Harley's expression instantly turned strange, and she quietly took a step back.
Honestly, Draco's behavior right now was a hundred times more traumatizing than any trash he had ever said or any nonsense he had ever pulled in the past… and the damage was purely psychological.
On the other side, Hermione was completely at a loss.
If Draco had come to talk rubbish, she would've already drawn her wand.
But this brat had come to invite a dance partner, leaving her unable to react… After all, as the saying goes: one does not hit a smiling face…
Screw that! A smiling face needs hitting too!
Hermione was just about to pull out her wand, but Neville and Ron—who had heard the commotion from the hallway—had already stormed over, wands in hand and murder in their eyes.
The three boys were fast, but someone else was faster. His spell bypassed everyone and went straight for Draco's chest.
Bang!
The spell struck Draco squarely. In the next moment, a mysterious force caught him and launched him straight toward the window. With a sharp crack, glass shattered, and he shot out like a guided rocket heading directly for the Black Lake.
Harley turned around in confusion, only to see Snape lowering his wand.
His face was perfectly calm, his eyes evasively sweeping past her face before looking… somewhere—anywhere but her eyes.
"Not frightened, are you?" he asked.
Harley shook her head. "No… thank you."
Then she grabbed Hermione and the other two boys and fled down the corridor like they were escaping for their lives.
Sitting by the Black Lake with a fishing rod glowing faintly purple, Kasenhis felt the line suddenly dip.
"Oh! Caught a big one!" He yanked upward hard.
With a huge splash, Draco made his grand appearance.
"Eh? What the—? Did Ocean's Favor get overpowered to this degree? And Draco, what were you doing in the Black Lake? Swimming?" Kasenhis asked in surprise.
"No… Professor—Professor! I— one moment!" Draco unhooked himself from the fishing line, trembling as he waved his wand and dried himself within seconds.
He soon sat down beside Kasenhis. "Professor, I want to invite a girl to be my dance partner."
Kasenhis nodded. "That's good. Go for it."
Draco stared resentfully at the lake's surface. "But it seems like she doesn't like me. When I invited her, she looked… strange. Like I scared her."
"You don't know that girl?" Kasenhis glanced at him, assuming she was from another school—Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, for example.
In Draco's mind, Miss Harley's bright face appeared. Thinking back, he really hadn't seen her before. He nodded. "I don't."
"Hmm.. Maybe you were just too abrupt. Next time you see that girl, introduce yourself first. You can't just walk up and ask her to be your dance partner. What, do you have a hypnotic pocket watch or something? Why should she agree? Because of your face or your money?" Kasenhis shrugged.
"Wouldn't that work?" Draco asked, completely confused.
"Don't think girls are that simple, and don't think too highly of what you have. The world doesn't revolve around you, and it doesn't revolve around me either. You have to respect everyone—just like that young lady you've never met before," Kasenhis said, trying to comfort him.
"Then what should I do?" Draco asked.
"Sincerity," Kasenhis replied.
"Seriously?" Draco clearly didn't believe it.
"I'm a professor—would I lie to you?" Kasenhis raised an eyebrow.
"I mean… Professor, aren't you single since birth?" Draco asked.
Kasenhis said nothing. Instead, he smacked Draco with the New Mage Arts textbook and sent him right back where he emerged from—the Black Lake. It wasn't like he didn't know how to swim.
After sending Draco back into the lake, Kasenhis returned to his office. There, Harley was already sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of hot tea, trembling for reasons unknown.
Eh? "What's with you? What happened?" Kasenhis asked.
"Professor, I need to tell you something, but don't be scared," Harley said, swallowing hard.
"Yeah, yeah, just say it," Kasenhis replied casually, sitting back in his chair.
"...Someone confessed to me."
Kasenhis's eyes lit up. "Not bad, Kiddo! Quite the charm you've got. Who was it? Do you know that student?"
Harley squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Just remembering Draco's fake-refined, slime-bag face from after class made her feel physically ill. And saying this out loud was way too embarrassing.
"Don't know...."
"So? You're thinking about whether you should accept or not?" Kasenhis raised an eyebrow.
"Sort of....." Harley said on the surface, but in reality she was trying to figure out how she was supposed to hide her gender-swap from Draco and reject him at the same time.
After all, only a small handful of Gryffindors and a few professors knew about the gender swap. And after she met Dumbledore that night, he magically sealed the mouths of everyone involved.
Which meant this terrifying incident hadn't spread widely. But honestly, sealing their mouths didn't help much—its only purpose was to avoid affecting Harley's daily life.
But when the Christmas Ball started and the opening dance happened… the truth was going to come out anyway.
"My opinion is… what's the other student like?" Kasenhis asked.
Harley's face stiffened. After all, she had just claimed she didn't know Draco, and now if she suddenly said Draco was bad in every possible way, it would make her seem overly harsh.
"Emmmmm..."
She stayed silent for a moment, then chose to tell the truth—not the brain's truth, but the eyes' truth.
"That kid looks… fine."
"Oh? Asked you directly to be the dance partner?" Kasenhis continued.
"Yes."
"No introduction? Not even a greeting?"
"No."
Kasenhis's eyes curved in amusement. "Interesting kid. Mhm, straightforward."
Harley gave an awkward smile…
Straightforward…
Sure… if you say so.
"You want to accept or reject?" Kasenhis straightened up. For someone who'd been single since birth, watching young students' innocent romantic drama counted as excellent entertainment.
"Reject, of course!" Harley said instantly.
_________
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