Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 175 Catching "worms"

When everyone had almost finished eating, Dumbledore stood up and told the students to stand up as well.

He waved his wand, and all the tables flew to the wall with a "whoosh," leaving an empty space in the middle.

Then he conjured up a tall stage, which was placed against the right wall, on which were placed a drum set, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and several organs.

Two women dressed in tattered robes ran onto the stage, and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

The warriors were the first to step onto the dance floor, and soon Draco, holding Thea's hand, glided into the spacious and brightly lit dance floor with her.

The custom-made dance dress accentuated Thea's slender waist, while the blond boy in the center of the dance floor kept his gaze tenderly fixed on the girl in his arms.

Spinning, jumping, getting close, moving away—no matter the dance steps, the two coordinated perfectly, as if they were born to be in sync.

The unspoken understanding between the two dispelled the idea of ​​switching dance partners for everyone else.

After the dance, Thea suggested that she wanted to go for a walk.

Draco instantly understood Thea's meaning. Although he felt a little regretful, Draco still suggested that Thea rest at the table for a while before going out.

Thea readily agreed.

"To be honest, I still can't get used to wearing high heels..." Thea couldn't help but complain.

Draco had watched his mother walk very fast in high heels since he was a child. Although he didn't understand why Thea was in pain, Draco still thought about how to solve the problem.

Not long after, Draco suddenly pulled a wand from his dress pocket. Thea was puzzled, but she remained seated.

"call out!"

A faint sound, almost negligible, rang out.

Thea looked down and saw that her high heels had been turned into flats by Draco's spell!

Thea had only made a casual complaint, but she didn't expect Draco to act so quickly.

"That's a modified Transfiguration Charm!"

Thea's tone was very certain.

“Yes,” Draco said smugly, “I figured this out not long ago, and this is a good opportunity to put it into practice… Using the Transfiguration Charm alone might not last long, and I got the inspiration from your Notes on the Invisible Extension Charm, which is how I came up with this method!”

"You've made rapid progress!"

Thea was also very happy and then suggested going out for a walk again.

"Draco, how good are you at catching bugs?"

"...What?" Draco thought he must have misheard; otherwise, how would Thea have brought up this topic?

Flat shoes make almost no sound on the ground, especially on snow-covered ground.

When the two left the castle, the outside world had almost changed. There were now caves shimmering with fairy light on the lawn, starlight scattered on the magically created rose bushes, and on the statues of Santa Claus and his reindeer.

"Why did we come out? It's so cold outside..."

The young master once again revealed his spoiled nature.

"Because there..."

Thea whispered, pointing towards a shadowy spot.

Draco had casually glanced in that direction, about to complain to Thea about the darkness, when he unexpectedly saw a figure in the distance—

"You...uh...uh...uh"

Before Draco could finish speaking, Thea covered his mouth and pushed him into a shadowy spot.

"Shh..."

Thea gestured for silence, and Draco also signaled with his eyes that he would not make a sound, so Thea let go.

Draco frowned as he looked at Harry and Ron, who were not far from them.

Why are they out here too?

In fact, Harry and Ron weren't in a good mood either.

They just had another argument with Hermione—oh no, it was Ron and Hermione who had an argument.

But Harry's presence here also indicates that he is now on Ron's side.

This fact made Thea frown.

At this moment, the two people who appeared first over there began to speak.

“I understand…I understand…Are you like me, your mother or your father?” Hagrid’s distinctive voice rang out.

“I…I don’t understand what you mean, Hagrid…”

“It’s my mother,” Hagrid said softly. “She’s one of the few remaining in England. Of course, I don’t remember him very well…”

Hearing this, Draco still didn't understand why Thea was staying there listening to others talk.

Thea didn't speak, but shook her head to tell Draco that he had to stay there.

The conversation on the other end was still going on.

"Another one of our kind? Explain yourself!"

"Ms. Maxim said in a cold tone. Thea could already tell that she was extremely impatient."

“You’re another half-giant! Needless to say,” Hagrid said.

“How dare you!” Maxim screamed. “I’ve never been insulted like this in my life! A half-giant? Me? I’m just a big skeleton!”

Even Draco could now discern the underlying ferocity in Mrs. Maxim's words.

As Hagrid and Mrs. Maxime parted on bad terms, Thea and Draco remained motionless in the shadows.

Until they heard more than one wave of departing footsteps nearby...

"Oh!"

At Thea's command, Draco swiftly and firmly clamped an ordinary glass bottle over the... beetle?

"Ms. Skeeter, it's been a long time!"

Draco's question, which was about to come out, was abruptly cut off by Thea's words.

what?

Is this beetle a person?

What kind of magic is this?

Draco racked his brains and finally pulled out a word from the depths of his memory—Animagus…

“Madam, I warned you, but it seems you didn’t take it to heart…” The girl’s pitying and regretful tone made the beetle in the bottle struggle even more fiercely.

Draco followed Thea back to the Slytherin common room in a daze.

But when he realized what was happening, an overwhelming joy burst forth from the depths of his heart.

Thea finally didn't leave me behind!

Does that mean I'm qualified to fight alongside her?

The little devil in Draco's mind was spinning, and he couldn't help but smile.

Thea ignored Draco for the time being; she was busy negotiating with the beetle.

While she claimed to be negotiating terms, Thea didn't actually want to give Rita a chance to argue.

She had seized a weakness that could ruin the other party's reputation, so naturally she was going to make good use of it!

Harry Ron, who was leaving, was stopped by Cedric at the stairwell after the ball.

He seemed to have something he couldn't say in front of Ron, and Ron noticed this and left early.

"Is there a problem?"

“Listen…” Cedric said in a low voice, “You told me about the dragons, and I owe you a favor. Do you know that golden egg? Did it scream when you opened the diamond?”

"Yes!"

"Okay, go take a shower..."

"what?"

"Take a bath, and then... um... take the golden egg, and ponder it carefully in the hot water. The hot water will help you think... trust me!"

Harry looked at him, puzzled.

“Listen to me,” Cedric said, “go to the prefect’s restroom on the sixth floor, the password is fresh pineapple… I have to go…”

He smiled at Harry, then hurried downstairs to find Cho Chang.