Chapter Twenty-Six: An Unexpected Message

"Would you like to dance with me?" Miranda raised the corners of her mouth and asked with a smile.

Sheevan noticed Elciona's increasingly sullen expression. He glanced at Miranda, who was at least half a head taller than himself, and decided that dancing with her would be rather embarrassing, so he resolutely refused.

"Better not. Besides, I'm not much of a dancer. You could look for one of the older students who are good at it," he said, shaking his head firmly.

Miranda's expression didn't change; she simply glanced at Sheevan with a half-smile and said, "I heard you wanted to borrow my class notes?"

That was quick—Sheevan shot to his feet in an instant, while Elciona, who had only just begun to calm down, immediately darkened again.

"My pleasure!" Sheevan bowed slightly.

Joking aside, what's dignity compared to borrowing notes from the top student in the year?

Elciona finally couldn't hold back any longer. She glared at Sheevan, then turned to Miranda with an angry look.

"Senior, Sheevan is my dance partner! You can go dance with your own partner," she said through gritted teeth.

Miranda seemed unfazed, smiling as she replied, "First of all, I don't have a partner at the moment; secondly, at a ball, you don't have to spend the whole evening with just your partner. A dance partner is just a companion for the dance, not a companion for life, wouldn't you agree?"

Elciona was so furious she couldn't speak, glaring at Sheevan in exasperation, her eyes threatening him not to agree.

Sheevan looked at El with an innocent expression, then at Miranda, and decided to keep silent.

At that moment, Miranda played her trump card.

"I heard you're not doing so well in Herbology lately. Need a little help?"

Sheevan could no longer sit still. He gave El a regretful look, then followed Miranda onto the dance floor.

Miranda placed her left hand on Sheevan's shoulder, took his left hand with her right, and assumed a textbook dance posture. Then, with casual amusement, she teased, "That little girl seems rather fond of you."

Sheevan made a helpless face in response. "What does an eleven-year-old know about liking anyone?"

Miranda looked at him with some amusement. "You say that as if you aren't eleven yourself."

"To be precise, I'll be twelve soon!" Sheevan replied earnestly. "By the way, how do you know about my performance in Herbology?"

"Don't you know? The first-year Ravenclaws are always talking about you—hard not to overhear."

"Really?" Sheevan found it hard to believe; he thought he'd been keeping a low profile.

Then he remembered his outstanding performance in Transfiguration and Charms, the way the Herbology professor always singled him out, and even skipping class on the second day of term. He supposed he was, indeed, quite conspicuous...

"Let's not talk about that. I didn't come to you just to dance." Miranda, after being stepped on, deftly stepped on Sheevan in return, then carried on as if nothing had happened. "It's not easy to catch you at all."

"Ow!" Sheevan sucked in a breath; being stomped on by a high heel was indeed painful.

"What is it?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Miranda said, "Does your family keep in frequent contact with the French branch these days?"

At these words, Sheevan's expression grew serious. "Has something happened?"

Miranda nodded, then leaned in, lowering her voice. "Today, Headmaster Dippet called a sudden meeting with all the prefects. He told us that one of the magical nodes in Hogwarts Castle's magical network has been destroyed."

"What?" Sheevan's eyes went wide in shock; he nearly exclaimed aloud, but Miranda quickly covered his mouth, preventing any unwanted attention.

Neither of them noticed Elciona in the distance, who, upon seeing their seemingly intimate gesture, stamped her foot hard and looked utterly miserable.

"Don't make a scene, or it could cause a panic," Miranda warned.

Sheevan nodded, then asked, "Did the professors send you to ask me?"

"No, this is my own initiative. The professors don't think a first-year should become involved. So remember: tell no one!" Miranda shook her head, warning him sternly. "So, does your family have any contact with the French branch?"

Sheevan frowned, shaking his head slowly. "I don't know. If there is, my mother handles it."

Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Are you suspecting Grindelwald is behind this?"

Miranda replied, "It's just a suspicion—that's why I'm here asking you in secret."

Sheevan thought for a moment, then said, "All right, I'll write to my mother and ask, but I can't promise anything will come of it."

Miranda nodded, then, with a final stomp of her high heel, let go of Sheevan's hand and sat on a nearby sofa to read her book as if nothing had happened.

Sheevan stood awkwardly for a moment. He was never a skilled dancer, and after the shock of such news, his mind had been in chaos and he had no idea how many times he'd stepped on Miranda's feet...

In the end, Sheevan didn't have the nerve to approach Miranda about borrowing her notes right then and there. He returned to the sofa beside Elciona, only to find her glaring at him coldly, so furious she couldn't bring herself to speak.

Preoccupied as he was, Sheevan had little mood for conversation himself. He endured the rest of the gathering and hurried back to his dormitory, where he picked up his pen to write to Sandrine—

"Dear Sandrine: All is well at school these days, except that I overslept on Tuesday afternoon and missed two classes, which led to special attention from the Herbology professor..."

Sheevan recounted the more interesting events of the past few days, along with his embarrassing mishaps, before casually mentioning whether the family had any contact with the French branch. He did not bring up Grindelwald by name, as Miranda's suspicions were just that—suspicions—with no real evidence, and he didn't want to worry Sandrine unnecessarily.

After some hesitation, Sheevan thickened his skin and brought up the matter of Elciona.

"...Your son still seems to have some charm. The Elciona you've praised before seems to have developed a small fondness for me, but since we're both so young, I think it's far too early for such matters, and I have no intention of responding at this time..."

Sheevan looked over the letter again and, feeling increasingly embarrassed, quietly crossed out several lines, leaving only a brief note: "Getting along well with Elciona."

He then borrowed the owl that Mowbray kept on the windowsill of their dormitory, rolled up the letter, placed it in the tube on the owl's leg, and sent it off.

Watching the poor owl forced to use the main entrance and, like the young wizards, take the stairs down to the ground floor, Sheevan couldn't help but grumble inwardly about the location of the Slytherin common room...

...

Meanwhile, Ghost Sheevan was running into quite a bit of trouble.

...