Delacour stood up suddenly, and so did I, and we both had to be held back by our respective partners.
I reluctantly sat back down with Harry, who said "that was extremely rude Ginny! What on earth do you have against her, and veela in general? It's not their fault they have that effect on males, it's how they're born, and we can't control our response either, as much as girls like to believe so!"
"That's exactly my point! It's something natural that they can't even control, yet they act all arrogant and superior like they've done something special! Being supernaturally beautiful doesn't mean they have the right to criticise Hogwarts like that!"
"I don't think that was her reason for slagging Hogwarts off if I'm being perfectly honest"
I chewed my lip and let the matter drop.
When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it. The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause, from myself especially, I'd never seen them in the flesh before; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. Harry seemed entranced by them, so much so that I had to grab him by the arm and pull him up into the middle of the floor.
"Come on!" I hissed "we're supposed to dance. I know it's fascinating to watch them set up (that actually wasn't sarcasm) but we need to be ready"
He tripped over his dress robes as we arrived in the middle of the floor.
The first song played was a slow, mournful tune called Only the Dead Meet My Eyes. It's their second highest grossing song ever, which is a big outlier considering the rest of their top 10 are much happier and more exciting. I imagine it's because it was written at the height of Voldemort's first reign, when families were being torn apart on a daily basis. It fits it's intended purpose well though, and I began guiding Harry through my prepared routine. From the age of about 8 onwards, I started asking to get their albums as birthday and Christmas presents, and thankfully my parents had obliged, as they weren't usually too expensive, but unfortunately their prices had increased dramatically between 1991 and 1994, and they were no longer able to afford them. In the Wizarding World, singers and bands release albums by charging a fee for people to use their own special radio station, which broadcasts their songs 24/7. To choose the song you want to play, you tap your wand on top of your wireless the same number of times as the track number, or you can let them play back to back in order.
During the years my parents could afford them, I would often spend my free time creating my own dance patterns to their songs. I would do this while my brothers were out playing Quidditch, as a means of distracting myself from what would otherwise be intense sadness and jealously, since I couldn't play with them. That, and to avoid them walking in on me doing so. Mum and Dad did once or twice, but I was usually able to stop and smooth it over with a quick improvisation of another activity.
I'd practiced on and off with my dormmates over the previous couple weeks, Mary playing some of their more recent albums, so this was now a piece of cake for me. Harry still looked a little uneasy, but he followed what I was doing and he soon got the hang of it, and as everyone else started to join in, he seemed to be enjoying himself.
Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg. "Nice socks, Potter," Moody growled as he passed, his magical eye staring through Harry's robes. "Oh — yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me," said Harry, grinning.
"I'm sorry, but that's creepy as fuck!" I said. "He should respect people's privacy, I often think when I'm in his classes that he could be staring at my-"
"Nothing to see here!" Harry said loudly, drowning out my last word and shooting a glare at me for the second time that evening.
"Oh as if Hermione has never expressed a similar worry after one of your classes" I snapped
"She has, and I did the exact same thing to her, what's your point?"
I bit my lip and refocused on dancing.
We continued for another half an hour, and after I did a very extravagant and fast set of movements in time with Spice Up Your Life, Harry insisted that he needed to sit down. We joined Ron and Hermione at their table.
"How's it going?" Harry asked them.
"Pretty good, though I'm not the biggest fan of dancing" said Ron
"Neither am I, but I've been enjoying myself! I must say, Ginny can DANCE, have you been watching her? Where'd you learn it all Gin?"
I blushed, but was spared from explaining by Percy's arrival, and this time I was grateful for his presence.
"So, do you know when Crouch will be back?" I asked. Anything to change the subject.
"Oh I'm sure Mr. Crouch will be up and about in no time," said Percy importantly, "but in the meantime, I'm more than willing to take up the slack. Of course, it's not all attending balls" — he laughed airily — "oh no, I've had to deal with all sorts of things that have cropped up in his absence — you heard Ali Bashir was caught smuggling a consignment of flying carpets into the country? And then we've been trying to persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International Ban on Dueling. I've got a meeting with their Head of Magical Cooperation in the new year —"
"Let's go for a walk," Ron muttered to Harry, "get away from Percy. . . ." Pretending they wanted more drinks, Harry and Ron left the table, edged around the dance floor, and slipped out into the entrance hall. Hermione and I tagged along with them.
The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as we went down the front steps, where we found ourselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. We could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. We set off along one of the winding paths through the rosebushes, but we had gone only a short way when we heard an unpleasantly familiar voice.
". . . don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."
Was that Snape and Karkaroff?
"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it —"
"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly. "Flee — I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."
Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them. "Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. "And what are you four doing?" he added, catching sight of us on the path ahead. Karkaroff, we saw, looked slightly discomposed to see us standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.
What on earth was he up to, out here with Snape trying to avoid being overheard?
"We're walking," Ron told Snape shortly. "Not against the law, is it?"
"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past us, his long black cloak billowing out behind him.
"What was that all about?" I said, biting my lip in thought.
Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Harry and Ron continued down the path.
"What's got Karkaroff all worried?" Ron muttered.
"And since when have he and Snape been on first-name terms?" said Harry slowly.
"Amy will certainly find this encounter interesting" I said