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Chapter 401: The Match
Chapter 401: The Match
October ended in a storm of wind and rain, and November arrived, cold as iron. Each morning brought a layer of hard frost, and the biting wind cut through hands and cheeks. The sky and the ceiling of the Great Hall turned a pale blue-gray, and the mountains surrounding Hogwarts were capped with snow. The temperature inside the castle dropped so much that many students wore thick dragonhide gloves during breaks in the corridors.
"Why do wizards like to hold Quidditch matches at this time of year? It's already freezing on the ground, and flying in the air must be even worse", Hermione grumbled, rubbing her hands together as they walked to the Quidditch pitch. Today was Gryffindor's first match of the tournament, but Ron's nervousness at breakfast was a cause for concern.
Once they sat down on the stands beside the Quidditch pitch, Liam took Hermione's hands and warmed them with his own. Ginny also sat down next to Hermione, her face showing a look of displeasure.
"What's wrong, Ginny? You look upset", Hermione asked, concerned.
"Don't even get me started. My brother is such an embarrassment", Ginny immediately vented her frustrations to a willing listener. "In the Great Hall, I hugged Harry and Ron, and Harry looked ready for the fight, but my brother's hands were ice-cold and even trembling. It was really embarrassing."
"Maybe he's just overly nervous about his first tournament", Liam tried to comfort her. "Once he gets out there, he might adapt to the environment."
The tournament began, and Slytherin started singing "Weasley is Our King." This song was clearly very damaging to Ron, who was already nervous. On the first attack, Warrington successfully broke through Ron's fumbling defense, and the Quaffle flew under his arm, straight through the central goal ring.
After conceding four goals in a row, Angelina finally scored one. But the match looked increasingly grim, and it wasn't until Harry caught the Golden Snitch that Gryffindor won their first match. Of course, at the end of the match, Crabbe hit Harry in the back with a Bludger, once again perfectly showcasing the purebloods' behavior.
Later, due to Malfoy's insults to the Weasleys' mother, Harry, the Weasley twins, and Malfoy got into a fight until Madam Hooch separated them.
"These purebloods are just—", Hermione exploded in the common room when she learned what Malfoy had said on the pitch and that Umbridge and Fudge had issued Educational Decree Number Twenty-Five, granting them the highest authority over all punishments, sanctions, and rights involving Hogwarts students, and the ability to modify any such decisions made by other faculty. This led to the Weasley twins and Harry being banned from the tournament.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean you", Hermione realized Ginny was standing nearby after her outburst.
"I understand. The Slytherin purebloods are always saying our family is a disgrace to purebloods, but their actions are the ones truly tarnishing the name of pureblood families", Ginny said, clearly upset by the Slytherins' behavior.
"It's so unfair", Aria shook her head. "How does Crabbe hitting Harry with a Bludger after the whistle count? Did she ban him?"
"No", Ginny spat the word through gritted teeth. "He just had to write lines. I heard Montague laughing about it at dinner. That despicable toad."
"Fred didn't even hit anyone and he's banned too!" Aria pounded her knee in frustration. "It's not fair."
"Not hitting anyone isn't my fault", Fred's face was grim. "If you three hadn't held me back, I would have beaten that little brat into a pulp."
In the end, everyone's mood was so sour from the day's events that they all went to bed early. Only Liam and Hermione stayed by the fireplace to keep Harry company.
“There’s an old saying in my hometown: 'Blessings lurk in misfortunes, and misfortunes hide in blessings.'” After reciting the phrase in Chinese, Liam explained, “This was proposed by a great philosopher from over two thousand years ago. It means that under certain conditions, good and bad things can transform into each other. You’re having a bit of bad luck now, but this misfortune won’t follow you forever.”
“Thanks for the comfort, I’m not that fragile,” Harry gently patted Liam on the shoulder. “By the way, I haven’t seen Ron all afternoon. Where did he go?”
“I think he’s avoiding us,” Hermione said, “After all, he was on the Tournament field today—” At that moment, a creaking sound came from behind them, and the Fat Lady turned forward. Ron climbed through the Portrait Hole, his face very pale and his head covered in snow. He froze when he saw the three of them sitting by the fireplace.
After some questioning, they learned that Ron had gone for a walk right after the Tournament and only just returned. The moment he saw Liam and the others, he started yelling that he wanted to quit the team because the Tournament had hit him hard. Especially after learning what had happened while he was off the field, his sense of guilt became even more intense.
Fortunately, Harry noticed that Hagrid’s hut was lit up again, so he took Ron to see Hagrid. Liam and Hermione stayed in the Common Room to plan for the next Study Group.
It was very late when Harry and the others returned, and they told Liam and Hermione that Hagrid had failed to contact the Giants.
“This must have been bad,” Liam said after hearing about the Giants.
“Indeed, Giants have very high magical defenses, possibly second only to Dragons. They are also skilled in combat, making them a very formidable opponent. During the last war, Sirius Black told me that Voldemort used Giants—”
“The problem isn’t there,” Liam raised a hand to stop Hermione from continuing. “During the last war, those Giants were responsible for multiple Muggle massacres. Even worse, under Headmaster Dumbledore’s banner of forgiveness, many Giants with blood on their hands escaped trial and lived freely outside.”
“Is that true?” Hermione covered her mouth with both hands, looking at Liam in shock. “But I haven’t seen any of this in the records!”
“This is Dumbledore’s doing,” Liam lowered his voice. “Dumbledore said that the few remaining Giants are our fault, that Wizards drove them to remote places where they had no choice but to live together, leading to many deaths from infighting. So the Headmaster opposed killing the last Giants in Britain.”
“But what about the Muggles who were killed? What did they do wrong?” Hermione asked, puzzled.
“They did nothing wrong, but unfortunately, they lacked power and were just insignificant numbers to Wizards,” Liam’s lips curled slightly. “To some Wizards, the deaths of Muggles may be far less important than these nearly extinct magical creatures, even if those creatures are violent Giants. They can forgive Giants who caused massacres in Britain—”
“Enough, stop talking about it,” Harry interrupted Liam. “It’s very late, and everyone should get some rest.”
Liam knew that as a follower of Dumbledore, Harry accepted everything Dumbledore did and couldn’t easily tolerate Liam’s criticism of him. However, Dumbledore had kept many things from Harry, and his own sense of right and wrong made it impossible for him to refute what Liam said. In this situation, he could only rudely cut Liam off.
“Alright, good night,” they all said good night and went to bed. But lying in bed, Liam thought about the massacre the Giants caused in the west during the summer vacation at the end of fifth year. He decided he needed to do something about it.
With that in mind, he got up and quickly wrote a letter to an employee at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. After checking it for errors, he put it in an envelope, planning to mail it on the next Hogsmeade Day.
(End of Chapter)
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