Good or bad, does it matter?

With each passing minute, more and more students gathered in the great hall, although some of them had previously been dissatisfied with the rehearsals, but now they were eagerly awaiting the start of the holiday and even the early rivalry and disagreements between the houses were decided to be temporarily suspended, although the Gryffindors and Slytherins simply ignored each other's existence.

In addition, almost all the teachers had gathered in the hall, only the House head of Slytherin and the Headmaster were missing, but there were still twenty minutes left before the start, so they were in no particular hurry.

Basically, almost all the students had scattered into small groups and were standing near their tables, which the professors had turned into round ones to make room for the area where the dancing would take place, and in the corner, to the right of the teachers' table, there was a small orchestra, headed by Professor Flitwick, a half-goblin and also the head of the Ravenclaw house. 

And just then Severus and his company entered the hall, but not many people paid attention to them, for the reason that the wizard used a distraction charm so as not to attract much attention, because, although a lot of time had passed since that event in London, many were still trying to talk to him. 

Of course, he did not consider himself above others, although in fact it was so, but he was just lazy, because in the end, the topic would be the same, and today Severus wanted to rest and relax a little, watch the holiday and try the dishes prepared by the house elves. 

"Okay, lovebirds, I won't distract you, have a good time, and if anything happens, I'll be at our table." winking at both of them, he took the kitten from the hands of the indignant girl and disappeared. 

"Well, tell me, isn't he a scoundrel?" With slightly pink cheeks, she looked displeasedly at the young man standing next to her, who only smiled at her reservedly and nodded. 

"That he is, but he can't be fixed anymore and all that's left to do is tolerate his antics, by the way, I heard that your brother is also graduating from Hogwarts this year, will you introduce him?" As soon as Greengrass heard his words, she froze for a moment, and the treacherous blush became even more noticeable.

"W-why...?" she asked a rather stupid question, realising it herself. "I want to discuss some joint project."

""P-project"?"

"Yes, it has to do with the bookstores that my father opened in several countries." as if he had not noticed her reaction, he calmly added, copying his father's manner of speech. 

"Good…" Leila even sighed with some relief, because she simply was not yet mentally ready for "such" a conversation, because they had talked for only a couple of hours, if you add up all the days. 

The Lady first of all wanted to get to know Black, whom she liked, better, although even now, if this conversation took place, she would definitely not refuse. 

After all, unlike other pure bloods, he was more mature, self-confident, and not one with an inflated sense of self-worth and did not treat others with contempt. 

He could rightfully be called a real aristocrat, and he was also very attractive in appearance, but the girl wanted to talk to him a little more, and then make a decision. 

At the same time, Severus, who was watching them, wiped away a stingy, male tear: "Ah... how quickly children grow up, and just recently, he was still that: small, arrogant, proud, pureblood…"

"~ Meow...!"

"Okay, okay, a boy," he stroked the kitten's back, and then with a nostalgic smile added "How quickly time flies... ah... I feel like an old man…"

"~ Mrrr…"

"Well." he stopped stroking him, and then pointed towards the far table with a red tablecloth, in the first row, "You can eat from there what you want, but the main thing is that you are not noticed, got it?" smiling, he looked into his eyes, to which Lucky, understanding him, nodded confidently and disappeared, and Severus himself, approached the table with a green cloth, at which he sat down. 

For the Prince, this was not the first ball and not the second, in his time, when he was still living the life of a mercenary, he visited dozens of such events in a variety of roles, from a simple worker like a waiter, to an aristocrat, mainly, these were tasks to eliminate certain individuals or surveillance, because it was necessary to build up a reputation, connections and earn gold. 

The first ball in his life, he saw in childhood, in the second year, still in his school of magic, watching from the window the merry fellow students. 

Then he didn't even have normal clothes to enter the hall, so then he leaned on alchemy, creating the simplest beauty potions and others, like enhancing magical abilities, healing, etc. and they were very popular, especially among first-year and second-year students. 

Although Ichiros saved him at the time, he didn't really want to teach him the basics of magic, so he sent the boy to a magic school, where Severus spent the next three years, graduating from the institution, although not among the best, but very close to them, and after Amon himself began to teach him. 

And while the young man indulged in a feeling of nostalgia and tried roast beef, another person sat down next to him, who didn't surprise him much. 

"Mister Prince, on such a festive day, it is not appropriate to sit alone, why don't you go and chat with your classmates?"

" Headmaster, if I show myself, I will be torn to pieces," the Prince answered with an awkward smile, finally turning his attention to the "Master", who was watching the children happily chatting with each other with a warm smile, although his gaze was very tired, and after a few seconds the smile became somehow unnatural, strained, which was very unusual for this "child in an old man's body". 

"It was worth deciding this issue earlier, you can't run away forever …" 

"I'm finishing Hogwarts in six months, so I can run for a while." putting another piece of meat in his mouth, he nodded contentedly, "Still not bad and by the way, and where is the "Board of Trustees"? I thought they would not miss such an event."

"They had urgent matters" what exactly matters, Snape knew perfectly well, so he did not ask this, and the question was asked only for the sake of it.

"Did your teacher tell you anything about what happened recently?"

"He said not to interfere in this matter, let them sort out their own problems."

"Too bad…" Dumbledore sighed with disappointment, because his power would have helped them a lot at this time. 

"But he said to pass something on to you, and to the Minister of Magic." 

"And what is that?" 

" They are much closer than you think, something like that." Severus said thoughtfully, and then, smiling, added, "Well, and he also called them blind donkeys, who when they don't need to, can't see anything further than their noses, and when they need to, they behave like blind idiots, and he also said that if they were his students, he would definitely beat them every day, maybe they would learn to think, and then I didn't listen to him and just left."

"Is that what he said?" the elderly man asked, staring intently at the young man, with a very serious face. 

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about this tomorrow, but since you sat down yourself, it will save me from going up to the eighth floor and I can go home early." 

"Thank you for delivering your teacher's message." Albus quickly stood up, looked towards the teachers' table and meeting McGonagall's gaze, he silently nodded to the surprised woman, and then looked down at "Severus", about to say something, but he got ahead of him.

"Be careful, Headmaster, even though you are not the best person, as the teacher said, you will still be useful in the future."

"Your teacher also told you to pass on this?" Albus asked with slight interest, judging by the tone of the "young man", it sounded more like his words. 

"Yes, he expected you to go straight to the Ministry of Magic," the Prince answered calmly, as if not paying attention to the old man's scrutinising look. 

"Then, pass on my gratitude to him." the elderly wizard said finally, before disappearing from Hogwarts, and Severus continued eating while waiting for the holiday to begin...

Ten minutes later, classical waltz music began to play in the great hall, which immediately attracted the attention of all the students and the conversations died down. 

Minerva rose from the teachers' table, slightly adjusting her hat: "It was our headmaster who was supposed to give speech today, but because he is absent for a very good reason, I will give one today." a small parchment appeared in her hand, opening it, she began: "Our dear students and teaching staff, first of all, I would like to congratulate you all on Christmas. In the past year, we have had many joyful and pleasant events …"

 And, while the head of Gryffindor continued to give the headmaster's speech, Severus could hardly contain his smile at the sight of Lucky's contented little face, sprawled out in front of him on the table with his belly up. 

"~ Mrrryau…" 

"You came back very quickly, I thought that I wouldn't even see you for the rest of the evening," in response, Lucky only sluggishly waved his tail, licking his front paws, "Do you want me to move you to the room?"

"~ Meow!" Lucky quickly shook his head. 

"Do you really want to eat more?" looking at the kitten's swollen belly, he raised an eyebrow in surprise. 

And in response, Lucky silently nodded, not taking his eyes off the chicken lying next to him. 

"And where does it all fit into you…" Severus drawled thoughtfully, resting his chin on his palm, while raising his gaze to the teachers' table, where Minerva finally folded the parchment and finished her speech.

"... the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." and after the last words, the volume of the music slowly began to increase and many students headed towards the empty area with their partners. 

And at this time, a group of Gryffindors, who were not very interested in dancing and wanted to start eating, sat down at a full table and, taking one of the plates, the blond reached for a chicken leg with a fork, but to his surprise, it went right through and a moment later he opened his eyes in shock, followed by his friends.

"...where is the meat…?" as soon as he stuck his fork in, almost immediately, all the meat simply disappeared from the table and only salads and fruits remained...