Aaric enjoyed his food with Luna and Daphne as he interacted with his Head of House, Filius Flitwick.
"Oh! I must tell you, Mr. Hawthorne, I met your friend, Mr. Blackvein, in the Forbidden Forest. I admit, it was refreshing to meet a goblin willing to share his craft so openly," Filius said with excitement, his voice squeaking slightly.
Grakthorn Blackvein was the goblin envoy from Nightshade Island who now lived with the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest, forging an alliance between species and tribes.
"That's good. I admire Mr. Blackvein for his craft and hard work greatly," Aaric nodded towards Filius with a genuine smile.
"I do have a request for you, Mr. Hawthorne," Filius spoke, leaning in towards Aaric.
"Yes, of course, Professor. What is it?" Aaric asked with a curious tilt of his head.
"You see, I requested our friend a visit to his village when he mentioned it during our conversation. He admitted it was your explicit permission I required for such a visit," Filius admitted, his question clearly implied.
"But of course, Professor. However, I do request absolute secrecy on your part regarding the village's location and nature," Aaric accepted the request in a moment, trusting his teacher.
"You have my word on that," Filius nodded solemnly with a hand placed over his heart.
"And that is all I require, Professor," Aaric said, getting a grateful nod from the half-goblin professor.
To their side, Hermione and Alice were having a chat of their own.
"What do you mean you 'had' an interest in potioneering?" Hermione asked Alice when Alice mentioned the subject.
"Well..." Alice muttered and glanced at Snape at the High Table with a grimace. Hermione got the message immediately with that single glance.
"Oh," Hermione muttered with a sympathetic nod. "Well, I have been corresponding with Elder Huo through letters about that very subject. You can practice with me if you wish."
"He stopped talking with me because I introduced you two. Please stop pestering him," Aaric interjected from the side with a smirk.
Alice giggled at his comment, while Hermione completely ignored him and waved her hand at him dismissively.
Alice knew who Elder Huo was as his works and books were very famous.
"I think I will take you up on that offer," Alice said, getting a pleased nod from Hermione.
"I hope you von't mind me vísiting during de sessions. I lack de patience required for de art of potion-making. Hovever, I admire your proficiency in it greatly," Krum added to the conversation.
He was very formal and somehow a little nervous whenever he talked directly to Hermione.
"Yes, of course," Hermione nodded to his request with a warm smile.
Hermione's initial awe towards Viktor had turned to genuine affection over time with the more interactions they had. She enjoyed their time together as Viktor had a habit of listening far more than he would talk.
After the champions and the other students had finally finished their food, the tables vanished. Among the cheers of the students, the Weird Sisters took the stage and started singing the opening Waltz.
The Weird Sisters were supposed to play a slow, mournful song for the opening as per the orders of the teachers.
However, Aaric had made use of his resources and bribed them into playing a more playful, upbeat song so he could properly enjoy the dance with both Luna and Daphne.
It was less a bribe and more about the sweet foods he used for persuading them.
"Are you afraid of the dark, or are you afraid of your mum?!" the lead singer of the Weird Sisters shouted enthusiastically as the teachers looked at each other in confusion.
"No!" The students shouted back as the champions and their dates took to the dance floor.
There were certain twin brothers who did shout, "Of course we are, have you met our mum!?" Getting chuckles and shouts of agreement from the students near them.
"Well, don't you worry 'bout the shadow, 'cause the worst is yet to come!" The band continued as the music amped up significantly.
Aaric, Luna, and Daphne laughed and danced around each other, hand in hand, as the world around them seemed to fade into the background.
Fleur and Alice were giggling as they did their own playful dance. Fleur did wide, but somehow elegant and theatrical skips as Alice struck playful poses in return.
Even Krum had a small smile on his face as Hermione playfully spun and danced around him, drawing him out of his shell.
Cedric and Cho were in each other's arms with wide smiles on their faces as they spun and hopped around to the rhythm.
"You gotta face the things you fear, and when that fear gets too near... You just gotta do the Boggart Boogie!" The band shouted the last part, and cheers and shouts filled the Great Hall as other students joined in with their dates as well.
Ars danced with Padma and spun her around skillfully, while Harry and Ginny laughed in each other's arms nearby.
When Parvati saw Padma enjoying herself with Ars, she refused to let Ron's sulking mood and pouty expression ruin her night.
She took Ron by the arms and started spinning and twirling him around, giggling all the while.
It took some time on her part, but Ron eventually showed a little smile on his face when she held his hands and started moving them around in all directions.
Dumbledore clapped lightly and smiled as he saw how happy his students were, leading the other teachers to shrug at the disruption of their plans.
Hagrid and Maxime smiled and danced on the dance floor as well. Their giant heights made them more visible and eye-catching among the sea of kids around them.
Hagrid in his hairy brown suit and Maxime in her elegant dress were a contrast to each other that somehow made sense as they seemed genuinely happy for the moment.
"I must admit, I was not entirely sure about your invitation at first. But you… you are quite a breath of fresh air, 'Agrid," Maxime said to the gentle giant.
"Aye, I'll take tha' as a right nice compliment. Fancy a bit o' fresh air yerself? Got something I'd like ter show yeh," Hagrid invited her, and she accepted with a shrug as she did not suspect Hagrid had any ulterior motives.
They exited the castle, and Maxime held her robes closer to herself as she felt the biting cold wind of the night.
"Here now, let me help yeh," Hagrid said and took out his wand as he cast a silent charm around her that provided her with constant, comforting warmth.
Dumbledore had repaired Hagrid's wand long ago, and he had kept it a secret. He had improved a lot in fire-based and transfiguration-type charms because of his deep connection with Norberta as well.
"Best we keep this our little secret, eh?" Hagrid said, gesturing towards his wand with a wink.
"But of course. And… that was most impressive magic, truly," Maxime complimented, seeming genuinely impressed at the skill.
Hagrid nodded sheepishly and gestured forward, taking her towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Don' be nervous now. Jus' wanna introduce yeh ter a friend o' mine," Hagrid said and took her to a specific location with less dense trees present.
At this point, any other woman would have run away. However, Maxime was confident in her strength and considered herself a good judge of character.
Hagrid took her to the edge of the forest and looked ahead, she did the same as she stood beside him.
She saw little movements in the forest as a massive silhouette seemed to be moving and stirring in the darkness.
A moment later, two molten red eyes became visible from between the trees.
Maxime took half a step back. With the sheer size of the eyes and the distance between them, she could imagine how gigantic the creature attached to them would be.
"Tha's Norberta. Raised her meself since she were a wee thing," Hagrid told her and placed a gentle hand on her back to steady her. "An' I promise yeh, yeh'll be the last person she'd ever harm."
Maxime took a breath and looked from Hagrid to the giant silhouette in the forest. With the silver moonlight filtering through the canopy.
She could see the scales gleaming in the night and had surmised she was in front of a dragon, and by the looks of it, the dragon was bigger than the biggest one she had ever seen in records.
She took out her wand and held it firmly as she looked at Hagrid. He did not seem to mind if it gave her a better sense of protection.
She took a step with Hagrid, and they walked deeper into the forest, moving towards the clearing Norberta occupied.
She felt the environment becoming warmer as she walked towards the dragon. A soothing aura enveloped her, and the magic in the air became thick and palpable.
Even the magic-rich castle like Hogwarts paled in comparison to the raw magic in that environment.
Just as she stepped into the clearing, she could see the face of the dragon clearly. Just the face of the dragon was bigger than her entire body as it moved towards them, nearing its face towards her and tilting it as if inspecting her.
Hagrid gently placed one hand on the dragon's snout and extended his other hand towards her.
Maxime took a moment to accept the offered hand and moved closer to the dragon as Hagrid guided her. She took a breath as her hand was placed on the dragon, right beside Hagrid's.
"So then… do yeh like flyin'?" Hagrid asked her with a grin after a moment.
It did not take much time for Maxime to accept, and soon she was seated in front of Hagrid as they flew through the skies on Norberta's back. With the heat Norberta naturally gave out, they did not even feel the cold in the sky.
"I must confess, 'Agrid… you are full of surprises," Maxime muttered and caressed Norberta's scales.
"Glad yeh think so," Hagrid chuckled at her compliment and spread his arms wide, enjoying the warm wind on his face.
A/n: Give me your thought on the chapter and reviews on the fic.
And.. you got any power stones? Well, hand em over then.