Chapter 104: The Real Swollen Face
Chapter 104: The Real Swollen Face
"There's a duel happening!"
Someone shouted from the side of the entrance hall, and the students who were originally having dinner curiously rushed towards the entrance, wanting to see what was going on.
"What's going on?" Albert asked, holding a self-made sandwich and following the Weasley twins as they joined the crowd at the entrance hall.
"On the lawn near the Black Lake, students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are dueling," came the reply.
In an instant, Albert understood what was happening. Had Truman's duel with the Ravenclaw prefect, Nott, been moved forward?
By the time everyone rushed towards the lawn, the duel between the two houses had already ended.
The Ravenclaw prefect, Nott, lay on the ground, his face bearing signs of a recent beating. Truman, the victor, stood before him, reciting something.
As Albert and the others hurried over, the last thing they saw was Truman crouching down to stuff a Chocolate Frog Card into Nott's mouth before leaving triumphantly, surrounded by a group of Hufflepuff students.
"What's going on? What happened?" Fred asked those around him and quickly learned the details of the duel.
Truman had made the first move, using the Full Body-Bind Curse to attack the Ravenclaw prefect. After successfully casting the spell, he had put away his wand and raised his fists to deliver a thorough beating, causing Nott's face to swell up.
Before leaving, Truman had held up a Chocolate Frog Card and recited a passage about Bridget Wenlock, indicating that the famous arithmancer from the 13th century had been a Hufflepuff.
It soon became clear why the duel had taken place—the students had been arguing over whether Bridget Wenlock had graduated from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, and the matter had escalated to the point of a duel.
"That's so satisfying! Not all famous experts graduated from Ravenclaw!" exclaimed a senior Hufflepuff girl, brandishing her fist. "Nott definitely knew that Bridget Wenlock was a Hufflepuff. He knew he was wrong but refused to admit it. Serves him right to have his face swollen like that."
Of course, there were also those who brought up Truman's sneak attack.
"How could Nott, a prefect, agree to duel with a third-year student?" Many didn't seem to care about Truman's underhanded tactic.
After all, the duel itself had been uneven. What was he supposed to do, not fight back? Especially since they now knew the reason for the duel, most students cheered Truman on for giving Nott a swollen face.
"That bastard! Despicable!" Nott, freed from the Full Body-Bind Curse, struggled to his feet and couldn't help but curse. The Ravenclaw prefect was shaking with anger as he took the Chocolate Frog Card out of his mouth and tore it to pieces.
Indeed, it was clear that Nott didn't care whether Bridget Wenlock had graduated from Hufflepuff. His duel with Truman had only come about because of the other's persistence and his own repeated provocations.
However, he had been ambushed and beaten, his cheeks swollen and sore.
The spectators knew why he had been beaten, and their mocking and gloating looks only added to Nott's anger.
Refusing to admit his mistake and trying to bully others with his age—he deserved to be beaten, many thought.
Before Nott could vent his anger further, he was taken away by Professor Flitwick, who had rushed to the scene.
"That was so cool! This will be a topic of discussion for years to come," Fred exclaimed, looking excited. His expression seemed to say, "Why wasn't I the one dueling?"
"But I'm more curious about why their duel was moved forward," Albert wondered aloud as he finished his sandwich. "Truman told me his duel with the Ravenclaw prefect was supposed to be on the weekend."
"How did you know that?" The three turned to Albert, their voices filled with surprise.
"Truman told me the last time I saw him in the library. He even invited me to watch the duel," Albert explained.
"And you didn't tell us?" George complained.
"It was still a few days away!" As Albert and the others returned to the dining hall, everyone was talking about the incident, especially Truman's final act.
As for whether the two would be severely punished for settling their dispute with a duel, no one seemed to care about that.
As long as they weren't the ones being punished, it didn't matter.
On Friday evening, Albert ran into Truman in the library. Perhaps the other boy had been waiting for him there.
"Nott was given a week's worth of detention by Professor Flitwick," Truman happily announced to Albert. "I was supposed to get a week's detention, too. But Professor Sprout just gave me a warning and a box of coconut ice."
As he spoke, Truman took out two neatly wrapped pieces of coconut ice from his robe pocket and placed them in front of Albert, clearly intending to share the treat from Professor Sprout.
Truman looked excited as he talked about it, so... he was eventually chased out of the library by Madam Pince with her feather duster.
Watching Truman's retreating back, Albert felt a sudden urge to laugh.
Under Madam Pince's gaze, he quickly stuffed the coconut ice into his pocket, pretending nothing had happened, and decided to continue with his homework.
However, Madam Pince didn't seem willing to let Albert off the hook.
In the end, under the librarian's watchful eye, Albert had no choice but to pack up his things and leave the library, albeit without being chased out by the feather duster.
"Sheesh," Albert muttered as he stood in the corridor outside the library. He took out the coconut ice from his pocket, unwrapped it, and took a small bite. It was icy and had a strong coconut flavor, reminiscent of the ice mice sold by Honeydukes, but less icy and... quite delicious.
"Did you put him up to it?" Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, and Albert turned to see a red-haired girl standing next to him.
"Good evening, Isabelle," Albert greeted the girl, as they were both in the same club and were somewhat acquainted.
"Gabriel Truman claimed he just wanted to talk to Nott," Isabelle said, raising an eyebrow. "But it looks like you're the one who put him up to it."
"Here, this tastes good," Albert offered.
"Are you trying to bribe me?" Isabelle looked at the piece of coconut ice in front of her, her face twisting in a strange expression.
"If you insist on thinking that," Albert said, not wanting to discuss the topic further. He smiled and said, "I just told Truman never to try to wake a sleeping person unless it's with a fist."
With that, Albert turned and left.
"Unless it's with a fist?" Isabelle stared at the coconut ice in front of her, slowly unwrapping the paper. She popped the treat into her mouth and, after finishing it, walked towards the library.
(End of Chapter)
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