Over the past two weeks, Snape had used Legilimency on dozens of students, yet he still had no idea who Waters would attend the ball with. The mere thought of her dancing in someone else's arms—perhaps wearing a backless dress, low neckline, or high-slit gown—being embraced by some pimply, hormone-addled, straw-brained adolescent boy... it made his fingers itch to cast a particularly nasty hex.
When the lights dimmed, their hands would inevitably become less than proper... They might even spirit her away somewhere private...
Snape felt that unwelcome emotion churning within him again—the one he refused to acknowledge. He pressed his lips into a razor-thin line, forbidding himself from imagining what might follow. This only made him appear more menacing than usual, creating an eerie one-meter radius of empty space around him as students instinctively gave him a wide berth.
"You only see Waters as your student," he told himself repeatedly.
"She's merely a younger pupil you happen to mentor more than others."
"Think of Lily... You loved Lily. How could Waters possibly compare? You're simply irritated by those boys. Waters deserves better—the very best..."
Snape repeated these mantras in his mind, but his anger didn't subside. If anything, his thoughts grew more tangled and chaotic.
Finally, the castle's front doors swung open. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students flooded in. Professor McGonagall began summoning the champions to the front. Snape's gaze shifted from Karkaroff toward Harry Potter's vicinity. From behind, that unruly black hair was maddeningly reminiscent of his despised father. The girl beside Harry wasn't Waters, nor Granger, but another Gryffindor student.
"The most beautiful girl in your year is willing to be your friend—she doesn't even mind the gossip—and you don't know how to treasure her?"Snape sneered inwardly at Harry Potter.
His eyes then followed Krum to his partner. It took him several seconds to recognize Hermione Granger. Even he had to grudgingly admit that with proper effort, the girl looked... tolerably presentable.
Next came Cedric, accompanied by a dark-haired Ravenclaw girl.
So Waters wasn't opening the ball with the champions? Then where was she?
Snape's gaze swept the crowd with increasing urgency, but just then the Great Hall doors opened wide and students streamed inside. He had no choice but to follow the flow.
The Great Hall's walls sparkled with silver frost. The enchanted ceiling displayed a star-studded night sky, adorned with hundreds of mistletoe sprigs and ivy garlands. The four House tables had vanished, replaced by a hundred intimate tables glowing with lanterns, each surrounded by a dozen chairs.
Students scattered like chattering sparrows, settling at tables throughout the transformed space. The champions and professors proceeded to the front, taking seats at the tables nearest the high table.
Snape settled at the side of the staff table, with Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout flanking him.
Across from him, Dumbledore beamed as if witnessing his own grandchild's wedding. Karkaroff glowered at Krum and Hermione, his expression distinctly unpleasant. Ludo Bagman, resplendent tonight in vivid purple robes emblazoned with enormous yellow stars, earned a suspicious squint from Snape. Still, Snape continued scanning the students for any glimpse of Orli Waters, but the spotlights focused on the champions, leaving the rest of the hall shrouded in shadow.
Professor Sprout beside him kept clucking admiringly over Cedric, while Flitwick lavished praise on Cho Chang. Snape had no interest in joining their chatter. The only person who mattered to him remained frustratingly elusive.
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