Chapter 212: Neville's Dilemma

The Hogwarts train would depart at ten o'clock the next morning to return to the British Isles. Except for some students who were willing to stay at Beauxbatons to communicate deeply with their newly met dance partners, the vast majority of students chose to wait for the train to start in their warm beds.

Except for Harry, Luo En, and Zhang Qiu, who were already dressed and waiting on the lawn outside the train at eight o'clock.

When the time reached eight-thirty, as agreed, Alina and Hermione arrived here, and Tang Tang Nade also walked behind them.

"Hi, Ronald," Alina waved her hand from afar. "Hi, Caliph, hi, Zhang Qiling!"

Harry smiled and ignored her strange nicknames, while saying good morning to her and Hermione.

"Then, I will safely hand Alina over to you," Tang Tang Nade said. "I wish you a good time."

"But what about Hermione?" Luo En asked. "Isn't she coming with us?"

"Oh, of course, I still have to deal with one reception after another after I go back, and it just so happens that Miss Granger is a good partner—now it's her turn to help me out of the siege," Tang Tang Nade said, and then added somewhat guiltily, "Regarding what I promised you, Harry, I already have some clues, and I should be able to give you a perfect plan after Christmas."

Hermione's face was flushed, and she said with some excitement: "Don't worry about me, Luo En, I'm just following the professor out to see the world; I won't add to his chaos or cause trouble."

"I'm not worried about this matter," Luo En hummed dissatisfiedly.

"Phew, then what are you worried about? Fleur?" Hermione said like a machine gun. "She and Cedric are getting along very well; they should be preparing to spend Christmas in Paris. This is a good thing for us."

Luo En still wanted to say something, but Harry interrupted him: "Of course, if we form an alliance to deal with Renata, Hermione, you won't have to be caught between professional ethics and personal friendship."

"Ah, yes," Tang Tang Nade smiled and touched Hermione's head. "You made a small mistake, and that is forgetting that obvious fact—I am also biased toward Harry!"

Except for Luo En's smile being a bit forced, everyone chatted happily for a few sentences, and then Tang Tang Nade led Hermione away, leaving only Alina to return to the train with them.

The train departed on time at ten o'clock. Harry could see many Beauxbatons teachers and students standing on the platform, or rather, the lawn that should have been the platform, waving handkerchiefs at them. Donna was of course among them, and Harry had to lean out of the window to wave at her.

When the train began to make a clanking sound, some lingering little emotions gradually dissipated, replaced by a sense of security and comfort unique to the way home. Harry sat in the carriage, listening to Alina chattering and asking questions, and Luo En answering her enthusiastically, feeling an indescribable leisure in his heart.

In the evening, when they got off the train, they found that many Hogwarts students were standing on the platform together, holding up "Welcome Home" banners, laughing and waving and shouting at them.

Harry also noticed Neville, who was standing in the crowd with a smile, but it seemed that his spirit was not very good, and he was slightly tired.

Just as he stepped off the carriage, a boy with straight black robes, pale blonde hair, and an elegant temperament came up—it was Malfoy.

"Congratulations to Hogwarts champion Harry for taking the lead in the first competition and winning honor for the school," he said loudly. "Let us welcome the hero back to his lovely alma mater!"

The members of Torchwood took the lead in applauding, followed by the Slytherin students, and then all the students. Colin squeezed to the front of the crowd with his camera and took a picture of Harry and Malfoy shaking hands with a smile.

"In the days you were away, I managed everything quite well," he said in a low voice while gently patting Harry on the shoulder, as if they were old friends who had known each other for many years and trusted each other.

Harry still felt a bit confused, but since Malfoy was giving him face, he didn't need to go against him, so he pretended to show an exaggerated smile.

"Ah, is this a new friend you met at Beauxbatons?" He also shook hands with Alina. "Welcome to Hogwarts; just treat it as your own home."

"You must have a lot of things to do just after coming back, so I won't disturb you," Malfoy said. "You can come to the Torchwood headquarters to find me later; I'm also spending the holidays here this year."

After Malfoy left, Alina asked excitedly: "So cool, Caliph, can I call him Sultan?"

Harry showed a strange expression and shook his head gently. "This matter is very complicated; I'll explain it to you later."

He was unwilling to admit in public that Malfoy was his political ally, but he couldn't deny it in public either. Two people who used each other couldn't let others see any cracks before they were fully prepared for betrayal.

As expected, Dumbledore agreed to the requests of other headmasters, allowing Renata and Krum to come to Hogwarts to visit, and booked two guest rooms for them at the Three Broomsticks pub. And Alina was actually more like a stowaway; she didn't report to the professors, and it seemed the professors didn't intend to ask, so it was just like that, and Zhang Qiu led her toward the Chamber of Secrets.

Finally, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room surrounded by the crowd. After dealing with the enthusiastic students, he was finally able to return to the dormitory and say a few words to Neville in a quiet environment.

"Is everything okay while I was away?" Harry said with a smile. "Is the Lionheart Society's activity going well? Did you shine in the Dueling Club?"

"The situation is not very good, Harry," Neville said very seriously. "Let's sit down and talk first."

"What's wrong?" Harry sat down at the table, and Neville took a deep breath, then sat down beside him.

"Slytherin has won the Dueling Club's friendly match for four consecutive weeks, and Malfoy is now almost the person with the highest prestige in the whole school," Neville said with a frown.

"But this shouldn't be—" Harry stopped talking.

"We always lose because of the girls," Neville said. "Some girls insist on representing Gryffindor in the competition, but they don't intend to listen to my opinions at all."

"Then don't let them participate; we should choose the people best at dueling to go to the ring," Harry asked suspiciously. "Why did you agree?"

"That's the problem, Harry," Neville sighed. "The Lionheart Society is no longer the only voice in Gryffindor. I don't know why, those girls, especially Lavender, are all opposing me."

"This is not right," Harry shook his head in disbelief. "What about Jin Ni and Eve? They wouldn't say nothing, right?"

"They said that if Harry came to manage the Lionheart Society, it would definitely be different," Neville sighed again. "I don't know what they are thinking; perhaps they were bewitched by Malfoy."

In Harry's confused and unbelievable eyes, Neville slowly told the whole story.

After Halloween, the Dueling Club opened, and Professor Moody asked every grade of every house to choose one person to spar with each other. Thanks to the Lionheart Society organized by Neville, Gryffindor won the first match beautifully, but then some strange voices appeared.

Lavender took the lead in the common room to question Neville why all the champions who fought for the first time were boys, and she fiercely attacked Neville for being "misogynistic." However, Eve, the opinion leader among the little girls, acted contrary to her usual behavior and remained silent about this matter. Under the repeated questioning of some girls, she only euphemistically admitted, "Neville always ignores the opinions of girls; if it were changed to Harry, things would be different."

Then, a series of rumors slandering Neville suddenly spread among the students. Several girls claimed to have been loudly scolded, strictly demanded, and even sexually harassed by Neville. Some boys who were willing to trust Neville in the Lionheart Society couldn't withstand the repeated persuasion of their girlfriends and had to choose to leave.

Thus, in the second sparring match, Gryffindor sent seven girls and was beaten zero to seven by Slytherin. This shameful defeat quickly became a hot topic in Gryffindor. Almost every girl was saying that it was because the tradition of the Lion House was to oppress girls and ignore girls, which led to them not getting good training and performing worse than Slytherin.

Originally, Neville took some clear-headed boys and intended to take this opportunity to explain the truth to the girls, but under Lavender's unreasonable entanglement and the support of a large number of girls from other houses, they were instead attacked more fiercely. Lee Jordan lost his job as a Quidditch commentator because of this, and Fred and George also had a batch of goods prepared for the joke shop snatched away. And at such a time, Jin Ni and Eve still said nothing. When Neville went to find them, they just mechanically repeated one point: Harry would do better.

Under the pressure of some senior girls, more and more senior boys decided to prioritize love problems and chose to quit the Lionheart Society, and a considerable number of people chose to join the ranks of attacking Neville in order to pursue girls.

"Gryffindor is now divided into three factions," Neville summarized. "The most powerful is the girls led by Lavender and some pursuers of girls; they huddle together unreasonably and attack anyone who holds an opposing opinion. Second is the group of 'rationalists' led by Jin Ni, Eve, and Creevey; they push all the problems to me, claiming it's because I didn't do well enough. Finally, it's me and a few boys who secretly support me; they all belong to the second faction on the surface, and only the Weasley twins are willing to openly support me."

"This is too unreasonable; I have to go talk to Eve," Harry still hadn't recovered from the shock. Suddenly he remembered another thing. "But what about Hannah? She should still support you, right?"

"Her situation is also hard to describe. Last time she spoke for me, the girls scolded her as 'like a donkey pulling a mill, blindfolded, being exploited without knowing it, but instead taking pride in it.' She can only secretly support me now," Neville stroked his chin and said somewhat embarrassedly. "And she seems to have been affected by some influence; our relationship has been a bit tense recently." ===== CHAPTER 213 =====