Hexside School of Magic and Demonics

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Luz was sitting in Abominations 301, struggling to keep up after missing a week of classes.

“A Hogwarts tradition will be occurring soon. It is called the Yule Ball!” Professor Hermonculus said, “I expect many of you will wish to attend. But first, I must establish some things. The Yule Ball is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament, it is an opportunity for the students from the different schools to socialize closely. All students in the ninth grade or higher are permitted to attend, though you may bring a younger student if you wish. Formal attire is mandatory, you must wear either a white tie or ball gown uniform. The ball shall start at eight o’clock on December twenty-fifth, finishing at midnight.”

This ball thing sounded great to Luz.

“But that does not mean,” Hermonculus continued, “that standards of behavior will be relaxed. If I hear so much as a whisper that one of my students has been misbehaving, I will make certain that they are sent straight to detention for a week.”

That seemed a little harsh to Luz, but she wasn’t planning on misbehaving to begin with.

The bell screamed, and Luz gathered her textbooks and got ready to go to Plants 237. Before Luz could get out the door, she was stopped by Professor Hermonculus.

“Miss Noceda, the champions and their partners traditionally open the ball.” He explained, “So you need to ensure that you have a partner as soon as possible and that both of your outfits are appropriate.”

“Oh, a dance partner? That’s easy!” She said, immediately thinking of Amity.

Luz turned around and made her way to Plants.

The bell screamed just as Luz sat down. The Plant professor, Mx. Everglow, was very strict with their attendance policy. Luz breathed a sigh of relief as Mx. Everglow lectured the class on taxonomy without marking her tardy.

After what felt like an eternity, the bell finally screamed for lunchtime.

At lunch, she sat with Willow, Gus, Hunter, Vee (In her humanoid form), and Amity, everyone was talking about the ball, wondering who they would go with, what they would wear, et cetera. Luz decided that she would ask out Amity just after final period ended so that the entire school would see.

“Luz, how do I ask Matt out? I don’t want him to think I’m weird or a loser! But I really want to go to the dance with him! How did you ask out Amity?” Gus begged Luz

“Honestly, I was kinda freaking out like you are now, eventually Hooty owl pellet-ed Amity, and made us go through a tunnel of love together.” Luz explained, “God, I was so embarrassed, I was sure Amity would think I was the biggest loser ever!”

Gus nodded, unsure of how it would help him.

“After what felt like forever, we finally made it to the end of that tunnel and went outside. Hooty started throwing a tantrum that I hadn’t asked her out yet, and so I did, and then we held hands,” Luz continued, “Which was great, but also like, really awkward somehow,”

“Okay, and so do you have any tips for me?” Gus pleaded.

“I don’t know,” Luz admitted, “Just try to be yourself. You’re smart and cool, and really good with illusions, and you definitely have natural talent in Construction as well! Matt will definitely say yes!”

Beast Keeping 285, and Concert Bard Band without interest, though Luz did slowly plan out how she would ask out the most beautiful girl in the world.

On her way to Boiling Isles History, Luz saw Willow and Hunter both holding bouquets of flowers (Willow’s looked way nicer)

The two of them spoke in near-perfect unison,

“Willow, I think you’re really cool, and smart, and you’re such a great Flyer Derby captain. Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”

“Hunter, I think you’re really cool, and smart, and you’re such a great Palisman carver. Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”

“Yes, of course, I’ll go with you!”

“Yes, of course, I’ll go with you!”

Luz smiled at the humor of the unison of their asks. Then congratulated them both. Luz then glanced at the clock and saw she had less than a minute to get to history!

She entered the classroom as the bell screamed, but the professor didn’t seem to care. He had a lecture on Demon rebellions against the Empire to give.

As the bell screamed to release her from another monotonous history lecture (and she thought Human history was boring), Luz quickly gathered her things and made her way to her locker.

She gathered her wits and used a little magic to create a beautiful bouquet of pink carnations, heliotropes, red roses, asters, and peonies, with a fern in the center.

Luz asked Skara to play a piece to set the mood, which she did gleefully.

Amity was approaching the exit, perfect timing.

Skara played a beautiful serenade for them, and Luz revealed her bouquet. “Everything is so crazy right now, and I have no idea what my future holds, but it would be so cool if you were in it. So... uh…” Luz stumbled, “Amity Blight, do you wanna go to the Yule Ball with me?”

“YES!!!!” Amity said so loudly and excitedly that she knew everyone had heard it. “Of course, I’ll go to the dance with you!”

Amity took the bouquet and appreciated the flowers picked out.

“Oh, these are beautiful!” She exclaimed,

“Thanks, I uhh… grew them myself,” Luz said.

“You made a perfect bouquet,” Amity said as she pulled Luz into a hug. “And our dance will also be perfect, I know it,”

The small audience that surrounded them applauded. Luz saw Hunter and Willow embrace each other in the corner of her eye. Both Gus and Matt were nowhere to be seen.

“Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?” McGonagall’s irritated voice cracked, making Harry and Ron both jump.

It was almost the end of class; the guinea fowl they had been transforming into guinea pigs were all shut in a cage on Professor McGonagall’s desk (Neville’s still had feathers). The bell would ring any moment now, and Harry and Ron, who had been sword fighting with some of Fred and George’s fake wands out of boredom, looked up.

“Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age,” Professor McGonagall said, angrily glaring at them, “I have something to say to you all” She proceeded to explain the Yule Ball.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, “Potter; a word, if you please,”

Assuming this had something to do with Harry’s sword fight with Ron, he gloomily approached her desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, then said, “Potter, the champions and their partners-”

“What partners?” Harry stupidly asked.

Professor McGonagall looked at him as though she were trying to figure out if he was joking.

“Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter,” she eventually said, “Your dance partners,”

Harry’s insides seemed to curl up and shrivel.

“Dance partners?” Harry felt himself getting red, “I don’t dance”

“Oh, yes you do,” said Professor McGonagall shortly, “That’s what I’m telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball.”

“I’m not dancing”

“Yes, you are.” McGonagall said, “You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter.”

A week ago, Harry would have said finding a dance partner would be a piece of cake compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of the former, he figured he would take his chances on a rematch.

Harry had never seen so many people sign up to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; he always did, better to stay in a nearly empty castle than go back to Privet Drive, but this year, almost everyone in the fourth year and above seemingly chose to stay. Everyone seemed to be obsessed with the Ball.

“Why do they always have to move in packs?” Harry asked Ron as a dozen or so girls passed them, shrieking with laughter, “How’re you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?”

“I dunno,” Ron admitted, “maybe lasso one? Any idea who you’re even gonna try?”

Harry didn’t answer. He knew exactly the person he wanted to go to the dance with, but Harry didn’t have the nerve to ask Cho out, she was a year older than him, very pretty, a good Quidditch player, and also very popular.”

“Look, buddy, you’re not going to have any trouble. You’re a champion, you just beat a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they’ll be queuing up to ask you out!”

Unfortunately, Ron was right. Within the next few days, no less than a dozen girls, most of whom he had never talked to before, had asked to be his partner.

The days passed, and no one Harry would have even slightly enjoyed the ball with had reared their heads, so Harry and Ron were starting to become desperate as the term came to a close.

“Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?” George asked at dinner one day.

“No, he’s off delivering a letter, why?” Ron replied.

“Because George wants to ask him to the ball,” said Fred sarcastically.

“Because we want to send a letter, you stupid prat,” George said.

“Who d’you keep writing to?” Ron asked.

“None of your business.” Said Fred, “So, you lot got dates for the ball yet?”

“Nope,” said Ron

“Well, you’d better hurry up, or all the good ones will be gone,” said Fred.

“Who’re you going with, then?” Ron said.

“Blight,” Fred replied, his face showing quite a bit of red.

“Which one?” He flatly asked.

“Edr-I mean Emira” Fred covered.

“No, I’m going with Emira, you’re going with Edric,” George told him.

“Well, I wasn’t about to admit that in front of him!” Fred whispered to his twin, “I can barely accept the idea of me going with a boy to myself.”

“Have you asked them already?” Ron pestered.

“Oh, no we haven’t!” Fred said, turning his head across the table, “Oi! Blights! You wanna go to the dance with us?”

The Blight twins, who had been closely examining a sneakoscope (which was wildly going off), looked up at them, “Sure! We’d love to go with you!” They replied in unison.

“See? Piece of cake.” Fred said to Harry and Ron as the Weasleys left to use a school owl.

“He’s got a point” Ron admitted, “We don’t want to end up with a pair of trolls.”

The Hogwarts staff, seemingly still trying to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons, Drumstrang, and Hexside, made Hogwarts look much, much more festive than normal. Everlasting icicles were attached to the banisters of the marble staircase, the twelve trees in the great hall were decorated with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite entertaining to hear “God rest ye merry gentlemen” coming from an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Though, Peeves seemed to like to fill in the gaps with his own additions, all of which were very profane.

Still, Harry hadn’t asked Cho out. He and Ron were beginning to get very nervous.

“Harry, we’ve just got to grit our teeth and do it,” Ron said on Friday morning, “When we get back to the common room tonight, we’re both going to have partners, agreed?”

“Err… okay,” Harry said.

But every time he saw Cho that day, she was surrounded by her friends. Does she ever go somewhere alone? Harry wondered.

Harry eventually bumped into her as she was leaving a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

“Er- Cho, could I have a word with you?”

She agreed, unlike her friends, she wasn’t giggling, putting Harry at some sense of ease.

Cho just stood there, looking puzzled. Eventually, the words spilled out, a bit faster than Harry had wanted.

“Wangoballwime?”

“Excuse me?” Cho said,

“D’you… d’you want to go to the ball with me?” Said Harry, feeling his face turn as red as his Gryffindor tie.

“Oh!” Cho said, “Harry, I’m sorry, I really am, but I already said I’d go with someone else.”

“Oh,” said Harry, disappointed beyond measure.

There was a moment of silence.

“So, who are you going with?” He asked

“Cedric,” she said. “Cedric Diggory”

Of course, it was him.

Why couldn’t it have been literally anyone else in this castle who took his crush?

Ron’s luck apparently wasn’t much better, and Ginny was rubbing it in.

“This is mad,” Ron said, “We’re the only ones left who haven’t got anyone, well, except Neville. Guess who he asked? Hermione!”

“What?” Harry said, surprised.

“Crazy! I know,” Ron said, seeming to be in a slightly better mood, “She told him that she’s already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn’t want to go with Neville. Not that I blame her.”

Just then, Hermione climbed into the common room.

“Why weren’t you two at dinner?” She asked.

“Oh, because they were both turned down by girls they asked to the ball!” Ginny said.

“Well, I’m sure someone will have you as a date,” Hermione said mockingly.

Ron looked at her as though through a whole new light.

“Hermione, Neville’s right, you are a girl.”

“Oh, impressive, you figured it out,” she said acidly.

“Well, you can come with one of us!”

“No, I can’t,” Hermione snapped, “I’m already going with someone.”

“No, you aren’t,” Ron said, “You just said that to get rid of Neville.”

“Oh, did I?” said Hermione, “Well, just because it’s taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn’t mean no one else has realized I’m a girl.”

“Right,” Ron said. “Well, Ginny, you can still go with Harry, and I’ll just-”

“No, I can’t,” said Ginny, “I’m- I’m going with Neville, he asked me after failing with Hermione, and I said yes. I can’t go otherwise.”

Ginny left to get dinner, but at the same time as she left, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown entered.

“Wait here,” Harry said to Ron as he walked straight up to Parvati, then said, “Parvati, will you go to the ball with me?”

“I suppose so,” she replied. She then agreed to see if her sister Padma would be willing to go with Ron. The two boys had finally secured dates for the Yule Ball.