Of Monsters, Of Men

Chapter 41

For the rest of dinner, conversation continued with Skeeter, who continued questioning the champions on everything from their plans for Yule Break to their favorite classes to their strategy for the second task (to which everyone kept their answers vague). After everyone had finished eating, Headmaster Dippet stood up and asked all to stand. Once they did, the tables disappeared and a stage appeared, along with a medley of instruments.

Eight wizards strode up the stage and picked up their instruments.

The Weird Sisters.

On cue, the champions and their partners stood up and walked to the dance floor. The Hogwarts champions and their partners stood in the center, with Ilvermorny and Koldovstoretz pairs flanking their left and right, respectively. Harry placed his left hand on Nina's waist, taking her hand in his right hand. Nina placed her free hand on his shoulder and with her other hand, squeezed Harry's hand that was holding hers. And so, they began to dance.

"Who was that?" Nina whispered.

Harry hid his grimace. "Abraxas Malfoy's father," he whispered back.

Nina's eyes flashed. "Holy fuck," she whispered, slightly faltering in her steps. Harry carried on without stopping, nudging her slightly, and she fell back into their rhythm.

To his side, Tom and Myrtle had struck a similar position to them and were also dancing. Myrtle's expression was that of shock, which was quickly wiped away to something more neutral. Evidently, Tom had also told Myrtle the news that they'd just been toasted by the Chairman of the Board of Governors.

Seeing that Nina was opening her mouth, Harry whispered, "Not now. Later."

Nina closed her mouth and gave a tiny nod. They continued dancing.

Eventually, the rest of the students joined the champions and their partners on the dance floor. Lawrence and Polly made their way to Harry and Tom, and both of them looked absolutely radiant.

"Let's switch partners!" Polly exclaimed, her cheeks flushed and joy emanating from her.

Seeing their happiness, Harry resolved to push the incident with Mr. Malfoy out of his mind—at least for the moment.

So, a great swap of dance partners occurred. First, Harry swapped with Lawrence so that he was dancing with Polly, then he swapped with Tom so that he was dancing with Nina, then Lawrence, then back to Myrtle, and somehow he ended up dancing with Avdotya! Then finally, Tom. Tom smirked at him and placed a hand on his waist, the other holding his hand. Feeling heat creep up his cheeks, Harry cleared his throat and placed his hand on Tom's shoulder. And so they waltzed to a slower song, in sync with the hundreds of other students present.

After the dance, Harry and Tom left the dance floor with Nina and Myrtle. The four of them decided that they would split up and talk to their target senators. Tom headed to Connor McLaggen, who was alone and grabbing hors d'oeuvres from the refreshment table, while Harry accepted a mocktail from a house-elf holding a platter with assorted drinks making its way around the dance floor.

As he walked closer to his target, Harry gave a friendly wave to Caspar Crouch, who was in elegant dress robes and was similarly holding a drink. Seeing that Harry was intent on talking to him, he stood up and excused himself from his group of friends, glass still in hand. Together, they walked to a reasonably empty corner of the Great Hall. Harry discreetly cast a Silencing Charm and Anti-Eavesdropping Charm around them.

Drink in hand, Caspar Crouch nodded at Harry. "It's good to see you, Mr. Peters."

Harry nodded back. "A pleasure to see you as well, Mr. Crouch. I hope you've been doing well."