Most of the wood in the stove has been burned, and in the ruins that occupy most of the walls, the final struggle dance is done, and the scarlet tapestries decorate the walls, on which many radiant witches and witches are depicted, and they gather and dress up for Christmas.

"Are you really not going? Hermione? It's a Christmas ball—"

Harry put on his gown and struggled to smooth out the velvet stand-up collar that kept coming, which had taken him most of the day, but now the boy looked at Hermione with a worried expression.

"Actually, I'd love to invite your ......"

"Don't laugh, Harry—"

Hermione? Granger was wearing a thick crimson sweater, leaning back in the Ruan/Mian armchair, on this night when everyone was dressed carefully, either in a gown or an evening gown, only she was dressed in her usual casual clothes, with a book spread flat on her knees, Harry noticed that the book was called "The Mist of Fate" and it was a book about prophecy and divination, God knows where Hermione got it, maybe she didn't want to read it at all, this is what she hated the most on weekdays.

"The purpose of the Triwizard Tournament and this prom is to get to know more wizards from other schools, isn't it, and if you invite me, you'll lose this opportunity, and I'm really not interested."

Hermione rubbed her thick brown hair draped over her shoulders and leaned back again, burying herself completely in her armchair.

Harry's eyes darkened, yes, what he meant...... He didn't have his own intentions, and Qiu Zhang's apologetic expression appeared in his mind

"Oh, Harry, I'm really sorry"

Her face flushed

"I've already said I'm going with another person."

Harry? For the first time, Potter felt heartache, and he hated himself for not making the invitation sooner and letting Cedric get the first shot.

For a moment, he took a deep breath

"But Ron's invitation, you don't have to turn it down......"

"What's wrong, now you've got the hottest girl in the grade, aren't you, Ron is so happy - hey, be in good spirits Harry, you're a warrior!"

Hermione put the book aside, got up from her chair, reached out and straightened Harry's collar that was trending towards shang/qiao again, and said with a gentle smile:

"Don't let Parvati laugh."

Harry looked at Hermione in a daze, his face slightly haggard, and squeezed out a smile

"You reminded me of Mrs. Weasley, that's how she helped me get dressed."

"It's very unwise to tease a girl's age!"

Hermione shook her fist in a terrible manner, like an angry lioness, but it was clearly pretending, Harry shrank his head in fear, and the two of them looked at each other and laughed.

"Don't let those emotions haunt you, Hermione......" Harry hesitated for a moment, then hesitated.

"I'm okay, Harry—" Hermione understood what her best friend meant, chuckling and muttering:

"I'm just not interested in this kind of evening for the time being, and I don't have anyone I want to dance to – rest assured, I won't be thinking of jumping off the Gryffindor Tower."

She made a joke, and the two laughed again.

As the lounge grew crowded, Parvati came out of the girls' dormitory, Harry's dance partner tonight, and her sister Padma, who had been invited by Harry and Ron to join them at the Ball.

"Oh, damn the folds, these broken sleeves." Ron came out of the boys' dorm with a low curse, and Seamus, Dean, and Neville all came out, all dressed in long gowns, all looking cramped and uneasy.

"What's wrong, Ron?"

Harry asked, Ron looked a little irritated, his robe was different from the others, like a long skirt, it didn't look so ...... Pretty.

"The sleeves, I cut off the folds of the cuffs with a cutting charm, but it's still raw, oh my god, it's annoying."

As he spoke, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Hermione, who was back in his chair, and asked sullenly:

"You're really not going to the prom tonight?"

"Yes."

Hermione picked up the copy of "The Mists of Fate", Harry bet she wasn't reading it at all, since Hermione turned down Ron's invitation to the Christmas ball, the relationship between the two has become a bit stiff, Ron doesn't know if he feels like he has lost face or whatever, he hasn't talked to Hermione since then, and Hermione won't take the initiative to speak, this is the first time the two have re-talked so far.

"Stupid."

Ron threw down two words in some anger, this was the first time he had described Hermione like that

"Don't think I don't know anything, the person you want to dance to will never be at the Ball, you'll only ruin yourself."

Ron's voice was slightly louder, drawing the eyes of Seamus, Dean and the others on the other side, and Harry prayed that they hadn't heard anything said.

Parvati glanced up at the girl who was still chatting with her, and then slowly walked over to Harry.

She was dressed up extraordinarily beautifully, wearing a piercing pink robe, her jet-black hair was braided with gold ribbons, and the gold bracelet on her wrist was shining, but Harry was not in the mood to pay attention to how beautiful her dancing partner was for the time being.

Hermione creaked the armrest of her chair, and if there weren't so many classmates around, she would have stood up and argued with Ron, but as Parvati walked over, she suddenly felt bored, and her anger quickly subsided.

Standing up, without saying a word, he walked to the entrance of the portrait hole, and without looking back, the copy of "The Mist of Fate" was left on the small round table next to the chair, alone.

"Hey, am I missing something?" Parvati walked over to Harry and Ron with a smile on her face.

"Hmm...... Well, I mean, no-"

Harry looked worriedly at Ron, who looked like he was going to explode at any moment, glaring at the portrait hole where Hermione had left.

"Padma meets you in the foyer." Parvati probably thought that Ron was looking unhappy because he hadn't seen his girlfriend.

"Okay...... Let's go. ”

Harry was the first to speak, he didn't want Ron to say something "out of place" out of anger, and it would be too embarrassing to get angry with his dance partner before the ball started.

Hermione came out of the Gryffindor common room, and there were already students in the hallway dressed in tuxedos and walking downstairs together, the fat lady behind her had started celebrating Christmas early, and she was drunk with her good friend Violet in the portrait downstairs, leaning against the corner of the picture frame and napping, maybe everyone would be like this tonight.

Frowning, Hermione? Granger looked down and walked downstairs without saying a word, she hadn't felt this way in a long time, and she more or less understood the reason for Ron's anger.

Not long ago, Hermione could feel something, a little different, Ron's feelings for her had changed, she could understand, they were very good friends, the three of them had been together, she should probably agree to this invitation and become Ron's dance partner.

But whenever Hermione thought like this, that figure always came to mind—

"Wow, you're so smart Hermione, with you tutoring history, Professor Binns will be amazed at my grades!"

"I admire you, your talent is awesome, let's see who can get the first place this semester?"

The boy with the warm smile would always invade her memories like this, and then tear the fragments so hard that they would be replaced with another face

"Dig into the bones - Granger!"

Then she would wake up suddenly, and the sights and sounds around her would flood her ears and eyes anew, as if she had soaked her head in water and then jerked it up.

So she lost interest in these balls, dinners, or invitations, and she knew who she really wanted to go with, and she wanted to hear a tender invitation again, the first time she had ever heard someone praise her sincerely.

At that time she was a girl with buckteeth, unkempt hair, and ugly hair.

Hermione? Granger had to face her heart, she was so smart that she couldn't even deceive herself.

She wanted to go to the ball with Ning An, she hated Ning An, but she also liked him, and here the genius black-haired, black-eyed wizard seemed to split into two people, one was the boy who brought him the warmth and kindness of the spring breeze, and made her hazy love for the first time.

The other is the villain who makes her cry, sad, and suddenly cool down like a cold winter.

And now the news is that the guy seems to have become an out-and-out evil wizard.

Hermione felt like her head was getting bigger, and she ran down four floors from the Fat Lady corridor on the eighth floor, alone through the corridor on the fourth floor of the castle where many suits of armor were displayed, near the prize room, and through the hallway to the library, she needed a place where she could stay quietly.

There was no one in the hallway, and everyone was busy with the Christmas Ball on the first floor, and even a school freak wouldn't come to the library on such a day, unless she was either a depressed person who had no interest in the ball, or she was a madman.

Hermione saw a madman.

Laurel? Lannes, a Slytherin figure, was once the most popular figure, but it is said that she started to go crazy the last time she was hunted by Ning An at the World Cup, and now the Slytherin students are reluctant to approach her, let alone other houses.

Hermione frowned, Laurel sat behind a desk directly across from her, a thick stack of books on it, she was intently flipping through a tome, Hermione walked in and could hear her nervous whispering

"So the defense magic is in...... ...... for the dark arts The effect and effect are very obvious...... It's a conventional way to protect ......"

Is she afraid that people will hurt her? Hermione didn't know why Laurel hadn't come to the ball, maybe she wasn't going to be invited, so she pulled up a chair and sat down at another table, which was quiet if she ignored the crazy woman next to her.

"Oh, kids—"

Under the wooden railing next to it were the third and second floors of the library, and Hermione's familiar voice came from below, as if the movement of her arrival had alarmed Irma on the second floor? Mrs. Pince.

"Why do you have to come to the library at Christmas—"

She looked familiar with both Hermione and Laurel, and Hermione stood up and looked down at the wooden railing, trying to say something but Mrs. Pince preempted her

"But you know, the library closes at eight o'clock, and there's less than ten minutes left, so you'd better get ready to leave and get some good food at the Yule Ball, even if you don't dance."

Hermione's throat stirred, and she opened her mouth to make no sound

"Yes, ma'am...... I got ......."

The second half of the sentence turned into muttering, and from below came the sound of Mrs. Pince muttering and packing her things, as if she couldn't wait to go to the Christmas feast.

Looking back, Laurel had already left her chair and hugged the thick tome, and Hermione was bumped by her before she could see what the title of the book was, and Laurel didn't even look at her, squeezed past her, and walked straight to the deep fourth-floor corridor.

The moonlight shines through the window lattice, pulling her shadow crookedly and long, and she seems to be a little hunchbacked, so that she really looks like a crazy, old and ugly evil witch.

Hermione sighed, she still vaguely remembered what this Laurel looked like back then, it was one morning, she saw her and Ning An eating at the same table, they were talking and laughing.

This girl has a hot body, a charming and charming smile, and she is not at all like the current appearance.

She was muttering something as she walked past her

"Defend against the unforgivable curse ......?"

Shaking her head, Hermione slowly paced back, she just wanted to escape the crowded common room for a while, it was close to eight o'clock, the dinner would start at any time, and the students had all gathered in the large hall on the first floor, not to mention the Gryffindor common room, even on other floors, there would be no shadows of students.

Hermione began to walk back, and she could still see Laurel walking between the armor in front of her.

*************************************************************

At the top of the West Tower, in the owl shack, a brightly colored raven stood leisurely on a bird shelf, looking back and forth at several long-eared owls with gray and black fur beside him, and the other party also tilted its neck to look at it.

A slight tremor sound that is difficult for ordinary people to perceive came, as if some small flying insect was circling back and forth in your ear, and then there was a "bang" sound, as if a person had been conjured out of thin air, Rita? Skeeter slumped on a pile of dry straw stained with bird droppings.

"W-ah, this damn filthy stinky bird."

The witch took out a clean handkerchief from her handbag and wiped her red robe desperately, then suddenly looked up to see the raven standing on the birdstand in front of her, looking at her with a playful smile.

"Ah, master—"

She bowed her head deeply, and then the raven flew down from the shelf, covered it with its wings in place, and disappeared into the air in a circle, while a young man with black hair and black eyes and a beautiful face came half-squatting on the ground.

"Have you found our target? Rita? The boy asked softly.

"Of course, my master, the girl is reading in the library, and I have been staring at her for a long time as a beetle, and she won't be gone for a while."