Hogwarts: The Exemplary Wizard I Am Chapter 731: Halloween, Slughorn's Ball - Novel Cool

Chapter 731: Halloween, Slughorn's Ball

Chapter 731: Halloween, Slughorn's Ball

After the first Quidditch match, Halloween quietly arrived.

The pumpkins Hagrid had planted by the entrance were brought into Hogwarts. Who knows what he did to them, but those pumpkins looked at least six feet tall. If you put four wheels on one, you could use it as a carriage.

Once these pumpkins were brought into the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall took charge of transforming them into various shapes, such as eagles, lions, snakes, and badgers, or some of the more well-known ghosts. Then, Professor Flitwick would float them up to the ceiling of the Great Hall.

Nearly Headless Nick enthusiastically struck poses next to his pumpkin statue, allowing the young witches and wizards to take photographs.

The Fat Friar of Hufflepuff was also beaming happily, appearing very satisfied.

However, the remaining two Houses wouldn't be able to see their Head ghosts posing with their statues.

The Bloody Baron had no interest in such things and had not appeared in the Great Hall. As for the Grey Lady, Helena Ravenclaw, she had been missing for a long time.

Kyle had looked for her many times, and even Dumbledore and the portraits in his office had searched the castle, but they still couldn't find her whereabouts.

Later, Kyle gradually gave up. It was impossible; even the castle itself was created by Rowena Ravenclaw. If they didn't want to be found, it wouldn't be difficult.

"Hey, this is great," Mikel said as he entered the Great Hall from the common room, taking in the decorations. "It's a shame that the Weird Sisters or the Skeleton Dance Troupe aren't performing this year, otherwise, it would be perfect."

"There's no helping it," Ryan sighed. "Everyone's busy hiding from Death Eaters these days. No one wants to travel all the way to Hogwarts to attend a Halloween dinner."

"But the dance troupe is a bunch of skeletons," Mikel said, a little puzzled. "Can the Killing Curse kill them again?"

"Um..." Ryan was stumped by this question, but he didn't know the answer either, so he could only answer vaguely: "Maybe the Death Eaters have some other tricks up their sleeves."

That was the only explanation for now.

...

The group sat down at the Hufflepuff table, and just then, the professors entered through a small door on the other side of the hall.

"Oh, no..." Connor said suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Kyle looked at her.

"Professor Slughorn..." Connor said, "I just remembered he's organizing another ball, right after the dinner. Flora gave me the invitation an hour ago.

"Oh, and there's one for you too, but since you were in the library, Flora gave them both to me."

"What? How many balls is he going to hold in a month!"

"This is the fifth one this month," Connor said.

"Well." Kyle was speechless. "I guess I'll use the same excuse as last time and turn him down. After dinner, I just want to go back to the cozy common room and pass the time, even if it's just sitting and doing nothing. That's better than going to some ball!"

"I'm afraid that won't work this time," Connor sighed. "Professor Snape had to leave the school for something, and Professor Slughorn probably got the news in advance. He also asked Flora to tell me that I must attend."

"Professor Snape left the school?"

"Yeah, just an hour ago," Connor said. "And I received the invitation less than five minutes later."

"He has a knack for timing," Kyle said.

"So..." Connor blinked, "may I invite you to the ball?"

"Professor Snape's departure has nothing to do with me, so my excuse still works," Kyle raised an eyebrow. "After all, the Ministry of Magic doesn't take a holiday on Halloween."

"But Professor Slughorn requires everyone to find their own dance partner in advance," Connor said. "If you refuse, I'll have to ask Mikel to be my partner.

I heard that Slughorn invited a ghost dance troupe in his personal capacity, and I think he would love to attend this Halloween ball."

"Actually, I'm quite interested in the ghost dance troupe too," Kyle said immediately. "And Mikel can't even walk without tripping. How could he dance?"

Connor clicked her tongue softly.

Fortunately, the dinner started at this moment, and sumptuous food appeared on golden plates. The entire Great Hall was instantly filled with the aroma of pumpkin.

The scent also attracted Connor. She stopped looking at Kyle and reached for a piece of golden pumpkin pie.

"I've been waiting for this... Outside of Halloween, the school kitchen only seems to make pumpkin into beverages."

Kyle also took a piece of pumpkin pie for himself. He liked this less greasy flavor as well.

But as Connor said, this kind of food was only available on Halloween. Usually, the only pumpkin-related item on the table was pumpkin juice.

"By the way," Connor suddenly remembered something halfway through the dinner. "You should write a letter to Fred and George and tell them not to put love potions in the energizing potion bottles and send them to school anymore. They're just increasing our workload."

"What happened?" Kyle asked, puzzled.

"Don't you know?

"Well, you don't have to worry too much about that..." Kyle explained softly, "Fred and George have made some improvements to the Love Potions, reducing their ability to confuse the mind and enhancing their expressive qualities.

Of course, they still have an effect, but after the modifications, they become more like a prank, and the effect only lasts for ten minutes. Even if you leave it alone, there won't be any major problems."

"Since you say so, I don't really mind." Connor said softly, "But Romilda Vane and Anthea, who bought it, seemed to want to pour it into the pumpkin juice you're going to drink, so be more careful in the future."

Kyle's hand, holding a sandwich, froze in mid-air, and his eyes twitched slightly.

"You must be joking, right? Who would use a Love Potion on me?"

"Quite a few, actually..." Connor counted on her fingers, "In addition to the two I just mentioned, there's also Payah, Darlin, and Kwal... and these are just the ones who were found out. As for those who weren't discovered, there could be even more.

"Anyway, good luck. I don't want to see you dancing a tap dance on the table one day."

Connor was referring to an incident that had happened two days ago, when a Gryffindor student had suddenly jumped onto the table during breakfast and performed a clumsy tap dance for everyone.

It was only after an investigation that they found out the student had mistakenly drunk Harry's pumpkin juice, which caused his sudden excitement.

It was after that incident that Connor noticed the Love Potions disguised as Stimulant Potions.

At the thought of that scene, Kyle's face turned pale.

"That's too much." He said angrily, "Fred and George are going too far. How can they sell Love Potions to students? It's despicable.

"Don't worry, I'll write a letter right now to strongly condemn their opportunistic behavior and warn them never to do it again."

Kyle didn't even wait for the banquet to end. He immediately started writing the letter on the table in the Great Hall.

This unusual behavior attracted the attention of quite a few people, who looked over and speculated about what Kyle was doing.

However, Kyle didn't care at all. After writing the letter to the Weasley brothers, he still felt uneasy, so he wrote another letter to Mr. Weasley.

The gist of the letter was to report on Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes illegally selling Love Potions to Hogwarts students.

Kyle tapped the letters with his wand, and they immediately folded themselves into paper airplanes and flew out of the Great Hall, turning a corner and heading outside the castle.

Once outside, a large owl suddenly flew over from the direction of the Forbidden Forest and grabbed the two paper airplanes floating in mid-air, carrying them off into the distance.

In the Great Hall, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief, having sensed that the letters had been sent off.

However, after that, he didn't take another sip of pumpkin juice, especially not from someone else's cup.

This continued until the end of the banquet.

The students got up to return to their common rooms, and some of them ran quickly, with a few even leaving before the banquet had officially ended.

Since it was a ball, they needed to change into formal robes beforehand.

This was also Slughorn's requirement. Although they could dance in their school uniforms, he wanted to make the ball more formal, like the one during the Triwizard Tournament.

"If I had a choice, I'd rather attend the dinner than this ball." Connor said, looking at two seventh-year Slytherin girls who were already dressed in formal robes and standing in the middle of the entrance hall like peacocks.

"Those formal robes are so uncomfortable, and they don't even have pockets. I don't know where to put my crucible..."

"You carry a crucible with you?" Kyle turned his head, looking at her incredulously.

He could understand carrying around two potions, but a crucible seemed a bit much.

"Yeah." Connor nodded and took out a small crucible the size of a fist from her pocket.

"Just use a Repairing Charm, and it'll return to its normal size." Connor continued, "I got into the habit of carrying it around last year when I was perfecting the Resurrection Potion. It allowed me to test combinations of ingredients on the spot.

"Later, I found it quite useful, so I've kept carrying it."

"Alright then." Kyle asked, "But why don't you put it in a Chameleon Charm leather bag?"

"Because the bag is already full." Connor said matter-of-factly, "It's filled with finished potions and herbs, so there's no room for a crucible."

Mmm... That made sense.

At that moment, Connor was still thinking about where to put her crucible after she changed into her formal robes.

Kyle thought for a moment and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he pointed his wand at her and cast a spell.

"Yeah, I've seen a similar style at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions during the holidays, but the details are definitely not as intricate, and it's just a display piece," Kyle explained.

"That's fine, it looks great," Connor said, examining the robe and asking softly, "Others won't be able to tell, right?"

In the wizarding world, most people wouldn't wear a transfigured ball gown to a dance, as it would become a laughing stock if anyone found out.

Take Ron, for example, two years ago. He merely mended the edges of his second-hand ball gown and never thought of using Transfiguration.

Then again, maybe he just didn't think of it.

"Don't worry," Kyle waved his hand dismissively, "as long as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore aren't here, no one will be able to tell."

He then cast a spell on himself, changing his own clothes.

"That's wonderful then," Connor said happily, not doubting Kyle's words at all. She spun around, finding that this ball gown was not only more convenient but also had another advantage.

Because it was created through Transfiguration, it was essentially still a school uniform. Whether it was the feel or the weight, there was no difference, making it much more comfortable than a heavy and stiff ball gown.

Since it was Halloween and a ball, Slughorn had invited many people, and with their respective dance partners, the number of attendees had increased significantly.

As Kyle and Connor stepped into Slughorn's office, they heard a bustle of noise. Laughter, music, and loud voices grew louder as they walked further in.

Slughorn had cast a spell on his office, making it appear much larger than a typical professor's office.

Colorful drapes hung from the ceiling and walls, with a golden pumpkin lantern at the top, but instead of candles, there were many house-elves holding lanterns, flying around as if countless lights were twinkling.

The servers were the kitchen house-elves, carrying trays and weaving through the crowd, offering various drinks.

"Oh... Kyle, Connor, my dear children!" Slughorn bellowed even before they had stepped through the door, "It's been so difficult to get an invitation to you... but as I said before, you can't hide from me forever."

"Professor, that's such a heartbreaking thing to say," Kyle replied. "We really wanted to come to the ball, but unfortunately, Professor Snape has been obstructing Connor from coming.

"Also, as you know, work at the Ministry can be rather dull."

"Oh, yes, I know," Slughorn winked and chuckled, "I was just joking. Now, your wish has finally come true, hasn't it? Come in, there are so many people I want you to meet." With that, he cheerfully walked into his office.

Kyle and Connor shared a glance, feeling helpless but following nonetheless.

"There's Wopple, one of my former students," Slughorn said, pointing to a short man talking to Harry not far away, "He's the author of 'Blood Brothers: My Life Among Vampires'... and of course, his brother, Bloodney."

The title of the book sounded like something Lockhart would write, but it was genuine. That Wopple truly lived among a group of vampires.

Next to him was Bloodney, a genuine vampire, tall and handsome, with dark circles under his eyes, always looking half-asleep and lethargic.

Only when a girl passed by would he become more spirited, licking his lips with a hungry gaze.

Seemingly sensing Kyle's gaze, Bloodney turned his head and looked over.

His eyes lit up even brighter as he noticed Connor, who exuded a unique fragrance that set her apart from the other girls.

It was as if he had smelled rosemary next to a steak, making his mouth water.

Bloodney suddenly lost interest in the pie he was holding and couldn't help but take a few steps forward.

"Vampires are attracted to talented wizards, especially witches," Kyle said, seeing Connor's frown and offering an explanation.

"I know, it was mentioned in Lockhart's book," Connor said, "I just find the feeling very strange."

"It's simple, actually," Kyle said, taking out his box and opening it a crack.

The students attending the ball in the room didn't notice anything unusual, continuing their own conversations, but the vampire stiffened.

For a moment, he instinctively sensed several extremely dangerous scents, each capable of tearing him to shreds.

Bloodney suddenly snapped out of his trance, turning stiffly and trying to hide behind Wopple, who was shorter than him.

"See, it's that simple," Kyle smiled, skillfully grabbing Sniffle as it tried to dart out of the box, and pushed it back inside.

(End of Chapter)

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