HP: I beat the otome game at Hogwarts

Chapter 169 The Giant Bouquet of Roses That Flyed In

Harry sat by the window in the common room, watching absentmindedly as Ron killed his king and queen for the twelfth time.

The king angrily waved his little fist at Harry.

Ron was starting to feel sorry for the pieces on the opposite side of the chessboard. Although Harry usually lost more often than he won when playing chess with him, today Harry simply gave up. He was sitting in front of the chessboard, but his mind had already flown away.

“Honestly, Harry,” Ron said helplessly, “I don’t feel any sense of accomplishment even when I win. Why don’t you look at some picture books or something?”

Harry obeyed his friend's suggestion and picked up "Flying with the Artillery," which was already his tenth time reading it.

“If you don’t have the courage to deal with the invitation,” Hermione said, doing her arithmetic homework at the table next to them, “then you should do something more meaningful—”

"Like what?" Harry asked casually, staring at the picture book where Jenkins of the Cannons was hitting a runaway ball hard at one of the opposing Chaser's.

“Like the clue for the second project!” Hermione said seriously, “That golden egg! It hasn’t been opened since you opened it at the celebration party.”

“You can’t blame Harry for this, can you?” Ron interjected while busy building a deck of cards with a clattering explosion. “That golden egg nearly deafened everyone back then, and opening it again will only bring back the same scene—”

"That's why we should have started researching this sooner. It might take weeks just to unravel the mystery of the screaming golden egg!" Hermione exclaimed, annoyed that the two boys had absolutely no sense of urgency. "You've been either worrying about dance partners or playing games lately, you haven't done anything..."

Before Hermione could finish her criticism, Harry suddenly straightened up from his loose, crooked sitting posture, and Ron quickly kicked Hermione under the table.

Hermione turned around following Harry's gaze and saw Lyra just entering the Gryffindor common room.

She seemed to have just walked a long way; her face was flushed from the cold, making her look even more radiant. She was looking around the lounge, as if searching for someone.

“Harry—” Lyra’s eyes lit up when she saw Harry and the other two at the window.

Harry was suddenly filled with anxiety, while Ron whispered to his two friends.

"Could it be that Lyra is inviting Harry to be her dance partner...?"

“Wake up—” Hermione said through gritted teeth in a low voice.

But Hermione immediately realized this was a good opportunity.

“Listen, Harry! Ron and I are about to slip away,” she said quickly, her voice almost a whisper, so that only Harry and Ron, who were closest, could hear, “and you take the opportunity to ask Lyra to be your dance partner—”

No sooner had Hermione finished speaking than Lyra sat down beside her with a smile.

"Hey, you three, what are you talking about?"

"We were just discussing the golden egg—"

"We were just talking about dance partners... Ouch!"

Hermione and Ron spoke at the same time, and then Ron was kicked hard by Hermione.

"What?" Lyra was confused by the two's strange reactions.

“Oh, I mean, we just talked about the golden egg and then about the ball—” Hermione said with a forced smile.

"Ah, right, right—" Ron had to gasp for breath to agree, while he secretly reached out to rub his calf; the flesh was definitely bruised!

"Speaking of the ball, Lyra, have you decided on your dance partner yet?" Hermione asked cautiously.

“Oh, not yet,” Lyra loosened the belt of her cloak and took off her coat. “Hey, have you seen Fred and George?”

Harry and his two companions shook their heads.

“I haven’t seen them for most of the day,” Leila said. “Are they hiding in the boys’ dormitory? Should I go check on them…?”

“Ron’s heading back to his dorm!” Hermione suddenly said. “Have Ron go to the boys’ dorms and check on them for you. You can sit in the common room and wait for them. If they’re not in their dorms—”

“Oh right, right,” Ron nodded vigorously, stood up and said, “I’ll go back to the dorm now and see if they’re up there. I’ll come down and tell you.”

“I want to go back to the dorm too—” Hermione stood up and followed Ron; the two of them had to go up the stairs to escape.

"..." Leila felt something was off, but having someone go upstairs to check for her saved her the trouble of going up herself.

“Harry, if Fred and George aren’t in the dormitory, could I borrow your Marauder’s Map?” Lyra suddenly had a brilliant idea. “I really need to see where they’ve gone hiding—”

“Okay,” Harry nodded in agreement.

There weren't many people in the lounge at the moment, and everyone was chatting with their friends, so they wouldn't pay attention to what others were doing. It was indeed a good opportunity.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to muster his courage.

"Laila, will you come with me?"

Harry thought he could speak more calmly, but he ended up rambling incoherently, his words drifting to the shores of the Black Lake.

“Uh, sorry, what did you say? I didn’t hear you quite right—” Leila said.

“I—” Harry struggled to open his mouth, which seemed to be stuck together with super-strong toffee, and tried to invite him again.

But then they heard the sound of an owl flapping its wings at the window, and Lyra and Harry both turned their heads toward the window.

"Merlin—"

Someone in the Gryffindor common room sighed.

Ten owls tried to fly into the Gryffindor Tower through the window, but unfortunately, their talons were gripping a huge bouquet of roses, and both the flowers and the birds were stuck in the window.

Harry and Lyra were closest to the window, so they were the first to help the owls. They opened the window as wide as possible, then lined up the owls who were eager to be the first to enter, all while being careful not to damage the delicate roses. It took quite a bit of effort.

Fortunately, several other girls also volunteered to help, or rather, they wanted to find out as soon as possible who the roses were for, which made the girls particularly proactive.

Soon, the mystery was solved, and all the owls carrying roses fluttered and flew towards Lyra.

Lyra couldn't even hold the enormous bouquet of roses by herself—which sparked another round of gasps of amazement in the lounge.

Harry, as Lyra's friend and the person standing closest to her, had to frantically help her carry the giant bouquet; it all happened so suddenly.

One moment Harry was nervously and incoherently making invitations to the ball, and the next he was helping his potential rivals carry those damned roses—

He really couldn't explain his feelings at that moment; it felt extremely strange, like having a nightmare.

With Harry's help, Lyra struggled to place the giant bouquet of roses on the floor, harboring some suspicions about the person who delivered the flowers.

The next second, a familiar brown owl appeared before Lyra, carrying a gorgeous card that even seemed to be sprayed with perfume, confirming her suspicions—

The handwriting above is clearly from a pen pal; it contains only one invitation.

"Darling, could you give me a chance to be your dance partner?"