From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 336 Christmas Ball
"Why can't I see Hermione?" Ron tiptoed around the hall, where students in all kinds of fancy dresses and robes, as well as men and women eagerly waited.

Everyone had to wait in the foyer until eight o'clock sharp, as the doors to the auditorium would not open until then.

Ron's dance partner was Ariana Dumbledore. The girl from over a hundred years ago had a good impression of the young man beside Harry who always said something surprising, because he didn't stare at her with a look that said "there's a Dumbledore here", and he always made some jokes to make her happy, although that might not have been Ron's intention.

For example, today, Ron's purple velvet dress and the moldy ruffles on the neckline and cuffs opened Ariana's eyes.

Compared to this, even the retro-style dress she was wearing, which was carefully selected by Aberforth, seemed pale in comparison.

"Tell me again about the time you asked Fleur to be your dance partner, Ron?" Ariana excitedly pulled a ball of yarn from Ron's sleeve. "Everyone knew she would be Ivy's dance partner... What were you thinking at the time?"

This is why Ron didn't chat with his dance partner, because Ariana didn't really want to dance at the dance, she just wanted to appreciate Ron's embarrassment from up close.

However, this matter has been mentioned repeatedly by Ginny, Fred, George and Ariana in recent days. He has become somewhat immune to it and no longer wants to find a hole to crawl into like he did at the beginning.

But even so, Ron's ears were still completely red, almost oozing blood. He pretended to be nonchalant and said, "I was fascinated by her beauty. It's no big deal. We all know that she is a half-blood veela. I thought the warriors of the Triwizard Tournament couldn't dance with each other, so..."

"Look! Fleur!" Ariana said suddenly.

Ron subconsciously half-crouched and hid himself behind his good friend Harry. Harry's dance partner was Ginny, which was the only thing that comforted him today, because Harry, like him, already had a partner.

Furong was wearing a silver-grey satin robe, looking gorgeous. Ivy, who was standing next to her, was wearing a cloak that was constantly sparkling with starlight. With his 25 points of charm, he looked as handsome as a god.

Following behind them were students from Slytherin and Beauxbatons. Both groups had high standards for their attire and appearance, so the men and women looked handsome and pretty in their formal attire. However, compared with the two warriors walking in front, they were not as eye-catching.

The oak door of the hall creaked open, and the students of Durmstrang entered the hall, led by Karkaroff. In the front were Krum and Hermione, who had changed a lot. But Ron and Harry, her two older sons, did not recognize their bird mother. Instead, Ginny and Ariana, their dance partners, were shocked that the ugly duckling had actually turned into a white swan.

Through the front door you can see the exterior of the castle. It has completely changed its appearance, as if in order to leave the best side of Hogwarts to foreign guests, Dumbledore spent a lot of money to decorate the entire castle with all kinds of things.

The snow, which had been made into a mess by the students playing snowball fights, has been smoothed out again, and there are now many ice and snow statues of Santa Claus and reindeer. Little fairies with crystal wings are sitting among the flowers created by magic, adding many beautiful lights to the night sky.

"Please come here, warriors!" It was Professor McGonagall who spoke.

Ginny's face was as full of blood as her brother's earlobes, but the expression she maintained on her face was not one of pretended calmness, but one of reservedness that tried not to let the corners of her mouth curl behind her ears.

"See you later." Harry and Ginny said goodbye to Ron and Ariana and walked forward together.

The crowd blocking the foyer made way for them to pass.

Professor McGonagall, who was wearing a red plaid robe today and a hat with a decoration that looked a bit outdated, asked the warriors to wait by the door until everyone else entered the hall.

"Today's dress suits you very well, Hermione." Ivy looked at Hermione's blue dress. When the girl threw away her book and made her messy hair smooth and natural, she would undoubtedly become another focus on the dance floor.

"Thank you for the compliment, Ivy." Hermione's hair was tied up in a rather elegant bun, but it was unclear how much softener was used.

Harry was very shocked by what Ivy said, until he looked closely at Krum's dance partner and realized it was Hermione.

Before we knew it, the bells struck 8 o'clock on Christmas Eve, and the crowd blocking the auditorium finally began to flow like a river whose floodgates were opened. Every student who passed by the warriors couldn't help but look at them carefully.

Even though Ariana dragged Ron to stay in front of Hermione on purpose, his dull mind did not notice Hermione's presence.

When everyone else was seated in the hall, Professor McGonagall asked the champions and their partners to line up two by two and follow her in. They filed in and walked towards a large round table at the front of the hall where the judges sat, and the people in the hall applauded enthusiastically.

The renovation funds approved by Dumbledore also included the renovation of the Great Hall. The walls were covered with glittering silver frost, and the ceiling was a starry night sky. In addition, instead of candles suspended in the air, there were hundreds of wreaths made of mistletoe and ivy. The four long dining tables of the colleges disappeared, replaced by a hundred small tables with lanterns, with a dozen people sitting at each table.

Dumbledore was sitting at the guest of honor seat, smiling happily. Karkaroff beside him did not look too happy, and was squinting at Hermione beside Krum.

Mrs. Maxime changed into a lavender robe, while Hagrid sat at the side of the guest of honor seat. He was wearing a fairly neat suit today.

Harry noticed that there were two people standing behind Lucius Malfoy. Or perhaps it couldn't be called behind him, because they were guarding the small door of the auditorium. They could only be said to be standing behind Lucius Malfoy, and they were wearing work clothes that were out of place at the ball.

Harry recognized them both: Ron's brother Percy, who had become an Auror, and Mad-Eye Moody, whom he had met during the summer vacation.

The warriors also sat down at the round table in the guest of honor seat. Ivy sat directly opposite Dumbledore, with Fleur and Harry sitting next to him.

There was no food on the golden plate on the table yet, but Harry was very hungry after playing snowballs for an entire afternoon and messing around with his outfit. He picked up the menu on the golden plate and couldn't help but steal a glance at Ivy beside him.

"Steak stew in Burgundy red wine." Ivy read it clearly, and a beautifully presented dish immediately appeared in front of him.

The others at the table figured out how to use the menu and followed suit. Of course, they chatted while eating. Fleur from France talked to Ivy about Beauxbatons, and Krum talked to Hermione about Durmstrang.

"The castle of Beauxbatons is very luxurious, it can even be called a palace." Fleur looked at the decoration in the hall with a critical eye, "I think even the decoration of Fontainebleau Palace cannot compare to Beauxbatons."

"Yes, your school director is so poor that he only has gold left." Ivy was talking about Nicolas Flamel. As a wizard born in Beauxbatons, Nicolas donated a large amount of gold to his alma mater after creating the Philosopher's Stone. All the gold was used to purchase various precious building materials and surrounding land.

Furong thought again of Ivy's boasting that night. After all, he had inherited all of Nico's alchemy knowledge, and he was such a talented wizard, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to create a magic stone.

The food on the table was quickly eaten up because everyone knew that the main event of the day was the dance after dinner, so no one planned to waste time on that.

Dumbledore led everyone to stand up, and then waved his wand. All the one hundred round tables in the hall disappeared. Then he conjured up a tall stage with a drum set, several guitars, a lute, a cello and several organs on it.

The weird sisters that the students had been waiting for for a long time suddenly appeared from somewhere and jumped onto the stage together. They were wearing very rock and punk black robes, with thick and messy hair, and picked up their respective instruments.

Amidst the thunderous applause and cheers from the audience, a slow and sad piece of music was played.

The four warriors and their partners walked onto the dance floor and brought the first dance to the entire Christmas party.

Although Krum and Harry were very talented in Quidditch, one of them was bow-legged and the other was too short. Moreover, dancing was not a sport performed in the sky, so their steps were not graceful.

So everyone's attention was focused on Ivy and Furong.

Miss Delacour from France was undoubtedly enjoying this situation very much. Her cheeks were pink with excitement. She pulled Ivy to dance song after song in the middle of the dance floor, winning waves of applause.

Finally, Miss Delacour was tired. She panted and said to Ivy: "Maybe we should have a drink...ha-and take a walk or something. It's so hot today..."

"Let's go to the garden outside the door. Dumbledore has cast a spell, so it won't be too cold there, and there are beautiful roses to admire." Ivy suggested. He didn't sweat at all and seemed to be at ease and calm throughout the whole process.

Furong readily agreed, and as they passed the entrance hall, Ivy used the wizard's hand to bring two glasses of sherry with lemon slices from the drinks counter.

The rose bushes and fairy lights in the garden sparkled and flickered, surrounded by low shrubs, ornate winding paths and huge stone statues.

"So beautiful." Furong couldn't help but sighed, "But--" She looked up at Ivy's profile again, "You don't seem very happy, Ivy, tell me what happened?"

"I'm not unhappy." Ivy always had a faint smile on his face, but in Furong's opinion, this expression was just hiding his true feelings.

"So you're not happy enough?" Furong asked tentatively, "I thought you enjoyed the dance and other things."

"I really don't like such a lively place, but as your dance partner, it is my duty to accompany you until the end of the dance." Ivy picked a half-opened flower from the rose bush in front of her and stared at the dew on the petals. Dumbledore's magic made the temperature outside more pleasant, but the snow underfoot still showed no signs of melting. This was a very clever move.

"I thought you liked me very much." Furong leaned her head on Ivy's shoulder, and her silver hair falling on her black robe was like the Milky Way hanging high in the night sky.

"I do like you very much, Furong." Ivy did not deny it, "but when it comes to 'love', it still lacks some passion and throbbing."

"Love?" Furong asked in confusion, "Isn't that an extension of liking? We are still young, why should we rush?"

Ivy didn't answer Fleur's question, but changed the subject: "Do you know the story of Harry? The Gryffindor champion, one of my friends."

"The Boy-Who-Lived?" Fleur replied. "Isn't it a rumour that he survived the Killing Curse?"

"It's true. He did survive the Dark Lord's Killing Curse. Not only that, the magic in his body also rebounded Voldemort's Killing Curse, leading to his failure." Ivy explained, "And the magic that protected Harry from the Killing Curse was the 'magic of love', which is also one of my main research topics this year."

"You are studying magic with me..." Furong widened her eyes in disbelief.

"I just went with the flow. Since the beginning of this school year, I felt that the hormone concentration in Hogwarts was abnormally high, and many people began to feel the beginnings of love, so I decided to develop a relationship and use my own experience as material to study the 'magic of love'." Ivy pinned the rose in her hand behind Fleur's ear. "I believe that lovers should be as honest as possible with each other, which is why I told you."

Furong touched the rose behind her ear and said, "How can I help you complete your research on the 'magic of love'?"

Ivy smiled and shook his head: "I don't know... maybe it's because I have devoted all my 'love' to magic. It's hard for me to have any emotional impulse towards other people... Of course, this is not to say that I don't have the most basic physiological reactions. It's just that these reactions in me have little to do with the 'magic of love'."

"It's okay, Ivy." Furong comforted softly, "You are the most talented wizard I have ever seen. You will definitely be able to figure out the 'magic of love'. Now don't talk, you should kiss me... Maybe a true love's kiss can help you figure out what the 'magic of love' is. Even if not, it doesn't matter. We still have a lot of time..."

Ivy thought the girl in front of him just wanted to kiss him and didn't care about his research on "love magic". But he was still Furong's dance partner and lover, so he had an obligation to meet her request.

　I will end Voldemort's life within twenty chapters!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)