Chapter 899: An Invitation Declined
Chapter 899: An Invitation Declined
As Christmas drew near, the festive atmosphere within Hogwarts Castle intensified. Students chattered excitedly about the upcoming Yule Ball, their enthusiasm reaching feverish peaks.
The boys often gathered to discuss which girls they found most attractive. Their conversations frequently revolved around Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, speculating on whom she would choose as her dance partner. Some bolder individuals even contemplated encouraging their friends to extend an invitation to Miss Delacour.
The girls were no better, roaming the corridors in giggling groups. Their boldness grew in numbers, and they would laugh loudly and unabashedly discuss or critique boys as they passed by.
More often than not, the girls exchanged opinions on what to wear for the ball or gossiped about Albert's exclusive secrets.
Albert had skillfully avoided being swarmed by potential dance partners by announcing his accompaniment early on. However, his classmate, the handsome Diggory, was not as fortunate.
As the envious boys commented: "The dashing Diggory can have his pick." And indeed, the girls seemed to favor the dashing type, so Diggory found himself constantly fending off invitations from lovestruck ladies. Despite his repeated assertions that he already had a partner, no one believed him, just as no one knew who Albert's partner was.
"Good looks can get you anywhere," Fred remarked to George as they watched Diggory being fawned over by a group of girls. "Some worry about finding a partner, while Diggory here has the challenge of choosing among many."
"Now I'm curious," George said. "Why hasn't anyone approached Albert with an invitation?" He felt that Albert, being a hero, handsome, and famous, should be even more popular among the girls than Diggory.
"Because I have a girlfriend, and I asked someone to be my dance partner a long time ago," Albert said, grateful that Diggory was drawing attention away from him.
In truth, no girls had approached Albert thanks to Lee Jordan, who had spread the word that Albert had invited Katie Bell to be his partner. Naturally, everyone assumed that he would ask his girlfriend, and that was that.
"By the way, do you know who Diggory's partner is?" George asked curiously. "Or is he still partnerless?"
"Of course, he has a girlfriend," Albert said, as if it were obvious.
"He has a girlfriend?"
"I've never heard him mention it."
"I didn't know he was dating anyone either," another voice chimed in.
The three exchanged surprised looks, clearly taken aback by this revelation.
"Diggory's good-looking and excellent in every way," Albert said, eyeing them suspiciously. "It would be weirder if he didn't have a girlfriend. Are you guys jealous of Cedric? If so, go find yourselves girlfriends."
"I'm only jealous of—"
Fred's sentence was abruptly cut off by George, who steered the conversation in a different direction. "So, who is Diggory's girlfriend?"
"Cho Chang," Albert reminded them. "I remember during our last D.A. meeting, Cedric's greatest fear was losing Cho. That's when the Boggart took her form and said she didn't like him."
"No wonder Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw rarely win at Quidditch," Fred quipped. "Cedric's been secretly throwing matches for his girlfriend's house. Can you believe he actually managed to woo the Ravenclaw Seeker?"
"They started dating secretly at the end of last term," Albert added.
As Albert passed by a corner, he slowed his pace and glanced toward the other side, where someone was attempting to invite another student to the ball.
"Do you think Davis will succeed?" Lee Jordan asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity as he watched Roger Davies and Katie Bell from across the corridor. His inner gossip columnist was itching for some juicy details.
"No," Albert replied calmly.
"I recall Katie having a soft spot for you," George suddenly said.
"I remember your girlfriend is her sister," Fred elbowed Albert gently. "Both of them seemed to fancy you."
"Shh, keep it down," Lee Jordan hushed them, giving Albert a way out of the potentially awkward situation.
"I heard from Lauren that you don't have a partner yet," Roger Davies' voice carried over, his attempt at maintaining his gentlemanly demeanor failing to mask the excitement in his tone.
"No, I already have a partner," Katie declined politely.
"Who are you going with?" Davies pressed on, unwilling to give up.
"You'll find out at the Yule Ball," Katie replied, having no intention of divulging that information. If word got out, she'd never hear the end of it from her peers.
"I suddenly feel sorry for Davies," Fred whispered, stealing a glance at Albert beside him. He hadn't expected Albert to predict that so accurately.
"I think Davies should've asked Katie sooner," Lee Jordan agreed, glancing at Albert as well. "Most of the pretty girls have already been invited. Don't you know who Katie's partner is?"
"Yes," Albert nodded.
How could he not?
"Your information network is better than mine," Lee Jordan teased, suspecting that he might have guessed something.
"Oh, who is it then?" Davies interjected, his voice tinged with frustration.
"That's her private business," Albert said, patting Davies' shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry, you'll definitely find someone even more beautiful."
"Wow!" Fred exclaimed dramatically.
"An even more beautiful partner?" George added.
"There aren't that many girls more beautiful than Katie," Davies grumbled, clearly unhappy.
"Don't worry, you'll find someone. You can trust Albert; his predictions are always spot on," George reassured Davies, clapping him on the shoulder and struggling to hold back a laugh. "He said you'd fail to invite Katie, and you did."
Davies' temples throbbed, and he felt as though the Weasley twins were toying with him. With a slight huff of displeasure, he shrugged off George's hand and walked away.
"That guy doesn't even believe you," Fred remarked, his expression conveying his opinion of Davies' intelligence.
"If I were him, I'd think you were teasing me too," Albert shook his head. "Today might not be the best day to invite someone to the ball."
"Now that you mention it, I feel kind of bad for the others."
Fred silently mourned for three seconds in his heart for the others.
As it turned out, Albert's jinx was indeed quite powerful.
Just as the four of them were about to head to the Great Hall for dinner, they passed by the third floor and encountered a similar scene. However, this time, the protagonists were Harry and Cho Chang.
As they walked down the corridor, the two had just parted ways.
However, from Harry Potter's dejected expression, one could guess that he had just tried to invite Cho Chang to be his dance partner, only to be rejected.
But, this was to be expected.
After all, now that Cho Chang had a boyfriend, she wouldn't consider other boys when looking for a dance partner.
Harry Potter was unaware of this, and he regretted not asking Cho sooner. Now, he was left alone, regretting his inaction while Cho had been invited by someone else.
He hated this feeling.
As Harry shook off his dejected mood and prepared to return to the Gryffindor common room, he spotted four people standing not too far away, scrutinizing him.
Harry's face turned bright red. The fact that Albert's group had witnessed his failed attempt to invite Cho left him feeling extremely embarrassed.
Albert had even reminded him about this a long time ago, and yet he still messed it up.
As Harry lowered his head to leave, he heard George's comforting voice: "Don't be sad, Harry. You'll definitely find an even better dance partner."
"You're right, I should've acted sooner," Harry stopped in his tracks and said expressionlessly to Albert.
"Actually, it wouldn't have made a difference even if you had acted sooner," Albert hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell Harry the truth, "Cho Chang and Diggory started dating last year."
Harry: "..."
At that moment, Harry felt like his head suddenly exploded, his mind going blank. He walked forward with a stiff expression, unable to hear what the others were saying.
"What's wrong with Harry?" Fred looked at Harry's dejected back and asked, "Did he get rejected?"
"Yeah, he got rejected," Albert said nonchalantly, "That's the problem with having a crush. It's so easy to get your heart broken. That's why if you like someone, you should confess your feelings early on."
"And then, you can get your heart broken early on?" Lee Jordan said with a strange expression, as if recalling some unpleasant memory.
The next moment, laughter erupted around them.
"Sorry, I just couldn't hold it in," Fred and George said, wiping away the tears of laughter from the corners of their eyes.
Albert covered his mouth, trying to conceal the smile tugging at his lips.
"Ah, if you like Angelina, you should seize this opportunity to develop a relationship with her," Lee Jordan sighed helplessly, "After all, we're all visual creatures, attracted to handsome or beautiful people. No wonder Gilderoy Lockhart could become famous just by relying on his looks. Sometimes I really envy you and Diggory."
"Ahem, don't be discouraged. Looks aren't everything. Many girls like Viktor Krum because of his fame, rather than his appearance. If you were a Quidditch star, you'd have many admirers too," Albert consoled him.
"I'm not a Quidditch star, though," Lee Jordan said glumly.
"I know, but you can become famous in other ways, like with Wizarding Cards. Remember how those cards swept the entire world? If you had been part of that, you would've become famous too, and then you wouldn't have to worry about not having pretty girls liking you," Albert said seriously, trying to convince him.
"Are you just feeding me a line?" Lee Jordan asked, narrowing his eyes in dissatisfaction. If it were before, he might have believed it, but not anymore.
"Of course not. As long as you have enough Galleons in your pocket and make a name for yourself, you'll naturally become more confident, and then you'll definitely find a beautiful girl," Albert insisted.
"I think Albert's making sense," Fred and George secretly wiped their cold sweat, realizing that Albert's skill in sweet-talking was improving by leaps and bounds.
After successfully convincing Lee Jordan, the four continued on their way to the Great Hall. As they passed through the entrance hall, they noticed a crowd of people, or more specifically, a crowd of boys, all sneaking glances in a certain direction.
Following their gazes, the four spotted the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour, talking to Diggory.
"You said Diggory's dance partner was Cho Chang, but it looks like he's trying to invite Fleur to the ball," Fred peered towards Fleur's location and remarked.
"Hmm, Diggory might be under the influence of an attraction spell," Albert observed with interest, "Miss Delacour has partial Veela blood, and they're quite skilled in attraction spells."
"Do you think Diggory will give up on Cho Chang and become Miss Delacour's dance partner?" Lee Jordan found the whole situation increasingly intriguing.
However, something even more interesting happened.
As they quietly watched from the sidelines, a red-haired boy entered their line of sight.
"Miss Delacour, would you like to accompany me to the Christmas Ball?" Ron Weasley suddenly walked up to Fleur and extended the invitation.
The next moment, an eerie silence fell upon the entrance hall.
All eyes turned to the red-haired boy, everyone stunned by his bold action.
Even Fred and George were dumbfounded, unable to believe that Ron had mustered the courage to invite Fleur.
Upon hearing Ron's invitation, Fleur simply looked up at him, not saying a word, just staring at him, before quietly dispelling the attraction spell.
The next moment, Ron snapped out of his daze, realizing what had just happened, and hurriedly turned around and ran off.
"Hermione mentioned that Ron wanted to find a pretty girl as his dance partner, but I didn't expect him to actually invite Fleur Delacour," Ginny appeared from somewhere, sympathetically watching Ron's retreating back.
"There's no rule against inviting Miss Delacour," Albert said.
Of course, Albert knew that Ron had simply been affected by the attraction spell, which was why he had taken the initiative to invite her. But the way Ron had embarrassed himself was truly amusing, and Albert couldn't help but smirk.
Ron's interruption had also snapped Diggory out of his daze, and he quickly excused himself, saying, "Sorry, I already have a partner," before hurrying away.
Watching Diggory leave, Fleur frowned slightly, feeling inexplicably irritable, and turned to leave as well.
Laughter erupted in the entrance hall.
Ron Weasley's invitation to Fleur Delacour became a widely circulated story, and many students found it quite entertaining, especially those who had witnessed it firsthand. They would often retell the story with exaggerated details, making it even more amusing.
In any case, Ron Weasley became the center of attention, although it was not the kind of attention he would have wanted.
Draco Malfoy from Slytherin, in particular, did not miss the opportunity to mock him: "A toad longing for swan meat."
(End of Chapter)
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