Chapter 129: Chosen Dance Partner
Fleur Delacour has never liked men who are too proactive.
She suspected that their inexplicable infatuation with her was all because of her Veela bloodline.
So when she learned that the warriors of the Triwizard Tournament needed a dance partner to lead the opening dance, she immediately fell into a vortex of endless thought.
She needs a dance partner.
He must possess a handsome appearance comparable to hers to be worthy of her beauty; he also cannot be so superficial as to be easily infatuated with her face and do anything embarrassing in public; most importantly, someone who meets the above two criteria also needs to be witty, humorous, and intelligent, at least able to engage in normal conversation with her in social situations without any awkwardness, rather than being an empty-headed yes-man who just stares at her hair, eyes, or teeth and grins foolishly.
She knew she was too picky about her dance partner—some of her demands were even a bit sensitive and willful.
But there's nothing she can do; she's just that sensitive and willful. Perhaps her sandalwood wand chose her precisely because it recognized this trait.
Even Ollivander, the English wand master who inspected the warriors' wands, said so, didn't he?
"Sister, lower your expectations! It's just a ball!" Her beloved younger sister Gabrielle said to her earnestly through the two-way mirror, "You know how hard it is for people like us to find a soulmate."
—People like us.
Yes, us.
For Furong, this world is divided into "us" who have Veela blood and "them" who do not.
The Veela's bloodline is both Merlin's blessing and the devil's curse.
Fleur Delacour is favored by half of the world's population, while simultaneously suffering the greatest malice from the other half.
She was popular with the opposite sex wherever she went—that was for sure—few men could resist the silver waves of her waist-length hair; at the same time, the same sex made no attempt to hide their dislike for her, as if she herself wanted to cause an embarrassing commotion wherever she went!
This commotion was not a compliment to her, but rather an insult, because it constantly reminded Furong of one thing—no one in the world loves your soul; they only care about your appearance.
How tragic!
"How exactly did Mother find Father? He was clearly the exception," Furong said wistfully to her little sister.
"Sister, 'exceptions' are so rare! Not everyone gets to encounter one." Gabrielle's small face held an air of maturity beyond her years. "Don't expect 'exceptions' to suddenly jump out from around the corner of the corridor and be caught by you."
"Oh, dear Gabrielle, why are you pouring cold water on me?" Fleur wrinkled her nose at the girl on the other side of the two-way mirror.
"Because you desperately need a dance partner, and given your high standards, you probably won't find one," Gabrielle said with a regretful shrug. "For now, you'll just have to lower your expectations and get through the upcoming Christmas ball, won't you? The warrior of Beauxbatons can't possibly go to the opening dance alone, can she?"
"Why not?" Furong said proudly. "I'm not willing to compromise!"
"I respect your unwillingness to compromise. However, consider Ms. Maxim, who has high hopes for you and values Beauxbatons' honor above all else. She is a woman who values dignity above all else," Gabrielle said succinctly. "You wouldn't want her to have trouble with your invisible dance partner, or to bring shame upon all the students of Beauxbatons because of your capriciousness, would you?"
"Gabrielle, you're so worldly-wise—"
"Never mind whether I'm worldly or not, just tell me if I'm right or not!" Gabrielle said bluntly. "Grow up, sister. It's just a dance partner for a night of fun, not a lifelong partner for you…"
"Okay. But at least, he has to be good-looking. That way, even if he does something stupid, his face will make me less angry…" She shrugged at Gabrielle, successfully earning a disapproving look from her sister.
Furong was not joking.
She considered herself a very fair person. If someone was only after her beauty, then they should at least be as beautiful as her.
She had come to Hogwarts with a certain amount of anticipation. She had fantasized that perhaps among those reserved and old-fashioned British wizards, there would be a few who wouldn't care so much about her face.
But she was disappointed—all the boys at Hogwarts were boring. They stared at her with disapproving glances, like mindless gorillas desperately displaying their stupidity, arrogance, and dullness.
Merlin above! She didn't want to see a boy jump into the Black Lake for her, just to show his determination to brave the cold. Or, to run up to her and ask her to dance in a mumbled voice, only to run away in a panic before she could even respond.
They seemed to treat her as a pathetic mascot of a test of courage—the kind where anyone who dared to invite her was considered to have won.
Extremely boring.
One day, a red-haired boy from Hogwarts—a friend of Harry Potter, the fourth hero who joined the monastery later in life—called out an invitation to her in the foyer in front of the Great Hall of Hogwarts, and then ran off without giving her any chance to react.
For the thousandth and first time, she let out a disdainful snort, haughtily surveying the whispering crowd, when she suddenly noticed Sirius Black, the odd one out.
She found him indifferent to her. Her beauty was nothing compared to his—a novelty.
She walked slowly down the hallway, and almost all the men turned to look at her. Only one handsome, dark-haired man glanced at her impatiently before turning back to speak to a pair of twin brothers. His languid voice, which should have been pleasant to hear, sounded grating to her at that moment: "I suggest you change the spell on this moving swamp..."
A moving swamp? Does she, Hibiscus de la Cour, interest him less than a puddle of soft mud?
A surge of anger welled up inside her. Although she hoped someone would be indifferent to her beauty, she wasn't as happy as she had imagined when she actually encountered this situation.
The first thing she felt was the disappointment of being ignored—like he had slapped her across the face.
Sirius Black. She'd heard of him. Once a notorious Azkaban prisoner, then a charming Black family heir who had endured hardship and regained his innocence, and now a sought-after substitute teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
The first time she met him was a strange encounter.
That evening, having recently arrived at Hogwarts, she was using the Disillusionment Charm to explore the area near the Forbidden Forest. She had heard that unicorns roamed the area and wanted to try her luck to see if she could encounter one, but she didn't want to appear like an impolite guest trespassing into someone else's backyard.
As she approached a strange, large willow tree, she saw a majestic black dog in the distance. Just as she was about to go closer to see what it was, the black dog suddenly transformed into a man.
He was a handsome and elegant man, laughing heartily in the moonlight. His voice had a touch of senility, but his demeanor was as carefree as that of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy.
At that time, she didn't know who he was. All she knew was that he was a rare master of Transfiguration—an obviously unregistered Animagus—who was potentially extremely dangerous.
She stood motionless, not daring to make a sound. The mysterious man, the enigmatic young warrior Harry Potter, and a platinum-blonde boy were talking to each other in the distance.
After a few words, the man turned back into a black dog and drove away with the two invisible boys.
A sly smile appeared on Furong's face—this was extremely interesting.
It seems that Hogwarts is not as upright as it appears on the surface.
She had long harbored suspicions about Harry Potter. Before coming to Hogwarts, she had a good impression of the boy who had supposedly defeated the Dark Lord; however, when he barged into the Goblet of Fire's selection as an unqualified champion, she became unsure whether she still harbored any affection for him.
Follow these three, and you might uncover some intriguing secrets. For example, expose the shady dealings of this dubious hero who's been hiding the Goblet of Fire. Or, find out what illegal connections that unregistered Animagus has with Harry Potter. Or, figure out what these seemingly respectable Hogwarts students are up to in the middle of the night.
Furong made up her mind and followed them from a distance.
As she followed, she grew suspicious. The beautiful black dog didn't seem particularly cunning; it even appeared somewhat childish. It would spin around in place, searching for the tip of its tail, which made the boy, who had narrowly escaped death, chuckle in the air.
This action was completely out of character for the handsome man's refined demeanor. She couldn't help but chuckle.
Could such a stupid big black dog really be plotting something? It didn't seem dangerous at all. Just as she was wondering if she was being overly paranoid, she suddenly saw those fire dragons.
Furong covered her mouth—she immediately understood what the first event of the three-way competition was and what danger she would face.
The black dog was anything but stupid, and the handsome man was anything but naive. Whoever he was, he was not to be underestimated. He led the seemingly harmless Harry Potter to discover the contents of the first project ahead of schedule.
Startled, Fleur didn't continue spying on them. Before the illusion spell wore off, she quickly fled back the way she came, running back to Beauxbatons' camp.
Thanks to that black dog, she wasn't completely clueless about her first project.
Should Harry Potter be exposed? It hardly requires any thought.
Furong's first reaction was to keep quiet about it; she didn't even tell Ms. Maxim.
Honestly, there was no benefit to exposing Harry Potter, either emotionally or logically—she also saw those damned dragons.
She didn't want to cause trouble for herself or others. Explaining to Madam Maxim why she had sneaked out of Beauxbatons Camp in the middle of the night, or explaining to the judges why she had used the Disillusionment Charm to wander around the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, would not be an easy task.
Therefore, Fleur focused more on "practicing the Stunning Spell" rather than thinking about how to expose a delusional underage boy.
The second time I saw Sirius Black was in an empty classroom.
During that time, she was in a bad mood—the Welsh green dragon was not as easy to deal with as she had imagined, she had lost some points and was feeling depressed; coincidentally, she took the wrong turn in the corridor of Hogwarts Castle and got separated from her companions, while a group of students were walking towards her... She really had no mood to deal with any more silly or stuttering boys.
To avoid the group of boys whose expressions were about to turn bewildered, she hurriedly slipped into the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor.
As usual, she cast a Disillusionment Spell on herself, sat down in a sunlit seat, and stared blankly at the huge dinosaur skeleton hanging in the middle of the classroom, waiting for the students to walk away, while pondering the matter of the golden egg that emitted a ghostly scream.
At that moment, the mysterious black-haired man reappeared.
In reality, he was Professor Moody, the rumored paranoid persecutor—she had heard a series of sensational and ridiculous stories about him from Ms. Maxim—but as he limped into the classroom, his wooden leg suddenly clattered to the side, and magical blue eyeballs popped out of their sockets.
He turned his back to her, peered warily through the crack in the door, and gently closed it.
When he turned around, Furong found that he had become that tall, thin, and handsome man.
She stared wide-eyed silently as he shook a curved bottle on his person—which was clearly empty—sighed, and complained wearily to the empty classroom, "Merlin's beard, I forgot about it!"
Despite his complaints, the man didn't seem particularly flustered. He stood there pondering for a moment, then a lazy smile returned to his face, as if his mistake was as insignificant as losing a bronze Knut.
Fleur dared not be careless. She couldn't forget that he was an illegal Animagus, and now he was even impersonating a Hogwarts teacher.
If he finds her, he might kill her.
She held her breath, pretending she didn't exist, until the noise from the students outside the classroom subsided, and he nonchalantly strode out of the classroom.
The third time they met, this ever-changing man finally revealed his true identity and was appointed as the substitute teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
It was then that she realized that the man shrouded in mystery was Sirius Black.
It's no wonder she didn't recognize him sooner. He was completely different from the颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, decadent, or dispirited) image he projected in the newspapers. When he appeared before her, he was young and upright, radiating a vibrant and youthful beauty.
Moreover, it seems that every time she sees him, he transforms into a different persona—dangerous, yet also interesting.
Hibiscus's curiosity was piqued. She would often deliberately walk past his classroom with her head held high, like an elegant swan, without even lingering a glance; however, her ears were perked up as she listened to his enthusiastic explanations to the students about how to deal with the undead.
He had transformed once again. He was no longer the mysterious man with the boyish spirit who had turned into a black dog, nor the carefree imposter disguised as Moody, but a brilliant, passionate, and highly charismatic professor.
Furong felt a sense of curiosity about him—how many other facets of him were hidden beneath his handsome exterior?
So when hordes of foolish boys were inviting her out every day, only to fall head over heels for her, Fleur Delacour, the warrior of Beauxbatons, had a bold idea—why not him?
He didn't seem particularly infatuated with her looks; he was quite handsome and interesting.
Perhaps she could have a normal conversation with him about how to capture the Loch Ness Monster or deal with the Sirens.
She was the one who invited him.
He'll probably be flattered, won't he? Furong thought proudly.
He will definitely agree, without a doubt.
"No." The man finally looked at her properly.
But his eyes were both arrogant and weary, and the words that came out of his thin lips were too unexpected.
Furong was stunned.
"Can I know why?" She suppressed her surprise and tried to maintain a polite smile and a cheerful tone.
"I don't have time for these childish games. I have a lot more to worry about." He lazily tidied up his lesson plan, glancing at her with a hint of seriousness. "I don't believe no one has asked you out. Don't waste your time on me."
Furong was deeply offended. A surge of stubbornness suddenly welled up inside her.
"But I only want you," she asked in a beautiful yet husky voice. "Do you have a dance partner?"
"No."
"Then you will be my dance partner," she said confidently.
"I'm not interested."
"Or—I'll report your discovery of the fire dragon to Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch." She looked at him leisurely, a malicious smile spreading across her lips.
The black-haired man's face finally showed some changes in expression.
"What did you say?" Sirius Black asked.
"I think you heard me perfectly well." She winked at him, a smug look on her pretty face.
Sirius frowned; he couldn't believe he was being blackmailed by a French girl.
"Fine—" he exhaled heavily, giving her a sharp look, "unless you tell me how you found out about this."
"No problem. But you'll have to wait until after you've danced the opening dance of the Christmas ball with me." The French girl shrugged, tossed her long, silvery hair to her side, and looked at him innocently with her big, watery blue eyes.
"Alright." Sirius looked at her with a puzzled expression, not understanding why he had attracted the attention of a Beauxbatons warrior.
In his view, their interactions were pitifully few, almost nonexistent.
Fleur Delacour—he certainly remembered her—she was one of Harry's rivals.
She was quite good-looking and very brave. She cast a stun spell on the fire dragon very efficiently, which suited his taste.
Most wizards believed that Krum or Cedric were the strongest warriors of this generation. Sirius, however, disagreed.
Fleur Delacour was a witch who single-handedly put a dragon to sleep with a powerful hypnotic spell—something that would normally require seven or eight adult wizards, or even a professional dragon tamer.
Her magic was so profound that it should have been widely praised. Unfortunately, many wizards only saw her appearance and failed to recognize her power.
She was even the only female warrior. No one should underestimate her.
Why did she suddenly come to tell him this? Would she betray them? Or was there some bigger conspiracy? Was she blackmailing him to find out about the progress of Harry's second project? Sirius looked at her indifferently, his expression showing nothing, but his mind was racing.
Sirius began to scrutinize Fleur's expression. The female warrior maintained a polite smile, her eyes revealing undisguised admiration for him; however, the warrior of Beauxbatons was by no means a brainless beauty, she was different from those mindless female students, her eyes did not contain infatuation, but rather calmness and composure.
Looking at it this way, it seems that he could accept it and communicate with her on an equal footing.
That's right, they are the truly evenly matched opponents. Rather than letting her mislead the young and naive Harry, or his friends, it's better to keep her under our watchful eyes.
Sirius had seen Harry and his friend Ron look bewildered in front of Fleur Delacour. If she were to try and get to them using Veela tricks, it would seem far more dangerous for 14-year-old Harry.
"Alright. I'll be your dance partner—it would be my pleasure." He suddenly flashed a bright smile and said politely.
Fleur Delacour wore an air of haughty "as expected" expression. She gave him a smug smile, turned around, and walked away with light steps.
On the night of the Christmas ball, they undoubtedly became the center of attention. Fleur had to admit she hadn't chosen the wrong partner. His dancing was elegant and graceful, a match for hers, she thought smugly.
"Now, tell me, how did you know?" After three dances, Sirius Black finally ran out of patience. He led Fleur out of the hall and stood in the empty foyer.
"Haste makes waste. It's not gentlemanly at all to take a lady who's enjoying dancing out of the dance floor," Hibiscus said, her expression displeased.
"I have kept my promise." Sirius looked at his dance partner, who was like a fairy under the moon, with a probing gaze. "If your answer is satisfactory, I would not rule out the possibility that I may continue to dance with you."
"You're so arrogant! Do you think I can't dance without you? Do you know how many people want to invite me tonight?" Her words, spoken with a French accent, had a certain allure.
"Actually, I've heard a little about it." In the past few days, Sirius had been paying attention to Fleur's great achievements at Hogwarts and found that almost half of the boys in the school had tried to invite her out—the other half weren't necessarily not infatuated with her, but probably just didn't dare to.
"Shall we go for a walk over there?" Fleur glanced at both sides of the corridor and casually pointed to a cave in front of the castle—where fairy light shimmered. The cave was originally just a lawn, which Dumbledore had created to enhance the atmosphere.
"That's quite cautious." Sirius nodded and followed Fleur through the hallway, strolling away in the moonlight. He remained silent, his mind elsewhere, waiting for Fleur to tell him her answer.
"It's actually very simple, I just guessed," the French girl said, turning to look at him with a knowing look.
"Nonsense. I haven't forgotten the look on your face that day. I've never seen anyone so certain when making wild guesses," he said sharply.
They entered the cave, their gaze sweeping over low bushes, ornately decorated winding paths, and enormous stone statues. Adorned with Santa Claus and reindeer decorations, and hundreds of lifelike fairies twinkling among delicate rose bushes, the cave was a sight to behold.
"You know, I'm pretty good at the Disillusionment Charm, to avoid those weird boys." Fleur smiled as she watched a tiny fairy sitting on a rose, playing with her lantern on the petals. "One day, near the Forbidden Forest, I saw a black dog, and Harry Potter…"
Sirist immediately understood. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You've been following us?"
"I wouldn't call it stalking, I was just very curious." Her voice was faint amidst the splashing of the fountain. "I didn't hear what you were saying, I was far away."
"But you followed us and saw everything that happened afterward." He tightened his jaw, pointing out the crux of the matter.
"Merci (French for 'thank you')... So I knew about it beforehand. Thank you so much, you've helped me a lot." She openly admitted that she had seen the fire dragon, her face, which was even more beautiful than a fairy's, full of a shameless expression.
Sirius looked at her shameless expression and suddenly laughed, "De rien (French for 'you're welcome')."
He breathed a sigh of relief. The moment she admitted it, they were in the same boat. He had worried that Harry would be reported, but she hadn't, and had no grounds to report them later, and that was enough.
"You can speak French?" A surprised smile appeared on her face.
"He can only say a little bit," Sirius said lazily.
With the crisis over, he returned to his relaxed state of being indifferent to everything.
She was very shrewd. Now he was somewhat convinced that she might genuinely want him as her dance partner, rather than having some ulterior motive. Looking at her smile, Sirius Black decided to give this French girl who was blackmailing him a little more patience.
"Let's go back, don't waste this night, let's go dancing." After she finished watching the fairies, he suddenly felt that he could dance a few more dances.
"Why not?" she smiled gracefully and walked briskly toward the foyer. Sirius chuckled and followed Fleur back. In a fleeting moment, he seemed to catch a glimpse of Snape's furtive figure flashing through the bushes and flowers.
What is he doing here?
Sirius didn't believe he was on a date with anyone. This heartbroken, snotty-nosed guy... he'd probably be meddling in other couples' business again, then use his unrequited love to deduct 10 points from their score... The love-starved old bat just can't stand seeing others happy... He grinned and followed Fleur into the foyer.
A few couples were already standing in the foyer, having withdrawn from the noise of the ball. They stood close together, seemingly whispering to each other. Sirius even saw his adopted nephew, Draco Malfoy, leading Hermione Granger, a good student from Gryffindor, from one end of the corridor toward the Great Hall entrance.
He couldn't resist whistling and calling out to Draco, intending to tease them. But the two of them didn't even dare look at him. They hurriedly quickened their pace and fled into the Great Hall.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Sirius had initially thought they were just ordinary dance partners, like him and Fleur. Now it seemed that things might not be as he imagined.
Slytherin and Gryffindor as a pairing... Sirius smiled thoughtfully.
He was already looking forward to the day when his dear cousin Narcissa would be so shocked and angry that her nose would twitch