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The Witches were one of the most popular bands in magical Britain. This popularity was largely justified by their versatility. They could play a wide variety of music. Here they played heavy rock, here they played jazz, and here they played blues. You could never guess what they were going to play the next second. Potter tried to adjust to the general rhythm of the music being played, and as soon as he finally succeeded, the style of the music changed to the opposite. The slow dance turned into a fast dance, the fast dance turned into a rhythmic waltz, and the waltz itself turned into something else. Harry had never practised dancing, he had many other things that interested him more than this entertainment, and for him this first dance experience was an incredible challenge.
- Harry! - For probably the seventh time during the ball, Chang said unhappily after Potter stepped on her foot.
- 'I'm sorry, Chou, I'm really trying,' Harry said mournfully.- 'When you said you couldn't dance, it wasn't what I expected a bit...'
The realisation that he was letting Zhou down with his inability to dance came over Potter, and he quickly found a way out for both of them.
- Okay, you know what? I agree that I'm a terrible dancer. Why don't you find yourself another partner? I won't be offended. Colin, for example, is available.
Talking and dancing was even more difficult for Potter than dancing, so he accidentally stepped on Chang's foot once more while saying his proposal.
- If you don't mind... - Chou clearly wanted to continue dancing at the ball, but she was afraid of offending Potter.
- No, of course I don't mind! - Harry assured her. - Let me sit at the far table then. You have fun.
Potter let go of Zhou and stepped away from the huge crowd of dancing people. He sat comfortably at the far table against the wall and began to watch the couples dancing. It was the height of the ball, and not many people had stopped dancing to the music played by the Witches. There weren't many exceptions. For example, Moody, who wasn't even going to dance, was watching Professor Lupin from the far corner of the Great Hall. It seemed to Mad-Eye that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had a suspicious look on his face at a certain point in time. Professor Lupin had been saved from instant retribution by Dumbledore being nearby, so Alastor Moody, who had not been satisfied with the thorough check he had made of the teacher's identity, was now simply keeping an eye on the 'suspicious person'. Sitting a fair distance from Moody was Professor Snape. He looked at the dancers with hatred and avoided looking in Mad-Eye's direction. The professor's behaviour amused Harry, and he began to fantasise about how, if Snape got fed up with him in future courses, he would sic Moody on him.
Tonks was also a non-dancer, but for a completely different reason than Moody and Snape. During her second dance with Colin Creevey, she knocked over Dumbledore and knocked over two drums belonging to the music group. After these incidents, Creevey felt it best to refuse further dances. So now Nymphadora sat alone at a small table with a sad expression on her face. Potter would have felt sorry for her if, as soon as he sat down at the table, her gaze hadn't been fixed on him. So instead of pity, he began to quickly think of a suitable reason that would allow him to refuse to dance with Tonks.
It only took him a moment to realise that he didn't like dancing and he didn't know how to dance. It probably took Zhou even less time to come to the same conclusion about Harry. Harry was let down by underestimating his opponent, if dancing, of course, can be called an opponent. It would seem difficult, Harry thought. Move, trying to imitate your partner, that's all the task.
Dancing, however, was not as easy as he might have thought. Firstly, you could only follow your partner if your partner didn't intend to follow you, and for some reason Zhou expected Harry to be the main one in their pair. Secondly, all actions must be done quickly. Here Zhou made a circular movement with her hands, and a second later already performed a completely different dance action. Potter's speed was especially lacking in fast dances. If in slow choreography all actions were unhurried and predictable, then in fast dances the movements were changing each other with incredible speed, and it often happened that Harry had to skip some dance movements in order to keep up with the dance rhythm.
And thirdly, it was almost impossible for Potter to dance and not step on his partner's feet at the same time. How everyone else managed such a difficult task, he didn't understand. Harry was deeply ashamed that his inability to dance was making Zhou, not him, suffer. It seemed to him that she wasn't telling him what she was thinking just because she was being polite. If Chang had been anyone else, that someone would have sworn the last words at Potter long ago and put on boots so that he wouldn't have to feel the pain of having his feet constantly crushed.
Tonks stood up and walked towards Potter with a determined look. Her intentions were transparent. All girls want to dance, and dancing at a ball requires a dance partner of the opposite sex. And of the available guys at the table, Creevey, Krebb, Goyle, Moody, Snape, and Potter were sitting at the table. Except for Creevey, who had already turned Tonks down, picking Potter was the smartest decision. Harry pretended not to notice Nymphadora approaching, but rather to watch Finch-Fletchley dancing something unusual with Fleur Delacour. Good for him, he had his own parents who had forced him to learn the art of dance, so because of his skills he could afford to do any kind of experimentation at the ball.
Meanwhile Tonks walked over to the table Harry was sitting at and asked:
- Hi, what are you sad about? How's Zhou doing? Shall we dance?It was obvious to Potter which of these questions was the primary one and which two were rhetorical.
- I'm a very bad dancer. I'll kick your feet off. Do you think that's a good idea? There's Moody, by the way, without a date, I don't think he minded if you kept him company. And I promised Ginny a dance," Harry gave all his excuses at once.
- It's going to be fine," Tonks refuted Potter's claims with a very reasoned argument. - I'm going to get iron legs, so you won't hurt me.
- You can make iron legs? - Harry was surprised enough to let Nymphadora lead him away from the save table. Tonks had already appeared in his imagination as an iron man.
- No, I'm just being figurative. It's just that my legs will be like iron. So hard, it's like they're made of steel.
- You can't become a metamorph, can you? - Potter clarified.
- As far as I know, it takes an inborn talent. But don't be sad, you have a lightning bolt scar on your forehead. It's much more valued now... Though I could make one for myself....
Nymphadora thought for a moment, and only then did Harry realise that he was talking to Tonks.
- By the way, what about your image? Didn't you used to be someone else? A queen or something," Harry nodded his head towards Nymphadora's robes.
- Well, yeah," Tonks said cheerfully. - But it didn't work out so well with my grace. So I changed my mind, and I don't want to change my clothes because of it. I'd rather be me. Well, that's all right. Let's go show them who's the best dancer!
For the next half hour, they competed in the non-existent category of "Worst Couple of the Holy Ball." Hagrid and Madame Maxime were their most serious competition. Their main force was the Hogwarts forest ranger, who, like Tonks, shot down the gawking couples. However, Tonks was supported by her partner, Harry sometimes stepping on the feet of nearby dancers, but Madame Maxime tried, on the contrary, to move as calmly as possible, trying to subdue Hagrid's movements. In the end, Potter decided that the title of worst couple of the Holy Ball belonged to them without a doubt. After Tonks tripped over Harry's feet and fell onto Fleur Delacour, Potter still decided to stop these convulsions of knocking down nearby couples that other people were calling dancing for some reason.
After making sure that Zhou was quite comfortable in Cedric's company, Harry returned to his seat.
A moment later Justin ran up to him.
- Harry, why are you sitting there? - He spoke quickly. - There's Zhou dancing with Cedric Diggory! Let's go get your girl!
- Justin, I know. It's fine," Potter explained calmly. - Why aren't you with Fleur? You two were together. Just now.
- She got hit by some crazy woman, so we decided to take a little break. And about Zhou, that's not normal! She's basking in the glow of another bloke's company while you're sitting alone.
- Oh-oh," Harry mentally managed to be glad that Tonks looked so different from himself because of her clothes that even Justin didn't recognise her. - Wait, what? Bathing in a ray of joy! - Potter was horrified.
Finch-Fletchley had only been in Fleur's company for a couple of hours and already he was starting to use some scary words.
- Yes! Exactly! - Finch-Fletchley preferred not to notice Potter's surprise. - Come on!
Justin grabbed Harry by the sleeve and dragged him towards the dancers. Potter instantly pulled away.
- Stop fucking around, man. It's not like I'm a brainless dork to try and pick a fight with every guy who looks at Zhou. And you, too, switch your brain on and stop being stupid, we agreed she can dance with whoever she wants.
Shooing Finch-Fletchley back to Fleur, Harry sat in his chair for a bit longer and then made his way to the Hufflepuff living room. Yes, he had promised Ginny another dance, but she was nowhere to be seen, maybe she was dancing with someone in the back of the crowd, maybe not, so there wasn't much for him to do. Before Harry could stand up, Colin Creevey walked up to him with a camera in hand.
- Smile! - he asked.
Harry smiled unnaturally and instinctively squeezed his eyes shut against the flash of the camera.
- 'Colin, I got you a cool camera, you know you can switch the flash off on it. I'm sure the Prophet wouldn't be too happy about pictures with your eyes closed. Not only do they have to be covered in special magical powder....
- Yeah, I get it, I get it. - Colin interrupted Potter's moralising. - Let me take another picture of you, but without the flash.
Colin had recently taken what you might call a job at the Daily Prophet. He got it thanks to Rita Skeeter, who needed her own man at Hogwarts. At first Rita Skeeter had infiltrated Hogwarts on her own as an animagus, but she was quickly caught by Mad-Eye, who had asked the Weasley twins for an artefact during the first round. After that, Rita Skeeter asked Potter for a few more interviews, and Harry, guided by the invisible hand of Riddle, decided to bargain with the reporter and agreed on the condition that she would give Colin Creevey a chance to be a temporary photographer for the Daily Prophet.Only the two of them and Riddle knew about the deal. Harry hadn't even told Justin. Potter decided that it was much better for Colin to think that it was because of the photos he had sent to various newspapers that he had been invited to the Daily Prophet, and not because of his friend's little self-sacrifice.
- Did you get the whole thing? "The Witches? The Great Hall? The dancing couples?
- Yeah. I've got a lovely shot of you and Tonks, by the way. I could give it to you as a souvenir.
- No, you should put it in the paper. I wonder if it'll make the front page.
- With both of you smashing into Hagrid, no, I don't think so. I've got better options. Justin and Fleur are great, Krum and Hermione are great. But the front page is going to be a completely different person.
- Who?
- Anton Grams.
- Him again. Why would he be on the front page? What did he do again? Did you like his matryoshka costume so much?
- No, it had almost nothing to do with the pictures. Rita Skeeter asked me to look for anything out of the ordinary at Hogwarts. And I did. Durmstrang's champion is getting every passing student and faculty member drunk. I know who and what they can tell.
- Justin did the interview, didn't he?
- I'm a photographer, not a reporter, Harry. Rita just asked me to gather some data. I took pictures of him, I took pictures of his bears, his vodka supply, but I didn't have enough memory for the vodka supply, but it doesn't matter. I'll send everything I've found to Rita Skeeter with the photos, and she'll decide how she's going to do the interview.
- But how is Rita Skeeter going to get an interview if she's not allowed into Hogwarts?
- Not my problem," Colin shrugged.
- Wow," Harry was impressed. - 'Cool. Not your problem. You sound like you're a journalist who's worked as a photographer all his life, and already understands all aspects of that life.
Colin Creevey was clearly flattered by the comparison.
- Do you really think so? Listen, how would you look at.....
- Harry!
Potter and Creevey turned simultaneously to the source of the voice. It was Ginny Weasley. She didn't look like herself, her face was covered in a layer of make-up and some other kind of varnish, her hair was put into two bizarre braids, the shape of which had been fixed with magic, Ginny herself was wearing a red trumpet type dress.
Ron Weasley had mentioned that he had been bought his robes at a second hand magical alternative, Harry had concluded that the Weasley family didn't have enough money for such purchases, but looking at Ginny the opposite was true. Either Ginny was a favourite of her parents or Ron was not well-liked in the family, otherwise how else to explain such expensive clothes for the younger Weasley.
- Harry, will you dance with me? - Ginny asked.
She had undergone some serious changes lately. After that dialogue, Ginny had stopped showing her shyness at the sight of Potter. But the shyness itself hadn't gone anywhere; Weasley was trying to act as normal as possible, but it was obvious from some of the signs that she was really feeling. The red face, the curt phrases, the long pondering, the over-emotionalism. The signs were many, it seemed that Ginny was even becoming even more self-conscious of Harry. Still, however, Ginny was successfully managing to talk to him normally and stop knocking things over in his presence.
Looking at this behaviour, Potter involuntarily recalled himself in first year. Back then, he had been afraid of almost everything and constantly showed it to the people around him. Since the hearing about his guardianship, he had begun to learn to hide his emotions, and at first it had been terrible... Potter remembered his behaviour in first year and blushed. What an idiot he had been... He would have to learn a memory wiping spell and erase all those embarrassing memories.
What was he going to say to Ginny? He was just about to leave the Great Hall and first Colin and now her. The last thing he wanted to do was dance. However, he had a promise hanging over him, and he didn't want to cause Ginny mental anguish, especially since he knew mental anguish was a serious challenge.
- Sure, let's go! - Harry tried to add cheerfulness to his voice.
It didn't work very well, but Ginny Weasley smiled, so the goal was achieved.