Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 379 Sounds Good
"prom?"
Hermione was squatting on the ground wearing dragon leather gloves, processing the herbal leaves that contained hallucinogenic toxins on their surfaces, and heard the questions that Asia asked her.
"I don't know what the professors in your castle have planned for Christmas, but considering what your principal has done to us, shouldn't he ban us from entering the castle?"
Asia shook her head.
"I don't know either, but Professor Greengrass has already announced the ball and told everyone that students will spend the Christmas holidays in the castle this year. That means the ball will definitely be held as normal, so there's no reason to turn you away."
Hermione didn't seem to care much about it.
"If there is, there is. If there is not, there is not. Even if this dance party is held, it is just to maintain some things on the scene. It will not have any impact on the outcome of the game."
"I think you guys have heard the news." Asia blinked and looked at Hermione. "Has anyone invited Hermione to be a dance partner?"
Hermione said casually without any change on her face.
"No."
"But Hermione is so beautiful and such a nice person, she should be very popular."
"Maybe no one has ever thought about this," said Hermione, "because we have been in exile before, that is, running for our lives. Everyone wants to study and become stronger, return to the home that originally belonged to us, and recognize our families. The school has never held a dance party before."
"So what kind of entertainment activities do you have?" Asia asked curiously.
"Well... we once held a fishing competition, and Justin, who is in the same grade as me, even caught a mermaid. Unfortunately, the weight of the mermaid was not included in his catch, so he didn't win the championship of the fishing competition for two consecutive years."
Asia obviously had no interest in fishing. She lowered her head slightly, as if she had thought of something. Her fair cheeks were faintly flushed, and the normal sounds of her conversation became extremely small.
"Well, if Hermione doesn't have a dance partner by then, why not, why not..."
Her voice was so soft that Hermione, who was concentrating on processing the herbs, couldn't hear it clearly.
"Not as good as what?"
In the end, Asia still couldn't say what she wanted to say. She lowered her head, looking a little lonely.
"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things."
Hermione seemed unaware of Asia's mood changes. She put away the herbs in her hands and tilted her head, thinking of something.
"I remember seeing some relevant records. It seems that at every Christmas ball of the Triwizard Tournament, the warriors selected from each school must appear as the opening lead dancer, right?"
"Yes, I heard that the young master from the Malfoy family invited the young lady from the Parkinson family, and the warrior from the Lestrange family has also been very close to a pure-blood lady named Selwyn recently."
Hermione actually didn't have much interest in what kind of dance partners those pure-blood students would choose. She just showed a barely perceptible smile at the corner of her mouth, as if she had thought of something interesting.
"Jon has been learning dancing with Professor Rozier recently. I've heard him complain many times that this kind of learning is very torturous. He actually doesn't want to attend any dances, but he has to learn for some reasons."
Asia asked with some confusion.
"Who is Mr. Green's partner?"
"He hasn't found a partner yet."
"Why haven't you found one? Are you still hesitating because there are too many options?"
"Contrary to what you might think, I guess he's still worried about who to find to dance with him."
Asia was very confused by this. If she were in Hogwarts Castle, let alone without such great achievements and fame as Jon, Asia knew that there were actually many half-blood girls around her who secretly had intimate relationships with pure-blood boys. This was not necessarily for the purpose of climbing up the social ladder, but the castle was always exaggerating the theory of noble blood, which made many students really agree with this from the bottom of their hearts.
There is a certain admiration for the strong. The girls in the mixed-blood academy will subconsciously think that pure-blood boys are better. Even if according to the rules set by their principal, mixed-bloods and pure-bloods cannot intermarry, this can also leave a good memory for the future, right?
So, according to Asia's understanding, with John's current status and reputation on Dumbledore's side, even if he is not surrounded by beauties, he should have had many girlfriends and be very popular with the opposite sex.
Hermione didn't explain much about this. Although both schools used the name of Hogwarts, the situations on both sides were completely different.
Based on what Asia had seen during her six years of studying in the castle, she certainly wouldn't understand how the students in the carriage got along with each other.
Asia never spent a long time with Hermione. Even though she cherished and even coveted her friendship with Hermione, she knew that if their relationship was discovered by someone in the castle, it would definitely be an extremely tragic ending.
After returning to the castle, she kept her head down all the time, like a frightened rabbit, cowardly avoiding everyone and everything around her.
But there are some things that she can't avoid just because she wants to.
Walking up the stairs, just as Asia was heading back to her dormitory, a tall boy with brown curly hair suddenly stopped her way with a smile on his face.
"Good afternoon, Asia."
Hearing the boy's voice, Asia's body stiffened noticeably. She tried to open her mouth, wanting to stop the boy from calling out her name directly, but in the end, the words did not come out.
She didn't respond at all, still with her head down, and was blocked by the boy.
"Hey, I heard that guy Giraldo invited you to be his dance partner, right? But you rejected him, which was very good, Asia. I had someone give him a good lesson this morning and warned him that he will not harass you again."
The smile on the boy named Flint's face became softer and softer. He seemed to be showing off his infatuated personality and wanted to hold Asia's hand, but this time she mustered up the courage to dodge.
"You know, I told you that Asia and Freud were just a marriage arranged for me by my family. In fact, I have no feelings for her at all. The person I really like is you. You fascinated me. I couldn't control myself when I saw you for the first time."
Asia was terrified. She huddled against the wall and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Princess, the principal said that pure-bloods and half-bloods...cannot be combined..."
" Of course what the headmaster said is right, but love is also great. As long as we truly love each other, it doesn't matter if we don't get married and are just nominal husband and wife, right? Don't worry, Asia, I will arrange everything for you after you graduate from Hogwarts. You don't have to worry about Floyd. She is also a pureblood, but she is only a new-school pureblood after all. Now she is looking for trouble with you in school and I can't intervene, but she won't know about our affairs in the future."
Flint spoke softly, but such words not only failed to make Asia feel at ease, but even made her feel nauseous.
It was like he liked Asia, and Asia must also like him. That was not a great love at all, but just his personal despicable wishful thinking, a wishful thinking that could not be rejected due to his position.
Asia had no chance to refuse at all. The half-blood class seemed to be no different from her previous life, but that was when most of the pure-bloods could maintain their so-called nominal arrogance and pure-blood pride and would not abuse the power they had.
Once the purebloods want to tear apart this illusion, the forced half-bloods will have no room to resist. It is already very difficult for Asia to hold on for so long.
"Remember, no matter who asks you to be a dance partner, don't agree. I can't dance with you on the day of the dance, because that would make my classmates laugh at me. But after the dance, we can be alone in the garden outside the castle for a while. At that time, we can be sincere to each other and imagine the future. Don't you agree?"
Flint came close to Asia's face with a smile on his face. He sniffed the fragrance lingering among the light golden hair intoxicatedly, and then did not continue to linger here. He turned and walked towards the first floor.
Even though he had left, Asia's complexion had not returned to normal. She stood there with a pale face, not knowing how she would respond to Flint's "invitation" at all.
Flint's family owns a huge industry in the British Ministry of Magic, and Assia's parents are both employees of his family's magic company.
Therefore, as the only heir of the Flint family, it was very easy for him to control Asia.
Just as Asia was standing there in a daze, the noise coming from the stairs above her head suddenly woke her up. She looked up and saw Floyd's extremely cold and hideous face.
In an instant, Asia felt cold all over, and her face turned pale to the point of being completely bloodless.
"No... Miss Floyd, I didn't..."
Floyd didn't even give her any chance to explain. His expression looked as if he had already determined that Asia was dead, and he immediately turned around and left.
Asia could only put down her hands in a daze. She leaned against the wall and slowly slid down the stairs. In the end, the only thing she could think of was the sound of her crying covered in indifference and darkness.
…
“I always enjoy being here.”
After dinner, Jon invited Hermione to sit in the driver's seat in front of the carriage for a while.
"When I first came here and met Hagrid, there were golden wheat fields everywhere. Before the Thestrals' hooves trampled on the wheat ears, they automatically parted a path for us to pass. The scenery was truly unforgettable. At that time, I asked Hagrid if there was an end to our journey, but I didn't expect that after only three years, we have already reached the end."
The winter wind was very cold, but it couldn't blow through the magic cast , so Jon and Hermione, who were sitting here watching the heavy snow, didn't feel cold at all.
"No matter how heavy the snow is, it will stop one day, right?" Hermione said softly.
"Of course, not only that, but generally after the rain and snow, the world will become better than before."
Jon picked up the teapot that Hagrid left here and poured a cup of warm black tea for himself and Hermione respectively.
"You have been getting along well with that girl named Asia recently?"
Hermione was holding a steaming cup of tea, and the red and yellow scarf wrapped around her neck made her face look so delicate.
"From her, I learned that the mixed-blood students, who I had always thought were superior, actually didn't have a very good life in the castle."
"Because pure-bloods hold absolute power, even if they are not reduced to slavery, how they live depends on their self-awareness and moral cultivation. Instead of believing this, it is better to imagine that the crows with clipped wings in the Tower of London will definitely bless Britain with long-term peace and stability."
Hermione laughed at Jon's metaphor and said, swinging her calves.
"After we take back the castle, we can go to school here?"
"It depends on what the professor thinks. I guess it depends on the specific situation at that time. If we just take back the castle, but Britain is still in the hands of the Dark Lord, that won't work."
"Hopefully we won't have graduated from school by then."
"Of course not. To be honest, I'd like to have lunch in the Hogwarts Great Hall."
"I heard that the starry sky is very beautiful."
"You haven't seen it yet?"
"No."
"Well... Actually, there is a pretty good opportunity this time... Well, you know that there will be a ball in the castle on Christmas. If you want to see the starry sky with your own eyes... that night is definitely a good time. Of course, I just happen to be in need of a dance partner. If you don't mind, you can go to visit the starry sky in the name of my dance partner. You don't have to do anything special. Just start the show and dance with me..."
He talked a lot, but Hermione just turned around and looked at him with a smile after he started talking.
The white mist rising from the teacup made her smile look hazy, as if it was reflected in the lake. It seemed somewhat out of reach, yet very close, just like the starry sky above their heads.
She seemed to have thought about it seriously, then nodded thoughtfully.
“That sounds pretty good.”
