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

Chapter 731: Slughorn's Ball on Halloween

Chapter 731: Slughorn's Ball on Halloween

After the first Quidditch match, Halloween quietly arrived.

The pumpkins that Hagrid had planted by the entrance were brought into Hogwarts, and who knows what he did, but these pumpkins looked at least six feet tall, and with four wheels, they could be used as carriages.

When these pumpkins were delivered to the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall took charge of transforming them into various shapes, such as eagles, lions, snakes, and badgers, or some well-known ghosts. Then, Professor Flitwick sent them floating in the air above the Great Hall.

Nearly Headless Nick posed crazily beside his pumpkin statue, allowing the young witches and wizards to take photos with him.

The Fat Friar of Hufflepuff was all smiles, looking very satisfied.

However, the other two houses couldn't see the ghosts and statues together.

The Bloody Baron wasn't interested in these things and never appeared in the Great Hall. As for Grey Lady, also known as Helena Ravenclaw, she had been missing for a long time.

Kyle had searched for her many times, and even Dumbledore and the portraits in the Headmaster's office had almost turned the castle upside down, but they couldn't find her.

Eventually, Kyle gave up. After all, Rowena Ravenclaw was the one who created the castle, and if she didn't want others to find her, it wasn't an easy task.

"Hey, this is great."

Mikael, who had come from the Common Room to attend the banquet in the Great Hall, surveyed the decorations around him and said, "It's a pity that the Weird Sisters and the Skeleton Dance Troupe aren't performing this year; otherwise, it would have been perfect."

"There's no other way." Ryan sighed, "Everyone is busy hiding from Death Eaters now, and no one wants to travel all the way to Hogwarts to attend a Halloween banquet."

"But the dance troupe is a group of skeletons." Mikael was a little confused, "Can the Killing Curse kill them again?"

"Er..." Ryan was stumped by the question, but he didn't know the answer either, so he could only respond vaguely, "Maybe the Death Eaters have other means."

That was the only explanation for now.

As they approached the Hufflepuff table, the professors entered from a small door on the other side.

"Oh no..." Cona suddenly said.

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

"Professor Slughorn..." Cona said, "I just remembered he organized another ball, right after the banquet. Flora gave me the invitation an hour ago."

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

"What? How many balls is he holding this month!"

"This is the fifth one this month." Cona said.

"Alright." Kyle was speechless, "I'll just use the previous excuse to decline his invitation again. After the banquet, I just want to go back to the warm Common Room to pass the time, even if it's just sitting and doing nothing, it's better than attending a ball!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible this time." Cona sighed, "Professor Snape had to leave the school, and Professor Slughorn probably received the news in advance. He even asked Flora to pass on the message, insisting that I must attend."

"Professor Snape left the school?"

"Yes, just an hour ago." Cona said, "Then, in less than five minutes, I received the invitation."

"He timed it perfectly." Kyle said.

"So..." Cona blinked, "Can I invite you to the ball?"

"Professor Snape's departure has nothing to do with me, and I can still use my excuse." Kyle raised his eyebrows, "After all, the Ministry of Magic doesn't take a holiday on Halloween."

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

"Actually, I'm quite interested in the ghost dance troupe too." Kyle immediately said, "And Mikael can't even walk without tripping over his own feet, how can he dance?"

Cona clicked her tongue lightly.

Fortunately, the banquet began at this moment. Abundant food appeared on golden plates, and the entire Great Hall was instantly filled with the aroma of pumpkins.

The scent also attracted Cona. Without looking at Kyle, she reached out and took a piece of golden pumpkin pie.

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

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

But as Cona said, this dish was only available on Halloween, and usually, the only pumpkin-related item on the table was pumpkin juice.

"By the way." Midway through the banquet, Cona suddenly remembered something, "You should write a letter to Fred and George, telling them not to send Love Potions in Energy Potion bottles to the school anymore. It's just increasing our workload."

"What did they do?" Kyle asked in confusion.

"You don't know?" Cona glanced at him, "Recently, I've confiscated several bottles of Love Potions, all from the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

(End of Chapter 731)

"They'll switch the packaging to Energy Potion bottles and labels to avoid Filch's detection."

"You should know that detectors only work against Dark Magic, and Love Potion is just a potion, not dangerous... So they found a loophole."

"Actually, you don't need to worry too much about it..." Kyle whispered an explanation, "Fred and George made some improvements to the Love Potion, reducing its ability to confuse the mind and amplifying the desire to perform."

Of course, there would still be some effect, but after the modification, it became more like a prank, and the effect lasted only ten minutes. Even if left unattended, there wouldn't be any major issues."

"Since you say so, I'm not too concerned." Cona said softly, "But Romilda Vane and Antonia, who bought it, seemed to want to pour it into your pumpkin juice. You should be more careful in the future."

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

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

"Quite a few..." Cona stretched out her hand and counted, "Besides the two I just mentioned, there's Paia, Darlin, Kwal... And these are the ones who were discovered. There might be more that haven't been found."

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

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

It was later discovered that the student had mistakenly drunk Harry's pumpkin juice and became suddenly excited.

It was after this incident that Cona noticed the Love Potion disguised as Energy Potion.

Just thinking about the scene made Kyle's face change instantly.

"That's too much," he said angrily, "Fred and George went too far. How could they sell Love Potion to students? It's absolutely shameless."

"Don't worry, I'm writing a letter now to sternly condemn their opportunistic behavior and warn them not to do it again."

Kyle didn't even wait for the banquet to end; he started writing the letter right there on the table in the Great Hall.

This unusual behavior attracted the attention of many people, who looked over and whispered to each other, wondering what Kyle was doing.

However, Kyle didn't care about any of this. After finishing the letter to the Weasley brothers, he still felt uneasy and wrote another letter to Mr. Weasley.

The letter reported that Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was selling Love Potion to Hogwarts in violation of regulations.

Kyle tapped his wand, and the two letters immediately folded themselves into paper airplanes, flying out of the Great Hall and turning towards the castle's exterior.

Once outside, a massive owl suddenly flew in from the direction of the Forbidden Forest, grabbing the two paper airplanes floating in mid-air and flying away.

In the Great Hall, Kyle, having noticed that the letter had been sent, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, after that, he didn't take another sip of pumpkin juice, especially not from others.

This continued until the end of the banquet.

The students stood up and returned to their Common Rooms, some running very quickly, and some even left before the banquet was over.

As it was a ball, they needed to change into their ball gowns in advance.

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

"If I could, I'd rather attend the previous dinner party than go to a ball," Cona said, looking at the two seventh-year Slytherins who had already changed into their ball gowns and were standing in the Entrance Hall like peacocks.

"That ball gown is so uncomfortable, and it doesn't even have pockets. I don't know where to put my cauldron..."

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"You carry a cauldron with you?" Kyle turned his head, his face full of disbelief.

Carrying two bottles of potions was understandable, but carrying a cauldron seemed a bit excessive.

"Yes," Cona nodded and took out a small cauldron the size of a fist from her pocket.

"With a restoration charm, it can return to its normal size." Cona continued, "I developed this habit last year to perfect the revival potion, allowing me to verify the combination of materials at any time."

"Later, I thought it was pretty good, so I've been carrying it ever since."

"Okay," Kyle asked, "But why don't you put it in a Transfigured lizard pouch?"

"Because the pouch is already full," Cona said matter-of-factly, "There's no room for the cauldron with all the finished potions and herbs."

Hmm... That makes sense.

At this moment, Cona was still thinking about where to put her cauldron after changing into her ball gown.

Kyle thought for a moment and, taking advantage of no one paying attention, took out his wand and tapped it on her.

The school uniform robe instantly transformed into a bright purplish-blue color, its hem lengthening into a ball gown silhouette.

"Transfiguration..." Connie was a little surprised.

"Yeah, I saw a similar style at Madam Malkin's over the holidays, but the details aren't as intricate, and it's just a replica."

"It's fine, this is great." Connie surveyed the robe up and down, then whispered, "No one will notice, right?"

In the wizarding world, most people wouldn't wear a Transfigured ball gown to a ball, as they'd become the butt of jokes if discovered.

Take Ron two years ago, for example, who merely altered his second-hand ball gown's hem without considering Transfiguration.

Of course, it could also be that he simply forgot about it.

"Don't worry," Kyle waved his hand, "As long as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore don't notice, no one else will."

He then Transfigured his own outfit.

"That's good," Connie said happily, not doubting Kyle's words. She spun around, realizing that besides being more convenient, this ball gown had another advantage.

Due to the Transfiguration, it still felt and weighed the same as the school uniform, making it far more comfortable than the heavy, stiff ball gowns.

With Halloween and the ball, Slughorn had invited many people, and with their respective dance partners, the numbers swelled.

As Kyle and Connie stepped into Slughorn's office, they heard a commotion—laughter, music, and loud voices that grew louder with each step.

Slughorn had magically enlarged his office, making it appear much larger than a typical professor's.

The ceiling and walls were draped with colorful fabrics, and above them hung a golden pumpkin lantern, within which were not candles but numerous house-elves holding lanterns, fluttering about like countless flickering lights.

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

"Oh... Kyle, Connie, my dear students!" Before they even entered, they heard Slughorn's booming voice, "It's not easy to invite you once... But as I said before, you can't hide from me forever."

"Professor, that's a heartbreaking thing to say." Kyle replied, "We really wanted to attend the ball, but we couldn't. Professor Snape kept interfering and wouldn't let Connie come."

"Also, I'm sure you know how boring it is to work at the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh, yes, I know." Slughorn winked and chuckled, "I'm just joking. You've finally gotten your wish today, haven't you? Come in, there are so many people I want you to meet." He cheerfully stepped into the office.

Kyle and Connie exchanged a glance, then followed reluctantly.

"That's Volper, one of my former students." Slughorn pointed to a short man talking to Harry not far away, "He's the author of 'Blood Brothers: Life Among Vampires'... of course. And his brother, Bloodni."

The title of the book sounded like something Lockhart would write, but it was genuine, and Volper indeed lived among vampires.

The Bloodni beside him was a proper vampire, tall and handsome, with dark circles under his eyes, looking perpetually sleepy.

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

Seemingly sensing Kyle's stare, Bloodni turned to look as well.

He immediately noticed Connie, his eyes lighting up as he detected a unique scent on her, unlike the other girls.

It was as if she were a sprig of rosemary next to a steak, making his mouth water.

Bloodni suddenly lost interest in the pie he was holding, and he took two steps forward.

"Vampires have a fondness for talented witches, especially female ones." Kyle explained, seeing Connie's frown.

"I know, Lockhart mentioned it in his book." Connie said, "I just find this feeling strange."

"That's understandable." Kyle opened his box and pulled out a Sniffles.

The students at the ball didn't notice anything unusual, continuing their activities, but the vampire stood rigid.

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

Bloodni suddenly snapped out of it, turning stiffly as if nothing had happened, and tried to hide behind Volper, who was slightly shorter.

"See, it's easily solved." Kyle smiled, skillfully grabbing Sniffles as it darted out of the box and stuffing it back in.

(End of Chapter)

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