Chapter 298: A Public Invitation
Chapter 298: A Public Invitation
Harry arrived at the Great Hall to join Ron and Hermione for lunch, but the others didn't notice his seemingly soulless state.
All the students at Hogwarts seemed to have just gone through something explosive, and they were all enthusiastically discussing it, including Hermione and Ron.
"How could she have the nerve to do that!"
"I heard that girls from France are always that bold."
"I bet a lot of girls want to do the same thing, but they only dare to do it in private."
"You don't have to guess. Just from what I know, the number of Gryffindor girls who have invited a professor to the dance can be counted on one hand."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, she just did it right in front of Professor Hilke!"
"Ah, shouldn't that make it even more exciting?"
Harry had been hesitating about whether to tell his friends about being rejected, hoping to get some comfort from them. Now, he felt extremely aggrieved.
Ron and Hermione acted as if they hadn't noticed his return, continuing to chat with the surrounding Gryffindor students about things Harry couldn't understand.
It wasn't until Harry deliberately coughed loudly that Ron finally noticed him.
Even then, he didn't realize Harry's mood was off and instead said excitedly, "It's really a shame you didn't come with us, Harry! You missed a fantastic scene."
Harry grumbled unhappily.
"What scene? Did Professor Dumbledore suddenly announce he's going to be the Minister of Magic?"
"It was the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour, who publicly invited Professor Forrest to be her dance partner!"
Harry's sentence was cut short as he suddenly came to his senses and froze.
"Ah!"
Let's rewind the clock by half an hour.
Sherlock was walking into the Great Hall with Hilke, looking relaxed.
"To be honest, I wish Snape would step up his fitness routine and one day punch me down. It would do his health a lot of good, even if the scene of him defeating me in a fistfight is something he'll never achieve in his life, it could make him live longer."
Hilke barely suppressed a twitch at the corner of her mouth.
"I hope you'll try to protect your face when you get beaten up in the future."
Sherlock was highly dissatisfied.
"You're no fun. Honestly, with his build, even if he trains for twenty years, I could still take him down with one hand ten times over!"
"For your own good, you should talk less."
On their way to class that morning, they had coincidentally run into Snape, who had just finished his workout outside the castle, which led to the current conversation.
The upcoming Christmas Ball didn't seem to concern Sherlock much.
It was a celebration for those young, love-struck students. As a professor in his late twenties, he had no interest in such matters.
However, several older girls had secretly invited him to be their dance partner at the ball.
Sherlock naturally refused.
Dancing with students at a ball, even in a relatively open society like Britain, was still considered highly inappropriate.
Besides, although Sherlock claimed to be in his late twenties, he was only in his early twenties, not much older than the girls who had invited him.
However, Sherlock never told anyone about being invited.
Partly to protect the self-esteem of those young girls, and partly because it wasn't really something worth boasting about.
But Silke couldn't keep it a secret; she always managed to find out the most peculiar things through her odd methods.
They walked together to the long table where the teachers sat. A few professors were already seated, and as Sherlock and Silke took their places, they hadn't even picked up their cutlery when a young girl with hair like a silver waterfall walked up to Sherlock in full view of everyone.
"Good afternoon, Sherlock."
The other professors, including Silke, seemed to ignore Fleur's greeting, but if anyone looked closely, they would notice that all the professors, except Silke, were glancing in their direction out of the corners of their eyes.
Sherlock had never been particularly concerned about how Fleur addressed him, as they hadn't met in a student-teacher context to begin with.
"Good afternoon. Have you been enjoying your time at Hogwarts?"
"It's a bit cold here, and the air is damp, which I don't like very much", Fleur said without a hint of politeness. "But the house-elves' fish soup is quite good; it suits my taste."
"I'll pass your compliments along to the house-elves when I see Dumbledore."
So far, their conversation seemed normal enough. The gossiping professors who had been eavesdropping discreetly looked somewhat disappointed, as if they had missed out on a sweet fruit.
But Fleur's next words made several professors' hands tremble as they held their forks.
"I would like to invite you to be my dance partner at the Christmas Ball."
Her invitation was bold and direct, with none of the hesitation that Harry might have shown, and she made no effort to be discreet.
Not only the professors sitting next to Sherlock, but even the students below the high table heard her words.
"Clang!"
The sound of silver forks hitting plates echoed, one after another.
The only person who showed no change in expression was Silke, who continued to sit beside Sherlock, quietly eating her steak in small bites.
Sherlock was also surprised.
Well, he admitted that he had a face that could charm the moon and a charisma that was unparalleled.
But for a girl like Fleur to make such a direct invitation in public was something very few could do.
And her face showed no trace of embarrassment, as if she were simply asking him a challenging magic question.
Sherlock's response was quick and polite.
"Sorry, Fleur, I don't plan to attend the Christmas Ball with any students."
Professor Mcgonagall, who had just picked up her fork, smiled with satisfaction, while the other professors looked regretful.
The students below began to buzz like a swarm of bees.
Fleur's face didn't show any embarrassment after being publicly rejected. Instead, she emphasized her point.
"This is Fleur's invitation to Sherlock, regardless of our student and professor statuses."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
