanted to catch up, but he felt powerless, what could he do, invite Qiu Zhang to dance again? Is she still in the mood?

It sucks, it's exactly the same way Harry is feeling right now.

"Hmph, that guy really isn't a good guy, I remember him and the Ravenclaw girl eyebrows, I'll tell Hermione when I get back."

Ron muttered, his face recovering a little, but there was a sudden gust of wind around him, but it was Harry who rushed out from behind the grass.

"Why are you doing this, Diggory!?"

He was furious, as if he was going to fight Cedric, who was taller than his age and stature.

"Harry......?"

Cedric was startled, turned his head to look at Ron, who was slowly walking out of the grass awkwardly, and asked in surprise:

"You're eavesdropping here? How long has it been eavesdropping? ”

"I ...... We just happened to be passing by," Harry said for a moment, but Ron stepped forward to explain

"Why did you do that to Qiu Zhang, isn't she your dance partner?"

Harry quickly forgot about eavesdropping and asked about what he was more concerned about.

Cedric laughed intriguingly, stared at Harry, and nodded slowly:

"We just had some small differences, I made mistakes, maybe some doubts that shouldn't be there......"

He stepped forward and patted Harry on the shoulder, as if he didn't mind yelling at him

"So now I'm going after my dance partner, goodbye, Harry-" Cedric said and turned to leave, leaving Harry unresponsive and Ron breathing.

"You're too impulsive, Harry, we shouldn't have come out." Ron complained, but Harry didn't listen.

Neither of them could see the smile on Cedric's face when he left, how could he have quarreled with his dance partner, this Cedric was of course pretended to be by Pani, he remembered hearing some rumors about Ning An and Qiu Zhang, after all, the two were the only two Chinese at Hogwarts, or a man and a woman, which inevitably made people think about it.

Pani also thought about whether to help Ning An, so at the dance party just now, he vigorously led the topic to Ning An, but he didn't expect to anger Qiu Zhang, but he was not Cedric anyway, Qiu Zhang was not angry with Cedric, Pani also felt that it didn't matter, as for whether Ning An was helping or blocking, he couldn't manage it now, he was a little hungry and thirsty after saying it for a long time, maybe he should go back and find something to drink, and by the way, invite someone to dance for a while? Slytherin had a couple of girls who seemed to suit his taste......

In Hogsmeade Village, not far from Hogwarts, it was also a festive atmosphere, with bells and garlands on the walls of Lady Padiff's teahouse, and a couple of men and women chatting happily in the steaming small teahouse.

“…… So it's the first time that the German Ministry of Magic has a banshee at the head of a management department, and it's a major breakthrough—"

"Well, I didn't expect Bu/Zhang from the German Ministry of Magic to be such an enlightened person."

“…… The key is that the banshees are also willing to come out to work, if they still hold the old concept and want to live in the Black Forest for the rest of their lives, then to be honest, the Ministry of Magic can't do anything, and they can't do it, so do you see, the most important thing is understanding and respect, and while changing, you must also think from the other party's point of view, which is the most effective means. ”

Ning An gushed that he didn't mention that he was an advisor to the German Ministry of Magic, but only that when he was in Germany, he saw the news and listened to other wizards.

Hermione looked at Ning An talking eloquently, with an unconcealed appreciation in her eyes, no boy at Hogwarts would discuss such a problem with her, and even really change her mind, her short-term goal was indeed a little more radical.

Maybe we should really respect the opinion of some house-elves, after all, not every pokemon is Dobby?

Hermione's eyes were all focused on Ning An, and he didn't want to leave for a moment, he was so good, even excellent that he felt admired.

For the first time in her life, Hermione had the idea that if there was a time-pause magic that would keep them in the moment forever, perhaps she would put aside her sanity and logic now and say the incantation without hesitation.

But that could only be imagined, Hermione sighed, which made Ning An interrupt herself.

"What's wrong?" He asked Hermione.

Hermione didn't speak, looked at him, and only felt that this boy was moving away from him a little bit, Christmas, it was almost over, right?

"Promise me." She said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Promise me not to hurt Harry."

Hermione looked into Ning An's eyes, and there was still one thing left unspoken—don't do anything to hurt me.

"Do you think I'm going to be like Voldemort and want Harry dead?"

Ning An was stunned for a moment, and then lowered his voice to speak, but he didn't feel angry at such words.

Hermione shuddered a little when she heard the name, but quickly calmed down, her eyes still not leaving the black pupils on the other side for even a second.

She felt like she was almost blindsided.

"Promise me......" she muttered.

"You can't expect to protect Harry like a mother, do you have to phantom and help Harry up when he falls while walking?"

But Hermione didn't speak, just looked at him, her eyes turned into a pleading look, Ning An saw Hermione show such an expression for the first time, and her heart couldn't help but soften, she cared about Harry, but more than that, she was afraid that she didn't want to let herself be mixed with Voldemort.

"Well, I promise you—"

"Really!?"

Hermione was surprised and delighted, she just suddenly flashed in her mind the picture of Ning An being ordered by a mysterious person to come to Hogwarts to kill Harry, which made her feel very painful all of a sudden, so she suddenly spoke, but she never thought that Ning An would really agree, she almost jumped up with joy.

"Of course it's true, I can swear I'm not a Death Eater."

Hermione stood up suddenly, leaned forward, her hands on the table, her face was red and hot, Ning An also shut up and didn't speak, her heart was beating extremely fast, because the two were now only a finger's distance away.

Ning An even felt the hot breath from Hermione's nose, and a faint scent coming from the front, and then a hand pressed on his face, covering his eyes, and his eyes became pitch black.

Then, the lips were covered with a piece of softness, warm, Ning An could feel the trembling of the two lips, and with a light touch, they quickly separated, and a soft and warm voice came from his ears

"Thank you......"

Hermione withdrew her hand, sat back in her seat, turned her head to look out the window, and said in a trembling voice, "Okay...... It doesn't seem to be early...... We...... Let's go......"

Ning An looked at her half-red dripping cheeks, touched her lips, and said with a smile:

"Well, okay......"