What happened around Arthur was only a brief interlude.
The Yule Ball carried on regardless.
As the night reached its second half, Hogwarts even invited a famous wizarding band—the Weird Sisters.
The band had eight members, and every single one of them had appeared on Chocolate Frog cards.
Interestingly enough, despite the name Weird Sisters, there wasn't a single woman among them.
Even more interestingly, they were a rock band.
For the wizarding world to embrace something that had only emerged in the Muggle world over the past few decades was, in itself, quite rare.
As the intense music surged through the hall, students moved with the rhythm, surrendering themselves to the revelry.
Of course, not everyone was fully immersed.
Take Ron, for example.
At the moment, his eyes were glued to Harry—
or more accurately, to Harry's hand resting on Ginny's waist.
The hidden sister-con was fully activated tonight. Ron's entire focus was on Harry and Ginny.
Because of his distraction, Ron had already stepped on Lavender's feet several times.
Lavender could only sigh helplessly and subtly put some distance between them.
If not for the fact that she had a crush on Ron, any other girl would have dumped him on the spot.
As for Harry, he was thoroughly enjoying the dance with Ginny, completely unaware of Ron's murderous stare.
Arthur, however, noticed everything.
He never cared much for the noisy chaos of the dance floor, and Hermione and Ranni felt the same.
After dancing for a while, the three of them withdrew from the center of the floor, settling down nearby to observe the crowd and grab something to eat.
It was then that Arthur caught sight of Ron stepping on Lavender's feet—again.
Combined with Ron's constant fixation on Ginny, Arthur easily reached a conclusion.
Ron was a closet-grade siscon.
He shared this observation with Hermione, who immediately burst into giggles.
Whether she was laughing at Ron trampling Lavender or at his sister-complex was hard to tell.
At that moment, the Weasley twins suddenly popped up from who-knows-where.
"What's so funny?" they asked in unison.
"Anything good? Share it with us."
Arthur raised an eyebrow and repeated what he'd just seen.
The twins erupted into laughter.
They hadn't expected that Ron—who was usually at odds with Ginny at home—would have such a side to him.
This alone was enough material to mock Ron for an entire year.
"By the way," Arthur asked casually,
"aren't you two worried that Harry might take advantage of Ginny? Or, you know… have ideas about her?"
He was genuinely curious. Ginny was the Weasley family's precious treasure—normally they'd be extremely protective.
"Relax," George said confidently.
"We know Harry. He's not that kind of person."
"If anything," Fred added with a grin,
"we'd actually like it if those two ended up together. Mum seems pretty fond of Harry."
"And Ginny's the smartest one in the family," George continued.
"She won't let herself be taken advantage of. Boss, look closely—who do you think is leading right now?"
Fred pointed toward the dance floor.
Arthur followed his gaze.
Harry looked stiff and awkward, clearly nervous.
Ginny, on the other hand, was guiding him smoothly, controlling the rhythm of the dance.
Arthur chuckled and shook his head.
The twins might say Ginny was the smartest, but they themselves weren't far behind.
At the very least, when it came to reading people, Ron couldn't hold a candle to them.
Otherwise, he wouldn't still be staring at Harry like an idiot, completely oblivious to the fact that the girl dancing with him was secretly in love with him.
After exchanging a few words, the twins headed back into the dance floor.
They were the type to party until the very last second—this kind of lively atmosphere was exactly their element.
Arthur, however, had already had enough.
He led Hermione and Ranni out to enjoy the night air.
Outside the hall, a handful of couples lingered.
Some had stepped out to rest after dancing too much; others sought a quiet place to whisper sweet words to their loved ones.
Arthur even spotted two boys huddled together in a secluded corner.
Sometimes, having too good eyesight really wasn't a blessing.
The three of them stopped at an open balcony overlooking the venue, with a partial view into the hall.
The moon hung high in the sky, its pale glow washing over the land and reflecting off the snow.
Hogwarts looked as though it had been wrapped in silver.
The noise from the ballroom below contrasted sharply with the serenity of the balcony.
The trio savored the stillness.
Hermione leaned fully against Arthur, while Ranni rested lightly against him as well.
Gazing into the distance, Hermione murmured,
"I really wish moments like this could last forever."
Ranni didn't speak, but she felt the same.
The warmth of having the one she loved right beside her was intoxicating.
Arthur wrapped his arms around them both.
"Don't worry. Even if moments like this pass, they'll stay with us forever—in our memories.
Besides, with our lifespans, we'll have plenty of time to create many more moments like this."
Both girls smiled sweetly in his arms.
Just then, they saw Madame Maxime storm out of the ballroom in a fury, with Hagrid chasing after her.
Unfortunately for him, Hagrid was too bulky—and his legs far shorter than hers.
He failed to catch up.
Hermione blinked.
"What happened to them? Weren't they inseparable just a moment ago?"
"Who knows?" Arthur shrugged.
"Probably said something wrong. You know how biased the wizarding world is against giants.
I've heard Madame Maxime really hates people bringing up her half-giant heritage."
Hermione frowned.
"You mean… Hagrid mentioned it in front of her?"
"Very likely," Arthur replied.
Hermione sighed.
"I don't get it. Such a small population, yet more nonsense than an entire country.
Discriminating against this, looking down on that—it's hard to like the wizarding world sometimes."
If things stayed this way, she'd rather live among Muggles than remain here long-term.
Arthur gently ruffled her hair.
"If you don't like it, then change it.
Didn't you say you wanted to become Minister for Magic? When you do, fix everything you can't stand."
The thought that it might be impossible never crossed his mind.
With him around, even if Hermione wanted to rule the wizarding world, Arthur could put her on that throne.
Compared to that, changing a few deep-rooted problems was trivial.
In a few more years, once Hermione matured further, she wouldn't even need his help to suppress any opposition.
Hermione found his words convincing.
When she became Minister for Magic, she'd reshape the wizarding world into something she truly liked.
Ranni, however, had no interest in power at all.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have dumped the entire Carian royal legacy onto her mother just to attend school with Arthur.
What Ranni cared about was something else entirely.
She turned to Hermione.
"If you become Minister, won't you be very busy?"
"Probably," Hermione replied. "Why?"
"I promised my Lord that we'd travel the world after graduation," Ranni said calmly.
"I hope you won't slow us down when the time comes."
She'd considered the possibility that Hermione might become too busy to travel with them.
And knowing Arthur, he'd never abandon Hermione just to go off with her alone.
The most likely outcome was Arthur staying behind to help Hermione achieve her ambitions—
then traveling together as three.
That was why Ranni raised the issue now.
She didn't want their plans delayed.
Hermione didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she turned to Arthur and asked with mock anger,
"Travel the world? Cousin, why didn't you tell me about this?
Were you planning to leave me behind?"
Arthur pinched her puffed-up cheek.
"It was just an idea Ranni and I talked about casually. Nothing set in stone yet.
And we've still got years before graduation—I didn't think it was urgent."
Hearing that he had no intention of excluding her, Hermione finally relaxed.
She then smiled at Ranni.
"That's fine. We'll travel first, and I'll become Minister afterward."
Ranni nodded. As long as it didn't interfere with her journey with her Lord, she was satisfied.
Arthur offered no comment.
As long as the two of them were happy, that was all that mattered.
None of the three placed much importance on the title of Minister for Magic.
To them, it was simply a position they could take whenever they wished.
If an outsider heard this, they'd probably laugh at the trio for being delusional—
talking about becoming Minister as if it were a trivial matter.
But what happened after the laughter…
was another story entirely.
At the very least, someone would be bedridden for half a year.
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