After tangling with Emily for a while longer, Link finally sat down at the small table, sipping lemon water absentmindedly.
Of course, for this banquet Hogwarts had exceptionally prepared some low-alcohol drinks, such as butterbeer and honey mead.
Unfortunately, after the incident of Emily once drinking too much and ending up in the hospital, she no longer allowed Link to touch alcohol.
She thought Link might be allergic to alcohol, and that he should never have contact with such things again in his life.
It would be best if he didn't even smell it.
Link didn't mind at all. He never liked that burning-hot and bitter thing called alcohol anyway.
Besides, Hogwarts' lemon water had honey added into it. Purely as a thirst-quencher, it was perfect, very suitable for people like him and Emily who had just gone through intense physical activity.
The music in the Great Hall was still going on.
The Weird Sisters seemed to have endless tunes in their minds. Although the ball had already gone on for nearly more than an hour, none of their songs had repeated.
And as long as the music didn't stop, the swaying men and women in the dance floor naturally wouldn't stop either.
Only, their dance style had already shifted from the elegance at the start to casual and passionate. If not for the fancy dress robes on their bodies, Link felt this scene was no different from the nightclubs and discos of his past life.
Under this atmosphere, many professors also partnered up and entered the dance floor, twisting and moving freely.
Among them, Professor Flitwick's dance moves were the most outstanding. When that tiny body of his executed a difficult Thomas spin, everyone who saw it couldn't help but burst into applause.
But at this moment, the four champions who had started the dance at the beginning were nowhere to be seen.
Fleur was the most straightforward. After the opening dance, she had only hopped around symbolically in the dance floor a couple of times, then directly ran to the corner to rest. At this moment, she was swirling the red wine in her goblet, taking little sips.
Around her gathered many men wanting to invite her for a dance.
Some of those bewitched out of their wits were even willing to abandon their own dance partners just to squeeze in.
Unfortunately, no one could really succeed.
Not only because Fleur simply ignored them, but more importantly because Davies at this moment was guarding her side like a rabid hunting dog.
Anyone who dared to come up and talk to Fleur would be met with his merciless attacks, regardless of man or woman.
Krum wasn't doing well either.
As if to fulfill a duty, he had brought Daphne onstage for one dance, then returned below and began downing butterbeer nonstop.
As if determined to drink himself to death, completely ignoring Daphne.
This left Daphne somewhat at a loss.
Luckily, Karkaroff quickly came to the rescue.
He sat down beside them, continuously seeking topics to ease the awkwardness, and Daphne cooperated by responding actively.
Unfortunately, Krum still ignored them, just kept drinking, his whole body radiating a heavy aura of gloom. This drew the sidelong glances of many young girls with overflowing motherly instincts.
As for Harry, he was probably the most pitiful of all.
Because he was like an insignificant little weed, standing together with Ron at the edge of the dance floor, completely unnoticed.
Even their dance partners didn't care for their feelings, long ago abandoning them to dance with other men.
But they didn't seem to feel insulted. Their eyes were just dull, staring fixedly at a certain corner of the dance floor.
Out of curiosity, Link followed their gaze.
And then, his own eyes became just as dazed as Harry and Ron's.
Because he saw Hermione.
Tonight, Hermione had tamed her usual messy lion's mane of hair, using a large amount of hair-taming solution to smooth it into a bun. She wore a pink gown, giving her something of a fairytale princess look.
Honestly speaking, Hermione wasn't good at dressing up. Even now, she wasn't nearly as beautiful as Emily or Fleur. But anyone familiar with her who saw her would instinctively freeze in shock.
This was mainly because her current style and beauty formed a stark contrast with her usual bookworm look.
Most important of all, right now she was dancing with Ron's little sister, Ginny Weasley.
The dance moves of the two girls couldn't be called elegant, or to put it bluntly, they didn't know how to dance at all. They just jumped around and hugged randomly.
But their faces were overflowing with joy.
Especially Hermione.
With his Legilimency, Link was absolutely sure she was truly very happy at this moment.
This made Link begin to doubt Hermione's inclinations a little.
Emily naturally noticed Link's abnormality. She glanced at the long-silent, wandering-eyed Link, then at Fleur and Hermione, and finally sighed, "Forget it. If you really feel uncomfortable, go ask them for a dance. I won't blame you."
Emily's words pulled Link's gaze back from the dance floor. He lowered his head, staring at the golden cufflink on Emily's sleeve engraved with the Flamel family crest, and firmly shook his head.
"I'm not joking, you really can go ask them for a dance."
Emily pressed her face, which was already cooling down, against Link's cheek and whispered, "Flings like this are far too common among pure-blood nobles like us."
"Men, well, they're all like this. The more wanton ones even keep mistresses after marriage, sometimes even bringing them home. It's very common."
"But I'm more petty. At most I can only allow you to fool around a little before we're engaged. After our engagement, you'd better only love me. Otherwise, I'll go mad."
Emily's voice was incomparably gentle, like sleep-talking, yet carried a hint of encouragement for Link to actually do it.
But after hearing her, Link still shook his head without hesitation.
So Emily, in an even softer tone, said, "You really won't go? These two months can be said to be your last time of freedom."
There was nothing else to say after this.
Link sighed, directly stood up, pulled Emily, and left the Great Hall, all the way to the entrance of the foyer, where he held her and said, "It's too stuffy inside. Let's go take a walk."
Just like the Great Hall, the gardens and lawns outside Hogwarts had been specially arranged by the tournament committee.
Many ornate winding paths and huge plaster statues surrounded the entire Hogwarts castle.
And further away, countless little fairies with fluttering wings moved through the rose bushes and shrubs in the garden, roses forced into bloom by magic, spreading sheets of gauzy fairy light like fireflies.
The light they shed often elicited faint exclamations, because hidden in those secluded shrubs were many boys and girls who had secretly slipped out of the Great Hall.
And their numbers were still growing, since more people in lavish dress robes brushed past Link and Emily, impatiently darting into unoccupied bushes.
This instantly made Emily forget the matter inside the Great Hall just now.
Her face flushed crimson, her breathing grew quick.
She knew very well what those boys and girls in the bushes were doing.
And now Link inviting her to go for a walk seemed like he was preparing to do the same thing to her.
Out of shyness, she instinctively wanted to refuse.
But stealing a glance at Link, seeing his wolf-like gaze locked tightly onto her, Emily, against her will, nodded.
The corners of Link's mouth rose. Holding Emily's hand, he led her toward the depths of the garden.
Their steps quickened more and more, until finally Link pulled Emily into the bushes and pressed his lips toward hers.
"Mmm~"
Emily let out a muffled groan of unclear meaning. Her body quickly grew soft and hot, her eyes turning hazy.
But just as Link was about to go further, Emily suddenly stiffened, shoved Link away.
"Ah!"
She cried out, then quickly covered her mouth, bolted out of the bushes, and fled toward the castle.
Link made a token chase of a couple steps, then calmly stopped, straightening his slightly messy dress robes.
At this moment, Snape's ever-unchanging cold face was suddenly illuminated by fairy light.
"You still have a contract with that old relic Victoria."
Snape's voice was icy, but Link could hear a thread of warning in it.
Yet Link didn't care at all. He continued tidying his clothes and said, "I know."
Snape didn't speak. The flowerbed fell silent, only the rustle of Link's adjustments remained.
Finally, after restoring his dress robes, Link slowly turned, meeting Snape's gaze with the same cold, emotionless look, and said, "You didn't come here just to stop me from breaking that contract, did you?"
Snape didn't answer.
He stared into Link's eyes, trying to read something.
Unfortunately, Link's Occlumency was now stronger than his own. With just that level of Legilimency, Snape could learn nothing.
After a long while, he said faintly, "Karkaroff asked me to come. He told me a lot of strange things, most of which I didn't understand. But I could feel it, he doesn't seem to want to escape anymore."
"Is that so? I understand."
Link's reply was still calm to the extreme. This instinctively made Snape uneasy. He frowned and said, "He really seems off. What do you plan to do?"
"Kill him." Link said without hesitation. But after speaking, as if feeling it was a little disrespectful to Snape, he asked, "What do you think?"
Link's "respect" didn't please Snape, instead it seemed to anger him.
He took two steps forward aggressively and said harshly, "Kill him? With just those hunters your Flamel family sent around Hogwarts? Don't tell me you really think your actions are seamless, unnoticed? Link! What on earth are you trying to do!?"
"Don't worry. I won't harm Harry."
At this, Snape's pupils shrank sharply. He reached out to grab Link's collar, only for a jet-black snake head to suddenly emerge from Link's neckline, glaring at Snape's hand.
"Hissss~"
Snape wasn't a Parselmouth, but that didn't stop him from hearing the warning in Arkam's voice.
So he obediently withdrew his hand, his expression turning colder and calmer as he said, "You should know, right? Whatever you plan to do, you'll never get around Dumbledore. He won't allow you to run wild in Hogwarts!"
"No. He should be glad to see it."
Link pressed Arkam's head down and said lightly, "The brief peace has ended. The world is going to fall into chaos again. All I want is to protect my family, to keep them from harm. And you… you're part of my family too, my professor."
Snape didn't reply. Not even his expression changed.
So Link continued, "Don't you see it yet, Professor Snape? Whether Dumbledore or Voldemort, both are chess players, and we are their pieces."
"The only difference is that Voldemort plays brutally, while Dumbledore plays subtly and gently. That's all. But in essence, the two of them are no different. To achieve their goals, neither would care a whit for our lives."
"So, Professor Snape. Stop following their orders. They won't fulfill your wish, they'll only drag you into hell."
A mocking smile appeared on Snape's face. He laughed and said, "Then who should I follow? You?"
"Of course! You know me, I always favor kin over logic. How could I ever harm you? As long as you're willing to obey my orders in the future, at least I can guarantee Harry's safety." Link said firmly.
At this, Snape's eye twitched violently. He wanted to scold Link's arrogance again, but in the distance came the sound of familiar voices conversing.
Snape's anger instantly subsided, returning to cold indifference, and he strode quickly toward the castle.
But as he passed Link, he said faintly, "You must not assassinate Karkaroff. He's the headmaster of Durmstrang in this Triwizard Tournament. Kill him, and the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore will never spare you."
"Leave this matter to me, I'll keep watch on him."
"If killing becomes necessary, the one to strike him down should be me!"
Without looking back, Snape left.
So crisp and quick that his wide cloak whipped violently behind him.
In the night, he looked like a giant bat.
Perhaps furious at Link, midway he suddenly turned aside and dragged several half-dressed couples out of the bushes, deducting points, handing out detention.
And Link just watched his back, a faint smile finally surfacing on his once-cold face.
Only after Snape vanished completely from sight did Link step lightly, heading back into Hogwarts Castle.
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