Hogwarts Advanced Guide

Chapter 281 The Temptation of Snape (6 words)

"Hermione, you know, I already have a dance partner." Hera rubbed her temples, he didn't expect Hermione to find him, did she forget that she still has Penello?

Besides, isn't there Harry and Weasley beside Hermione?
Neither of them looked like a guy who would find a partner, they both looked dumb.

"Hera, you don't think no one invited me, do you?" Hermione said, "Actually... there is a person who has been pestering me, but I don't like him. Although he can be regarded as a very good person, Krum is too gloomy."

"Oh, isn't that great?" Hera nodded. He thought that being invited by Krum would be something that all girls would be excited about. "He's a very good Chaser, isn't he? Are you mobilizing him to participate in SPEW?"

"No! If you really want to know, I'll tell you, he - he said he came to the library every day just to talk to me, but he couldn't muster the courage!" said Hermione quickly, blushing even more.

"Really." Hera frowned. He didn't expect Krum to be so serious, but it seemed like an unpleasant thing. "I thought, maybe we can't do the first dance, but we can do the second one, when I finish with Penello."

"I think that's enough." Hermione blushed, she nodded, and ran out of the office quickly.

Penello in the bedroom also heard the sound, she opened the door and asked suspiciously: "What's the matter, Hera? I seem to have heard Hermione's voice just now."

"It's nothing, she just wants me to help her refuse a trouble, and I have already agreed to her." Hera rubbed her temples and said with some distress, "It seems that I can't stay with you all night at the Christmas party. I want to help Hermione stop Krum, he seems to have taken a fancy to Hermione."

"Well, that's really... really bad news." Penello also frowned tightly. She doesn't like Krum, and she has been like this since the Quidditch World Cup. "Then you must help Hermione block Krum, he looks gloomy like a weirdo."

"Probably." Hera shrugged.

During the break before Christmas, the students were having a lot of fun, thanks to the Yule Ball, the school was almost as crowded as it was before the holiday, and Hogwarts seemed to have shrunk because the people living there were noisier than usual, even the Slytherins.The Weasley twins also began to sell their prank products. Their canary biscuits sold well. In the first day or two of the holiday, someone would suddenly grow feathers all over their bodies.

But Hera soon realized this, he followed Moody's example and resolutely refused to eat any food of unknown origin, so as not to make a fool of himself.

Not only him, but also the Hogwarts classmates, they have all learned their lesson and are very wary of the food being handed by others, in case there is a canary biscuit hidden in the middle.It has to be said that the Weasley twin brothers have taught the students a truth on their own - to be vigilant at all times. This is something that Moody failed to explain in several lectures.

Snow fell heavily on the castle and grounds.Beauxbaton's light blue carriage looked like a big frosted pumpkin in winter, and the little gingerbread house next to it was Hagrid's cabin.The sides of the Durmstrang ship were covered with ice and turned smooth, and the rigging was covered with hoarfrost.The house-elves in the kitchen below were very busy, preparing hot stews and sweet puddings in many flavors, and could not fault even the hibiscus—she had been to the kitchen many times, and the house-elves had gradually found out her taste.

And Mrs. Maxim finally solved the secret of the golden egg—it turned out that the scream was the voice of the mermaid. Once their voices reached the land, they would turn into shrill screams, and when they were put into the water, they would become beautiful singing voices, at least the voices sealed in the golden egg were like this.

Hera wasn't in a hurry to tell Harry the secret of the golden egg, it was still early, wasn't it?
The second project will only start on February 24 next year. Harry still has at least two and a half months to unlock the clues provided in the golden egg. Hera only needs to provide appropriate help when Harry is confused. Too much help will make people suspicious.

Hera never thought that he would become so popular. The closer the Christmas ball was, the more girls would look for him, and there were many girls he knew but couldn't name, which made Penello slightly jealous.

But the girl who came today, Hera is really difficult to deal with - Furong.

"I'm sorry, Fleur," Hera considered her tone, "I have already promised Penello, I want to dance with her for the first time."

"What about the second scene?"

"I promised Hermione."

"Okay." Furong said no regrets in her tone, but she quickly cheered up. After all, she has Veela blood, and she has never lacked suitors. All she needs is to jump out of a group of suitors who are not so annoying. Although Hera rejected her, it was just a small accident at the Christmas ball.

Hogwarts students and teachers have shown a constant desire to impress Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's guests, and they seem determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas.

The school was decorated with lights and festoons. Hera had never seen such beautiful decorations in Hogwarts for so many years.The banisters of the marble stairs are covered with everlasting baubles, from glistening holly berries to live golden owls hooting incessantly.The armor was enchanted so that it would sing Christmas carols whenever anyone passed by.It's hilarious to hear an empty helmet sing "Oh, come, you godly people,"

The armor knew only half of the lyrics, and Filch the janitor had to yank Peeves out of the armor several times because Peeves was hiding inside. Whenever the armor couldn't sing, he made up some lyrics of his own to fill in the words, which were very crude and ugly.

Hera could feel the atmosphere of Christmas, but there was one thing that puzzled him, or it puzzled him for many years: Why do wizards celebrate Christmas?

Christmas is the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, but Christianity and wizards were absolutely inseparable in the Middle Ages. Christianity once burned wizards at the stake on a large scale, even children.

But now, wizards are celebrating Christmas, which, I have to say, feels really weird.

The day of the Christmas ball was approaching soon, and Hera also began to prepare his dress. It was a custom-made sky blue couple's style from the Fengya Wizard Clothing Store—he and Penello each had one, his was sky blue, and Penello's was light pink. The proper tailoring could highlight their good figures without making them look bloated.

On the morning of Christmas, both Hera and Penello got up very early, mainly because Penello was excitedly waiting for her Christmas gift, but compared with the pile of presents that looked like hills under Hera's feet, her side seemed to be less.

Nick Flamel sent a large box of alchemy materials to Hera. It seemed that he hoped that Hera could do some serious research instead of thinking about what to eat next.

Mrs. Maxim and Fleur also prepared gifts for Hera. Mrs. Maxim gave a book called "How to Become a Magic Master", which seems to be an ancient book, because it looks tattered, even though the title is too straightforward.

Hera spent most of the morning in the office, and he and Penelope happily unwrapped the presents they had received before they went out to the Great Hall for a sumptuous lunch consisting of at least a hundred turkeys and a heap of Christmas pudding and a mountain of cribbage crackers.

In the afternoon, they went out onto the field, where the snow was white and almost untrodden.

Hera and the others happened to meet Harry who was also watching Harry's snowball fight outside. Harry seemed to have completely forgotten the problem of the second project, and he integrated the Weasley brothers to play vigorously.

At five o'clock, Hermione and Penelope said they were going back upstairs to get ready for the dance.

"What, didn't the dance start at eight o'clock in the evening?" Hera scratched her face and looked at the clock on the tower in disbelief. It was only five o'clock now, and the sky had not yet darkened.

"But I need to prepare, but it's a rare ball." Penello kissed Hera's cheek lightly, and stepped into the castle playfully on the stone steps.

Seeing this scene, the Weasley brothers booed jealously, and Harry was silent on the sidelines. He failed to invite Ravenclaw's Cho Chang before, and was forced to be fed a mouthful of dog food by Hera, which made him too sad.

There will be no Christmas tea today because there is a feast at the dance.Not long after Penello left, Hera also left the venue, but Penello and Hermione occupied his office and he was kicked out.

Hera wandered around the castle and somehow wandered into the dungeon.Snape looked as if he was brewing some kind of potion. The door of his office was open, and bursts of gray-black smoke were coming out from inside. He was still carefully cutting something with a knife.

Voldemort once told Hera that Snape was someone he trusted very much, and that he was Voldemort's undercover agent beside Dumbledore, but...
Hera couldn't believe this. If Snape was really Voldemort's undercover agent, then it can only be said that his acting skills are really good.Whether it was Snape's attitude when he mentioned Voldemort in Harry's first year, or his actions, it didn't look like Voldemort's loyal lackey.

"Hey, isn't this our Professor Snape?" Hera knocked lightly on the door, attracting Snape's attention, "Aren't you going to the Christmas ball tonight?"

"Hera, if you could have less Achnatherum splendens in your mind, I think your life will be much more satisfying than it is now." Snape sneered without raising his head, "What's the matter? Is Professor Lestrange from Beauxbatons coming to mock his former colleague?"

"That's not what I meant." Hera found a chair across from Snape's table and sat down. He said softly, "This is the Yule Ball, what a rare opportunity, don't you want to change yourself?"

"Obviously, I have no such intention." Snape lightly ran his fingers across the table, picked up some daisy roots and put them into the cauldron. "I don't think there's anything more stupid than wasting time on pointless socializing."

"But this is a rare ball. After all, I haven't heard of it being held before in Hogwarts these years." Hera said lightly knocking on the table.

Snape looked at Hera with a cold face, without any hesitation in the movements of his hands, he continued to brew his own potion. "If you go back 30 years, I think you will meet your like-minded Professor Slughorn, he is a loyal fan of the party."

"Hmm." Hera had also heard about that professor. Professor Slughorn heard that he was the Potions professor before Snape. He once founded the Slug Club in the school. The members of the club were all young wizards and wizards with prominent family backgrounds or extraordinary talents, and those members were basically high-ranking people in the magic world.

But it's a pity that Professor Slughorn had already left Hogwarts when Hera entered school, otherwise Hera would sneak into his slug club no matter what.

"I will patrol the castle at night." Snape picked up the wand on the table, gently stirred the liquid in the cauldron, and calmly declined Hera's invitation.

"Oh, okay." Hera said regretfully, but then his posture corrected a lot, and he carefully peeked at the direction of the door to make sure he closed it properly. "Severus, do you have any guesses about Harry's participation in the competition?"

Snape's hand stopped, he raised his head, and looked back and forth at Hera's face with his cold, dark eyes. After about a few breaths, he continued to stir the potion in the cauldron, and said in a tone without any ups and downs: "I'm also thinking about this question. Besides Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, who else came to Hogwarts?"

"Hmm..." Hera's eyes narrowed slightly, he paused, and said in a slightly angry tone, "Aren't you suspicious of me?"

"No, Dumbledore trusts you." Snape lowered his head, and continued to carefully observe the rising smoke of the potion.

The chat has reached here, and it is basically impossible to continue.Hera had already got what he wanted, and Dumbledore still believed in him, so he still had a chance to stabilize the situation.

Hera also returned to the office. Penello and Hermione were still preparing for the Christmas ball inside. Hera had no choice but to find an empty classroom. After locking the door, she changed into her custom-made sky blue dress.

The corridors of the school looked weird. Even though there was still an hour before the dance, the corridors were already full of people. They were no longer all in black robes, but in colorful gowns.

Hera returned to the door of the office, waiting for Penello and Hermione.

Finally, a quarter of an hour before the ball began, the door opened.

Penello looked very beautiful, with long chestnut hair braided with golden ribbons, gold bracelets on her wrists gleaming, and a long pale pink dress, which was glamorous and exuded mature charm.Hera stood at the door in a daze, unable to believe her eyes, was this the little girl who stayed by her side all day?
"Okay, don't be in a daze, Hermione is still behind, we are going to go to the auditorium." Penelope laughed out loud, walked up to the silly Hera and scratched his nose.

"Well, I think I should be able to accept it, my Penelope has always been so good-looking." Hera slowed down, stretched out his arm with a smile, Penelope covered his mouth with a chuckle, and gently held Hera's arm.

"Hermione, do you need my help?" Penello turned back to the room and asked, but Hermione hadn't come out yet, which made her a little worried that something might be wrong again.

"No, I'll be right away—oh, I'm coming." Hermione's voice gradually approached, and Hera's eyes moved away from Penello and fell on Hermione.

Suddenly, Hera opened her mouth wide in surprise.

It's Hermione.

It's definitely Hermione.

Except she didn't look like Hermione at all, and she'd done something to her hair so that instead of being messy, it was smooth and shiny and pulled back in an elegant bun.She wore a gown made of a flowing lavender-blue fabric, and somehow she had a different air—perhaps simply by removing the 20-odd thick books she usually slung around her.She smiled—a little nervously, of course—but the front teeth looked much smaller.

"Hello, Hera." Hermione was very nervous, her arms were raised very stiffly, "how do I look like this?"

"Very beautiful, believe me, you will definitely be the most eye-catching existence at the ball." Penello replied first, she didn't mean to be jealous at all, but held Hera's hand very proudly and said: "Look, I have put in a lot of effort to help Hermione straighten her hair."

"Yeah, thanks to Penelope." Hermione walked out gracefully holding the hem of her skirt, and gently held Hera's other arm.

This time, Hera is really male on the left and right. Bah, female on the left and right
When Hera and the others went downstairs, the door of the auditorium just opened - the foyer was full of students before, and they were all circling back and forth, waiting for the truth at eight o'clock, when the door of the auditorium would open.

Some people want to meet their dance partners from other colleges, so they squeeze sideways through the crowd, looking for each other's figure.

However, Hera and the others came to the foyer after the door of the auditorium opened, saving the time of waiting in front of the foyer together.

It's just that when they walked to the auditorium, almost everyone's jaws dropped in surprise.

Is that Hermione?
The one next to Hera is Penello - it's easy to tell, she didn't change herself too much, she just showed off her good figure generously.But on the other side of Hera, that's Hermione! ?
Everyone couldn't believe their eyes, that was clearly Hermione, but she didn't look like her usual at all.

"Hello, Harry." Hermione greeted Harry beside him.Harry was almost the most surprised. "Hello, Parvati."

That Parvati should be Harry's dance partner. She is also a very beautiful girl. Some Gryffindor boys even said that she is almost the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts, and she is also Hermione's roommate.

At the moment, she was staring at Hermione with undisguised suspicion.In fact, she was not the only one who did this. When the door of the auditorium opened, the girls all stared at the radiant Hermione, eyes full of jealousy; while the boys turned their envious eyes to Hera—why can he hug left and right?

This is not appropriate!
Hera gently pulled Rahmi's arm, indicating that she would not be angry with this kind of person, so she might as well sit down first.

Hermione turned her head to look at Hera and sighed softly. When she decided to dress herself up, she probably guessed that everyone would react like this, but she still did it without hesitation.She didn't have many friends at Hogwarts anyway except Harry and Ron.

The walls of the auditorium were covered with glittering silver frost, the ceiling was a starry night sky, and there were hundreds of garlands of parasites and ivy.Gone were the four house tables, replaced by a hundred small, lantern-lit tables, with a dozen people sitting at each table.

After they took their seats in the auditorium, Professor McGonagall asked the warriors and their dance partners to line up two by two, and the warriors would dance the opening dance, which was the tradition of the Triwizard Tournament.

The warriors led their dance partners into the auditorium and headed for a large round table where the referees sat. Hera clapped softly like paddling water, barely making a sound, which was in stark contrast to the surrounding applause.

The four warriors came to the front of the guest table, and Dumbledore smiled happily. Beside him, Professor Karkaroff and Mrs. Maxime also put on flowing robes, looking extremely elegant—although Karkaroff still looked a little too serious.Ludo Bagman was clapping like his classmates tonight in his bright purple robe with big yellow stars on it.The last referee, Mr. Crouch, did not come. In his place sat a very serious young man.

With a straight face and stiff clapping, he looked like a serious soldier.Nobody knew him.

The warriors and their dance partners walked to the table and sat down at the guest table. The process before the dance was almost gone, and they could enter the relief of eating.

Hera looked at the shiny golden plate in front of her. There was no food in it, but a small menu was placed in front of everyone.He didn't know what kind of new play this was, and before that, Cowper hadn't told him.

"Hera, do you know what this means?" Penello asked suspiciously holding the menu.

"I think... maybe so?" Hera carefully looked at the menu in front of him, then tentatively pointed at the plate in front of him, and whispered, "Pork cutlet?"

The tonkatsu came out right away.

"I think, this is slave labor!?" Hermione's eyes were complicated, and she hadn't forgotten "vomit".

　The data collapsed, probably because I wrote it too badly, maybe I don’t have much talent, so I sent it with 6k today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)