#226 - Section 226
To the extent that Hagrid wanted to attract Madame Maxime through his appearance, it was simply impossible.
Their status and position were also vastly different.
Hagrid was a groundskeeper who dropped out of school. Although he became the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts because of Dumbledore, his status was still very low. Hagrid's main job was still the keeper of keys and grounds, and his part-time job was a professor.
He also had a criminal record with the Ministry of Magic and still couldn't hold a wand.
In terms of strength, Hagrid certainly couldn't beat Madame Maxime. Both were half-giant, and with similar builds.
Madame Maxime's magical strength definitely overwhelmed Hagrid.
Comparing family and wealth, Hagrid had no advantage in this regard either. As the child of a giant and a Muggle wizard, he had no family background. As for wealth, Hagrid wasn't short of money relying on the Forbidden Forest, but he wouldn't take these magical creature materials to the black market to sell.
Madame Maxime, judging by the jewelry necklaces and rings she wears, you can tell she is a rich woman.
Given the disadvantages in all aspects, how could Ethan teach him?
"Hagrid, considering all aspects, do you think you can catch up with Madame Maxime?"
Ethan could only tell the truth. After all, deceiving Hagrid was meaningless, as he would be directly defeated upon contact.
Unless Ethan used the Imperius Curse to control Madame Maxime and make her have a twilight romance with Hagrid, but that was obviously impossible.
Hearing this, Hagrid fell into deep thought, and his brows furrowed even deeper.
Obviously, as Hagrid thought, he also discovered the problem.
Compared with Madame Maxime, his conditions were a bit too different!
"The chance is very small, but is there any way? Ethan, you've managed to chase so many girls."
Hagrid also became depressed, but still didn't want to give up.
After so many years, it was rare to be moved once.
If he missed Madame Maxime, he would definitely never meet someone who could move him again in his life.
"Following the general methods of chasing girls definitely won't work."
"Yeah, yeah!"
Hagrid nodded seriously, looking like he was listening attentively.
"Your only common point is that you are both half-human and half-giant."
"In the wizarding world, half-breeds are quite rare. It's possible that you won't meet another one in your lifetime. In this regard, you are quite well-matched."
Ethan hadn't encountered many half-breeds. The Veelas were just the Delacour family, the goblin half-breed was only Professor Flitwick, and the giant half-breeds were Hagrid and Madame Maxime.
Therefore, until now, Ethan hadn't found an opportunity to experiment with the Blood of Magic potion on half-breed wizards.
"That's right, that's it!"
Hagrid slapped his thigh, a flush of excitement appearing on his face.
It was because they were both half-giant that Hagrid liked Madame Maxime.
If Madame Maxime were an ordinary person, he really wouldn't have taken a fancy to her.
"So, you can only start from this aspect."
"However, although we can all see that Madame Maxime has giant blood, she has never admitted it, and this aspect is not that simple."
The wizarding world's discrimination against half-breeds is quite serious. Even the descendants of Muggles and pure-bloods are not very welcome, and their status is only slightly higher than that of Muggle wizards.
Not to mention the half-breeds of magical creatures and wizards.
Anyway, Ethan had never heard mainstream reports of Madame Maxime being a giant half-breed.
Fleur also said that although her mother and Madame Maxime were very good friends, she had never talked about such things, which was obviously her taboo.
In the original book, she also didn't admit her bloodline.
It's just that since she was able to act with Hagrid later, it also shows that Hagrid still had a chance, it just depended on whether he could seize it.
"She doesn't admit that she has giant blood?"
Hagrid was immediately a little disappointed. As a Gryffindor, Hagrid had the courage to face his own bloodline, even if he would be discriminated against.
Madame Maxime's behavior was indeed a minus.
"If she admitted her giant bloodline, she couldn't be the headmistress of Beauxbatons."
Ethan glanced at Hagrid. Given Hagrid's identity as a half-giant, if it weren't for Dumbledore's protection.
When he was framed by Tom back then, he would have been deeply imprisoned in Azkaban, and he probably wouldn't have been able to get out in this lifetime.
"Then what should I do?"
"Dress up, you're not short of money. Go directly to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in Hogsmeade and have the owner tailor a suitable dress for you, then find a beauty salon to tidy you up. Then just go and invite her."
"Given Madame Maxime's physique, besides you, no one else here is suitable. It doesn't matter if she refuses, just pester her, clarify everything, and face it with her."
"Besides that, you have nothing else to impress her with."
Chapter 267: The Must-Attend Yule Ball
The afternoon after Care of Magical Creatures is Divination.
As in the past, Trelawney predicted that the two players participating in the Triwizard Tournament this year, Ron and Harry, would encounter the danger of death.
It's just that in this school year, except for a very small number of young wizards, such as Hermione's roommate Lavender Brown, others no longer believe in Trelawney's predictions.
After Divination, the fourth-year wizards had to rush to the Transfiguration classroom.
No one dared to be late for Professor McGonagall's class.
The task was to transform a guinea fowl into a guinea pig. The previous lesson was also this content. Biological transformation is not easy for fourth-year students.
Few people in the classroom could complete it.
Among them, being able to transform into a guinea pig with standing feathers was considered a good completion.
In one class, apart from an explosion from Seamus, nothing else happened.
It wasn't until the end of the class that Professor McGonagall put away the guinea fowl that served as teaching materials.
And she looked at the little wizards below with a serious face and said:
"I have a few words to say to you all. This Christmas, there will be a Yule Ball!"
“This is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament, and a great opportunity for us to interact with foreign guests.”
“The Christmas Ball is only open to students in fourth year and above, but if you wish, you may invite a younger student as your partner to participate.”
Suddenly, from the Gryffindor side, Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle.
No one knew what she was laughing at, and Parvati Patil, her desk mate, poked her hard.
It wasn't until Professor McGonagall gave her a death glare that Lavender Brown stopped laughing.
“At that time, you will wear your dress robes,” Professor McGonagall continued, “The ball will be held in the Great Hall on Christmas evening at eight o'clock, and will end at twelve o'clock midnight. Listen carefully—”
Professor McGonagall calmly looked around the class.
“The Christmas Ball will undoubtedly give us an opportunity to—well—let our hair down and relax.”
Professor McGonagall said in a nonchalant tone.
This made Lavender Brown laugh even harder, covering her mouth with her hands to prevent any sound from escaping.
Compared to Professor McGonagall, everyone's attention was more focused on Lavender Brown, and no one knew what she was laughing about.
This time, Professor McGonagall didn't pay much attention to her and continued:
“But that doesn't mean we will relax our expectations of Hogwarts students' behavior. I would be deeply saddened if any of you were to disgrace the school in any way.”
The bell rang, and everyone packed their books into their bags as usual, preparing to leave.
Professor McGonagall suddenly raised her voice and shouted amidst the noise:
“Adrian, Potter, and Weasley, please stay behind. I have something to say to you.”
Ethan handed his packed bag to Cassandra and signaled for them to leave first.
There was no doubt that what Professor McGonagall was about to say was related to the Triwizard Tournament, otherwise she wouldn't have specifically asked these three to stay.
Harry and Ron obviously thought of this too, and after packing up, they went directly to Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall waited until all the students had left before saying:
“I'm informing you that each champion participating in the Triwizard Tournament has their own partner!”
Harry was stunned. What was this? Was it related to the Triwizard Tournament?
“What partner?”
Hearing this, Professor McGonagall looked at Harry with some suspicion, wondering if he was pretending to be stupid.
Everyone knew that a Christmas Ball was going to be held, so why ask about a partner? Did he think it was a bed partner or something?
But seeing that Harry really seemed unaware, Professor McGonagall explained:
“Your dance partner, is the partner for the Christmas Ball.”
Harry's face turned red instantly, and he hurriedly said, “I don't dance!”
He didn't know who to invite, and he also knew that even as a Gryffindor champion, he wasn't as popular as when he first entered school. No girl would be willing to be his partner.
Ron, on the other hand, was already lost in fantasy, his face flushed, and he chuckled from time to time.
Was this guy thinking about who to invite as his partner?
Ethan was a little suspicious of his brain. Hadn't he forgotten his feat of scoring zero points in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament?
With his current reputation, which girl would be willing to be his partner?
Even if that hadn't happened, he was already quite unpopular. Now he was completely daydreaming!
But now Professor McGonagall didn't pay any attention to Ron. She was arguing with Harry and was quite annoyed.
“Oh, you must dance. I was just about to tell you that, according to tradition, the ball is opened by the champions and their partners.”
Nothing was going smoothly. First, Ron embarrassed Hogwarts and Gryffindor, and now Harry didn't want to dance.
Not only Harry, but Professor McGonagall doubted whether Ron could even find a partner.
As a result, when she looked at Ron, Professor McGonagall's expression changed again.
After living for so many years, Professor McGonagall naturally knew what Ron was thinking. Didn't he have any self-awareness?
She was still worried about whether he could find a partner, but he was already fantasizing about it.
Hopeless!
Only Ethan didn't need her to worry about these things. He didn't lack dance partners.
Wait, Ethan was also a problem. Wouldn't he just give up and not participate because he wouldn't know who to choose?
The more Professor McGonagall thought about it, the more likely it seemed. When she looked at Ethan, she found him looking at her indifferently, and she couldn't figure out what he was thinking at all.
None of these three were easy to deal with.
And Harry, hearing Professor McGonagall say that he had to participate, felt terrible.
Suddenly, an image appeared in his mind of himself wearing a black top hat and a tailcoat, with a girl beside him wearing a frilly dress, like the kind Aunt Petunia wore to Uncle Vernon's company parties.
More importantly, he didn't know who to ask at all!
How could he dance?
Moreover, he had spent every Christmas in recent years at his Aunt and Uncle's house on Privet Drive.
This year, he was planning to invite Sirius Black to visit. He was alone at home, with no friends or relatives to visit, only a rather unpleasant house-elf to keep him company.
Therefore, Harry had no intention of spending Christmas at Hogwarts this year.
“I don't dance, and I won't go to the Christmas Ball.”
Harry said this time with considerable firmness, looking at Professor McGonagall with a serious expression.
Obviously, he had made up his mind.
“It is a tradition. You are the Hogwarts champion. As a representative of the school, you must do as expected.”
“So, you must find yourself a partner, Potter.”
