374 Chapter 373 Prom (2 in 1)

Winters in the UK are obviously a little colder than in France.

But Jon had basically spent last winter literally in the Arctic Circle, so this bit of cold back in the UK didn't bother him much.

It was only that as November rolled on and there was still no news from Lyon that Jon basically lost hope that he would be able to learn the Animagus this year.

As winter advanced, the chances of a thunderstorm were about as good as a snowstorm in July, but Jon wasn't expecting to be that lucky to learn Animagus in six months.

And it was towards the end of November that Jon learned from Dumbledore that a different kind of event would be held the week before the tournament began, on Christmas Day.

"A ball? This tournament is on the verge of becoming a duel to the death and there's going to be a ball?"

Jon's eyes widened, obviously full of disbelief at the announcement.

Dumbledore, on the contrary, relaxed against the back of his chair, with a gentle smile still on his face.

"Of course, it's going to be held, regardless of the purpose of this tournament, it's a Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, that won't be erased."

Jon's mind was already going through an elaborate image of that scenario.

"So I'll need to dance in a hall with those guys then? And then the duel to the death will begin five days later?"

"It's perfectly in line with gentlemanly etiquette isn't it?" Dumbledore said with a wink, "Even rivals can share a dance on a formal occasion."

Jon scoffed, "Really? According to their bloodline theory, shouldn't it be an insult to purebloods to even have me in the Hall?"

Dumbledore suddenly looked at Jon strangely.

"You look like you really don't want to go to this ball?"

Jon's little thought was noticed, but he didn't deny it, he just spread his hands and said.

"You know Professor, I was an orphan before I was brought to the wagon, and I've barely had a few days to myself since I came to the wagon, even in my free time I've basically stayed in the library or at the lake."

"So?"

"So I can't dance at all."

Jon said bluntly.

Dumbledore laughed, a smile that was clearly tinged with glee and amusement.

"No one can be good at everything as long as they are human Jon, no one is asking you to learn that much in a short school life of a little under a decade, there are still close to two months until the start of the Yule Ball, I'm sure you just need to set aside half an hour a day to practice and hone your skills, then you will discover if you have a talent for it."

Jon looked side-eyed, even though Dumbledore had expressed his full trust in him, Jon was actually still not too happy about going to this ball.

As he had said before, he actually hated the idea of parading himself around, especially public dancing, something that Jon, who had considered himself half a social outcast in his previous life, had subconsciously resisted.

"Can't we just not go?"

Dumbledore crossed his arms as if he was seriously contemplating Jon's proposal.

"This ball is something we should preferably attend if we want to keep public opinion in check, as it is, we came to the Castle for the tournament and Riddle, who is the occupant of the Castle, has been completely wary that he has settled us on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and will not permit us to even enter the Castle. It may seem that we are being belittled, but he, as Headmaster of a school and now nominal master of the British magical community, will let the outside world see that he is not behaving in a way that is remotely fitting to be a leader."

"The same goes for this ball, as the more we are treated with discourtesy, the more we can be seen in contrast to what he is doing. Of course, such a display doesn't mean much if it's done while Riddle still holds an overwhelming advantage, but it will benefit us when the situation enters a stalemate."

He made both the pros and cons clear to Jon but ended with a smile.

"Of course, if you really don't want to go to this ball then it's fine if we don't give Riddle that honour in kind, as long as we end up winning this tournament, who would think to accuse us of this then?"

Jon hesitated for a moment and then asked afterwards.

"Will this Ball last very long?"

"As a champion, you will be expected to come and be the lead dancer at the opening of the Ball, and after the lead dance is over you will be free to do as you please with your time."

Speaking of which, Dumbledore squeezed his eyes at him thoughtfully.

"Got your eye on a girl? If it's too embarrassing for you to offer an invitation, I could use the Headmaster's authority a little to help."

Jon put on a posed look.

"Whatever, but you shouldn't expect too much from me at the Ball, Professor, I'm not really interested in dancing in the first place."

"Ha, I'm sure nothing will be too much for you, Jon, if you're sure you want to attend I'll ask Vinda to help, she comes from a family that is strict about etiquette and is very good at dancing, she will also be able to set aside half an hour a day to teach you."

"As you have arranged then, when do I have to see Professor Rosier?"

"She usually takes a tea break in the Professor's common room after dinner, that would be just the right time."

After hearing Dumbledore's arrangement, Jon got up from his chair and stretched.

"I'm going to continue my relaxing session at the Black Lake, hopefully, I'll find something today."

"There's no need to rush, we still have two months until the second task begins, and it's not a major task, even if you don't end up finding anything it won't have much effect on our final layout."

"I know Professor, but I've got some spare time these days anyway, so it's a good way to give myself something to do."

Jon said as he turned his back on Dumbledore and waved, and then left the Headmaster's office.

The fire by the wall was leaping and Dumbledore was left alone in his office, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed in front of him, as his blue eyes gazed silently into the orange fire.

"Tom. What exactly do you want to do."

***

"When we lived in the wagon on the run, we didn't feel much of a sense of caution because everyone knew that the professors would protect us. On some of the big holidays, like the day school started or Christmas Day, Hagrid, the coachman driving the wagon, would lead us to a place captivating enough for us to have a wonderful meal there."

Hermione told Assia about life in the wagon, and the two of them together searched the edge of the Forbidden Forest for herbs that could be transplanted.

They had picked a perfect spot, just behind the Quidditch pitch, and with the massive structure as a shield, they were not visible to anyone in the direction of the Castle, and it was a great protection for Assia.

Hearing Hermione tell about her life, Assia's face was filled with envy.

"I've never been outside of Britain, not even Devon. That's where my family is from; because in the Ministry of Magic our family was judged to be half-blood wizards, so all travel out of the country needed to be reported to the Ministry and permitted before we could travel anywhere safely, which would have cost Dad a fortune, plus Mum said the magical world had been not peaceful over the years, so my family hadn't travelled out for a long time."

"The Ministry of Magic is that restrictive on half-bloods as well?"

"I heard from Dad that it's been fairly relaxed in the last few years, except that you have to fork out money to bribe the purebloods when you visit the Ministry of Magic for some key matters, or it's basically impossible to get things done."

Hermione frowned slightly.

"Is this all laid out in the open?"

"It's sort of an open secret, everyone knows about it, but no one will say it outright."

Hermione and Assia had known each other for almost a month now, and they had met up here together quite a few times after the incident of rescuing her from bullying.

The sixth-year half-blood girl apparently didn't have many friends in the Castle either, and of those students who had followed Dumbledore to Hogwarts Castle, Hermione didn't have many close friends, other than Jon, especially girls, so the two had sort of hit it off unexpectedly in their time together.

Hermione kept a very strict hand on the bar, to the extent that she didn't reveal any further information during their chat, apart from some of the daily routines of life on the wagon, including the adventure at sea last year, she didn't mention a single word about it.

It wasn't that she was so distrustful of Assia, but there were times when not letting her know too much would be protecting her instead.

"Can we talk about that Jon Green?" Assia helped Hermione hold a herb upright, so she could move her spade to dig, "There are so many rumours about him in the Castle, the purebloods are on the verge of hating him to the bone, claiming he's a born dark wizard who can't eat without killing someone daily with a killing curse."

Hearing her sound so serious, Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

"I wonder how many times Jon would roll his eyes if he heard that himself. The Professors at your school have really gone to great lengths to smear him, when really all you have to do is use your head and think about it, if Jon was really as vicious as the rumours say, then why would he rescue so many students from the Castle in the first place, along with me?"

"But everyone believes it." Assia said with a tilt of her head, "So did the students around me, eh. It was Diggory who always found the rumour suspicious, and stopped everyone from bad-mouthing you guys when the school first started, and then he was suspected of being a 'mudblood sympathiser', so from then on he refrained from saying such things, though he didn't participate in the others' belittling either."

"Diggory?"

Hermione carefully took the herb out of the dirt, then before the roots, which waved about like tentacles when they left the soil had reacted, she violently pressed it back into the long-prepared pot.

Assia bent over with her hands on her knees, watching Hermione's face in awe as she fluidly did this.

"Yes, Cedric Diggory, I feel like he's the anomaly among everyone. Before he was very well-liked by his classmates, very friendly no matter who he was with, and he would say yes to anyone who asked him for a favour if he could. It was in the last two years that he had made a lot of people feel that he had become dangerous because of some of his comments and actions, which had caused a lot of people to alienate him, and even Professor Greengrass had talked to him alone a few times."

Of course, Hermione knew about Cedric and was likewise present when Jon came out of the Forbidden Forest and recounted his encounter within there.

She in fact had known even before Jon that there was something wrong with that boy, but of course, she wouldn't say those things out loud in front of Assia.

"He does count as an anomaly then."

After planting the herb, Assia was ready to say goodbye to Hermione, she couldn't be away from the Castle for too long, and doing that frequently would surely lead to the others finding out the problem, so she was trying very hard to refrain from spending time with Hermione every day, even if it was the most happiest time of her day.

"See you next time."

The girl with a shy smile waved at Hermione under the rays of the sun, who waved back at her with the flower pot clutched in her hand.

"Bye."

Assia turned around happily, her long, pale blonde hair bouncing merrily behind her, just like the girl was feeling at the moment.

She had started off humming a light tune and bouncing at a brisk pace like a little girl as she made her way across the Quidditch pitch, but after leaving the shade of the pitch and seeing the towering castle, she slowly changed back to her normal walking pace until she came into the shadow of the Castle when her long beautiful hair stopped bouncing and her pace subconsciously got heavy.

The timid look returned to her face as she walked carefully into the Castle under the watchful eyes of the Aurors guarding the perimeter.

It was lunchtime and the corridors of the ground floor were filled with students who were constantly coming and going from the great hall, laughing and talking as they passed by Assia.

Once in the castle, Assia kept her head down, both hands in front of her, clutching her robes, focusing on the robes of the surrounding students, trying to stay away from them like a scared rabbit whenever she saw a student with a gold-embroidered school robe pass by.

As she entered the great hall, where most of the students were still eating their lunch, Assia made her way to the long table that belonged to the half-blood students.

Seeing her sitting over, some students around her looked up at her curiously.

"Assia, you often seem to head outside the Castle these days? Is it a new hobby you've developed?"

Assia's picked up a knife and fork from the table while answering in a small voice.

"No, no, I'm just feeling a bit bored and want to take a look around outside."

No one had any doubts about her words, usually, Assia's personality was like that, very timid and easily bullied.

The student who had asked the question had no interest in continuing after hearing her answer, and Assia was able to finish the lunch without any problems.

Just as she had finished her lunch, left the great hall, and was about to return to her dormitory, however, a slim man with a faint smile on his face at all times stood in her way halfway.

"Konrad, do you have time to talk to me in my office?"

----

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