Chapter 288 Desolation
While the students are only thinking about the school dance, the intrigue outside the school has not stopped. Under the tough leadership of Maggie, the power of the forces behind him is overwhelming.
"Court is about to begin, and Y intends to lift Abate's restraining order"
The headline appeared in the Insight the week before Christmas and in the Daily Prophet the next day.
The Ministry of Magic of Country Y would not originally have allowed the publication of such articles that reiterated official newspaper disclosures, but the Insight, another major newspaper in Country Y's wizarding world, was registered in Country M, and the Ministry of Magic of Country Y had no control over it. Furthermore, they also had Alian Lind, a seemingly great and righteous thorn, in the Department of International Affairs.
"I got the news that the restriction will be lifted before Christmas," Della held the newspaper towards Draco, "This Lytia Abate will be my brother's dance partner."
"She's coming to Hogwarts?" Draco said in surprise. "What a high profile!"
At this moment, a boy at the long table looked at the two of them with obvious movements. Della always ignored the excessive meaningless gazes on her, but the boy's movements were so obvious that even Draco noticed it. He subconsciously turned his head to take a look and recognized the iconic woolly curly chestnut hair.
"Ms. Abate is a professor at Durmstrang. It's easy to come here with this name." Seeing that Draco only paid attention to Lydia and was not very interested in the newspaper, Della moved the newspaper back in front of her. "She coached my exams at that time. She is a very good professor and very popular in the school."
"Although not as pretty as my mother, she's pretty too," Draco commented 'fairly'. As he spoke, he couldn't help turning his head slightly to look at Gulem Abate. After their eyes met several times, the senior's gaze continued. Draco began to wonder in his heart. He moved closer to Della and asked, "Do you know that there is also a person named Abate in the school?"
"I know, but..." Della lowered her voice for the first time at the long table in the Great Hall, "Old Mr. Abbott told my brother that there will only be one Abbott in Hogwarts."
"Ah?" Draco frowned, and like Della, he asked in a low voice, as if he was doing something bad secretly, looking at the cute girl, "What do you mean?"
"Gulemeu Abate will not appear in front of Professor Abate. Old Mr. Abate knows that his daughter does not want to see that boy," Della said in a low voice. "Gulemeu Abate will be taken home during Christmas. If Professor Abate chooses to become a companion professor, Gulemeu Abate will probably transfer away."
"He's already in seventh grade!" No matter how low the voice was, it couldn't suppress Draco's surprise.
"So I only said 'probably'." Although from the contact between old Mr. Abate and the Holt family of Beauxbatons, this probably means certainty, but Della did not say too much, "I am not sure either, but my brother mentioned it to me. After all, she is his dance partner."
This brought up another question for Draco, "Why are they dancing together? Isn't your brother only twenty? There should be more people of the same age to choose from, right?"
Della felt that Draco's question was a little childish. In her and Maggie's eyes, the ball was just a useful social event, and age was not the first consideration most of the time.
Now Lydia is in the limelight with the image of being abandoned by the Ministry of Magic. She is so abandoned by her homeland, but she dances with Maggie in public. You should know that the power behind Maggie is very likely the power that "slandered" her for joining at that time.
After more than a decade of being betrayed, it was natural that rumors would arise about the reason why Lytia was close to the forces that were considered bad in the past.
One rumor that will definitely be led is that "Lytia Abate, who was stranded in a foreign country, might have accidentally met Maggie Riddle in Country D, and her injustice that was ignored by everyone was seen by the so-called dark forces."
When wizards are given the impression that "Riddle's side is not that bad" by those seemingly plausible information, their trust in the Ministry of Magic will quietly decrease.
A vague and ambiguous state is the easiest to make a fuss about.
"It's probably a combination of handsome men and beautiful women," Della sighed imperceptibly and didn't say more to Draco. "Although my brother always wears a mask, his face is still very good."
"That's your brother, of course he's good-looking," Draco smiled as he looked at Della's delicate features, which were all gentle and just right. "After all, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."
"You're not bad either, Draco." Della smiled. She reached out and touched half of Draco's cheek, pinching it gently. The soft flesh under her hand immediately turned red.
"Ahem..." Draco choked twice, blushing and turning his head away, secretly hating himself for not living up to expectations. He was still being played around by Della, and he had never made Della feel helpless! It was so frustrating!
Draco had no idea what passionate couples Della saw every day.
Not wanting to be disturbed by the various looks in the Slytherin lounge, she would spend the night in the large room reserved for her on Durmstrang's ship. Recently, because she was really bored, she went to the wooden boat to spend the night more frequently. Then, she discovered the secret meeting between Sadolin and Demetri.
Sadolin was still very obedient. She followed the curfew set by Della and would return to her room before midnight. She also tried her best to follow Maggie's advice to be a smart girl and meet Dmitri without leaving any trace.
Della noticed them one night when she was reading by the window. When her room was so quiet that only the sound of turning pages could be heard, the originally inconspicuous sound of a splash falling into the water became very prominent. Della thought it was a fish jumping out of the water. She subconsciously looked over and saw the last bit of Sadolin's skirt swaying before she sank into the water.
Della threw away the book and stood up, thinking that Sadolin finally couldn't stand Maggie's oppression and committed suicide by jumping into the water. Then she vaguely saw another figure in the lake. The two entangled figures swam towards the shore of the Forbidden Forest together, leaving tiny ripples along the way.
Although she was reluctant to admit it, Della later learned to let the snake follow them like Maggie did, and quietly observed how Sadolin and Dmitri got along.
If a woman lying in a man's arms is considered close, then Sadolin's behavior of snuggling in Dmitri's arms every time after using magic to dry her clothes is undoubtedly close, but their touches are just that. Occasionally, Dmitri will kiss Sadolin's hair without being so obvious, with movements so light that it seems like his lips accidentally touched it.
There was no love involved in their topics of conversation. They would hang a lamp above their heads, and first Sadolin would tell Dmitri what books she had read and what she had done today. Dmitri would patiently respond to every rising tone of Sadolin's voice, answer her questions and discuss her life.
Then it was Dmitri's turn. He picked up a branch and briefly told about the rest of his day with his brothers and sisters. Dmitri's painting skills were very poor, and probably only he and Sadolin could recognize the small symbols representing his family on the mud ground, but there was an intoxicating magic in the tone of his voice when he talked about his family. Listening to those words, Sadolin would look at the tip of the branch longingly, and Della, who was eavesdropping on the snake, even slept well one night listening to Dmitri's words.
After that night, Della stopped sending snakes over. She no longer cared about the development of the two people. She would just time her time to watch Sadolin's unrestrained leap when getting on the boat.
The cold lake water could not match the girl's strong love. At that moment, Della felt melancholy in her heart - Sadolin loved better than her.
Then, the voice of Sadolin that she had vaguely heard before falling asleep that night would become infinitely clearer.
"Being free from physical restrictions is the basis of freedom, but that basis does not include seeing and walking towards the world you really want to live in," Sadolin said like a philosopher. "At this moment, I am very happy that I can walk towards the world I really want to live in little by little."
"And what makes me even happier is that you are by my side when I walk into that world." There was a hint of shyness in Sadolin's words that she hadn't noticed, or rather, she didn't know that the emotion was shyness, but the longing in her words caught Della's attention more than the shyness.
The world you really want?
Della felt that the concept was too broad, but after she narrowed it down to "something she wanted," she still couldn't come up with an answer in her mind.
Unconsciously, her inner self had become so desolate.
Della suddenly didn't understand why she was still in this world, and then she remembered with difficulty that she and Maggie were going to face a common enemy.
It was about facing the common enemy with her inner friend, brother and father, and it had been like that since a long time ago.
To this end, she gave up a lot of things step by step.
Emotions, the future and the soul