In the Umbrella House, the fireplace crackled, casting a warm and bright light throughout the room.
Vid was writing a teaching plan for the next Magic Spell Study Group—since Antoine planned to publish a book, the content of his lessons couldn't be too casual; they had to be meticulously prepared.
Michael finished a paper, tossed his quill aside, rubbed his wrist, and turned to ask, "Vid, I heard you invited Natalia? That Kodostorian girl?"
Vid continued writing without lifting his head, casually asking, "How come you already know about it, and it's been such a short time?"
"The whole school knows!" Michael said, "Two champions have become dance partners, you guys might be the only pair!"
Vid: "..."
If people spent half as much time studying as they do spreading gossip, their magic spell skills would at least double, wouldn't they?
Michael turned to Harry again: "Hey, Harry, have you found a dance partner yet?"
Harry slumped gloomily on the desk, looking like a mushroom, and replied dryly, "I hate Cedric!"
Theo immediately lifted his head from the book, nervously asking, "Did you guys have a fight? Why?"
"No." Harry sighed, saying woefully, "I just invited Cho Chang, and she told me she's already promised Cedric."
Vid turned his head and also sighed lightly.
It seems that even though he had warned Harry beforehand, Harry still missed the chance.
Or maybe Cho Chang always had a liking for Cedric? After all, that guy is indeed very handsome.
Theo's nervousness immediately faded, and he chuckled awkwardly, "Uh... look on the bright side, there are still plenty of good girls in the school!"
Harry buried his face in his arms, unwilling to speak.
Just like before when he confided in his godfather about how tough it was to invite a dance partner, Sirius was surprised, saying, "Dance partner... you need to invite one?"
At this time, the door was pushed open, and Hermione and Padma walked in carrying books. Harry gathered his courage and suddenly sat up, asking, "Hermione, can I invite you to be my dance partner?"
Hermione's face turned bright red instantly, while Padma rolled her eyes next to her: "What's wrong with you Gryffindors? You have to bump into walls everywhere before you see the good girl right next to you? It's too late!"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked blankly.
"Neville and Ron just invited Hermione too!" Padma said straightforwardly, "But no, Hermione already promised someone else!"
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, asking, "Who is it?"
"I can't tell you that." Padma winked slyly, "You'll find out on the day of the Christmas dance. By the way, who's the girl you're dancing the opening dance with?"
"Nobody yet, I've been rejected—twice." Harry lamented, casually asking, "Padma, do you have a dance partner?"
The room suddenly fell quiet, and those pretending to read books all perked up their ears.
"Um..." Padma's gaze roved, seeming to glance at someone, or maybe she was just squinting as she smiled: "No."
"Great..." Harry let out a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Oh, I mean... can I invite you? I don't want to go alone..."
He looked at the girl with pathetic, pleading eyes.
In an instant, the entire common room's atmosphere became awkwardly tense, Michael halted his parchment-organizing action, and even Vid lifted his head, glancing back and forth at everyone.
Only Harry remained oblivious to the shift in atmosphere, filled with the desire not to embarrass himself publicly on stage.
Padma's lips curled slightly, cheerfully agreeing: "Sure!"
Harry was relieved: "Thank you... really, you saved my life."
Perhaps because his demeanor was entirely like a child escaping from his homework, Padma couldn't help but laugh.
Michael silently crumpled up the parchment where he had inadvertently marked a long inkblot and stuffed it into his drawer.
…
In the blink of an eye, the term ended.
Since all students above fourth grade chose to stay on campus, and most of the younger students didn't return home, this Christmas holiday at Hogwarts was far busier than usual.
It was Vid's first time staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, and he habitually decided to finish all his holiday homework first, becoming the first to arrive at the Umbrella House every day to do homework.
Although Vid never made any requests, others followed suit, coming one after another, with Michael complaining while writing furiously.
"Come on, what's wrong with playing for a couple of days first?" He moaned, bashing his face against the Transfiguration textbook, saying, "We've been studying for a whole term, can't we catch a break?"
"Of course we can." Vid said, flipping through a book, "There are lots of people queuing up at the maze, you could go with a few folks."
"That's the problem!" Michael suddenly shot up, slapping the table indignantly, "With you sitting here studying so hard, how can I enjoy playing? Can't you just slack off for a few days for the sake of our wellbeing?"
Neville secretly nodded in agreement, looking yearningly at the two.
Vid finally looked up from the pages, incredulously staring at Michael and said speechlessly, "Come on, Michael... are you even listening to yourself, you call that reasoning?"
Michael: "..."
He turned and hugged Neville, pretending to wail: "I'm going to break up with this study machine! Break up!"
Neville patted his back, saying, "Alright, alright, isn't it about lunchtime now? Let's go grab some food together?"
…
The Great Hall was as lively as ever, with the SSC folks still sitting together.
Before long, Harry, who went to train for Quidditch, came over—although there was no House Cup this year, several teams were maintaining their routine training.
Later, Hermione and Padma came, who were reportedly learning makeup from a senior, Theo and Leian also joined, having helped Professor Sprout transplant plants, and the always bustling Fred and George sat nearby.
The previously empty corner of the long table suddenly became the most boisterous place.
Right then, Vid had just eaten a slice of egg custard cookie and suddenly felt a weird bloating sensation—
"Poof!"
Leian nearly fell off his seat, stunned as the spot where Vid was suddenly disappeared, with only a large canary left, eyes blank, apparently unable to process what had happened.
"Hahaha..."
The Weasley Twins laughed uproariously, while Harry swiftly tossed away the cookie he held.
Within less than a minute, the beautiful feathers on the canary started to fall off, and once they were gone, Vid "popped" back to normal.
He wasn't angry, merely picked up a feather from his seat, with a thoughtful expression.