Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 525 - 523: Dress Robes

The night before Christmas, a timely snowfall blanketed the castle and grounds, adding a unique charm.

A thick layer of ice had formed on the Black Lake, freezing Durmstrang’s ship, which glistened in the sunlight, with sparkling white frost hanging from the ropes... it looked much better than before.

Christmas breakfast consisted of piping hot stew and delicious pudding. Even though it was a holiday, the number of people in the castle hadn’t diminished at all, and the auditorium was just as crowded as before.

"The food at Hogwarts is too greasy," Fleur muttered, serving herself a few corn cakes and boiled potatoes on her plate. "I feel like my dress robes are about to burst."

Kael calmly ate the stew on his plate without saying a word... after all, he had heard similar comments many times recently.

Sometimes Kael even suspected that if you served Fleur a plate of lettuce, she might still find it greasy.

However, Conna seemed to take it seriously. She compared Fleur’s plate, which had barely enough food to fill an owl, to her own heaped bowl of stew in front of her, hesitated for a moment, and then reluctantly put it back on the table.

"It’s okay, go ahead and eat."

Kael casually pushed the bowl back. "You’ll grow taller by next year, and you’ll need new dress robes anyway. You can buy new ones then."

"No way." Conna shook her head and whispered, "Not today, at least..."

Then she also took some corn cakes.

At this point, Fleur seemed to realize something, turned to Kael, and said with a tone of discontent, "So you’re saying I won’t grow any taller?"

"No, no, that’s not what I meant... you said it yourself." Kael shrugged, adopting a look of denial, much to Fleur’s irritation.

After breakfast, they returned to the Hufflepuff common room and started opening their Christmas presents.

Fleur’s gifts had also arrived here, piled up in a corner like a small mountain, but she only picked out a few and packed the rest in a box to be sent back to the Beauxbatons carriage.

They spent the entire morning in the common room, sorting through the Christmas gifts they received, and then returned to the auditorium for a sumptuous lunch.

The house-elves from the kitchen had come up with a new treat, Cribbages Wizard Crisp Cookies... they were really crispy, and each bite sounded like fireworks going off in the auditorium, creating a lively atmosphere.

Finally, the time came in the afternoon, and just as the clock struck six, Conna leapt from her chair and headed back to the dormitory to prepare for the ball.

It wasn’t just Conna; after six, there wasn’t a single girl left in the common room.

"Two hours... just to change clothes? Do they really need that long?" Mikel couldn’t understand.

By seven o’clock, as dusk settled in, Kael stopped playing Wizard Chess with Cedric. They returned to the dormitory to change into their respective dress robes.

...

By seven-thirty, everyone began to emerge from their dormitories. The common room looked quite unusual, with people no longer uniformly dressed in school robes but adorned in bright and colorful attire...

Mikel had changed into a dark blue dress robe, looking much more mature than before, while Ryan wore a burgundy one.

As the two stepped out of the dormitory, they smacked the table and attracted everyone’s attention.

"Ladies..." Ryan said with a smirk, "you have no idea what you’re missing out on..."

"If you’re referring to yourself..." Hannah looked Ryan up and down and couldn’t help but tease, "then I don’t think I’m missing anything."

"Hey, don’t say that," Susan Bones nudged her friend and couldn’t help but laugh. "He’s my dance partner, after all, cut him some slack."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Hannah..." Ryan grumbled, "but to disappoint you, I wasn’t talking about myself... oh, here he comes."

Their gaze followed his.

Kael, having just stepped out of the dormitory, found himself the center of attention in the common room.

"What’s going on with you all..." Kael puzzledly inspected his dress robes. "Did I put on the wrong dress robes? No, I didn’t."

"Oh..." Susan took a deep breath, tugging her friend’s arm. "Hannah, do you think it’s too late for me to change dance partners now?"

But Hannah didn’t respond. Like everyone else, she kept her eyes on Kael.

For most of the Hufflepuff students, it was the first time they had seen Kael wearing anything other than his school uniform.

Dressed in a black velvet dress robe, with simple gold-stitched patterns around the collar and cuffs... it was a perfectly normal dress robe, but somehow it immediately transformed Kael’s demeanor.

"I’m so envious..." Susan sighed. "I wonder who Kael’s dance partner is..."

"Isn’t it obvious?" Ryan approached.

But before he could speak, a voice came from behind them.

"Have you all changed yet?"

"Oh..."

The common room was filled with the sound of inhaling.

"I think I know who you’re talking about," Susan said, looking at Conna behind her. "She looks beautiful..."

Conna seemed to have taken Professor McGonagall’s advice to heart. She avoided using a headband and instead styled her hair into a simple bun.

Her usual loose school uniform was replaced with a golden-yellow robe. She had no extra accessories, but she didn’t need them; she was beautiful enough to captivate everyone just like this.

"Why are you all looking at me..." Conna looked down, "Did I wear the wrong clothes?"

"Oh, I’m even more convinced they’re dance partners," Susan mumbled quietly.

"Don’t worry, you didn’t," Kael walked over. "You look... um, very beautiful."

"Thank you..." Conna whispered. "Should we head to the auditorium now? Or wait for Cedric? He hasn’t come out yet."

"Let’s head to the auditorium first," Kael said. "Professor McGonagall instructed us to go there early."

"Alright." Conna smiled and nodded, and the two walked through the barrel door towards the auditorium.

"They make such a perfect pair," Hannah couldn’t help but say.

"Who wouldn’t agree," Mikel smiled.

...