In the Magic Realm, many wizards enjoy hosting various balls, especially those ancient Pure-Blood Families, who hold two or three balls every year. For instance, birthday balls and Christmas balls have become regular events, but the major focus of most balls never seems to be on dancing.
This time is no exception. The music in the office has never stopped, but very few people are dancing.
Most people just twirl symbolically a couple of times, then start holding a drink and chatting with those around them.
It must be said, Professor Slughorn's network is still quite extensive, having invited many notable figures over.
Besides the well-known author Worple and the vampire Sanguini whom Kael had seen before, there was a professional Quidditch player, Buer Hode, the current Chaser for the Montrose Magpies, and a reporter from the Daily Prophet—not Rita Skeeter, but another wizard.
According to Slughorn's introduction, most interviews above the Ministry of Magic's Minister level were conducted by him.
Kael also saw the owner of the Honeyduke's Sweet Shop... it makes sense, seeing as there's an autographed photo of him in Slughorn's place, and the school is so close to Hogsmeade, there's no reason not to invite him over.
Even so, Slughorn seemed to feel it wasn't lively enough; according to him, Halloween was just a casual gathering, and the real event would come at Christmas. He even reminded Kael and Conna not to miss it.
But they had a completely different view on it.
The two found an excuse to shake off Slughorn and went to the relatively less crowded drinks area.
However, Kael came here just to find some peace and didn't drink any of the things on the table.
Ever since knowing that someone at the school had bought Love Potions, he decided not to touch anything of unknown origin.
"Kael, I didn't expect you to come too."
A few minutes later, Harry, who finally got rid of Worple, also came over. He must have talked quite a bit, as he directly picked up a mug of Butter Beer and took a big gulp.
Kael observed for a while, disappointing himself to find it was just a regular Butter Beer.
"How's it going?" he asked.
"What…" Harry didn't react for a moment, thinking Kael was talking about the ball. He shook his head immediately, saying, "It's awful, I can't believe Hermione actually manages to come to these every time."
"Perhaps she's used to it," Kael followed up on his words, "Why didn't you find an excuse not to come too?"
Like them, Harry has been trying to avoid attending Slughorn's dinner parties, finding various excuses, like Quidditch training.
As the captain, he could completely schedule training during dinner parties, thus avoiding quite a few of them.
"I came with Ron, he really wanted to experience this ball," Harry said.
"Can you invite a guy to the ball?"
"Yeah." Harry nodded, "I just wanted to see if it would work, but Professor Slughorn didn't object."
"Oh right, have you seen Ron? I've been looking for him."
"No," Kael replied, "you could check over at the other side of the room."
"Alright," Harry said, grabbing his mug of Butter Beer and heading across the dance floor.
After that, Kael ran into a tipsy Professor Sybill Trelawney.
As one of Hogwarts' professors and a descendant of the famous seer Cassandra Trelawney, she is somewhat well-known.
Slughorn must've mentioned the free sherry at the ball, and then she came over.
There was also Luna, who was discussing with Neville whether Scrimgeour might be a hidden vampire and planning a secret plot involving controlling Aurors and using the Gum Disease Spell to internally destabilize the Ministry of Magic.
Neville was greatly shocked, but Kael couldn't help but laugh out loud, nearly inhaling Honey Wine up his nose.
"Gum Swelling Curse, that's actually worth developing further; I feel it's more useful than Langlock," Kael said with a laugh.
As for the claim about Scrimgeour being a vampire, that's even more baseless; if he were a vampire, the big Peeping Mirror in the Auror Office should've been ringing off the hook long ago.
The fact that none of the other Ministry employees have complained about him being a nuisance is proof enough of Scrimgeour's identity.
It must be said, Mr. Lovegood's remarks are quite interesting, always offering some viewpoints that others would never think of.
If you disregard the logic and just focus on amusement, The Quibbler is indeed a good magazine.
Kael decided that as soon as he got back, he would subscribe to a copy, so he could have a laugh whenever he was bored.
After Luna and Neville wandered off, the ball started to become boring again, right up until there were only ten minutes left before curfew…
Kael thought the ball would just end like that, but he didn't expect Peeves to suddenly burst in from outside.
He flew on the ceiling, holding a bunch of water-filled balloons, and launched an indiscriminate attack on the students below, who hadn't reacted yet.
In an instant, the entire office was like a rainstorm.
Everyone screamed, dodging the water balloons falling from above, and the room became chaotic.
"Ha, I always felt something was missing; now it's all good," Kael said with a laugh. "After all, how could such a lively place not have Peeves?"
He flicked a finger lightly, sending a flying water balloon elsewhere.