Chapter 502

When Harry met Zhang Qiu on a cold day in December, his thoughts immediately turned from complex international relations back to his relatively much simpler interpersonal relationships at school.

The reason he no longer struggled with international relations was that Zhang Qiu had explained the attitude of the Heavenly Dynasty to him. They strictly forbade the scientific community from using magic to take shortcuts, while cultivating elite wizards to appropriately learn some scientific knowledge. This similar national policy made Harry feel very stable, because it showed that the British Wizarding World was walking on a correct path that had been verified. As for the Soviet side developing the military by any means necessary, or the American side having several factions wanting both this and that, it was not so worrying, because according to Zhang Qiu, Master Xuanjun's progress in refining the Dao was far exceeding expectations, and he seemed to be about to come out of seclusion.

Of course, this was also another reason that forced him to start thinking about interpersonal relationships at school, because Zhang Qiu needed to return to her country.

"The situation is like this, Harry. You know Master Xuanjun doesn't like to see radical officials expanding the territory, right." She explained carefully, "Then logically speaking, he has stated many times that territory cannot be expanded, but the status quo is that the radical faction really expanded the territory. Master Xuanjun will definitely be angry."

"But in fact, he was not really unwilling, so he acquiesced to the radical faction's clumsy script of 【Allied Forces Invading the Border】, and let them fight a few battles while he was in seclusion. Of course, he was not unable to convey messages to the outside world while in seclusion, but in order to acquiesce, he pretended he could not convey messages to the outside world."

"In this way, although on the surface it is the radical faction secretly doing things against his will while Master Xuanjun is unaware, in secret, Master Xuanjun has long known about this matter, but he is unwilling to speak, so he pretends not to know about this matter. Then correspondingly, after he comes out of seclusion, he needs to pretend that he is very angry, but he is actually not really angry. Of course, the radical faction also knows that this anger is pretended, but they still need to pretend to be very afraid. But how does this end? — So, in the whole link, there still needs to be a reason that allows Master Xuanjun to pretend to calm down, and this reason is me."

Harry shook his head and reached out to signal her to stop.

"I'm a little dizzy. So, roughly speaking, it's that Master Xuanjun and the Heavenly Dynasty officials need you to go back, uh, to participate in a political show?"

"Yes, yes, you summarized it very exquisitely." Zhang Qiu said happily, "It is a show, but it can be considered a very important show."

"I don't understand why this is." Harry shook his head somewhat helplessly, "Then about when are you going back?"

"Oh my, it has been like this throughout the dynasties, it's an old tradition." She shrugged, "Just pack up tomorrow and set off, and I estimate I will be back during the holiday. Don't worry, because the Heavenly Dynasty doesn't have a Christmas holiday, so I will definitely come back as soon as possible to enjoy the holiday."

Harry looked away somewhat absent-mindedly. For no reason, he started to think about another question: when the Heavenly Dynasty people celebrate the Spring Festival in February, will she have to go back to enjoy another holiday?

"... So, a bad situation you are facing is that there is no dance partner to accompany you to the Christmas dance. Of course, the good news is, I don't mind you finding someone else to be your dance partner." Zhang Qiu said in an encouraging tone, "Guess, who will be your destined dance partner this year?"

"Who is it?" Harry scratched his head, he had no clue at all.

"It's Hermione." Zhang Qiu held up two fingers, "You might feel confused, but the trajectory of fate is like this. I suggest you try it. Perhaps, following fate can strengthen your Grand Zi-O."

"Really or fake." Harry showed deep resistance—he felt this was a bit too fantastic.

"Hard to say." Zhang Qiu touched her chin, "What is very interesting is that in the divination made by my master, this segment is not included, but Tang Tang Nade swore that you danced in the seventh year, and he even described it as 'one of the few glimmers in the darkness.' This anecdote also provided us with considerable help in the fifth year, that is, the time we tried to use Harry-Hermione to trick him."

"The situation is very clear. Tang Tang Nade has no prophetic function; he just heard my story in the future of a parallel world." Harry said firmly, "Either the person spreading the story in that world is spreading rumors, or, no, it is impossible for me in any world to have an ambiguous relationship with Hermione. It can only be spreading rumors."

Zhang Qiu let out a very cheerful laugh. At the end, she said: "You can invite her and try. What if it's true? You don't want Grand Zi-O to continue being beaten by Muggles, right?"

"Don't mention that matter again!" Harry's face flushed red, and he said poutingly, "Okay, then I will listen to you, just treat it as a kind of cultivation!"

Thus, when Zhang Qiu was carrying her travel bag and returning to her country to participate in the court, Harry had to sit in the common room, with a complex expression, hesitating whether he really wanted to find Hermione to accompany him to the Christmas dance.

"Hey, buddy, you are not going back to the dormitory, what are you staring at the fireplace for?" Luo En asked.

In this year, the situation had changed. The one who wrote homework or read books alone every night became Harry, and the one who came back in high spirits before going to bed became Luo En.

"Qiu said she is not going to the dance with me; she has something to do and needs to return to her country."

"What's the big deal? The girls who want to go to the dance with you can line up from the Great Hall to Hogsmeade." Luo En said easily, "Or, you can slip away a day early and go to Gilneas to play."

"But she recommended a dance partner to me before she left, which makes me very troubled." Harry rubbed his face and said, "If I go to Gilneas, there will be a feeling of being a coward, a deserter..."

"So who did she recommend?"

"Hermione."

Luo En showed a confused, shocked, speechless, and incomprehensible expression. After a long silence, he slowly asked: "So, why?"

"I know, Zhang Qiu taught me." Ivy also returned to the dormitory at this time, and she immediately said happily, "This is called entering the game with one's body, winning half a piece of the sky!"

Harry waved them away helplessly. The courage he had finally mustered to break the awkwardness had already disappeared. He decided to consider this problem tomorrow.

However, when he found Hermione the next day, it was clear that some rumors had already spread.

"Oh, Harry, it's not necessary." Hermione said with a wry smile, "Everyone knows that I have already given up on Luo En, and I am not prepared to attend the dance. I will leave early when the time comes."

Harry said somewhat angrily: "Of course not for this! Ivy, this guy, only knows how to learn the dross in Eastern culture. Don't you know that the Heavenly Dynasty people also say, how can a phoenix go to snatch a dead mouse from an owl?"

"Interesting." Hermione laughed, "This sentence is really interesting. However, if it's not for that, what are you inviting me for?"

"I won't hide it from you, although it doesn't sound very good. I plan to," Harry took a deep breath, "put on a show."

"Oh?" Hermione showed a curious, probing expression.

Harry really didn't want to mention fate and the Zi-O he never wanted to recall, so he chose another way to find motivation for himself, "I want the royal family or other forces to know that the friendship between us is very solid, not only as an alliance of super-wizard power, but also as this generation of students at Hogwarts... or rather, this generation that has experienced huge turmoil. We have common topics, common ideals, common organizations, etc. We will always be friends, or later, become a more solid alliance."

"Does this have anything to do with the red literature you read?" Although Hermione was skeptical in her tone, her body was no longer so vigilant.

"Not much relationship." Harry said sincerely, "More importantly, we can all see your wisdom and ability, and you are also willing to work hard to make the country better, so I want everyone to know that I will spare no effort to stand on your side."

"Wow!" Hermione reached out a hand and grabbed his arm, "You have to know that this is equivalent to saying that the entire Wizarding World will stand by my side."

"Uh, not so..." Harry didn't know how to answer.

"Thank you for your trust, I have already thought it through."

"Did you agree?" Harry was a little uneasy, "Have you thought about what dress to wear?"

"I have already thought about how to make Great Britain great again, using the power that the Wizarding World cannot ignore to act as an ant on the scale, in this chaotic situation... Please give me ten to twenty years, and I will prove it to everyone."

After coming back to her senses, Hermione closed the open book and laughed at herself, "The dress, I will prepare it well."

On the day of the dance, under Ivy's suggestion, Harry chose a gentle dark green high-collar robe and put on all the accessories he could wear—in the fifth year, the Ministry of Magic had issued him some messy medals, among which there was only one Order of Merlin. Doing this was because Ginny was going to attend the dance with the Prince. Although the Ministry of Magic happily described it as "ordinary Muggles can also enter the campus," everyone knew that if it were really an ordinary Muggle, it wouldn't be so easy.

Although there was some intention to compete with the Prince, when Harry saw the row of neat badges on his chest in the mirror, he still tasted a different kind of handsomeness derived from power. Of course, he didn't forget the true source of power. After being skillfully mastered, the knight power turned into a gold watch, low-key hidden under the velvet sleeve.

And Hermione wore a Greek-style one-shoulder blue dress, conservative, but full of wisdom. She chose a hairstyle that looked more low-key and capable, as well as dark matte lip glaze, tacitly avoiding the gorgeous elements that might cause misunderstandings.

In the dance floor overflowing with youthful hormones, they were almost the only pair of dance partners emphasizing pure friendship and solid cooperative relations. The reason for saying almost was because Snape and McGonagall had danced a song together at the beginning.