Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Sixty-Three

"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"

Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and I whipped around in my seat in time to see Harry and Ron jump and look up from the sword fight they'd been having with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class. Ron was holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor — Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before — "I have something to say to you all. "The Yule Ball is approaching — a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests."

Oh, right. The Yule Ball. I'd forgotten all about it.

"Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above," McGonagall continued, "although you may invite a younger student if you wish —"

A few seats to my right, Lavender let out a shrill giggle. Parvati nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then —" Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class. "The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to — er — let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from joining in the laughter. It was pretty funny — Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as we all packed our bags and swung them onto our shoulders.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter — a word, if you please."

I shot Harry an encouraging look. If it was about the fake wands, I hoped McGonagall wouldn't chew him out too much.

Hermione, Ron, and I waited outside the Transfiguration classroom. Luke joined us shortly, having been helping with planning for the third task. Ron incessantly asked Luke for details, but Luke always skillfully managed to change the subject or tell Ron extremely vague facts about the third task.

"So yeah, we're planning out the obstacles," Luke said. "It's definitely coming along. So, how was Transfiguration?"

"Pretty normal... Harry and Ron had a sword fight with a pair of fake wands," I said.

"I won," Ron put in.

"Oh, and McGonagall announced the Yule Ball," I added. "Grandma'am told me about it a while ago when we went shopping for dress robes, but I forgot."

At that moment, Harry came out of McGonagall's classroom, looking gloomier than he had a few minutes ago.

"You okay?" I asked him. "McGonagall didn't give you a hard time about the fake wands, did she?"

"No," Harry grumbled. "But I almost wish she had. She told me that the champions have to have a dancing partner for the Yule Ball. Apparently it's tradition."

I tried not to smile. "Can you even dance?"

Harry went into Grumpy Idiot Mode. "No. And now I have to learn so I don't embarrass myself in front of three schools."