Chapter 542: The Argument
Chapter 542: The Argument (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
"Poison in the wine?" Fred whispered in the corridor outside the Hospital Wing. By this time, Liam had already come out of the office with the Weasley parents. Now, the Weasleys were by Ron's bedside, while the others had gathered in the corridor outside the Hospital Wing.
"Yes", Harry said immediately. He couldn't think of anything else and was glad to have the chance to revisit the topic. "Slughorn must have—"
"Could someone have slipped something into Ron's cup when you weren't looking?" George asked.
"Unlikely", Liam shook his head. "After the incident, we checked everyone's wine, and all of them were poisoned. It's clear the poison was put into the bottle. Ron was poisoned because he drank too quickly, and I didn't manage to stop him in time—"
"From this, it seems the original target was likely Slughorn. But who would want to kill a peaceful Potions Master?" George shook his head. After a year of working, he understood the true value of a Potions Master. He didn't think Voldemort's side would kill Slughorn just because he was teaching at Hogwarts, especially since Slughorn was a high-born Pureblood. Killing him wouldn't fit the Death Eaters' habits.
"Dumbledore believes Voldemort wants to recruit Slughorn. In that case, it's hard to say what the Death Eaters might do", Harry said. "Slughorn had been hiding for a year before coming to Hogwarts. And..." Harry thought of the memory Dumbledore had yet to obtain from Slughorn, "maybe Voldemort wants to eliminate him because he thinks Slughorn could be valuable to Dumbledore."
"Professor Slughorn mentioned in the Hospital Wing that he intended to give the bottle to the Headmaster. So, the poisoner might have been targeting Headmaster Dumbledore", Ginny recalled.
"Then the poisoner doesn't know Slughorn well", Hermione interjected. "Anyone who knows Slughorn would realize he's likely to keep the best things for himself."
At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor. Everyone looked up to see Hagrid striding in, his hair wet from the rain, his bear-skin coat flapping behind him, and a crossbow in his hand, leaving dolphin-sized mud prints on the floor.
"I've been teaching Grawp English in the Forbidden Forest since I got up. I just came back to have breakfast when Professor Sprout told me about Ron! How is he?"
"He's okay", Harry said. "They say he'll be fine."
After glancing through the window at Ron, who was with his parents, Hagrid sat down and lowered his voice. "Do you know why someone would attack Ron? I couldn't believe it when I heard the news."
"It wasn't just Ron", Harry said, sitting next to Hagrid. "If Liam hadn't noticed the poison in the wine, I think five of us would be lying in here instead of just Ron. But apart from that, we don't know what the attack was about. We were just discussing this before you arrived."
"Could it be someone with a grudge against Gryffindor students?" Hagrid asked, worried. "First Katie, now Ron and you all—"
"Probably not, because our meeting with Professor Slughorn today was a complete coincidence. No one could have predicted it", Hermione said softly. "But this poisoning seems connected to the Cursed Necklace attack."
"How so?" Fred asked.
"First, both attacks were supposed to be fatal but weren't, purely by luck. Second, the poison and the necklace didn't harm their intended targets. Third, both Liam and I were present and helped save the victims in both incidents", she mused. "This suggests the person behind these attacks is more cunning, as they don't seem to care how many people they harm to reach their true target. Also—"
Hermione paused, then looked at everyone. "Also, Liam and I are the most suspicious, considering the odds of being present and helping in both incidents are extremely low."
"I trust you both", Harry said firmly. "If you really wanted to hurt someone, you wouldn't use such a foolish method. Besides, you have plenty of opportunities to be alone with Ron and me. If you were going to act, you wouldn't choose these methods with such low success rates."
"Thank you for your trust", Liam said with a smile to Harry. "But we still need to—"
Liam's words were cut short when the door to the Hospital Wing opened, and Madam Pomfrey called out, "Only four more people can come in to visit the patient. Who wants to come in?"
Liam and Hermione stood up and left together to let Ron be with his family. After returning to the Common Room, Harry came back about ten minutes later, and Liam learned from him that Dumbledore and Snape had had an argument. The Headmaster had demanded that Snape increase the scrutiny of the Slytherin House students.
Liam believed that Dumbledore probably knew someone had come to the school to kill him, and now the Headmaster was warning Malfoy not to attack innocent people anymore. As a Headmaster, Dumbledore did not want any more students to be harmed for any reason.
After the incident, Harry looked exhausted and wanted to rest in the Common Room for a while. However, before he could, Cormac Mclaggen burst in and started discussing Quidditch with him. Seeing the tired Harry and the incessant Mclaggen, Liam and Hermione quickly packed up their things and went to the library, leaving Harry behind in the Common Room with a pitiful look on his face.
The news of Ron's poisoning spread quickly the next day, but everyone seemed to think it was an accident because he was in the Potions teacher's room and had immediately taken an antidote, so he was fine. Liam heard from the rumors that Slughorn had concocted the antidote. It seemed Dumbledore had erased Liam's contribution for some reason. However, Liam thought this was for the best, as it allowed him to remain behind the scenes.
The next day, Liam visited Ron in the Hospital Wing. Ron was much better and could even sit up and kiss Lavender Brown, who had come to take care of him. When they saw Liam, they quickly separated, looking a bit flustered.
Lavender, though just an ordinary girl, was not unintelligent. Her apparent infatuation in the original story was purely a result of her insecurity. At the time, Ron had only used her to provoke Hermione, so she had done everything possible to truly win Ron's affection, leading to her exaggerated behavior.
Now that Ron was genuinely dating her, she no longer needed to be so neurotic. According to Liam's observations, Lavender and Ron's relationship seemed normal, with none of the exaggerated clinginess from before.
Liam learned from Lavender that Ron had to drink 20 milliliters of Rue Essence every four hours and would be in the Hospital Wing for about two more weeks. According to Madam Pomfrey, while Ron's condition was not severe due to the timely treatment, it was best to detoxify gradually to avoid any long-term effects. However, Ron was clearly impatient with the current treatment pace.
"Liam, Madam Pomfrey said your antidote was masterful. Do you have anything that could help me recover faster? I can't stand the idea of staying in the Hospital Wing for a week and missing the Quidditch match", Ron said with a grimace.
"You should know that Rue Essence is the best treatment for you right now. It's the most effective for the internal damage you suffered from the poison. The potion I made was good for emergency treatment, but for post-care, nothing beats this basic, traditional potion. If you don't want any long-term effects, you should stay in bed for a few more days. As for the Quidditch match, don't worry. Harry has found Mclaggen to be your substitute. During the tryouts, his skills weren't as good as yours, but he should be able to manage."
"It's precisely because it's Mclaggen that I'm worried", Ron said, a bit agitated. Lavender squeezed his hand, and he calmed down. "You and Hermione are the same, you don't understand Quidditch. Mclaggen doesn't get along with the rest of the team. He might as well not be a Keeper at all—"
After about ten minutes of persuasion, Ron finally agreed to stay in the Hospital Wing until he was fully recovered. But hearing his concerns, Liam also felt pessimistic about the next Quidditch match.
(End of Chapter)
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