Chapter 207: Assigning Partners

Almost just as Harry had released the owl, another owl sent a reply.

"Harry, I actually don't recommend you do this. When I wrote this letter, I saw a sinister black dog outside the window. I think this might be the Hound of Tindalos that Zhang Qiu mentioned; it represents the will of time and fate. Regarding the second task, I dare not say it too detailedly; this might be a bit risky, but I can tell you one thing, and that is that Tang Tang Nade will help you, that is all.

It is not convenient to say more in the letter, especially since I am still in the Hyper-Ascension; I look forward to you returning to Great Britain at Christmas; we can have a good chat then."

Harry nodded slightly; he felt a bit regretful, but Neville had already told him the most important information, which was to seek help from Tang Tang Nade.

In fact, he had also just realized that since Tang Tang Nade helped him in the first task, there was no reason for him to keep him in the dark in the second task.

After thinking this through, Harry and Luo En immediately went to visit Tang Tang Nade, although they didn't quite know where Tang Tang Nade was. However, after some inquiries, they learned that he lived in an empty classroom next to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office; Beauxbatons had changed that place into a suite with a desk and a big bed.

"Oh, Harry and Luo En, I really didn't expect you to come and find me," Tang Tang Nade said somewhat pleasantly surprised. "I thought I had to avoid suspicion at this juncture."

"Avoid suspicion? Almost, we also came quietly," Harry said.

"Yes, avoiding suspicion is very important, so I used a clever move; I let Hermione be Elena's personal assistant, so she could pass information for you," Tang Tang Nade explained self-righteously, but Harry knew he was just finding an excuse to spend more time with Hermione.

"Then you miscalculated," Luo En believed his words, so he complained somewhat dissatisfiedly, "Hermione doesn't tell us anything, only providing some irrelevant suggestions."

"Er, in fact, if it's the second task, a few irrelevant suggestions are enough; after all, you are so smart," Tang Tang Nade said somewhat awkwardly. "She should have told you that it's in the water, right?"

"No, Cedric thought of it himself," Luo En continued angrily. "Hermione didn't say anything."

"No, no, no, we just didn't see Hermione," Harry corrected him. "She has been pestered by Krum these few days."

"What?" Tang Tang Nade was shocked and stood up abruptly. "She didn't tell me; my God, this is trouble."

"Ah?" Luo En was also somewhat surprised. "Harry, you have a problem; the fact is, Krum has been wanting to meet Fleur alone, Hermione is just responsible for blocking him."

"Even so, the words they said are enough; Hermione was originally—" Tang Tang Nade paused, then shifted the topic somewhat guiltily. "If Hermione accidentally exposed any information, we would be in trouble. No, I must think of a way."

"Alright, have to think of a way," Harry's eyes looked elsewhere. "Slightly appease Krum, and also let Hermione have some peace."

"Truly thank you for telling me this; for me, er, for Ilvermorny, this is very serious," Tang Tang Nade touched his chin and pondered. "By the way, Harry, have you thought about how to pass the second task?"

"No, in fact, I don't even know what it is."

"I'm not very clear either, but it's certain that the second task will be held in the water; you need to deal with Grindylows, merpeople, and octopuses," Tang Tang Nade took a breath. "I have many ways to help you, but I have to pick a good one; let me think... it's fine, I'll give you a plan around Christmas."

"You are too caring for me," Harry thought of the Seven Deadly Sins, which were too powerful. "Don't need a very powerful one."

"It doesn't matter, I understand what you mean," Tang Tang Nade said. "Now I have to find Elena, or find Hermione at the same time. Yes, you two go and call Hermione for me."

"If Hermione, due to professional ethics or something, is unwilling to secretly help you, this should be able to convey my meaning very well," Tang Tang Nade said with a smile. "You two go and find her; tell her I'm waiting for her and the others in the office; they should be in the library at this time."

Harry left the office with satisfaction; Luo En also seemed very happy; he felt that if Tang Tang Nade stood on his side, perhaps the relationship between him and Hermione would no longer be so awkward.

When they walked to the entrance of the library, they found Hermione, Elena, and Fleur standing at the corner of the corridor, discussing something. Luo En almost immediately reached into Harry's arms to pull out the Invisibility Cloak; Harry hesitated for a moment and decided to follow his wishes.

"This is truly too distressing for me," Hermione said. "Krum has been looking for me these few days, coming twice in the morning and afternoon."

Fleur pouted, "He said I fixed the match; this must be a mistake; we deliberately didn't pass the Horntails to suppress the score and get the golden egg, which has nothing to do with match-fixing."

"The saying of match-fixing is somewhat beyond the imagination of a curly-haired baboon," Elena said. "This must be Renata's crooked idea, a conspiracy; you must not let him see Fleur alone; by then who knows what means he will use to forge all kinds of evidence to slander you."

"Regarding this point, we have indeed reached a consensus long ago," Hermione said. "But what truly distresses me is that he invited me to be his partner."

"What?" The two girls exclaimed together, and Harry and Luo En were also shocked.

Harry understood now why Tang Tang Nade was so nervous; it seemed Krum also had crooked thoughts about Hermione.

"I, I told him I still need to consider it," Hermione said. "If we set aside the competitive relationship, Krum is actually a very handsome boy."

"To be safe, you had best refuse him," Elena said. "Just say you already have a partner."

"But I actually don't have one, and, he is the champion responsible for opening the dance..." Hermione was somewhat shaken.

"This is not difficult; I will be your partner," Elena said the shocking words. "I look very good in a white suit; when I had short hair before, I took a fake name Kevin Kaslana and fascinated quite a few little girls."

"But, isn't our original plan for you and Fleur to dance?" Hermione said dryly. Clearly, she didn't feel Elena was an ideal partner in her heart.

"This is not difficult; I can have as many partners as I want," Fleur said while comforting Hermione, and blinked. "And I also don't really want to dance with Elena."

"You idiot!" Elena scolded with a smile.

"In short, I still want to dance with a boy, and Krum is really very attractive," Hermione said somewhat softly. "If it were you two, er, let's talk about it later; anyway, the original plan is still for you two to dance; at the moment when Renata and Krum broke up, you two dancing together can win over everyone in terms of team friendship."

"I am also a bit..." Fleur hesitated, but finally didn't refute, just shook her head with a bitter smile.

"It doesn't matter, then I can go and invite Gabrielle," Elena said, shaking her head. "It's also not bad for you to find another boy."

"Just none that are satisfactory," Fleur sighed. "I look down on most boys; it's not as good as Kevin Kaslana."

Just when the three fell into an awkward silence, Harry signaled Luo En to retreat a bit, then took off the Invisibility Cloak, pretending to have just walked over from the corner.

"Oh, hello," Harry said, his tone carrying a trace of embarrassment. "I just saw Professor Tang Tang Nade; he said if you have time, you had best go and find him."

"Oh, alright," Hermione's tone also carried a trace of embarrassment.

After this matter passed, Harry was able to spend several days carefree. If it were only held in the water and dealing with some water monsters, then even without Tang Tang Nade's help, Harry didn't think he would mess it up.

However, just when another pleasant weekend arrived, they encountered an unexpected visitor—it was Hermione. But if her visit was still within reason, the topic she wanted to talk about was completely unexpected.

"I hope you can invite the champions of Beauxbatons," she said. "Cedric invites Fleur, Harry invites Elena."

"Why?" Almost everyone present revealed a look of confusion.

"Well, how to explain it to you..." she muttered. "First, Krum invited me to be his partner, but Fleur and Elena didn't agree, and then Elena proposed to be my partner."

Under everyone's gaze, Hermione straightened out her thoughts and said: "Elena seems very interested in wearing men's clothes to invite girls to dance. At the beginning, she used 'embodying unity between champions' as an excuse to require Fleur to be her partner. This is because Renata will definitely dance with Krum; we need to not lose to them on this point."

"But Renata and Krum have already broken up," Harry said.

"They made up," Hermione said, revealing a shocking piece of news. "Under the tireless mediation of Karkaroff and Vaskov, they have returned to good terms. So, Elena still means this; she doesn't want to make us look like we are each fighting for ourselves."

"Then wouldn't it be fine for Elena and Fleur to dance?" Luo En said. "Oh, if you can't find a partner, you can come and find me."

"My matter is not urgent to worry about yet, and Fleur told me that Elena insisting on doing this makes her very uncomfortable; she wants to dance with a handsome boy; she doesn't want to become everyone's laughingstock," Hermione spread her hands. "Although, I don't think girls dancing together would be mocked."

"Then you accompany Elena to dance, let Fleur find a partner herself." Zhang Qiu said lightly.

"But this won't work; Elena will feel that unity between champions cannot be embodied, and Fleur doesn't look down on ordinary boys; she refused seventeen boys in three days," Hermione grabbed her hair distressingly. "So I thought of Cedric immediately; she will definitely agree; Elena can't pick any faults, and in this way, our two families can instead fiercely surpass Renata and Krum."

"If you need me to do this favor," Cedric said with a red face; no boy would think dancing with Fleur was a bitter errand.

"But I want to open the dance with Zhang Qiu," Harry said. "I am very unwilling to give this up."

"But if I want to use Anglo-French unity to persuade Elena, I can't let her dance with any random boy," Hermione said.

"Knights always need to share worries for the King," Luo En suddenly stood up. "I will invite Elena."

"Wonderful, this way it's not 'any random boy'," Harry poked Luo En's waist with a bad smile. Elena was also stunningly beautiful; this couldn't be counted as a bad thing.

It was Hermione who pouted with dissatisfaction. ===== CHAPTER 208 =====