Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 235: The Great Minister Party
Harry moved through the corridors at a brisk pace.
Once in a while, he would come across some excited group of students making their way toward the Great Hall, where the party was going to take place.
His eyes moved to the paintings on the walls. Most of them were empty of the usual individuals depicted on them.
This was because they were busy, watching the most important areas of the castle since he had put the entire school on high alert.
The ghosts, the paintings, and the house-elves were all acting as his eyes and ears.
After checking that one was around, he stopped in front of a set of armor.
'May as well activate them now and leave them on standby for later use.'
"Piertotum Locomotor."
The four suits of armor in the hallway attempted to move at the same time but were unable to distance themselves from the wall and instead, they just thrashed around.
"What is going on?... who put sticking charms on the armors?"
For a moment, he thought this might be some sort of prank but then....Harry recalled something.
Last year, the school had many incidents involving objects falling onto students during the tremors caused by the giant basilisk. Until one day, the Headmaster announced that he took preventive action and placed sticking charms on all the heavy objects in the castle that could potentially fall… this included every statue and set of armor.
"They must have forgotten to remove them… or they didn't think it was too important."
Like this, they had sealed a large part of Hogwarts' defenses.
"It would take me all night to go around and remove every single sticking charm from them… no, that won't work. But perhaps there is an alternative to these ones."
Harry's eyes moved to the dark end of the corridor. This castle contained one more set of golems that could be activated as a defense mechanism.
"I'll have to move those guys. If anyone actually dares to attack this castle tonight… they are going to be in for a nasty surprise."
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"You are late! Where were you?" Lyra exclaimed as she saw her brother sitting down next to her.
"I had some minor business to take care of," Harry answered.
"Minor business?..." Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"Toilet, huh?" Ron nodded in understanding.
"I also made sure to make room for this." He took a large steak with his bare hands and placed it on his plate.
"Have you seen the size of this meat?"
"Ron, please… at least use the knife to cut it!" Neville begged.
"Ugh… does someone want to change seats?" Hermione was four seats away from the redhead boy but still felt the need to ask.
"I'll trade with you!" Lyra offered. She was just two seats away after all.
"No, that's… you know what? My seat is fine," Hermione said.
"Ron, no one is going to want to dance with you if you keep eating like that," Seamus warned his friend.
"No one is going to dance with you either, no matter how you eat, Seamus!" Ron snapped.
"And who cares about the dance? That's for the seniors. I only care about the food." Ron then added.
Harry ignored this and looked around the Great Hall while his classmates engaged in another loud argument.
The size of the Hall had been enhanced further to fit an extra-large table where several important guests from the Ministry were seated, including Minister Parkinson and his right-hand/secretary, Madam Umbridge.
The tables had also been placed in a circular manner around the room, leaving a large opening in the middle to act as a dance floor.
The decorations had been changed to make it seem more elegant and luxurious than usual.
They even created an extra garden right outside the Great Hall so people could have a relaxing walk after dinner.
"Looks beautiful, doesn't it?" Hermione leaned closer to Harry and asked.
"It's like a fairy tale."
"Yes, magic can do some impressive things sometimes," said Harry.
"Hey, Harry." Lavender called.
"What's with the earrings you are always wearing now?"
"What about them?" he asked.
"What are those stones? They don't look like diamonds," Hermione said.
"They are a special type of stone that can store magic," Harry explained.
"I should have guessed… you're not wearing them as a fashion statement or anything." Lavender looked disappointed.
"A fashion statement? Why would I wear something that has no practical use?" Harry wondered out loud.
"So they are like magical artifacts? That's fascinating! I have read a lot about practical jewelry in the magical world," Hermione said.
"You don't see them often here. But they are very common in my country," Parvati commented.
"My father always has every finger fitted with a magical ring of some sort."
"And what do these do?" Hermione pointed at the earrings.
"I already told you. They store magic for later use," Harry answered.
"That's it? But wait… what do you need so much magic for?" Hermione didn't understand it.
"What do you d-"
"Harry!" Ginny now called for him and interrupted Hermione.
"Yes? What is it, Ginny?" Harry turned to look at the redhead.
She seemed a bit hesitant but finally decided to ask. "Say, Harry… are you going to dance after dinner?"
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