Dangerous Perfumes
Since the day the professor reminded everyone about the ball, and then Sirius mentioned it again during dinner that very same evening, it seemed that for the first time the boys had realized just how many girls there actually were in the castle. Not only in their own house, but everywhere. In the corridors, on the moving staircases, at the tables in the Great Hall… as if Hogwarts had suddenly become full of them.
It was as though, all of a sudden, they had become much more noticeable.
You could see them whispering to each other when boys walked by; tilting their heads while watching from other tables in the Great Hall… or even staring at some of them like hunters watching their prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Some boys could not help but feel a chill when they noticed the almost carnivorous look in several of those girls' eyes.
But of course, those problems only existed for the handsome ones. The rest could continue living their tragically lonely lives as usual.
"Why are they always in groups? It's impossible to even invite one without the others staring at you," Terry said as he walked over to the Ravenclaw table, where the others were already sitting and eating their breakfast peacefully.
"Already got your eye on someone, eh?" Michael Corner said with a sly smile.
"You know how I am. I'm a simple guy. As long as any beautiful girl accepts my invitation, I'll be happy," Terry said, earning a look of disgust from some nearby girls… and amused smiles from the boys.
Glasses of juice appeared on the table around them, while Harry simply glanced at Terry and shook his head.
"Maybe that's why you can't invite anyone," Harry said with a grin as he picked up one of the glasses.
"Ohh. Is Master Harry going to give us some lessons in romance?" Terry asked with an excited tone.
"You'd better not imitate him… or you'll end up stabbed in a corner somewhere," Draco said lightly with a small smile while picking up another glass nearby.
Meanwhile Hermione and Daphne laughed, nodding seriously… as if that were completely possible.
"You know, if you keep making that joke I might start believing it," Harry said with mild annoyance as he rolled his eyes and raised the glass to his lips.
Suddenly both Draco and Harry stopped.
They looked at their glasses carefully.
For a second neither of them said anything.
And almost at the same time… they sniffed them.
"What's wrong? Did Daphne poison your drinks again?" Terry asked while calmly taking a sip of his own glass of juice.
"Hey, don't blame me for everything they drink… this time I didn't do anything," Daphne said after pausing for a moment.
"No. I think someone put a love potion in the drinks," Harry said with a very annoyed look.
That made several of the boys, and even some girls nearby who had already taken a glass, freeze.
"Yes. All of them," Harry added while placing the glass back on the table with a faint look of disgust.
Draco also looked genuinely irritated.
Meanwhile, the others who had taken a sip of the juice spat it everywhere, causing annoyed complaints from several students who suddenly found themselves showered in juice for no reason at all.
"Are you sure? I think I swallowed a little… and I'm starting to feel a slight obsession with declaring my love to Romilda Vane," Terry said, looking increasingly worried as he grabbed his throat.
"I think I'd better take him to the infirmary," Anthony said from nearby, standing up and dragging him away while Terry began smiling foolishly toward the Gryffindor table and waving at one of the girls there, who quickly ducked her head behind her friends.
"So that's what Professor McGonagall meant about being careful with what we drink," Harry said with a sigh. "Though sneaking into the kitchens to try it… well, that's impressive."
But since they had already held a party in the kitchens before, many students now knew where they were. That meant many more places where someone could hide potions, maybe in drinks or food, so they would have to be much more careful than before.
Maybe asking their house-elves to bring them food from now on wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"You just need to find a partner, make it public, and that's it," Hermione said simply, as if it were truly that easy.
That made Draco and Harry look at her for a moment.
"You're supposed to be popular, so no one would say no," Daphne added calmly. "That's why Luciel escaped thanks to his fiancée. I'm sure that otherwise he'd be surrounded by girls from all three schools right now."
"Inviting someone, huh? Hmm… well, I already tried that before. I got rejected," Harry said casually.
"Is there someone you couldn't fool?" Daphne asked while covering her mouth as if she could hardly believe it.
"Cut it out," Harry said dryly. "And I never said I'd given up."
Harry stood up after grabbing a piece of toast, wearing that slight smile that only appeared when he was about to do something. A look that a certain girl liked to call his "villain smile."
His friends watched him walk away calmly before returning to their breakfasts.
Meanwhile the spilled glasses of juice were still releasing a scent that each of the people nearby seemed to perceive differently, so none of them appeared particularly bothered by it.
"By the way, you realized pretty quickly that it was Amortentia," Daphne said, looking at Draco with interest. "What did it smell like?"
Draco stayed still for a moment while spreading butter on his toast.
"Yes. If they hadn't mentioned it, I probably wouldn't have noticed. The scent is barely detectable… but it blended well with the orange juice, making it feel fresh," Hermione said, looking at Draco with mild curiosity.
"That's because we're good at potions," Draco said at last, finishing spreading butter on his toast.
Then he stood up to leave.
But he paused for a moment when he noticed both girls were still watching him with curiosity; one clearly being nosy, while the other simply seemed mildly interested.
"Mint," he said finally before continuing on his way, as if the answer meant absolutely nothing; though seeing his ears slightly red while his face remained perfectly serious might have been something worth framing.
"Mint?" Daphne said before simply shrugging without much interest and picking up one of the "poisoned" glasses to sniff it lightly.
"What did yours smell like, Hermione?" Daphne asked while trying to identify the scent she was picking up.
But Hermione seemed to be staring carefully at her glass of juice, which of course she would not drink; thoughtful, as if she were analyzing the scent more carefully than the others.
"Hermione?" Daphne insisted.
"Ah… um… spearmint," she replied calmly.
"Hmm. I don't recognize mine. I know I've smelled it somewhere before," Daphne said, looking thoughtful for a moment, but nothing came to mind.
"Well… whatever."
…
"Flowers and vanilla," Harry murmured as he walked down the corridor with a slightly amused smile. "That's a problem… a lot of people fit that description," he added easily, as if it didn't really matter to him.
Just as he was about to turn the corner of the corridor, someone suddenly appeared from the other side and almost collided with him, forcing him to stop.
"Oh, sorry," Harry said quickly with a small nod.
"Oh, it's fine. I was in a bit of a hurry," the girl in front of him replied.
When Harry looked at her more closely, he noticed it was Cho Chang; a fellow Ravenclaw, though a year above him. They had crossed paths several times before in the castle corridors.
"I guess that makes it both our fault then," Harry said with a slight smile before nodding to her and continuing on his way.
"Ah… um… Harry," Cho called, stopping him.
Harry turned around to look at her calmly.
"Um… well… I heard you know about etiquette and things like that. Some friends of mine and I… well, actually just me… were wondering if you could teach me a little. So I don't embarrass myself during the ball," Cho said, looking slightly embarrassed, though there was a faintly pleading tone in her voice.
Harry looked at her for a moment, as if he were genuinely considering it.
But the longer he took to answer, the paler she seemed to become, as if she thought she was about to be rejected.
Harry hesitated for a second, but in the end he said,
"Sure."
"Really? Thank you so much!" Cho Chang said, clearly excited, a wide smile appearing on her face.
"Then we can arrange the schedule later, okay?" she added quickly before almost running off, as if she feared Harry might change his mind if she stayed there any longer.
Harry watched her walk away down the corridor and couldn't help feeling that he had accepted far too quickly.
But, as if he simply couldn't help himself when it came to not making a girl cry, he just sighed.
"Aaah… maybe I really am a playboy," he muttered while scratching the back of his head.
Then he simply turned around and kept walking down the corridor as if nothing had happened.