On the night of the Yule Ball, the Hogwarts Great Hall was completely transformed.
Holly and Mistletoe covered in frost hung from the ceiling, and the walls were covered with shimmering silver drapes.
The long dining tables of the four houses had disappeared, replaced by hundreds of small round tables covered in white cloths, each lit by a flickering lantern.
Students were dressed in their finest robes, and the air was thick with excitement and anticipation.
Ron's flashy dress robes looked especially out of place.
When Lia appeared at the entrance of the Great Hall, arm-in-arm with Hermione, the clamor at the doorway came to a brief halt.
Hermione wore a sky-blue gauzy dress, its layered skirts flowing like a moving lake.
Her bushy brown hair had been meticulously styled with magic into an elegant bun, revealing her slender neck.
She was no longer the book-clutching, hurried overachiever, but a radiant young woman.
But even more eye-catching was Lia, standing beside her.
Hermione had chosen a moon-white silk gown for her; the style was simple, yet it perfectly outlined her petite and soft curves.
Her long silver hair cascaded down like moonlight, pinned with several tiny star-shaped hair clips.
Most unique of all were those cat ears and the fluffy long tail behind her.
Rather than ruining the overall aesthetic, they added an otherworldly charm and innocence to her.
Not far away, the Durmstrang champion Viktor Krum was surrounded by a group of admirers.
He felt the commotion at the door and instinctively looked over.
When he saw Hermione and Lia standing intimately together, he froze.
That girl... she looked even more dazzling than before.
And the brown-haired girl beside her was asserting ownership with an inviolable posture.
Krum's gaze lingered between the two for a moment.
Finally, his lips twitched into a smile that could hardly be called pleasant.
He turned away and continued to deal with his companions.
His upbringing and dignity would not allow him to pry into a pair that already belonged to each other.
"They're beautiful," Parvati Patil said to her sister Padma.
"Yeah, especially Lia. She looks like..." Padma couldn't find the right words.
"...A dream."
Ignoring the surrounding stares, Hermione led Lia straight to an empty seat near the edge.
"Sit here."
Lia sat down obediently, taking in her surroundings.
The magic of the Veela, the hormones of the boys, the aroma of the food... all the scents intertwined in her nose to form a bizarre and colorful tapestry.
But there was only one scent that made her feel most at ease.
It was the scent from Hermione, a mix of old parchment books and a faint hint of shampoo.
When the music for the dance floor began, Hermione stood up and reached out to Lia, performing a standard invitation to dance.
"My dear Lia, would you care to dance with me?"
Lia placed her hand in Hermione's palm, her deep blue eyes reflecting Hermione's figure.
"Mhm."
They glided onto the dance floor.
Among the many male-female pairs, the combination of these two girls was particularly striking.
Hermione led the steps.
And Lia responded with complete trust.
She didn't need to think or judge; she only needed to follow Hermione's rhythm and surrender herself completely.
Her long hair and tail drew dreamlike afterimages in their spins.
With only one night of practice, they were able to coordinate seamlessly.
They were born to dance together.
As the song ended, Hermione held Lia's waist and led her away from the crowded dance floor.
"I'll go get something to drink." Hermione's cheeks were flushed from exercise and excitement.
She pushed through the crowd toward the long table where drinks were laid out.
Lia stood in place waiting for her, quietly watching the spinning crowd on the dance floor.
Just then, a discordant scene entered her field of vision.
Mad-Eye Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, was staring at Harry with his wildly spinning magical eye.
Then, he strode over, grabbed Harry's arm, and led him to a secluded office at the side of the Great Hall.
Harry's face was full of bewilderment and reluctance.
Lia's Danger Intuition didn't sound an alarm, but her nose caught the familiar, decaying scent of 'lies and conspiracies.'
When Hermione returned with two glasses of pumpkin juice, she saw Lia staring in that direction.
"What is it?"
"That fake person took Harry away."
Lia pointed toward the end of the corridor where Moody had disappeared.
Hermione looked in the direction she pointed, and her brow immediately furrowed.
"Professor Moody?" she lowered her voice. "What would he want with Harry at a time like this?"
It's not like he's going to dance with Harry, right?
Hermione's curiosity and concern for her friend immediately overrode the romantic atmosphere of the ball.
She glanced at the closed office door, then at Lia.
"Let's go take a look," she decided.
Hermione pulled Lia along, quietly moving through the corridor until they were pressed against the door of Moody's office.
The heavy wooden door blocked most of the sound, but Hermione pulled a small object from her pocket—a product of the Weasley Twins, an extendable ear.
She carefully poked one end of the extendable ear into the gap under the door and held the other end to her ear.
Inside the office, Moody's gruff voice came through clearly.
"...Do you think that Golden Egg is just a decoration, Potter? It's a clue! For the second task!"
Harry's voice sounded confused: "But it only screeches."
"That's because you're listening to it on land!" Moody's voice was impatient. "Haven't you thought of trying somewhere else? Like... in the water? Take your Golden Egg, go to the Prefects' Bathroom, take a bath, and think about it!"
The Prefects' Bathroom? Taking a bath?
Hermione's eyes lit up. This was key information!
"Professor, why are you telling me this?" Harry asked the question Hermione also wanted to ask.
"Because I want you to stay alive!" Moody roared. "Dumbledore told me to look after you! Now, take your egg and get out! Don't let anyone see you've been here!"
The sound of a chair being pushed back came from inside the room.
Hermione was quick, immediately pulling back the extendable ear and dragging Lia into the shadow of a nearby suit of armor.
The office door swung open, and Harry walked out looking dazed, clutching the Golden Egg to his chest.
He took a quick look down the corridor and walked away quickly.
Moody did not come out.
The door was closed again.
Hermione was about to lead Lia away when she realized Lia wasn't moving.
She stood in the shadows, her body slightly stiff, her deep blue eyes fixed on the closed office door, her nose twitching slightly in the air.
"Lia?" Hermione touched her worriedly.
Lia's body was very cold.
"The scent..." she murmured to herself, her voice carrying an unprecedented seriousness. "The scent has changed..."
"What scent?"
"The scent of death."
Lia turned her head, her pupils narrowing into thin slits.
"Before, the Golden Egg only had a little bit of the 'Death Tournament' scent. But now..."
She pointed her finger toward the door, then swept it across the direction of the Great Hall.
"The scent has grown thick, like a mist, shrouding the entire tournament. But it's no longer targeted at Harry."
Hermione's heart sank abruptly.
"Then... who is it targeted at?"
Lia shook her head, her face full of confusion.
"I don't know. I can't smell who it is... I only know that in the Triwizard Tournament, someone is definitely going to die."
That aura of death was no longer attached to a specific person or object as before, but had become a deeper, grander background.
Hermione gripped Lia's slightly cold hand tightly.
The bustle and noise of the ball were cut off by an invisible wall.
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