#229 - Section 229

What suited them were either books that looked wrong or obvious dark magic tools, and it was unknown where they had scavenged them from.

Ethan simply collected these, intending to look at them later when he had time.

"You guys have unwrapped your gifts, come help me."

After finding and disassembling everything he needed, Ethan looked at his three roommates who were playing with their Christmas presents.

They had already unwrapped their Christmas presents.

"You should have said so earlier, I would have come sooner!"

Terry shouted and immediately dropped what he was doing to run over.

Unwrapping these unknown gift boxes, even if they weren't his, was a highly anticipated process.

If it hadn't been too impolite to directly run over and help unwrap, they would have come over the moment they finished unwrapping their own Christmas presents.

There were hundreds of them, enough to have a great time unwrapping.

Michael and Gene followed closely behind, eager to experience the fun of opening blind boxes.

But as they unwrapped more and more, the three of them became listless, having lost the excitement they had when they first ran over.

There was no way around it. They were just unwrapping the same things over and over, and none of them were particularly exciting. Without any surprises, they couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

With the help of his three roommates, it didn't take Ethan long to sort out this year's Christmas presents.

Ethan also shared a lot of snacks with his three roommates, as he couldn't possibly eat them all himself.

This led to them skipping breakfast and filling up on candy and snacks instead.

At noon, they went to the Great Hall. Lunch was quite lavish. Because of Christmas, the four house tables were filled with turkey and a mountain of Christmas pudding, as well as piles of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

In the afternoon, the grounds outside Hogwarts were still covered in white snow.

"Ethan, let's go have a snowball fight!"

Fred and George led a few Gryffindor students to the entrance and called out to Ethan.

"I'm not going, you guys have fun yourselves."

Ethan immediately waved his hand in refusal. The Christmas Ball was starting in a few hours, and they wanted him to go have a snowball fight? No way!

By seven o'clock in the evening, the sky had darkened, and there was only one hour left until the Christmas Ball.

Ethan followed the crowd back to the dormitory to change into his evening robes.

Ethan's evening robes had been prepared long ago. During the summer, when Diagon Alley was still open, Ethan had ordered several sets from Twilfitt and Tattings, and now he chose a more understated black set.

Arriving in the common room, unlike the usual uniform Hogwarts robes, everyone was wearing colorful dress robes.

Cho Chang, wearing a blue dress, waved to Ethan and then went straight out of the common room door, heading towards the Great Hall.

Today, Ethan's date was Fleur. They had already agreed on a meeting place. If she wasn't his date, Cho Chang wouldn't be following Ethan right now, otherwise it would be awkward to give way to Fleur later.

As for Luna, she was still in her third year and had already gone home for Christmas, not staying to attend the ball at all.

It was almost time, and Ethan and the others walked towards the stairs.

Arriving at the Entrance Hall, it was already crowded with students milling around, waiting for eight o'clock to arrive, when the doors of the Great Hall would open.

However, this was also the time and place where the vast majority of people met their dates.

Ethan easily found Fleur. There was no way around it, she was just that dazzling.

Without waiting long, Professor McGonagall's voice rang out: "Champions, please come this way!"

As the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall always had the most work.

Fleur took Ethan's arm, a bright smile on her face, and walked forward.

The chattering crowd immediately made way for them.

Professor McGonagall was wearing a red tartan robe, but the brim of her hat was decorated with a rather tasteless garland of thistles.

Ethan and Fleur were the first to arrive, followed closely by Harry.

His date was naturally Parvati Patil, but at the moment she was wearing several gold bangles and a gold necklace around her neck. All that was missing was a nose ring!

Truly worthy of being someone from that country.

The three champions from Durmstrang also arrived, coming together, their dates all being seventh-year Slytherin students.

The other two champions from Beauxbatons had seventh-year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students as their dates.

Professor McGonagall looked at this scene with some anxiety. All the champions except Ron had arrived.

Although she had been prepared for Ron perhaps not finding a date, it was still somewhat upsetting when it actually happened.

The champion of Hogwarts couldn't even find a date.

Although this champion was unworthy of the name, the fact that even students from his own house weren't willing was truly embarrassing.

"Harry, what's the situation with Ron?"

Ethan had barely seen Ron since the holidays started, and didn't know how he was doing at all. But Harry, who shared a dormitory with Ron, definitely knew something.

"He doesn't seem to be happy with his dress robes and hasn't found a date. I don't know anything else."

Harry said helplessly.

Harry had seen Ron's somewhat worn dress robes and they really weren't good. As for a date...

Parvati Patil had even told him that he had invited several girls in Gryffindor, all of whom had refused him. There were even rumors that he had gone to Beauxbatons, but came back with a dark face.

"Alright!"

Ethan wouldn't feel disappointed about Ron.

In the original story, it seemed that Ron couldn't find a date either. In the end, it seemed that Parvati Patil introduced her sister to him, but Padma Patil also quite disliked him.

Now Ron's reputation was even worse, there was no way he could find a date.

Before long, the young wizards had already entered in an orderly fashion. Although Professor McGonagall was somewhat anxious, she had no other choice.

It wasn't like she could go and grab Ron now.

At the moment the time arrived, Professor McGonagall arranged the champions and their partners in pairs, following her inside.

The group followed Professor McGonagall behind, towards a large round table at the front of the hall where the judges were sitting, with the young wizards in the hall applauding warmly.

The walls of the Great Hall were covered with shimmering silver frost, the ceiling was a starry night sky, and hundreds of sprigs of mistletoe and wreaths of ivy were hung.

The four house tables were gone, replaced by a hundred small tables lit with lanterns, with about ten people sitting at each table.

Fleur on the side seemed very happy, her smile never fading along the way.

Could it be that she had brought this into other environments!

The champions came to the front of the main seating area. Dumbledore smiled happily, but Karkaroff still wore a sour face, as he had been ever since the first task of the Triwizard Tournament ended.

Ludo, on the other hand, seemed quite enthusiastic, clapping enthusiastically with the young wizards.

Madam Maxime had taken off her usual black satin uniform and was wearing a flowing lilac robe.

However, Barty Crouch still hadn't arrived as in the original story. An unfamiliar wizard was sitting in his seat.

After greeting everyone, Ethan led Fleur to the table, pulling out an empty seat to signal her to sit down first.

Dumbledore didn't ask why Ron hadn't come. He knew the answer just by looking at Professor McGonagall's stern face.

After Ethan sat down, he directly picked up the small menu on the table, preparing to order some dinner for today.

Although Ethan was also wondering why this was different from other dance procedures, what else could you expect from a school dance?

After the meal, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to stand up as well.

Then, with a wave of his wand, he sent all the tables flying to the wall, leaving an open space in the middle.

He also conjured up a high stage, attached to the base of the right wall, with a drum set, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and several organs on it.

At this moment, the Weird Sisters rushed onto the stage together, and the audience burst into thunderous applause.

They were wearing torn and tattered black robes, and they picked up their respective instruments and began to play.

Suddenly, the lanterns on the tables went out, and Ethan and the others stood up. Now it was time to go on stage.

Walking into the brightly lit dance floor, Ethan held Fleur's hand tightly in one hand and placed the other on her waist.

Ethan didn't know how to do these things before. After all, he wasn't interested and didn't learn. But Fleur had given Ethan special training these past few days, and now he was at least decent, at a level where he wouldn't embarrass himself.

At this time, the others also entered the dance floor.

However, Ethan didn't know how Hagrid managed it. He was still sitting in the main seating area, and Madam Maxime's dance partner was actually Dumbledore.

How should I put it!

It was too discordant.

Originally, Dumbledore was definitely considered a tall man among humans, but in front of Madam Maxime, he looked like a little dwarf.

In addition to this pair, there was another pair that was particularly eye-catching.

Fred and Angelina!

It wasn't that they danced so well, but that the two of them danced too unrestrainedly, causing the people around them to step back to avoid being injured.

Chapter 270: Voldemort Blocked

The second day of Christmas, everyone got up very late.

After all, yesterday's Christmas dance lasted until midnight. Even then, many people hoped that the dance would continue to be delayed.

Inside the common room, it was much quieter than in previous days. Several young wizards were chatting casually.

Some were also writing furiously, doing their homework. During the first week of vacation, most of the young wizards were only focused on playing, and now they should consider their homework. There were only a few days left before classes started.

After lunch, Ethan greeted Cassandra and the others, and then activated the portkey and disappeared directly into the Hogwarts castle.

Appearing again, it was already Knockturn Alley.

Standing here, you could still see Diagon Alley under construction. Now the main structure was almost completed, and all that remained was to arrange various spells.

From the conversations of the nearby wizards, it was also known that Diagon Alley could be rebuilt before the summer vacation.

The reason why it still took so long despite the existence of magic was mainly because the lava land at the beginning was too troublesome. Although the goblins wanted to change the address of Diagon Alley, which could save them a lot of costs and time, and also expand the territory of Diagon Alley to seek certain benefits.

But these were all rejected by the shops in Diagon Alley. Anyway, the losses were borne by the goblins, and there were resettlement fees, so they were not in a hurry.

Walking all the way into the Wuxin Society's base, he went directly to the door of Herpo's laboratory and knocked twice.

Without making Ethan wait long, a middle-aged bald strong man about 1.9 meters tall opened the laboratory door and walked out.

Boss!

This despicable Herpo, resurrected from the Horcrux remnant soul, was very satisfied with his recent life.

He was the kind of very traditional dark wizard who usually liked to study some novel spells, alchemy, and so on, but in this process, many required human experimentation.

If there were no materials, he would grab them. Whether it was Muggles or other wizards or magical creatures, they were all his targets. In addition, the movements were a bit loud when grabbing materials and doing research, so he became famous.

It was these behaviors that earned him the title of ancestor of dark wizards.

Now, when he had nothing to do on weekdays, he would do experiments, occasionally take on two tasks. He didn't lack the experimental subjects and materials he needed, and no one disturbed him. Except for the extra person on his head, he lived more comfortably than before.

Little Hangleton area, have you found any trace of Voldemort?

This was a task Ethan had given him more than a week ago, to go to the Little Hangleton area to investigate the whereabouts of Voldemort, especially the Gaunt house.

If Ethan wanted to find Voldemort, the most likely place he would appear was there.

After all, Voldemort was resurrected in the cemetery there in the end, and that pot of potion also needed a certain amount of time to brew, so it was very likely that they had arrived in advance.

As for whether he would be there now, Ethan was not very clear, but he had to try.

Although Voldemort only had a remnant soul left, his perception was still quite keen. If he didn't want to startle the snake, either Ethan went, or Little Tom or Herpo went.

Among them, Little Tom, Ethan didn't know if there would be any induction between the two, so naturally it was not very suitable. In the end, this task fell on Herpo.

Near the Gaunt house, I found a lot of warning spells. After I got close, I found that there was indeed a kind of decaying smell inside. If there were no accidents, it would be a soul that did not enter hell and lived in a humble way.

Speaking of which, a hint of self-deprecation flashed across Herpo's face, because he was also so afraid of death.

Ethan, who got the answer he wanted, waved his hand to let Herpo retreat.