101. Danger Danger

Hogwarts,

After the first task, days passed, and the school continued as usual since classes had to go on as well. But the Christmas Yule ball was just announced, and the fourth-year students and above had to take part in it. The frenzy of learning how to dance and finding a partner took over the corridors.

Rejections were echoing in every corner of the school. While some lovebirds had already paired up, being inseparable and using the chance to dance to get a little more touchy-feely. However, it was easier for the older three champions to find partners, as their minds were more mature. But for fourteen-year-old Harry, it was a very frustrating venture since he was never that great with girls.

While Harry was indeed interested in Cho Chang, but it was more of an infatuation. Sadly, she rejected everyone and declared she'd go alone. Being clueless boys, Harry and Ron had no idea why, but a few other girls did. After all, Cho wasn't the only one who rejected all the boys.

Before anyone knew it, the night finally arrived. Girls and boys donned their finest robes, and prepared to go to the dance. For the students of Hogwarts it was a unique experience.

The torches brightly illuminated the entrance beside the open courtyard where the snow slowly fell, turning the atmosphere a little cozier. The dense crowd of students from the three schools continuously flowed in pairs.

"Out of the way."

All of a sudden, the professors appeared coming out of the ballroom and rushed toward the courtyard outside. There were Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and the two other headmasters.

Seeing the commotion, the students of the three schools also followed, curious to see what got the teachers so riled up. Their faces didn't show any panic, after all. And if there was something wrong, they would have been ordered to return to the dorms or something.

"What's going on?" Harry wondered while also moving out. Anything that could save him from the embarrassment of the day was welcomed.

"Who knows… It's never anything normal in this school. Could be anything." Ron added and arrived outside.

WRAAAA!

Just then, a deafening roar erupted from the sky and shook the hearts of almost everyone. The teachers, however, didn't react with their wands and kept on watching. It was nighttime and snowing, so it was hard to see what it was. All they could make out was a big white form of something, and it kept on growing bigger.

"Wait, I know that roar!" Harry exclaimed. "I-It's a dragon!"

"A dragon on the loose?" Ron mumbled while staring up. "Maybe we should get inside."

WRAAAAA!

The roar came closer, and this time everyone recognized it.

"Step back… make some space for it to land!" Professor McGonagall ordered the students and used her wand to create a sort of magical circular boundary, like a helipad.

With that, the giant creature approached the ground, its huge claws eclipsing the towers of the school. Its size was bigger than any had ever seen before. And to keen eyes, the species of the dragon became clear just by its size.

"It's a Ukrainian Ironbelly." Viktor Krum voiced and terrified many of his fangirls, making them huddle closer to him.

BOOM!

Finally, the dragon landed with a loud thump. Its wings stopped flapping, but the last gust of wind that came flew away many hats. However, the dragon didn't seem to be in the mood to attack.

Reeee…!

And just then, a new sound echoed, but this one was so much more charming, as if it was a song of a Siren. The sound made everyone feel their hearts warm up, and their minds clear of all worries.

Finally, the big, healthy-looking, beautiful dragon with shining scales and even a light armor on its body made of gold, lowered its head all the way down, close to the ground. At first, people gasped, thinking the dragon was greeting Dumbledore.

But just then, a human figure appeared on the dragon's back, slowly walking down the dragon's neck with ease. It was a young man, donning all-white clothes—a fine white suit with an overcoat and a bowtie. His black hair created a sense of mystery, but his blue eyes were full of delight. While a beautiful creature with red features was sitting on his left shoulder, and an ordinary-looking goose with a red bowtie was sitting on his left.

"Am I late to the party?"

"Haha… No worries, Happy. The dance hasn't started yet. Yeh're on time." Hagrid voiced loudly.

In that instance, those who didn't know him finally realized that this was the famed Happy Lestrange who appeared in the newspapers almost every single day.

Happy walked down the dragon's back, and patted her face softly, making the dragon growl, but it was more of a purr in Happy's ears. The beautiful female dragon had suffered gravely under the damn goblins of Gringotts. He had given her a new life, healed her completely—from her body to her almost blind eyes. Surprisingly, the entire time Koko talked with her and told her about Happy. For some reason, the big dragoness suddenly decided to follow Happy around after that.

Happy stopped in front of Dumbledore. "Professor, it's a pleasure to see you again. By the way, this dragoness is called Lady Snow, and this female Phoenix on my shoulder is Elixa—Perhaps Fawkes would finally like to have a friend."

Dumbledore smiled, understanding Happy's meaning. If Fawkes and Elixa were to fall for each other, the extinction of Phoenixes might just be reversed to a small degree.

"Woof." Koko also greeted the old beardy man.

"Welcome back, Happy." Dumbledore patted Happy's shoulder before giving a gentle nod to the mighty dragon. "Come, let's not keep the ball waiting. I will introduce you to our guests in the meantime."

Promptly, a small path was made through the crowd. Happy was instantly the feast for the eyes that evening—from his entrance to his appearance, it was all a treat to behold. A few boys felt jealous though, as their dates continued to stare at the Boy Who Eats.

Soon, they all walked inside the big hall, decorated neatly with Christmas and snow as the theme. White curtains and decorations were everywhere, while fake snow fell from the sky. The first event was for the four champions, so they moved to take their places.

In the meantime, Happy met with the other headmasters, courtesy of Dumbledore.

"This is Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic." Dumbledore introduced the giant woman.

The headmistress extended the back of her hand towards Happy, expecting a formal greeting with a kiss on her hand.

Bam!

But Happy clasped her hand in his, shaking it vigorously. "It's an honor to meet you, Madame. Professor Flamel talked about you before the… inevitable."

She smiled, delighted that Flamel spoke of her, "And I heard so much about you too, Mr. Lestrange. You're the star of the magical world."

"One who shines too bright." Just then, Karkaroff barked.

Happy turned around, "Of course… I know Headmaster Karkaroff very well… he was very… close to the family."

"..."

Clap!

Just then, the dance of the champions slowly came to an end, and others started to join in on the dance floor. Dumbledore quickly prepared himself with McGonagall.

"Join the floor, Happy." Dumbledore invited him as he moved away.

Happy, however, walked up to Hagrid before he went off with Madame Maxime. "Psst…"

Hagrid looked down. "Oh, Happy… Wha' are yeh doin' here? Go dance."

Happy whispered to him. "Hagrid, if you want to woo Madame Maxime, don't… I repeat, do not call her a half-giant. You know how wizards see half-giants. She prefers to be called big-boned… you should call yourself that too."

Hagrid blinked for a few seconds, and then a light bulb lit up in his head. "O' dear… I was abou' ter make a big mistake. Thank yeh, Happy."

Happy winked and left. "No problem, Hagrid. It's an honor to be your wingman."

"Wing what?"

"Nothing." Happy moved away and headed toward the dance floor. However, when he was about to step in, he realized something. 'Wait a minute… I don't have a partner for the evening.'

Happy looked around, and everyone was dancing formally with their partners. Heck, even Koko was dancing with Fawkes, Elixa, and Mrs. Norris.

'What's on the menu, though?' He wondered and abruptly walked away toward the big tables with mountains of dishes. It was an all-you-can-eat as always.

"Hehe…"

"Oh stop…"

"Let's go."

While he stood near the food table and ate, he noticed a few couples smooching, touching, and some even running out to find someplace to be naughty.

"Hah… youth." Happy mumbled and refocused on his yummy apple pie. "I should have asked the American school to join the competition as well. I could have seen Amelia that way."

"Happy."

"Hmm?" He set the plate away and looked back. There stood Hermione, in her pretty gown. She really looked much more mature and pretty that evening. "Woah… that's a nice glow-up, Hermione. Who's your date tonight?"

"Nobody."

"What do you mean?" Happy questioned and looked at the dance floor. There, Viktor Krum was dancing with someone he didn't know. "Why?"

She shrugged, "Just didn't feel like dancing with anyone. Ron and Harry never asked me either, so I reckoned going alone was better. Where were you all this time?"

"Nothing much—stopping a genocide, a dictator, China, Korea, and a few other places." Happy said and noticed from the corner of his left eye that Cho was also coming toward them.

"Hi, Happy… The year was too boring without you." Cho said candidly, straight to the point. It seemed like she wasn't as shy as Happy remembered from the story. Though she was still dressed in a fine, beautiful dress.

"Sorry… But this will only last this year. The next three years are going to be really fun, I can promise." Happy said, not revealing the details.

"You… Where were you? My father never tells me anything."

Happy looked to his right, and there stood Daphne in her green-colored gown, with nicely done hair. "Well, it was some important work."

"Anyway, come and dance with me," Daphne said, sounding like she was ordering. But in reality, she was asking.

"NO!" Hermione and Cho suddenly exclaimed at the same time. With that, the two girls stared at each other.

"I spoke to him first," Hermione claimed. "So he'll dance with me."

"So what… I'm a year older than you." Cho stated.

"Such childish behavior." Daphne sneered. "I sent him a letter for a dance long ago."

The three girls stared daggers at each other, and then abruptly looked at Happy before speaking in unison.

"Happy! Who will you choose?!"

"..."

Happy's eyes moved rapidly, resting on each face for a few seconds. His forehead sweated; this was harder to deal with than genocide.

"Hehe… I'm in danger…"