A Cat And His Wizard

The Christmas was drawing near. Blaise approached Professor McGonagall and asked her:

'Will there be a Yule Ball this year? I know Triwizard Tournaments always include one.'

'Yes, there will,' McGonagall said.

'Then will you go to the ball with me?' Blaise asked.

'I will,' McGonagall said.

* * *

After a lesson, Neville said:

'I asked Luna to the ball, and she agreed!'

'Congratulations, Mr. Longbottom.' Blaise smiled.

* * *

Blaise was strolling about the Hogwarts grounds with Neville and Luna in tow. They talked about plants and animals. Blaise was wrapped into a crimson cloak pinned with a Celtic-style ring brooch over his burgundy robes.

'Professor Zabini, who are you going to the Yule Ball with?' Neville asked.

'Professor McGonagall,' Blaise smiled. 'She's a very smart witch.'

'She is.' Neville said.

Luna smiled dreamily.

'Professor, is this gillyweed really as powerful as the book says?' Neville asked.

'It is,' Blaise said. 'It makes you grow gills and makes your feet and hands webbed, so you feel underwater as freely as a fish would, but the effects last only about an hour. A whole hour of being capable to feel free underwater is not a mean trick, however.'

'True,' Neville said.

'I've used gillyweed many times, to explore underwater caves, for example,' Blaise said. 'I'm very inquisitive, you know.'

Neville grinned.

'I always keep gillyweed in my private store,' Blaise added.

* * *

Blaise expected this Christmas to be different from the Hogwarts Christmases he remembered, and indeed, it was. Usually only a few students stayed in Hogwarts for Christmas, but this year everyone stayed. Of course, this was because of the Yule Ball. All the students and some teachers too were in a frenzy to find a dance partner. Blaise observed all this with a calm smile. Naturally, he was glad that Neville was going to the ball with Luna.

The Christmas decorations this year were wonderful. Rose bushes appeared on the lawn before the front doors, and fairies were sitting on them and flying around the figures of Father Christmas and his reindeer. The walls of the Great Hall were magically decorated by sparkling frost and the ceiling by garlands of ivy, holly and mistletoe. Blaise was delighted. He liked all things beautiful.

On the Christmas Eve Blaise donned his dress robes of amaranthine silk and the crimson cloak with the Celtic brooch. He has a penchant for the shades of red, and it fitted his dark complexion very much. Blaise waited for McGonagall at the door of the Great Hall. She appeared in tartan dress robes and with a wreath of thistles on her hat. Patriotic, Blaise thought with respect.

'Good evening, Minerva,' Blaise said.

'Good evening, Blaise.' McGonagall smiled.

Blaise offered her his hand. They waited for the opening of the great door. Teachers and students gathered at the doors. Blaise saw Madame Maxime in a flowing gown of lavender silk, Hermione in robes of floaty periwinkle-blue fabric, Malfoy in black velvet robes with high collar, arm in arm with Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle in green robes, looking just like a pair of moss-covered boulders, Fleur Delacour in silver-gray satin, Harry in bottle-green robes and Ron in very old-fashioned crimson robes with lace and the Patil twin sisters, one in shocking pink and the other in bright turquoise,

The door opened. Blaise saw that the Great Hall was now sporting about a hundred of small candlelit tables, each seating a dozen people. Blaise steered to one of these tables, took a seat and offered one to McGonagall. He saw that the gold plates before them were empty but there was a menu next to each of them. Blaise thought a bit and then said aloud, 'Apple Pudding!' And an apple pudding appeared on his plate. McGonagall looked at hers and said, 'Finnan haddock.' And finnan haddock she got.

'You're pretty quick-witted,' McGonagall said.

'Thank you.' Blaise smiled.

Blaise looked around and saw Dumbledore with Ludovic Bagman and Percy Weasley from the Ministry of Magic and the champions with their partners - Krum with Hermione, Cedric with Gho Ghang from Ravenclaw, Fleur Delacour with Roger Davies from Hufflepuff and Harry with one of the Patil sisters. Fleur was her conceited self, and Harry was very uneasy. Blaise sighed.

'Poor lad! To listen how this Fleur Delacour boasts about her Beauxbatons. It's nothing as special as she says, really.'

'Yes, she's far too inflated,' McGonagall said.

'Good-looking people often are,' Blaise said. 'You know one Gilderoy Lockhart? I met him many times in my travels; I remember one incident in Wongaratta. I was staying in the Black Squirrel Inn and sat in the bar when this dandy came in. He ordered best Guinness, sat down and began to tell how he defeated a manticore. The people listened to him open-mouthed. Then he told how he beat a basilisk, and so forth and so on. The customers all stood in awe of him. He spoke all evening, and then said to the innkeeper he wanted a room and told his name - Gilderoy Lockhart, it was. Well, the next day he was sitting in the bar and telling about his exploits again, and the people listened to him agape. It all was repeated the next day, and the next. And then a man ran into the pub and said that a stray Opaleye wandered into the township. The people panicked, naturally. I volunteered, but they turned to Lockhart. Well, he said, 'Of course, of course! I just need to, err, prepare a bit.' He went to his room, and the folks waited for him. They waited and they waited, and then the innkeeper went to look. And then he returned and said that Lockhart wasn't in there. Disapparated. Vamoosed. Then I volunteered again. The people looked at me with suspicion, but agreed. And I drove the dragon away. The people congratulated me, and where did Lockhart go to, I don't know. Probably Norway. But I must say Macavity didn't like him from the day one.'

Professor McGonagall laughed without restraint.

'That's what he was going to do when he was asked to defeat the Basilisk. But Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley didn't let him to.'

'See?' Blaise said. 'I suspected as much.'

'Blaise, are you of Celtic ancestry or you just like Celtic brooches?' McGonagall asked.

'Well, I like Celtic brooches, of course, but there IS Celtic blood in me.' Blaise smiled. 'My maternal grandmother was Manx, Lucy Fletcher of Ballafletcher, the parish of Braddan.'

'How very interesting,' McGonagall said.

* * *

When all the food was consumed, the tables moved to the walls and a stage appeared in the middle of the hall. To a storm of applause, the Weird Sisters walked onto the stage - a famous wizard group, all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that have been artfully ripped and torn. They carried guitars, bagpipes, a cello, drums, a bass and a lute. Blaise liked their music very much and knew all their names well - Barbary Heathcote, Gideon Crumb, Merton Graves, Donaghan Tremlett, Herman Wintringham, Myron Wagtail, Orsino Thurston and Kirley McCormack Duke, son of the famous Quidditch player Catriona McCormack.

The Weird Sisters stroke a melancholy tune. Blaise recognized the song at once; it was a beautiful old Gaelic air.

'It's Of Thee I Dream, isn't it?' he asked.

'Indeed it is,' McGonagall smiled. 'Do you like it?'

'Very much,' Blaise said. 'Shall we dance?'

'Certainly,' she smiled.

They walked arm in arm to the dance floor, and Blaise led her. They danced all over the floor, Blaise humming the song.

Blaise looked at the other pairs. Neville danced with Luna. Both were very awkward, but sincerely fond of each other. Moody was dancing with poor Hypatia Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg. Madame Maxime was dancing with Albus, who seemed a dwarf compared to her. Blaise thought that apparently Rubeus wasn't the only teacher who had some giant blood. Harry was dancing with the Patil girl and looking extremely uneasy, and no wonder, poor thing.

The song ended, and the Weird Sisters started a more lively melody. Blaise saw Harry quit the dance floor, and sympathized with him. Then he smiled to McGonagall and offered his hand. She took it, and they continued to dance. They danced till midnight.