HP: I beat the otome game at Hogwarts

Chapter 180 The Ball Begins

Leila was the last one to leave the girls' dormitory.

She nervously peeked out from the stairs and found that only Fred and George were still standing at the door of the common room downstairs—it was already 7:55, and everyone else had left.

Leila carefully lifted her skirt and walked down the stairs, then stood in front of the twins, seeing only amazement and admiration in their eyes—even though she was wearing a black dress.

Leila secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where did this night elf come from?!" Fred raised an eyebrow, his tone rising, but his eyes were full of amazement.

“Or we should tie her wings in knots when she’s not looking,” George said seriously, “so the night elf won’t be able to return to the forest at midnight.”

“Because Angelina’s dress is also red, and she bought her dress first, I didn’t want to steal the spotlight, so…” Leila felt she should explain, “I didn’t mean to ignore your kindness—”

But Fred and George, dressed in their finest attire, stood on either side of her as always, their smiles unchanged.

"Sorry—" Leila was still trying to apologize, but two more fingers appeared on her lips.

"Shh—" the twins whispered simultaneously, stopping her. "Elves don't need to apologize to mortals—"

"All you need to do is deign to dance with mortals all night long—"

Two handsome red-haired boys bowed simultaneously and extended their arms to the black-haired, gray-eyed girl, inviting her to a wonderful ball.

*

As the clock struck eight o'clock in the evening, the doors of Hogwarts Great Hall opened precisely on time, and people lined up in an orderly fashion to enter.

Lyra, Fred, and George sprinted like the wind to catch up with the tail of the group at the last moment.

The three of them struggled to catch their breath.

Leila was thankful that her hair had been tied up tightly tonight, and the silver hair accessory had been secured with a spell beforehand; the girls in her dorm had all helped each other with spells as well.

Even if the ceiling of Hogwarts Great Hall were suddenly blown away by a hurricane tonight, the girls could be sure that their hairstyles wouldn't be messed up.

"No, how come you're completely unaffected—" Fred's bangs were a little messy.

He and George stared in astonishment at Lyra, who, apart from her breathing, was perfectly composed.

"Not even a single hair was out of place—"

George couldn't resist reaching out to touch his dance partner's head to see if he was wearing a wig.

"Smack!" A crisp slapping sound echoed through the empty hallway.

People at the front of the line were turning around to look this way. Leila forcefully covered George's mouth as he cried out in pain, threatening him with her eyes to shut up.

Fred felt no brotherly affection whatsoever, only secretly glad that he had been two seconds too slow in reaching out.

"Wow, look!" Lyra exclaimed, her attention already diverted. "The warriors are already entering with their partners—"

Fred and George pulled Lyra to sit at a small round table closest to the door.

The auditorium was sparkling tonight, with a starry night sky overhead and hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy hanging all around. The four long college tables that used to be there were gone, replaced by more than a hundred small round tables lit with lanterns.

Leila and the twins observed with great interest the main seating area at the front of the hall, where foreign guests, warriors, and the school's professors were seated.

Lyra could tell that Harry seemed a little nervous sitting in the most prominent spot; Hermione and Krum next to her were much more relaxed, chatting happily; Cedric and Fleur were also talking politely, both of them strikingly beautiful, and their formal attire seemed to enhance their allure—people in the Great Hall kept peeking at them.

Headmaster Dumbledore was as pleased as ever, which made Headmaster Karkaroff of Durmstrang look like a villain with his squinting eyes.

Well, when it comes to looking like a villain, no one can compare to Professor Snape.

Professor Snape sat expressionlessly on the far left of the main table, wearing a black robe that appeared no different from his usual attire.

But Lyra had already exchanged gossip with Medusa at the cellar entrance—Professor Snape's formal robes were a high-end custom-made piece from Elegant Clothing Store, and were quite valuable.

Mrs. Maxim, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, was wearing a flowing pale purple dress that made Hagrid, who was standing next to her, completely dazzled. At least Lyra noticed that he had fed all the pumpkin juice onto his beard.

Ron and his dance partner, dressed in a bright green robe, sat not far below the main table, seemingly sulking, their faces tense.

While Lyra was happily spying on others, she was unaware that she was also being spied on.

Draco Malfoy wore a silver-white tuxedo, while Pansy next to him chose a light pink robe. Strictly speaking, their outfits didn't match very well.

However, Draco did not tell Pansy the color of his dress beforehand. When Pansy asked him, he simply told her to choose whatever she wanted, which completely fooled her.

Daphne wanted to persuade her friend to be more realistic, but after thinking about it, she remained silent. It seemed that the young master of the Malfoy family wasn't very interested in the ball. Pansy would probably be happier if she chose a dress she liked.

Daphne chose a pale gold dress, which clashed perfectly with her dance partner Theodore Nott's black tuxedo. Daphne already knew Theodore would choose black; the uninteresting Nott family heir's ball gown was always black.

If they hadn't grown up together as childhood sweethearts, Daphne felt she might not have listened to her parents and included Theodore Nott on the list of potential marriage partners. She often couldn't understand what Theodore was thinking; it seemed only his dog could figure it out.

Actually, she had wanted Blaise Zabini to be her dance partner a while ago, because Blaise hadn't announced his partner yet. She sometimes wondered if Blaise was waiting for her... Unfortunately, she and Theodore were chosen by their families, and old Nott seemed to really want to team up with Greengrass, given that the Malfoy family had no daughters in this generation.

Just as Daphne was lost in thought, the ball began.

The first dance is usually performed with a partner, but subsequent dances depend on the relationship and chemistry between the partners.

After Cedric, as a warrior, and Fleur finished their opening dance, Cedric smiled and walked toward Lyra, who was dressed in a black tuxedo.

Many girls had already privately anticipated this, but what shocked Daphne was that Blaise Zabini had also left his Ravenclaw dance partner and headed towards that famous Gryffindor beauty.

Pansy, knowing that her friend Daphne was somewhat concerned about Blaise, stared in surprise.

She didn't notice at all that her own dance partner, a handsome young man with platinum blonde hair, also released her hand in shock at the same time.