Chapter 206
It seemed that the Hogwarts teaching staff sought to impress their visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as everyone's concern was to show the castle in its best form during the Christmas holidays. Balloons, colored ribbons, and Christmas trees spread everywhere, all chanting Christmas carols when you approached them. Amidst all that, Harry was still hesitant to ask Cho to be his partner for the celebration, and he and Albert seemed very nervous, with Albert experiencing the same thing as Harry, still hesitant to ask Hermione to be his partner, especially since Albert and his partner were the ones who would open the dance at the celebration with the rest of the champions, so he said, "It seems I will never do it!"
Harry said, "Albert... all we have to do is encourage ourselves and do it when we return to the common room tonight, and each of us will get who will accompany him... Agreed?"
Albert replied hesitantly, "Alright... Agreed."
But whenever Harry looked at Cho that day, he found her surrounded by friends and not going anywhere alone. He even thought of bringing up the matter with her if he found her on her way to the bathroom, but... no, even this she went to with a group of her classmates. But if he didn't do it soon, someone would surely beat him to it, so he said to Ron and Albert as he went upstairs, "I'll see you at dinner."
He decided that all he would do was ask Cho to talk to her alone, and that was it, so he hurried to look for her until he found her coming out of Professor Moody's class, so he encouraged himself and said, "Uh... Cho? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Although all the girls accompanying her laughed, she did not laugh; rather, she said calmly, "Alright!"
Then she followed him, with the ears of her classmates behind her, and they walked a little until Harry gathered his courage and said, "Cho... would... would you like to go to the Christmas Ball with me?"
He felt his face flush intensely, especially when Cho became flustered and her face flushed with the same redness as she said, "Harry... I... I'm really sorry... I already agreed with someone else!"
Harry felt every muscle in his body tense as he said, "Alright... no problem!"
She returned to saying, "I'm really sorry!"
He said, "It's alright!"
They stood looking at each other before Cho said, "Well!"
"What?"
"Well, goodbye," and she left him and walked away, and the redness of her face increased intensely.
Harry could not stop himself, so he shouted after her, "Who are you going with?"
She answered him hesitantly, "It's... Cedric... Cedric Diggory."
"Alright... then."
Harry completely forgot about dinner, so he went up to the Gryffindor Tower, and Cho's voice echoed in his ears with every step he took, and he began to think of Cedric differently and how he had defeated him before in one of the Quidditch matches and how he was handsome and enjoyed fame among the school students as much as Albert's fame, and for the first time he noticed that Cedric was a handsome boy without a mind or use.
He spoke the new password in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, as it had changed since the previous day, and entered until the common room, and looked around, and to his astonishment, he found Ron sitting in a far corner, and Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in a low voice. Harry approached them, asking, "What's the matter, Ron?"
Ron looked at him as if he saw him for the first time before saying, "Why did I do that? I don't know what made me do that!"
Harry asked, "What are you saying?"
Ginny replied, trying to hide a smile struggling to appear on her face, "He... he asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him!"
Harry's eyes widened, saying, "What?!"
Ron returned to saying, "I don't know what made me do that. There were so many people around us... and I lost my mind... everyone was watching me as I walked behind her in the entrance hall until she stopped to talk to Albert and asked him to go to the ball with her."
Hermione gasped loudly, saying quickly, "Did... did Albert agree to that?"
Ron did not look at her, but he said, "No... he didn't agree... I heard him say that he is thinking about who will accompany him to the ball, but he didn't have the courage to do that."
As soon as Hermione heard what Ron said, she left the place, smiling happily.
Then Ron buried his face in his hands and kept mumbling incomprehensible words, then he said, "She looked at me as if she was looking at a repulsive insect or something, and she didn't answer me... and suddenly I found myself rushing towards her."
Harry looked at him, then said, "Her grandmother was one of the Veela girls."
Ron looked at him, saying, "Girls what?"
Harry answered him, "I found that out by chance when I was looking in the library with Hermione about helping Albert for the first task. They are girls who have the ability to steal the minds of boys and men and make them run after them, but since you said Albert refused Fleur's offer, this means that her ability was useless with Albert, and I see that she was practicing what she inherited from her grandmother to trap Albert, and some of her magic affected you, which is what made you act like this. It was not your fault... and in any case, her attempt will be useless since Albert refused her offer!"
Ron looked at him, so Harry explained, "I just asked Cho to accompany me, and she told me she would go with Cedric!"
The smile suddenly disappeared from Ginny's face, while Ron said, "This is madness... we are the only ones with Albert who have not agreed with anyone to accompany them... except Neville. Do you know who he asked? Hermione!"
Harry was astonished while Ron continued, "He told me after the Potions class and said that he always sees her as nice and that she helps him with his lessons, but she told him that she is waiting for someone to invite her... I wonder who this person she is waiting for will be?"
Here they saw Albert entering the place, and as soon as he saw them, he headed towards them, asking, "Why didn't you attend dinner?"
Ginny answered him, "Now... stop laughing... we just faced a disappointment with two girls."
Ginny left the room after she felt that her brother had calmed down and was no longer in that state!!
After Ginny came down the spiral staircase!
She entered her common room, which was teeming with girls of the same age as her or slightly older, and from the same house, Gryffindor!!
Ginny saw all the girls in the common room forming a circle and sitting on the floor, talking to each other about the offers they received from the boys to dance at the ball!!
Ginny sat in front of Hermione, who was holding a fourth-year book in her hand, and a fifth-year girl named Parvati was saying, "Well... I was attracted to the Hufflepuff boy Cedric, and I wished he would invite me, but after I heard that he chose the Ravenclaw girl Cho, I accepted the invitation I received from the Slytherin boy Jack Rousseau."
Some girls cheered after hearing that one of them had been invited by the boys, and the rest began to say what was on their minds until it was Ginny's turn.
Parvati spoke, saying, "And you, Ginny?! Did someone invite you or not?!"
Ginny cast a faint look at Hermione, and her cheeks began to blush as she said, "Well... as is the case... Neville Longbottom from our house invited me yesterday, but despite that, I was waiting for Harry Potter to invite me! But unfortunately, what I hoped for did not happen, so I accepted Neville's offer!!"
Some girls close to Ginny clapped, and a slight smile appeared on Ginny's face. Despite that, Ginny was not happy with the matter. She had loved Harry since she first saw him four years ago in her parents' house, but despite that, she did not have the courage to tell him that!!
After seconds, all the girls cast their eyes towards Hermione, who remained and did not express herself. When Hermione saw that everyone was silent, she looked up to see that everyone was looking at her curiously.
Hermione spoke, saying, ".... I haven't received any invitation..." and she finished her words quickly to return to reading her book.
One of the girls felt that Hermione's answer was not interesting, so she said, "Come on, tell us... who is the boy you like a lot.... it's impossible for there not to be a boy who interests you!! Isn't that right, girls?!"
Everyone nodded in agreement, so Hermione said, "I am only waiting for that person to invite me. If he invites me, I will agree in a blink of an eye..." Another girl spoke, resting her hands on a cushion, saying, "Who is this person?!"
Hermione was silent for a moment to say, "Albert..."
Then a girl spoke from among the girls, saying, "Oh my God... I invited him last night to agree to dance with me... but he said the same thing you said, Hermione!! He said he is only waiting for a girl he loves to invite him and he will accept in a blink of an eye if that happens!! Is it possible that this is a coincidence, or is Albert really waiting for you?!"
Another girl, who had blonde hair and was sitting alone on a sofa, spoke, saying, "Hermione... if you really love him... this is the opportunity. If you don't take advantage of it... he will really slip away from your hands! It's the chance of a lifetime!!"
After Hermione heard these words from her friend, she began to remember these words frequently inside her head!!
To be continued.....