A Dance Beneath the Frozen Moon
The Christmas dinner was quite lively, with the students seated at tables divided into groups of twelve. The dishes served themselves as soon as you asked directly from your plate. Most likely with the castle's house-elves working at full capacity.
Harry had heard from Sirius that he had even brought in a few more to help. And when he asked for his favorite dish, he noticed the little herbs over the steak, just like Liz used to add for him. So he realized that maybe his own elves, and the others', must have been helping out as well. Especially when he saw Hermione's massive plate, which was clearly the hard work of little Pipi alone.
Luciel, as always, the lively and friendly type, seemed eager to chat with all the champions as if he already knew them well. Which really brightened the atmosphere and got everyone talking while they ate.
Even Viktor, who was usually rather quiet. Or at least that was what Harry had thought until he started speaking.
"We also have a castle. Not as large as this one, nor as comfortable. It only has four floors, and the fireplaces are only lit for magical purposes. But the school grounds are even wider than these. Though in winter we barely get any light, so we do not enjoy them very much. But in summer, we usually fly over the lakes and mountains," Viktor said softly while calmly cutting his own steak, seeming to have settled into the cozy atmosphere Luciel had created with his conversation.
That really made the champions and their partners feel oddly familiar with one another as they nodded lightly with interest, since Durmstrang was supposed to be a secretive school that very few people knew about beyond its own students.
But Karkaroff suddenly interrupted the young people's conversation, almost without meaning to.
"Viktor, stop. Do not keep giving away more clues or everyone will figure out where the castle is," he said with a gentle smile. But for a moment, his eyes looked colder, more irritated, as if Viktor were revealing some truly serious state secret.
"If you speak like that, everyone will think you are trying to lock away the existence of Durmstrang as if it were truly something important," Sirius said in an amused, almost mocking tone as he looked toward Karkaroff.
"We all protect our private domains, Black. Not only to guard our knowledge with caution, but also to protect ourselves from those who would seek to obtain it through unscrupulous means. Not all of us are like Hogwarts, with the support of different families of great wealth capable of turning a school into a magical bunker with all kinds of defenses," Karkaroff said. And though he sounded calm, the envy in his tone was easy to notice.
"And that is something I can be proud of. Even if, in the past, Hogwarts was called the safest school in the magical world, thanks to a few… inconveniences, that ended up sounding more like a joke than reality. At least now it can hold that title properly. Obviously, alongside Beauxbatons," Sirius said with a slight smile toward Madame Maxime.
She smiled proudly for a moment. After Nicolas Flamel had suddenly become young again, he had begun moving around far more often, using his economic and political influence to fix many of the problems in France that he had apparently ignored before simply to avoid exhausting himself. But now, with renewed energy and more time than he knew what to do with, he seemed eager to improve his country. And the first thing he had done was improve his own alma mater.
"For all of that, I must thank Monsieur Flamel," she said as she looked toward the teachers' table, where Nicolas and Perenelle were seated with the rest of the professors. Though they could have been sitting at the main table with the champions and judges, Nicolas seemed to prefer speaking with the professors instead. Especially Perenelle, who was very close with Wanda and the other ladies, and was now chatting cheerfully with them while they looked through pictures of each other's little ones.
Harry glanced in that same direction for a moment, and the second he saw a photo album, he froze.
Because he knew very well that most of those photos were not from when he had been a baby, but from when he had been turned into one as punishment. And many times, both Harry and his siblings had tried to find that same album, but trying to steal something from the Scarlet Witch was the kind of dream that was never going to come true.
It was interesting to see the expressions of the others at the table. Luciel, Fleur, Daphne, Draco, Hermione. Just like him, the moment they saw a photo where all of them, in baby form, were dressed like animals being shown to Perenelle, she smiled in amusement and cast the group a few knowing glances.
Conversations drifted through the air as dinner slowly came to an end, with the last few students finishing their meals. So Sirius stood up and asked the students to do the same.
Then, with a flick of his wand, the tables slid back toward the walls, leaving the center of the hall completely open.
With another motion, a raised wooden stage emerged from the floor along the right wall, where instruments also appeared. Drums and guitars, cellos, even bagpipes and a lute.
"It seems everyone knows it is time for a proper dance, right?" Sirius said with an amused smile as he looked at the students, then waved his wand once more. The lights around the hall dimmed slightly, and the candles seemed to shrink their flames.
Then one of the side doors of the hall suddenly opened, and everyone began applauding when they saw that the ones walking in were none other than The Weird Sisters, who smiled as they made their way toward the stage.
Dressed in stylish torn robes, with a modern, rock-and-roll edge.
And without wasting much time, each of them took up their instruments and began to play.
While at the center, the champions and their partners were the ones standing beneath the expectant gaze of everyone else in the room.
Luciel was the first to move, stepping slightly forward in front of Katerina with a charming smile. His hair was slicked back. His earring gleamed faintly even in the dim light. His black suit with golden lines matched his golden blond hair, touched with faint platinum tones like a Delacour.
He placed one hand over his chest and gave a slight bow in a noble, knightly greeting.
"Beautiful lady, would you allow me to take your hand for a dance?" Luciel asked before giving his fiancée a charming smile, along with a wink.
As if it were some kind of nuclear weapon, that alone seemed to enchant the girls nearby, who sighed in both love and regret upon remembering that Luciel had a partner. And not just a partner, but a proper fiancée.
Katerina, already used to her fiancé, let out a faint smile. But the loving look in her eyes was enough as she took his hand.
"Of course, my knight," she said, playing along.
The two of them walked toward the center of the dance floor and took their positions; Luciel's hand at her waist, hers resting on his shoulder. Then they began to move softly with the music.
The next one was Draco, who simply offered Hermione his hand, though with a gentle smile. He did not say much, but at the same time, everything had already been said. Hermione could not help feeling a little embarrassed, but she still took his hand without thinking too much about it, and the two of them walked toward the center as well.
"Come on," Daphne said, interrupting Viktor just as he was about to invite her properly, and pulled him by the arm toward the dance floor.
Viktor let out a sigh and simply allowed himself to be dragged along, though there was a faint smile on his lips.
Harry noticed it for a moment, feeling that maybe Viktor was not simply letting himself be led around, but seemed to slightly enjoy not being the one in control. Tilting his head a little to the side as he watched him, Harry felt like he could tell Daphne she might be falling for a wolf in sheep's clothing. But remembering just how much Daphne still owed him, he decided it would be better to simply watch.
Meanwhile, Fleur looked at the others dancing, occasionally casting small glances toward Harry, as if waiting for something.
Harry seemed amused by the way she kept looking at him, but he felt like this was not the moment to tease her.
Not yet.
"So, do you want to dance?" Harry asked simply.
"Ahem. It is not that I want to dance. But if we did not, it would attract attention, right?" Fleur said with her proud expression.
That drew a smile from Harry, who simply offered her his hand, which Fleur took as they made their way to the dance floor.
Harry placed his hand gently at Fleur's waist, while she rested hers on his shoulder.
The music played softly in the background as the two of them began to move their feet with gentle ease.
Fleur stepped a little closer to Harry, since they had been standing somewhat apart. Then Harry gave her an amused smile as the two of them looked into each other's eyes.
For a moment, they both felt as though there was no one else but them while the music played.
Their smiles seemed to speak without words as they moved across the dance floor so perfectly that it was almost hypnotic.
Fleur's charm seemed to flow softly through the surroundings, blending with a faint reddish aura that drifted gently through the air, making it impossible for anyone not to feel drawn toward them.
The mixture of Fleur's charm and Harry's magic seemed to create an illusion around them, one that made red and silver flowers appear to bloom from the ground, while the atmosphere itself shifted into that of a beautiful frozen lake beneath the glow of the moon.
Even beneath their feet, the ice seemed to reflect the moon as though they were dancing directly over the night sky itself, while the flowers shimmered with the stars.
A strange blend of winter and spring.
As though the world itself were hesitating between two seasons… unable to decide which one was more beautiful.
The other champions could not help pausing for a moment, looking around at the stars, taking in the scent of the flowers, and finding themselves smiling at their partners before dancing with even more spirit.
Meanwhile, the other students around them seemed unwilling to remain mere spectators and soon joined in as well, making it look as though everyone in the hall was dancing beneath the moon itself.
"They are so adorable, aren't they?" Susan said as she stood beside Wanda and the others, watching their children dance so happily with their partners. "They grow up so fast," she added.
"Sometimes too fast," Selene added as she looked at Daphne with a faint smile on her lips, as if remembering her own school days with Edward.
"A mother's happiness is always in watching her little buds grow," Pandora added while holding a camera and happily taking pictures.
"Yes," Narcissa said as she looked toward Draco, pride and a gentle smile softening her usually calm and serious expression.
Wanda did not say much.
She only watched Harry with a smile, while seeming to remember that same day when a little five-year-old boy had opened the door for her and, without a second thought, gone with her.
Unable to stop the faint tear that formed in her eyes at the happiness that filled her completely as she looked at him now.
For the first time in a very long time…
Harry did not think about the future.
Only about that moment.