The dismissal bell rang, and as usual, everyone stuffed their books into their bags and slung them over their shoulders. The classroom was in a flurry of activity.
Professor McGonagall raised her voice amidst the noise, shouting, "Potter—please stay behind, I have a few words for you."
Harry stayed behind, with Hermione and Ron waiting for him outside the door.
Once the rest of the class had left, Professor McGonagall said, "Potter, champions each accompany a partner—"
"What partner?" Harry asked.
Professor McGonagall looked at him skeptically, as if thinking he was joking.
"The partner you take to the Christmas ball, Potter," she said coldly, "your dance partner."
Harry was suddenly stunned.
The partner for the Christmas ball... a dance partner...
As everyone knows, a dance partner can only be one person, but I, Mr. Potter, have three girlfriends...
If I invite one and ignore the other two... Pabi might be okay with it, but Cassandra's jealousy and Vivi's anger could potentially burn him to ashes.
Maybe... not invite any of them?
But Harry knew, darn it... darn it, they would certainly... certainly they all knew, especially Vivi, who might call him any moment...
While thinking of this, the crystal ball in his pocket rang.
Mr. Leme had fully upgraded the crystal ball phones, and now the phones were not even as big as a fist, truly portable.
Moreover, they were equipped with a sensory-based Wingardium Leviosa to prevent them from falling to the ground.
"What's the matter?" Professor McGonagall asked, seeing Harry's face looking rather off.
Harry was her favorite now, not only was he good at Quidditch, but he also represented Gryffindor as Hogwarts' champion, practically her golden boy.
Even back in James' time, he wasn't as favored in the old lady's eyes—not even if he wasn't so cheeky, he still wouldn't reach Harry's potential now.
"Uh, it's Vivi's call." Harry shook the crystal ball.
Professor McGonagall also had one of these, so she naturally knew what it was.
"Looks like Miss Grindelwald wants to be your dance partner? I suppose she knows about this matter."
Knowing Harry and his entanglements with the three girls, Professor McGonagall sighed, "Well, it's something you'll have to think about yourself, but I must warn you, there's no precedent for inviting three girls as dance partners simultaneously, do you understand?"
Well, that means I could set a precedent.
Harry apologized to Professor McGonagall and answered Vivi's call.
"Harry," Vivi's hologram cheerfully greeted him, then noticed Professor McGonagall and greeted her as well, "Hello, Professor McGonagall, nice to see you."
"Likewise, Miss Grindelwald." Professor McGonagall nodded with a smile.
"Do you have any plans this Christmas, Harry?" Vivi asked, "I was thinking of inviting you to Vienna to spend Christmas together, just like before—how about it?"
Hearing Vivi's words, Harry froze.
Go to Vienna? Do I have any plans for Christmas?
Doesn't she know about the Christmas ball?
Since she didn't, Harry decided not to mention it just yet, after all, he thought it would be better for her to find out later, allowing him some time to breathe.
"I don't know yet, Vivi." He said, somewhat guilty, "I'll give you an answer in a couple of days, okay? You know I would never decline to spend a joyful Christmas with you, just like we always do."
"Alright, dear." Vivi's eyes gleamed with an inexplicable light.
After hanging up the phone, Harry let out a long sigh.
"I don't think avoiding the issue is a good choice, Potter." Professor McGonagall looked at Harry with sympathy, feeling he had some potential to be a heartbreaker.
"I just think I need time." Harry sighed, "I just need some time to think... to figure out how to make everything perfect..."
Professor McGonagall glared at him, saying nothing.
"Can I choose all three?" Harry looked up at Professor McGonagall, clinging to a last hope.
However, Professor McGonagall responded with a light-hearted NO and a cold laugh.
Harry was truly troubled, wondering what he should do—
Choosing anyone was bound to result in the situation he feared...
What about...
He thought for a moment, maybe invite Cassandra?
No, that's not okay, if Vivi found out, she'd definitely be furious—and Pabi wouldn't be happy either...
Then invite Pabi?
That's even worse, Pabi might be happy, but Vivi and Cassandra would probably eat them both alive.
Invite Vivi then?
That's also not great... What if Cassandra ignored him altogether because of this?
What to do?
Harry sank into deep emo contemplation, feeling like he had never been this emo in his entire life...
At this point, he'd rather be back on the field, facing a Hungarian Tree Bee again... no, he'd rather face ten Hungarian Tree Bees than be tangled up in choosing a dance partner among three girls.
Of course, just because he was emo doesn't mean everyone at school had to join him.
The last week of the term, the school grew more lively and noisy by the day.
Rumors about the Christmas ball were flying around, but most were outlandish—like, Dumbledore buying eight hundred barrels of Essence Honey Wine from the Three Broomsticks' Rosmerta.
Still, the rumor about booking the Quirky Sisters seemed plausible.
As for who or what the Quirky Sisters were, Muggle-born students had no idea, never having listened to wizard radio broadcasts, but from the excitement of those who had grown up listening to WWN, the Quirky Sisters seemed to be a very famous musical group.
Hermione, for example, knew nothing about the Quirky Sisters, but Ron was excitedly explaining everything about them to her, tirelessly educating her on the subject.
Some teachers, like the diminutive Professor Flitwick, seeing students clearly distracted, simply stopped teaching.
He allowed games in his class on Wednesday, spending most of the time conversing with Harry about the spectacular Repel Spell he had used in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, and the magic he had never seen before.
Harry was not one to hold back, sharing whatever he could.
Upon learning about Ancient Magic, Professor Flitwick was even less inclined to teach, instead grasping every opportunity to chat with Harry.
Of course, other professors weren't as lenient as Professor Flitwick. One could imagine, a stern old lady like Professor McGonagall wasn't going to open such a wide door for the students like the young-at-heart Professor Flitwick.
As for another even more heavyweight, Professor Snape would rather French-kiss James Potter than let his students chit-chat in his class.
He scanned the class with a dark gaze, telling them they would be tested on their Antidote Potions in the last class of the term.
"He's awful," Ron groused in the Gryffindor common room that evening, "testing us on the very last day—ruining the end of the term with loads of homework."
"Well... you haven't exactly been overworking yourself, have you?" Hermione peered at Ron over her Magic Potion notes.
Ron was busy using his Exploding Snap cards to build a castle—this pastime was much more entertaining than a Muggle deck of cards, since the whole structure could explode at any moment if he wasn't careful.
"It's Christmas, Hermione." Harry said lazily.
Sitting in an armchair by the fire, he was leisurely counting the patterns on the ceiling.
The warmth of the fire on a cold winter day, with a cup of tea—it was the epitome of comfort.
He had almost forgotten about the dance partner dilemma; all he wanted now was to clear his mind and relax.
Hermione gave him a serious look.
"Harry, I think the best thing you can do now is quickly settle on a dance partner... I know you're close with both Miss Swedding and Miss Malfoy, but that's no reason to hurt Vivi."
"I haven't hurt her..."
Harry sighed, thinking if anyone was hurt, it was probably Cassandra the most.
From the very beginning, he and Cassandra had been the best of friends, until Vivi arrived...
If he didn't choose her for the ball this time, she might be utterly heartbroken.