Rhys had stated the obvious. Of course Aries was Professor Aries. Yet the woman standing in front of him widened her eyes.
Her eyes darted from side to side. S
eeing that the people around them were curiously watching this student-professor pairing, she did not dare say anything carelessly and merely gave a vague response.
That was right. She was Aries.
Ever since she had handed over control of her body, she had fallen into a deep sleep and had not regained consciousness until this morning.
When the legendary witch Rowena Ravenclaw wished her a Merry Christmas, Aries had been completely bewildered.
It had still been summer when she closed her eyes. How had it suddenly become Christmas?
Then Rowena gave her a task: attend the Yule Ball that evening and act as Rhys Lint's dance partner.
Before Aries could even react, Rowena "went offline," leaving Aries with relatively complete freedom.
Faced with so much information, she needed some time to process it. Once she did, she realised that her situation seemed rather terrible.
She appeared to have become Ravenclaw's puppet!
None of Ravenclaw's previous promises had been fulfilled. For nearly half a year, Ravenclaw had allowed her to remain conscious for only this one day!
Aries was dissatisfied.
That dissatisfaction immediately turned into a longing for freedom when she discovered that she could not contact Ravenclaw inside her body.
The idea of escaping from this prison entered her mind.
In terms of personality, Aries was different from Rowena, who possessed her. She was more like Godric, decisive and highly action-oriented.
The moment she thought of escaping, she walked straight out of Rowena's office and hurried towards the ground floor of the castle.
No matter what, she would leave Hogwarts first!
Her desire for freedom overwhelmed her fear of the Mystic Society.
Aries felt that the organisation was not omnipotent. If she hid somewhere remote and desolate, they might not necessarily be able to find her.
She possessed a Divine Domain herself, after all, and knew quite a few spells useful for hiding...
Just as she was walking out with those thoughts in mind, she encountered a group of people coming towards her.
They were Gryffindor students, gathered around a tall man with red hair and a red beard. They were laughing and chatting as they headed outside the castle, apparently planning to have a snowball fight on the grounds.
The moment Aries saw the red-haired man's back, she felt as though the air had frozen.
It was as if one enormous hand had seized her heart while another wrapped around her throat.
She could not breathe.
She could not speak.
She could not even react to the outside world.
That red-haired man carried Polaris's aura!
She could not possibly be mistaken.
Even his build closely resembled Polaris!
It was the organisation.
The organisation!
They had found their way to Hogwarts!
Fear overwhelmed her.
At that moment, the red-haired man seemed to notice someone staring at him.
He turned around, and when he saw Professor Aries, he gave her a bright, cheerful smile and waved.
"Professor Aries, would you like to come and have a snowball fight with us?"
He spoke to her.
He actually spoke to her!
That was it. There was no mistake.
That voice belonged to Polaris!!!
Aries knew she should answer, but she could not force out a single word.
She was far too frightened.
She knew perfectly well how powerful the man in front of her was.
She could never be his opponent.
She probably would not even survive long enough for help to arrive.
Aries felt as though she was about to faint.
But at that moment, Rowena, who had disappeared without a trace, suddenly resurfaced and temporarily took control of her body.
"I'll pass. I need to prepare for the ball later."
Her voice was calm and gentle.
To Aries, however, it sounded like the most beautiful music in the world.
Ravenclaw, my saviour!
Seeing that Professor Aries had declined, Godric did not insist. He waved to her and left with the group of Gryffindor students.
After Godric departed, Rowena returned control of the body to Aries. The moment Aries regained control, she ran straight back to Rowena's office.
She rushed inside like a gust of wind, locked the door tightly behind her, then slowly slid down against the wall and let out a long breath.
Only then did she realise that her robes had already been soaked through with sweat.
At this point, she no longer had any desire for freedom.
All she wanted was to curl up in a corner of the office. Only this room could give her any sense of security.
[Don't be nervous. He won't dare do anything to you. This is Hogwarts. Remember to attend the Yule Ball tonight. You must go. Don't worry, just go, and try not to let Rhys realise that you aren't me.]
Rowena's voice echoed in Aries's mind, quickly calming the fear in her heart.
'Yes. This is Hogwarts. It's safe here,' Aries thought.
After saying a few words to reassure Aries, Rowena fell silent again.
But Aries had already completely abandoned any thought of escape.
If Lady Ravenclaw had not given her a strict order that she absolutely had to attend the Yule Ball, she would not even have wanted to take a single step outside the office.
After the sun set, Aries briefly cleaned herself up, changed into the clothes Lady Ravenclaw had prepared for her, and went down to the ground floor of the castle, where she saw Rhys Lint.
Unfortunately, her acting skills seemed to be rather poor. Rhys Lint realised at a glance that she was not Lady Ravenclaw.
Fortunately, Lady Ravenclaw did not seem to mind.
Rhys appeared to mind quite a lot, but at least he did not lose his temper with her.
Aries took her place beside Rhys and silently waited for the ball to begin.
Her actions immediately caused an uproar among the students. No one had expected that a student would actually invite one of the school's professors as his dance partner.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the castle's main doors opened on time.
The two massive oak doors slowly swung apart, revealing the world outside.
A patch of lawn beyond the castle had been transformed into a cavern, where countless tiny fairy lights twinkled like stars. The cavern's thick stone walls kept out the winter cold, making the air inside as warm and pleasant as spring.
Professor McGonagall's voice rang out.
"Contestants, please come to the Great Hall!"
Rhys strode forward, while Aries followed half a step behind him towards the Great Hall.
After everyone else had taken their seats, Professor McGonagall instructed the contestants and their partners to line up and enter together.
The contestants filed in pair by pair, heading towards a large round table at the front of the Great Hall where the headmasters were seated.
As the contestants appeared, the people in the hall broke into enthusiastic applause.
Rhys paid no attention to their reactions.
He was observing the changes made to the Great Hall.
For tonight's ball, the walls had been covered in glittering silver frost, while the enchanted ceiling had been changed to a star-filled night sky.
Hundreds of sprigs of mistletoe and garlands woven from ivy floated in mid-air.
The long House tables had disappeared, replaced by hundreds of small tables illuminated by lanterns, each capable of seating around a dozen people.
Twelve tables had been arranged around the headmasters' round table, reserved specifically for the contestants and their partners.
Once all the contestants had taken their seats, the Yule Ball officially began.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI