Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 279 The Head Mistress of the Potter House
It's no wonder Cassandra reacted this way; anyone who heard such explosive news would be speechless with shock.

While Cassandra's reaction was a bit over the top, it was indeed understandable.

Harry wiped the pumpkin juice off his face; he really hadn't expected Cassandra to react this way.

You could have at least shouted something, why did you spray me with pumpkin juice?

"I'm sorry." Cassandra suppressed a laugh and took out a handkerchief to wipe Harry's face. "I'm so surprised, so very surprised... I really didn't expect it to turn out like this... What about you?"

“I’m so surprised.” Harry let Cassandra wipe his face.

“I’m so surprised,” Papiyas said from the side. “So, when Vivi comes back, should we tell her about it?”

"Isn't this a bit much?" Harry said, scratching his head. "Gail didn't say he was planning to do anything bad. Is it a bit unfair of us to just sell him out like this?"

“It’s not that we’re being unfair,” Cassandra said, arms crossed. “Grindelwald will find out eventually, and besides, it’s only right and proper that we tell her the truth.”

"Why?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cassandra spread her hands and tilted her little face up.

"I just wanted to see Grindelwald's reaction."

Oh, Harry figured it out.

Cassandra didn't intend to tell Vivi about it; she simply wanted to know how Vivi would react if she found out.

To put it bluntly—she wanted to see some fun.

In that case...

Harry thought to himself, "Actually, I'd love to see some fun too."

Just then, Vivi returned to her seat.

"Hey, what's everyone doing sitting here?" Vivi smiled as she sat down in a chair. "Sorry, I just got a call from the department, I had to deal with it... Why aren't you guys dancing anymore? Papiyas? Weren't you saying you wanted to dance with Harry a lot more? Why are you taking a break now?"

She was clearly unaware of what was happening and was still in the mood to joke around.

Papiyas glanced at Cassandra, then at Harry, still debating whether or not he should speak.

Seeing her hesitant look, Vivi asked curiously, "What's wrong? What's wrong with you...?"

"No, it's nothing." Papi quickly waved his hand. "I'm just... uh, um, nothing, just a little tired."

"Then get some rest," Vivi said without suspecting anything, picking up her glass of pumpkin juice from the table.

“By the way,” Cassandra said, seeing that Papbi was really useless. “Grindelwald, there’s something I think you need to know.”

"What's going on?" Vivi didn't realize that something big was about to happen.

"Did you notice Dumbledore's dance partner?" Cassandra stretched out her hand and pointed in Dumbledore's direction.

Gellert, who had been relieved that Harry and Pappy had gone down, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Holy crap, I have a bad feeling.

“Oh,” Vivi said, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, “she looks familiar, but I don’t remember her being one of the older women I know who is this age…”

“Of course you don’t know which old woman ‘she’ is.” A hint of schadenfreude flashed in Cassandra’s eyes. “Or rather, he’s not an old woman at all… what if he’s a man in disguise?”

"A man?" Vivi suddenly felt something was wrong; she even forgot to swallow the pumpkin juice in her mouth.

Cassandra raised her chin and said smugly, "Yes, think about it, which man would dance with our headmaster?"

Vivi's expression froze.

"puff--!!"

She couldn't resist and sprayed pumpkin juice all over Harry's face.

Harry: No? Sisters?
You two planned this out, right?
They deliberately sprayed pumpkin juice on my face? Is my face some kind of garbage can?
Vivi pulled out a tissue and carefully wiped Harry's face.

She tried not to think about what her brother had done.

When Vivi saw a man dancing with Headmaster Dumbledore, she almost immediately identified Gellert as the one in question.

Indeed, besides true love like Gellert, who else could make such a sacrifice, dressing up as a woman and dancing with Principal Dumbledore?
The family is unfortunate, the family is unfortunate!

“I still suggest that you don’t do that again when you get excited,” Harry said to Vivi, his face expressionless.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry." Vivi took off Harry's glasses, cleaned them thoroughly to remove the pumpkin juice, and put them back on him. "It's my fault, baby..."

“My fragile heart needs compensation,” Harry continued, his expressionless face. “Not just you, Cassandra just did the same thing—you both need to make it up to me!”

“Okay, I’ll make it up to you.” Vivi leaned over and gave Harry a light kiss on the cheek.

After the kiss, she sat back down, calmly ordered a small cake and a glass of juice, showing no intention of confronting Gellert.

“Don’t you think you have more important things to do than just sit here like an idiot?” Cassandra tried to remind Vivi. “The Grindelwald family can no longer afford to be disgraced like this!”

“The Grindelwald family certainly shouldn’t be humiliated like this anymore,” Vivi said with a slight smile. “But if I pretend nothing happened, then no one will know that the person dancing with Headmaster Dumbledore was Gellert in drag—and if I were to make a scene here, then the Grindelwald family would truly be disgraced…”

As she said this, she winked at Cassandra.

“But…none of this has anything to do with me,” she said.

"?" Cassandra looked at Vivi with a puzzled expression.

“I’m no longer a member of the Grindelwald family, Case,” Vivi blinked and smiled. “I’m a member of the Potter family, you should know that. What does it matter to me whether the Grindelwald family is disgraced?”

As she spoke, Vivi's expression was exactly that of the matriarch of the Potter family.

Cassandra took a deep breath.

She never expected that her plan to gloat over the Grindelwald family would backfire so badly.

Not only did they miscalculate, but Vivi also turned the tables on them, delivering a fierce counterattack.

The Potters...

Okay, that's great!

You're not even married to Pott yet, and you're already acting like the matriarch of the household...

I don't even want to think about how arrogant you'll be in front of your sisters after you marry Potter!
Vivi wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what Cassandra was thinking.

Isn't he just looking to see me get furious when I find out the truth, and then beat up Gellert?
Heh. Well then, I'll just do the opposite of what you want.

It's normal for the younger brother to grow up and make his own choices, after all, he is the current head of the Grindelwald family.

“Very mature, Vivi,” Harry commented. “Compared to what happened after you first met Gellert, your reaction is much more mature.”

"Hmph." Vivi snorted. "So what if I make a fuss? I can't really stop Gellert from doing anything... Oh well, let nature take its course."

Harry shrugged, grabbed the small cake Vivi had ordered, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He turned his gaze to the dance floor, where Hermione and Ron seemed to be having a blast, dancing wildly and exuding youthful exuberance.

“It’s so good to be young,” Harry remarked.

“You’re not that old,” Vivi said. “Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”

“Look at Ron and Hermione,” Harry said to her. “I think that’s what young people should be like, isn’t it? Want to go dance a few more times?”

“Go invite Cass,” Vivi said. “I need to eat something more. I haven’t had time to eat all day. I just ordered a small cake, but you, you little rascal, snatched it from me.”

“Okay.” Harry shrugged and reached out to invite Cassandra out to dance.

They stayed in the auditorium until midnight before reluctantly returning to their respective common rooms.

The Christmas ball was destined to be an unforgettable memory for the students, especially Neville, who was still twirling around his neck with those leather shoes on.

"It looks just like a maggot," Ron muttered sharply.

But he wasn't much better off; dancing with Hermione was indeed a wonderful experience.

Most importantly, Hermione at the Christmas ball was a completely new version of him. If she were always this beautiful, he probably wouldn't find her so annoying, Ron thought.

On the second day of Christmas, everyone got up late.

The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been a few days ago, with people chatting idly and occasionally being interrupted by yawns.

Hermione's hair was a mess again, and she confessed to Harry that she had sprayed a lot of quick-smoothing hairspray on her hair in preparation for the ball.

"But doing this every day would be too much trouble."

She complained as she groomed Jack's feathers.

“I still think it looks better that way,” Ron said, sitting on the side. “But since it’s such a hassle, let’s not do it that way.”

Vivi stayed at Hogwarts for a few more days before returning to Vienna.

It is said that she still has many things to take care of, and if she has time when the competition reaches the second event, she will come to watch the competition.

With nothing much to do, Harry invited Cassandra to go for a walk to clear his head.

“How about we go to Hogsmeade?” Cassandra suggested. “It’s been ages since we sat down at the Three Broomsticks, what do you say, Harry? How about we grab a butterbeer?”

That's a very good suggestion, and Harry wouldn't refuse.

The pub was as crowded as ever, and as Harry's gaze swept across the other tables, he spotted Ron drinking butterbeer with Hermione.

Upon seeing Harry, the two of them waved to him happily.

Harry bought two butterbeers from Mrs. Rosmerta and sat down with Cassandra.

“What’s that?” Cassandra pointed to the mirror behind the bar. Harry saw Ludo Bagman’s reflection in the mirror, sitting in a dimly lit corner with a group of goblins.

Bagman stood with his hands on his hips, talking animatedly to the fairies, who all looked dejected and utterly dejected.

This is indeed a bit strange, Harry thought. It's still the Christmas holiday season, and the Triwizard Tournament won't be held for quite some time. There's no need for a referee, so why is Bagman in the Three Broomsticks tavern?
He stared at Bagman in the mirror, noticing his serious expression—the first time Harry had ever seen him with that look.

Mr. Bagman had always been a kind-looking man, at least in Harry's memory.

Just then, Bagman glanced at the bar, saw Harry, and stood up.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Harry heard Bagman say to the goblins with a stern face, then hurry towards Harry, his baby face breaking into a smile again.

“Harry!” he said. “How are you? I’ve been hoping to see you! Are you alright?”

“Okay, thank you,” Harry said.

“May I speak with you alone for a few minutes, Harry?” Bagman asked eagerly. “Your Excellency, could you do us this favor?”

Cassandra stared blankly at Mr. Bagman.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Harry said to Mr. Bagman. “Don’t worry, you can just tell me anything.”

Mr. Bagman opened his mouth.

No, wait a minute?
Is this your girlfriend?

Isn't your girlfriend Miss Grindelwald?
But he quickly realized what was happening and didn't say anything.

This is, after all, Harry and Miss Grindelwald's private matter, and it's not his place to interfere.

Besides, it's not like he hasn't seen this Malfoy heiress appear with Miss Grindelwald before; it seems they're aware of each other's existence...

Forget it, never mind, this has nothing to do with me.

My grandfather lived to be over a hundred years old; his secret to longevity was that he never meddled in other people's business! Mr. Bagman thought viciously.

“Harry, I want to congratulate you again on your excellent performance in dealing with that wasp,” Mr. Bagman said to Harry with a smile, forgetting his gossip. “That was fantastic!”

“Thank you,” Harry said, but he knew Bagman wanted to say more.

He looked over Mr. Bagman's shoulder at the fairies in the mirror.

“Oh, you’re looking at them.” Mr. Bagman glanced back at the goblins and said to Harry with a grin, “Thanks to Miss Grindelwald and you, I’ve made quite a bit of money from the World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament… The goblins owe me a lot of Galleons, and of course… they’ve come to me now to try and bargain.”

"But that's not the point. I came to Hogwarts to find..."

At this point, Mr. Bagman looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "Looking for Barty Crouch."

“Barty Crouch?” Harry asked, frowning. “Shouldn’t he be at the Ministry of Magic? Why are we looking for him here?”

“He’s missing,” Mr. Bagman continued in a very low voice. “I was just about to come to you after I finished dealing with the fairies, and I thought this news would be very useful to you… well, to Miss Grindelwald.”

(End of this chapter)