"Remus, you finally got married, not an easy feat."
William patted Lupin's shoulder, putting on an expression of a proud father.
"Good evening, Mr. Richard."
Lupin's dance partner seemed a bit nervous. William paused to think, remembering her identity— the deputy headmaster leading Ilvermorny, who on the third weekend after school started, was the second to stand up when professors from other schools questioned his referee status, and also the third to fly out during the later "capability test" —
What was her name again...
"Boom—"
Suddenly, an explosion sounded over everyone's heads, pink petals fluttered down from the ceiling, landing on everyone. Then, a boy wearing a bright pink robe appeared in the middle of the crowd, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere, but actually just using a Disillusionment Charm - in the bustling hall, no one would notice if they were bumped.
"Daniel!!"
The boy did not receive applause but was met with a yell from his aunt. Lupin's dance partner first offered an apologetic smile to the two of them, then picked up the cumbersome hem of her gown, darting into the crowd to pull the show-off Daniel Stephens out of there —
William recalled her name, Tessa Stephens, aunt of the Ilvermorny Champion.
The commotion brought by Daniel ended with him being dragged away by his aunt. William stood beside Lupin, and the two began to speak casually.
"Sirius arrived in South America the day before yesterday; he said he plans to trek through the Amazon Rainforest—"
Lupin looked up at the ceiling.
"Then he better change his name to Ed Stafford and not bring his hair with him —"
William spoke calmly, his gaze moving past the surrounding noisy little wizards, looking towards the revolving staircase on the other side of the hall.
Gradually, the crowd became more and more crowded. Students were milling about, waiting for eight o'clock when the ballroom doors would open. Many were looking sideways in the crowd for their respective dance partners. William seemed to spot Cedric, the boy looked somewhat nervous, with an Asian girl softly comforting him.
Finally, with ten minutes to eight, William sensed something and looked up. A girl in a light purple gown descended the stairs; she seemed to have noticed William's gaze too. Their eyes met in the hall, and the next moment, a charming smile appeared on the girl's face —
"Looks great, suits you well."
William caught Hermione's extended hand, observing the girl in front of him. She had presumably done something to her hair; the usually messy brown strands gleamed smoothly and glossy under the lights, styled into a sophisticated bun at the back of her head. She had attracted quite a few gazes along the way —
William noticed a certain Slytherin fourth-year's platinum blonde hair looking somewhat pale, though he couldn't tell what had come to the boy's mind.
"Thank you. I only know that wearing this dress, I'm scared to take a step — do you know how many times I silently chanted not to fall down while coming down the stairs?"
It wasn't until she clutched William's arm that Hermione finally seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, chattering away, shattering the noble demeanor she had previously shown. The Gryffindor girls who had been following her also dispersed, each going to find their own dance partner —
Today, the witches surrounding William were far fewer than usual, probably because they all had their dance partners to tend to.
"Champions and your dance partners, come to the front—"
At this moment, the ballroom doors opened, and Professor McGonagall's voice rang out. She was wearing a long red tartan robe, her pointed wizard hat still perched atop her head, though the hat's rim was adorned with a rather unsightly wreath of thistles, she gestured for the champions to come forward, and nearly twenty people emerged from the crowd —
"Let's go."
Harry whispered to Ginny, who promptly nodded, then stood up, smoothing down the pocket on her skirt.
"Squeak squeak!"
A certain Niffler squished tightly fought and kicked in displeasure.
"You look rather tense."
Ginny saw Cedric and Cho Chang walking towards them, lining up in front of Professor McGonagall; she heard Cedric speaking softly to Harry — though she could hear too, it indeed counted as whispering.
"You aren't much better, Ced." Harry twitched the corner of his mouth.
"So, do you know the content of the next task?" Cedric asked with a pained expression, not denying it.
"Could you not bring that up at such a good moment?" Harry's face fell as well.
"Task content?"
The two were slightly startled, seemingly forgetting they were surrounded by champions— Fleur clearly heard it. She was holding Roger Davis's arm. Harry knew him as the Ravenclaw Quidditch team captain; the boy's gaze was somewhat dazed, likely having entirely forgotten what he was doing, his mind full of the girl beside him.
The terror of Veela strikes again—
Harry decisively avoided looking, leaving Cedric with the situation as he was the one who mentioned it first, a non-stick pan — the boy's gaze was drawn to something else, seeing Kabuda perched on Ginny's shoulder, he widened his eyes, "You're bringing it along?"
"... I don't know when it sneaked in."
Ginny said with a troubled face, trying to catch Kabuda, but the slippery Niffler maxed out its evasion skills, dodging her hand with precision each time.
As Harry helped Ginny catch the Niffler, the remaining "others" entered the ballroom and took their seats — William and Hermione chose a spot near the head table. The four house tables had been removed, replaced by nearly a hundred small lit round tables, each seating ten or so people.
"... Just missing the red plastic cloth."
William sat down, tapping the wooden table before him, feeling like he had returned to the countryside where a feast was being prepared, and the table would soon be covered with all sorts of pig trotters and fish.
"What?"
Hermione didn't hear clearly, asking in a low voice.
"It's nothing. Are you cold?"
William cleared his throat, changing the topic.
"Not really — the champions are about to come in."
Hermione blinked her eyes, her brown pupils gleaming sparkles like starlight.
The champions filed in through the ballroom entrance, with Dumbledore applauding happily; next to him, Ludo Bagman wore a striking violet robe, a large bright yellow star on the chest, seeming the most excited of everyone. Across the table, Barty Crouch's face was devoid of smiles as he fixed his gaze on the champions —
Though Harry felt the Ministry of Magic official seemed to be staring at him, every time Harry looked back, the man conveniently averted his gaze.
Finally, the champions made it to the front of the head table without incident — Harry breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't trip, Ginny didn't either, and the Niffler... Kabuda had vanished, when Harry last saw it, it was at Fleur's lower back, Niffler seemingly studying how to unhook the silver-grey beads from Fleur's outfit —
Now, Harry glanced over secretly; those beads were gone, and so was the Niffler.
The head table was the largest, with several vacant seats clearly reserved for the champions and their dance partners.
"Harry!"
Harry heard someone calling him, instinctively turning to find Percy, dressed in a dark blue suit, waving at him.
It was only then Harry noticed Percy was sitting beside Barty Crouch.