"Well, what is there?" asked a concerned Seamus.
"What do you mean?"
"We heard that girls were in trouble."
"Oh, yes, I sort of solved the problem. How are you guys doing? Are you ready for the ball?"
"You bet!" Seamus smiled broadly and straightened the collar of his nonexistent tailcoat. "Everything's in the best shape."
"And I'm not going," Dean brushed it off and then smiled slyly. "Officially."
"I hope you haven't come up with a way to disrupt the event?"
"I'm not a Weasley," the mulatto immediately resented. "Sneak to an event without a couple, do something underground ... Mmmm..."
"Okay. I'm missing something in this life."
"I knew you would be interested. Nothing criminal, but no administration approval either. Take it," Dean handed me two strange and obviously enchanted coins. "A pass. I'll show you later, closer to closing time."
"Oh, you pranksters," I grinned, wagging my finger at the guys. "If it's nothing criminal or immoral, I'm in. Why two coins?"
"What if Hermione wants to? Though, you haven't even gotten the penalty points yet, little nerds."
Seamus jokingly nudged Dean in the shoulder with a smile.
"A nerd won't kill a dragon in two seconds."
For a brief moment, Parvati ran out of the door of the women's wing, whom we immediately noticed.
"Well?" I asked impatiently.
The girl smiled dazzlingly and showed two thumbs, immediately running back in.
"So everything will be fine," nodded Seamus. "That's just ... There are still five hours before the ball. Are they going to be preparing all this time?"
"Well, they're girls. It's easier for guys - wake up, wash your face, you're already handsome."
"That's true."
After we talked, our spontaneously formed company went their separate ways. I ran to the Chamber of Secrets out of boredom, but Delphine wasn't there, so I practiced combat transgression on my own, practicing my version of it for moving in the water. It wasn't much different, and it didn't take away the ability to fly in the air, just a little more complicated. I was also able to fly a black cloud through the dungeons and decided to play with the colors. In general, the transgression smoke itself is not smoke but rather a kind of deformation of space, in which the light simply disappears. To give it a different shade, you just need to introduce a structure similar to Lumos, and you will get white smoke. You can play with the color a little to get other colors, but according to Delphine, no one does that unless they want to stand out.
I cast a few spells, and then I went back to the common room, under every conceivable spell of stealth, checking my surroundings constantly with the Revelio modifications. Nothing. I couldn't find anyone in the common room, either, but it wasn't time yet.
"Fairy Lights," I whispered the password, standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Huh? There's someone here?"
"Yes, a Gryffindor."
"Ah, well, if it's Gryffindor, and the password is right..."
The portrait moved aside, and I walked into the quiet common room, where only some of the junior students were sitting and waiting for the others to come out. Or whatever else they were doing, and some were even practicing simple spells from class while the elders were gone. I could understand the junior students - with a bunch of senior students around, you couldn't really practice your magic, and not everyone was looking for a private room.
After taking off the charms, under the surprised looks of the younger ones, I went to my room, on the way nodding to Seamus, who had just left it in a high-quality tailcoat. I noticed a bundle on my bed.
"Huh? Max?" Neville, in his perfectly tailored tuxedo, was very... unexpected. Yes, that's right. I used to associate that name with a chubby boy, but he had started to grow in height in the last few months, and the fullness was disappearing.
"Yeah?"
"You've got this..." the boy had clearly lost weight, but his modesty remained. "The girls passed it on..."
Neville nodded at the bundle on my bed.
"They say you forgot it in your bag. I don't know what's what, but here...I passed it on."
"Thank you. And more self-confidence," I clapped the guy on the shoulder in a friendly manner, clearly giving him confidence. I noticed the guy's hands were already a little sweaty from excitement. "Do you have gloves for the suit?"
"What? Gloves? Oh, yeah... Right," the guy nodded, heading toward his bed. "I completely forgot."