Chapter 26: Transition
Chapter 26: Transition
On the staircase leading from the seventh floor to the eighth, Professor Mcgonagall and her group encountered Professor Dumbledore, who was dressed in formal robes and had just emerged from the dungeons.
"Minerva, what are you and these students doing? Weren't you supposed to be looking for the escaped Troll?"
"Albus, the Troll is dead, and it was these students who took care of it. I think they need to explain the situation to you."
"Oh, thank you. I'll handle it from here."
After Professor Mcgonagall left, Professor Dumbledore led the four students into an empty room on the seventh floor, then waved his wand.
A table and five chairs appeared in the room, and on the table were five cups of steaming hot tea.
"Sit down, all of you", Professor Dumbledore said, taking the seat at the head of the table. He then looked at the four students.
"Have some tea to relax. Being chased by a Troll isn't a pleasant experience."
Once he saw that the four had calmed down, Dumbledore began to ask them what had happened.
Hermione stood up and explained that she had been under a lot of stress and had gone to a quiet place to cry. Liam had comforted her and stayed with her to study for the afternoon.
So they missed the Halloween feast and didn't know about the Troll. When they were about to head upstairs, Harry and Ron came to warn them. Unfortunately, they encountered the Troll on their way to the Great Hall.
Hermione then described how the four of them fought the Troll and, by a series of fortunate events, managed to kill it.
The three boys also added some details. After they finished their story, Dumbledore praised their intelligence, courage, and friendship, awarding each of them five points.
"I suppose you must be hungry", Dumbledore said after awarding the points. "If you're not injured, you should head back to Gryffindor Tower. The students are enjoying the Halloween feast in their common rooms."
The four students bowed to the headmaster and left the room. Dumbledore took a sip of his tea and smiled with satisfaction.
...
After climbing one more floor, Liam and the others arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Pig snout", they said the password and climbed through the portrait hole.
The Common Room was packed and noisy, with everyone eating the food that had been brought in. Harry and Ron grabbed their food and saw that Liam and Hermione were already sitting at a table, waiting for them.
For a moment, the four of them felt very awkward. They avoided looking at each other and simultaneously said, "Thank you", before rushing to their plates.
However, Liam and Hermione could see that the others were in high spirits. Harry and Ron had risked their own safety to find them despite knowing about the Troll. This showed not only courage but also true friendship. For Hermione, this meant she had made two more friends, and she no longer felt isolated.
Honestly, Liam had only intended to earn some Deviation Points and hadn't planned to get so close to the main characters. But humans are not plants; who can remain unmoved? Fighting and defeating a 12-foot-tall Troll was a life-or-death situation, and the bond formed in such a situation was very precious to Liam. He now considered Harry Potter and Ron Weasley as his friends.
...
As November arrived, the weather became extremely cold. The mountains surrounding the school were covered in a gray, snowy shroud, and the lake was as cold and hard as quenched steel. Each morning, the ground was frosted over.
From the windows upstairs, you can see Hagrid, fully wrapped in a long mole skin coat, wearing rabbit fur gloves, and giant beaver fur boots, defrosting the broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch.
The Quidditch season has begun. After several weeks of training, Harry is set to play in his first-ever match this Saturday, where Gryffindor will face Slytherin. If Gryffindor wins, they will move up to second place in the House Cup standings.
Incidentally, the current standings are as follows: First place is Ravenclaw (the brainiacs are unstoppable when it comes to academics). Second place is Slytherin (considering that most students from Wizarding families have a stronger foundation). Third place is Hufflepuff (the badgers are honest and don’t cause trouble, and their sheer numbers mean that even though each student earns few points, their total score is high). Last is Gryffindor (unfortunately, the most mischievous students are here, so they earn many points but lose just as many. If you average the points lost per student, Gryffindor tops the list).
However, the good news is that the points between the four houses are very close, making this match particularly important.
Because of this, everyone in the house, from Head of House Professor Mcgonagall to every student, is taking the match very seriously (this has given Liam a completely different impression of British school culture compared to his previous life, where schools didn’t emphasize sports as much during the middle school years).
Gryffindor treats Harry’s participation as a Seeker as a secret weapon, and he rarely appears during regular training sessions.
But as Liam mentioned to Ron from the stands last time, no matter how secretive the training is in an open environment, those who are determined can still see what’s happening.
As a result, some people tell Harry that he will do great, while others say they will carry mattresses and run underneath him to catch him if he falls—Liam finds both comments equally concerning and hopes Harry doesn’t crack under the pressure.
Hermione has learned to get along with others; she no longer goes around pointing out everyone’s mistakes and is less rigid about school rules. (“You’re right,” Hermione told Liam during a study session. “I think everyone should be responsible for themselves. As long as they don’t harm others, I don’t need to interfere with their lives.”)
Hermione and Liam are still happy to help classmates with their questions but won’t show them their completed homework. This puts Harry in a dilemma: if he wants to do well on his assignments, he needs to spend a lot of time in after-class discussions. But he doesn’t have much time for training Quidditch. So, he sometimes has to rely on Ron’s homework.
When Harry asks to see Ron’s homework, Ron tells him that Liam and Hermione have organized group discussions to help everyone improve their understanding and answer most of the questions. If they can’t answer, they call on Ron’s older brother Percy for help.
Ron also mentions that sometimes Percy sees his homework and can’t help but scold him. But compared to the temptation of completing assignments quickly and well, being scolded by his brother is a minor issue.
Ron then hands Harry a notebook, saying Liam asked him to bring it over.
The notebook contains class notes and summaries of key points related to homework, along with a stack of encouraging notes from classmates.
Reading these notes, Harry feels a warm glow in his heart.
He is determined to win this match.
(End of Chapter)
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