Chapter 76: Yule Ball
When Prof. McGonagall informed the students about the upcoming Yule Ball, the majority of the girls in the class turned towards Neal who was just sitting in the corner of the class silently. A few others like Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, etc... were staring at Harry and whispering each other while giggling.
Meanwhile, Daphne who is sitting beside Neal, leaned forward a bit and partially covered his face and turned towards them with a frown on her face. Looking at the expression on her face that is likely saying to back off from my man, the girls instantly took their eyes off Neal and started murmuring with each other.
Neal then whispered, "thanks, Daph". Seeing the reactions of the students made even the stern Professor McGonagall smile a little bit. She further said, "Now, Slytherin and Potter, you two are the Triwizard champions representing our school. Traditionally, the champions and their dance partners open the Yule Ball, so, make sure must you get yourselves a dancing partner quickly and spend time to practice with them a little bit so that we don't have to embarrass ourselves.
As Harry tried to argue, "but, I don't dance..." Neal replied, "sure, no problem for me, Professor". She nodded with a smile, "good", then she looked at Harry, "you don't have any say in this, Potter".
A few days ago, Neal would have said choosing a dance partner is a piece of cake for him as he has plenty of options to choose from. But when he realized the situation clearly, Neal began to become more troubled as he began to receive so many letters each day and requests from the girls from the third year to all the way seventh years especially the girls from Beauxbatons who were definitely in another level from the rest in terms of appearance.
Christmas is just a week away and Neal yet has to choose a partner for he has trouble choosing a girl. In the common room as Neal is reading a book near the fire, Malfoy asked, "so, did you choose anyone?". Neal replied, "not yet. How about you? Did you ask Pansy yet?".
Malfoy nodded, "yeah, she accepted it, of course. By the way, why don't you just ask Daphne? I'm sure she would say, yes. Even Tracey would say yes for it if you ask her". Neal then said, "yeah, I know and that's why I don't want to ask her or Tracey".
Malfoy frowned, "what do you mean?". Neal replied, "c'mon, we stick with each other daily, anyway. Do we still need to do that even during Christmas? Just let them mingle with everyone else". Then, he grinned, "Who knows they might even find a guy they would come to like".
Malfoy shrugged, "do as you wish. But hurry up. There's only a week left". Then as he stood up and started to walk, He suddenly stopped after a few steps and sighed as he turned back, "I may not be as intelligent as you but even I can see you are looking for an excuse to avoid them, aren't you?".
Neal was taken aback, "what are you saying so suddenly?". Malfoy then replied, "you can fool others but just don't fool yourself, okay". He turned back while thinking, "Ah, saying a cool line and going away just feels so great".
While Neal was thinking what the hell is this blonde moron talking about, Malfoy is thinking, "I, really wonder whether he was just acting dense about Daphne's feelings or he, really doesn't know about it? After all, even I can see that Daphne likes Neal. There's no way Neal can't figure it out. Hmm, wait a second. Don't tell me Tracey also likes Neal? That's why he was avoiding it?".
Malfoy shook his head and mumbled, "don't think too much Draco. Not your problem". Meanwhile, Harry was ecstatic in his room, grinning like a fool all-day as his crush, Cho Chang accepted to be his date for Yule Ball.
As the Day of the Christmas arrived, a girl opened her gifts and saw ruby earrings, she smiled while reading the letter which says her to wear it during the ball.
In the evening, as Harry was waiting for Cho in the entrance hall which was packed with students, he saw Ron was sulking as he stood beside Lavender Brown who wasn't also enthusiastic and kept staring at the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes which looked very old fashioned.
A while later, as Harry kept staring at Cho and admiring her beauty while she was talking with him, Ron and Lavender were stupified to see Krum is with Hermoine, who transformed completely from a bookish and bushy hair girl to a beautiful girl compared to those beauties from Beauxbatons.
But quickly, the attention on them was gone as the Slytherins came up the stairs from their dungeon common room. Everyone in the entrance hall became silent as they were speechless seeing Neal looking like a prince in his clothes while his arms were locked by Daphne who wore a red ball gown with half sleeves and a with a necklace on her neck and ruby earrings which Neal gave her as a Christmas present looking a princess.
When the doors of the Great Hall opened, whether it was Fleur admirers or Krum's fan club, all moved aside as Neal and Daphne were walking together. While Celia who was with Tomas Macmillan, looking at them enviously, on the other hand, Tracey sighed while looking at the pair from behind as she thought, "if I only didn't refuse him, I would have been the one to walk beside Neal. No, I did the right thing. They are suited for each other. Even her clothes and accessories are on another level that I can't hope to buy in my lifetime.
Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.
The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished and instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.
As the champions sat at the top table, everyone started chatting with others. While Krum was explaining how Hogwarts is more comfortable and bigger than their Durmstrang and was impressed with how the Great Hall was decorated, Fleur wasn't impressed as Beauxbatons focused on appearances very much and found it just a mediocre.
Although she did praise Neal and Daphne on their outfits making Roger Davis disappointed as he looked at Fleur who was ignoring him completely and was just chatting with Neal who sat next to her. Meanwhile, Cho Chang and Daphne were busy in their girl talk and Harry was struggling to hear the praises of Barty Crouch by Percy who came to the ball in place of him and sat next to him
After the dinner is over, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.
The Weird Sisters, a popular band in the wizarding world, stepped up onto the stage with wildly enthusiastic applause. As they picked up their instruments, Daphne smiled, "Neal, c'mon, it's time to dance".
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