After announcing the news about the Christmas ball, Professor McGonagall kept Sherlock and Harry behind alone.
This made Harry feel extremely nervous.
He thought his classroom snickering at Professor McGonagall's hairstyle had been discovered.
However, when Professor McGonagall spoke, he was stunned instead.
"Holmes, Potter, the champions all have their own partners—"
"Partners?" Sherlock raised an eyebrow.
"What partners?" Harry immediately asked.
Professor McGonagall looked at them both with a strange expression, as if suspecting they were joking.
"Didn't you just hear? I already said you need to bring partners to the Christmas ball."
Her gaze moved back and forth between Sherlock and Harry's faces. After confirming they truly weren't joking, she continued, "Your dance partners."
Harry quickly said, "I don't dance!"
Sherlock nodded. "If we don't dance, then we don't need dance partners."
On this matter, the two were in complete agreement.
"No!" Professor McGonagall said sternly. "You both must dance!"
"I won't!" Harry said stubbornly. "I don't dance!"
Because at that moment, Harry's mind suddenly conjured an image of himself wearing a black top hat and tails.
Beside him was a girl wearing a dress full of frills, just like the kind Aunt Petunia wore to Uncle Vernon's company balls.
Sherlock frowned. "The reason?"
"Because it's traditional custom."
Professor McGonagall was even more resolute than Harry.
"You are both Hogwarts champions—oh, and Diggory too.
Others may not need partners, but as representatives of the school, you must do what everyone expects of you."
Harry blinked. "Do what everyone expects?"
Sherlock shook his head. "That reason doesn't convince me."
"You heard me, Holmes, Potter—you must both find yourselves dance partners—so you're not allowed to go home this Christmas!"
Professor McGonagall said in an unquestionable tone.
Sherlock and Harry exchanged glances.
They could see that Professor McGonagall was truly angry.
"If this were a week ago, I would have said finding a dance partner compared to facing a Hungarian Horntail would be a piece of cake."
After the two parted with Professor McGonagall, Harry said dejectedly,
"But now I've defeated the dragon and face the challenge of finding a girl to dance with—I'd rather fight the dragon another round."
"Come now, my dear Harry," unexpectedly, Sherlock actually laughed. "Females are your area of expertise."
"I don't have any such thing!" Harry denied vehemently. "I barely know any female students at Hogwarts..."
"But they know you," Sherlock patted Harry's shoulder. "I'll bet you a Galleon that many people will invite you during this time."
Harry's eyes widened in horror, because Sherlock had never lost a bet.
Unless he deliberately lost to someone while investigating a case.
"But, but..."
"No buts. Actually, this isn't as difficult as imagined. We just need to choose suitable dance partners."
Sherlock said with a slight smile. "For you, I think Miss Chang would be an excellent choice."
"Cho—"
Hearing Sherlock's words, Cho Chang's face immediately surfaced in Harry's mind.
Yes, if he had to choose a dance partner, she was undoubtedly the person Harry most wanted to invite.
But...
Cho Chang was a year above him, not only very beautiful but also an excellent Quidditch player, and very popular.
She might not agree, would she?
Although he felt their relationship was good, what if?
What if she told him, "Sorry, Harry, I've already agreed to go with someone else."
Wouldn't that be terribly awkward?
Should he ask Ginny instead?
Just like Hermione said, she definitely wouldn't refuse him.
Besides, Professor McGonagall also said they could invite a younger student.
The news of the Christmas ball made the originally cold campus become lively.
In previous Christmases, those choosing to stay at school were always a very small portion.
But this Christmas was different.
Especially students fourth year and above—almost all of them were staying.
Everyone was obsessed with the upcoming ball.
Especially the girls.
Harry had never before realized that Hogwarts housed so many girls—he had never paid attention before.
Girls giggled and whispered in the corridors.
Girls shrieked with laughter whenever boys walked past.
Girls excitedly exchanged opinions about what to wear on Christmas night.
Whenever Sherlock, Harry, and Cedric walked by, they would often stop and giggle foolishly.
"Why do they all move in groups?" Harry couldn't help asking Sherlock. "How can we wait until they're alone to lasso one and pop the question?"
"Lasso one?" Ron nearby offered a quite practical suggestion.
Hermione shook her head somewhat helplessly, then quietly said to Harry, "If you're too embarrassed, write a letter with an owl?"
Harry's eyes lit up at these words. Right, using that method...
"However, I personally suggest you invite someone in person—if you have a clear target."
Hermione said, adding another sentence while inconspicuously glancing at Sherlock.
In the following days, Sherlock and Harry were both very busy.
First was Harry. A curly-haired third-year girl from Hufflepuff proactively invited Harry to attend the ball with her.
Harry was so surprised he refused without thinking.
The girl walked away looking hurt.
This made Harry feel somewhat embarrassed.
But he had to do it, because Harry had never even spoken to her before and didn't even know her name.
That wasn't all. Throughout the entire History of Magic class, Harry had to endure Dean, Seamus, and Ron's mockery and ridicule of that girl.
Before long, two more girls came to invite him.
This time was even more exaggerated—one was a second year, too young, even younger than Ginny.
The other was actually a fifth year.
From her appearance, it seemed if Harry dared refuse, she would knock him unconscious.
But Harry still mustered the courage to refuse her.
"Actually... she was quite pretty," Ron said fairly after finishing his laughter.
"But she's a foot taller than me," Harry said, still shaken. "Imagine me dancing with her—that would be a spectacle!"
Sherlock's situation was slightly better than Harry's.
Probably because people knew his peculiar temperament, so far fewer girls invited him than Harry.
Sherlock also refused them all, just like Harry.
What was surprising was that some girls, after being refused by Sherlock, directly turned around and invited Harry instead.
After once again refusing a girl who was taller and stronger than himself, Harry couldn't help saying to Sherlock, "If I weren't a school champion, they definitely wouldn't invite me!"
"Elementary, my friend," Sherlock said with a smile. "This is human nature."
"So have you two actually decided who to invite, or rather, whose invitation to accept?"
Ron couldn't help asking. "You know, quite a few people have come to me asking about you two champions."
As he spoke, he glanced at Hermione.
If this were before, he would have thought Sherlock choosing Hermione was completely normal.
But now...
Gemma Farley had returned.
No one said you couldn't invite already-graduated students, or accept invitations from graduated students, right?
So, between Gemma and Hermione, who would Sherlock choose? That was really hard to say.
As for Harry, it was simpler—just mindlessly invite Cho Chang.
Presumably Cho would be happy to accept.
The saying goes: those involved are confused, bystanders see clearly.
While Sherlock hadn't revealed his choice and Harry was still conflicted, Ron had already arranged everything clearly for both of them.
Before long, Hermione once again pulled Harry aside to the Black Lake under his surprised gaze.
"I need to tell you something. This time I'm not forcing you to decide, just afraid you won't be prepared—"
Harry saw Hermione's expression and his heart stirred. "Is it about the Christmas ball?"
"Exactly. If you've already decided who to invite to the Christmas ball, do it soon."
Hermione paused, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing her sleeve.
"Ginny chatted with me yesterday and said... said she wants to be more proactive this time.
If you haven't decided yet, she might come ask if you want to go together."
Seeing Harry freeze, Hermione quickly added, "Don't be nervous! I'm not telling you to choose her, and I'm definitely not forcing you to do anything—"
She quickly waved her hands, her ear tips slightly flushed.
"Last time I forced my ideas on you, that was already wrong.
This time I'm just giving you a heads up, so if she suddenly approaches you and you haven't thought about how to respond, you'll both be awkward.
After all... no matter who you choose, being prepared beforehand is better than being caught off guard, right?"
Harry snapped out of his surprise.
He lowered his head, kicking stones by the lake, Ginny's recent smile flashing through his mind.
Then he looked up at Hermione, his eyes extraordinarily sincere. "Thank you for the reminder, Hermione. I'll seriously consider it."
Seeing this, Hermione let out a long breath of relief.
"Then... whoever you plan to invite, it's still best to do it in person. That shows more sincerity."
"I know... What about you?"
"Me?"
Hermione froze, her fingertip movements stopping abruptly.
Her eyes unconsciously looked toward the far shore of the Black Lake, the redness from her ear tips spreading down her neck a little.
She really hadn't expected Harry to suddenly bring this up.
"If you've already made your decision, you should be more proactive too."
Harry looked at his good friend and said seriously,
"I feel like Sherlock treats you... differently than he treats Gemma.
He probably won't proactively approach Gemma, but if you never act and Gemma speaks first, he might just agree."
One day after this conversation, Hermione once again called Harry out.
"Could Hermione be inviting Harry as her dance partner?"
Watching Harry and Hermione run off alone again, Ron finally couldn't help asking Sherlock.
Sherlock gently shook his head, saying with certainty, "No."
However, even Sherlock hadn't anticipated that Harry and Hermione were discussing how to win him over.
"Hermione—we must grit our teeth and go for it."
Harry's tone was as if they were planning to breach an impregnable fortress.
"We're running out of time!
It's today—you go find Sherlock, I'll go find Cho!
When we return to the common room tonight, we must both have found partners—agreed?"
"Uh..." Hermione hesitated, but seeing Harry's determined momentum, she still nodded. "Alright."
As the proposer, Harry mustered the courage he had when facing the dragon and directly approached Cho Chang.
He kept telling himself it was just asking Cho one question alone—that's all it was.
Unexpectedly, when Harry thought this way, he found it very easy to encounter Cho.
She was just coming out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Uh—Cho? Can I have a word with you?"
Can't they be quieter?
Harry thought angrily.
Because the girls around Cho all giggled.
Including Cho's two roommates, who looked at Harry with a "just as we expected" feeling.
Fortunately, Cho didn't laugh.
She said "okay" and followed Harry to where her classmates couldn't hear.
Harry turned to look at her, and his heart suddenly had a strange spasm, as if he had missed a step going downstairs.
"Uh..."
He stammered.
He had clearly made up his mind, but when he prepared to speak, he found each word difficult to say.
Cho stood there, looking at him with a complex expression of confusion, anticipation, and pleasant surprise.
Being stared at by such a gaze, Harry finally couldn't hold back.
The result was that the words burst from Harry's mouth, said incoherently, without even properly enunciating.
"Be partner with me?"
"Sorry, what did you say?"
Cho said, barely suppressing the laughter in her heart.
"Would—would you be willing to go to the ball with me?"
Harry asked. So why was he blushing? Why?
"Oh, Harry—"
Cho's face also reddened, but she immediately smiled. "Yes."
"You agreed?"
"Yes, I agreed."
Cho looked at Harry's relieved appearance and tilted her head.
"So you never came to invite me—could it be you were worried I'd refuse you?"
Harry's face became even redder.
Cho immediately understood.
The boy's blush was the best answer.
"You know what?"
Cho said in a soft voice. "I'm the same as you—I refused many people's invitations because they weren't the person I was waiting for."
Harry: !★,°:.☆(￣▽￣)/$:.°★.
At this moment, Harry almost wanted to jump for joy.
Almost simultaneously, Hermione also cornered Sherlock.
She gathered her courage, her face flushed, and said, "Sherlock, you haven't found a partner for the Christmas ball yet, have you?"
"No."
Sherlock's gaze swept over her flushed ear tips and clenched sleeves, then thought of how she had left with Harry not long ago, revealing a thoughtful expression.
"Then, could you be my dance partner?"
After asking this question, Hermione lowered her head, not daring to look at Sherlock's gray eyes anymore.
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