Chapter 746: News
Chapter 746: News
Even though Wood believed that Harry's ownership of the Firebolt should be kept strictly confidential, serving as their team's secret weapon, it was common knowledge that Gryffindor House was never good at keeping secrets.
The next morning, the news of Harry Potter owning the Firebolt had somehow leaked out.
This piece of news spread like a plague, sweeping through the entire castle in the blink of an eye.
Some thought it was fake news, but too many people had witnessed Professor McGonagall delivering the Firebolt to Gryffindor students, and soon enough, a group of people confirmed it. Some even secretly took photos of the Firebolt, directly refuting the claims of those Slytherin students who were unwilling to accept this cruel fact.
As Albert entered the Great Hall for breakfast, he heard many people excitedly discussing the matter, as if they were expecting Harry to put the Firebolt on display on the long table for everyone to admire.
In fact, quite a few Gryffindors thought Harry should do just that, feeling that the Firebolt deserved such an honor.
"I said this wouldn't stay secret, but Wood didn't believe me," Fred, George, and Lee Jordan all wore knowing expressions.
There were simply too many people who loved to show off; they would be eager for everyone to know about it and take the opportunity to strike a blow to Slytherin House's arrogant demeanor. How could they be willing to keep it a secret?
Gryffindor's move had a good effect, leaving Slytherin House completely stunned.
At that moment, the Slytherin team huddled together, whispering among themselves, and Draco Malfoy looked as if he had been struck by lightning, his expression one of disbelief.
Compared to Slytherin, Hufflepuff was much more generous. After learning from Albert that Harry Potter indeed had a Firebolt, Cedric Diggory went over to congratulate Harry on getting such a fine broomstick to replace the Nimbus. He was truly a gentleman.
As for Roger Davies, the current captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, he congratulated Wood under the pretext of exchanging information about the Slytherin team in preparation for the upcoming match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
There was a consensus among the houses to try and prevent Slytherin from winning the Quidditch Cup.
After all, Slytherin House often resorted to less-than-honorable means to secure victory, which had caused resentment among the other houses, leading to this united front against them.
A week after the start of the term, the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin began, and as expected, Slytherin emerged victorious, but the score was very close.
In the end, it was Ravenclaw's Seeker, Cho Chang, who caught the Golden Snitch.
According to the original plan, Slytherin intended to pull ahead in the points, so that even if Gryffindor obtained the Firebolt, they wouldn't have a chance to turn the tables.
However, Slytherin made a mistake, and Malfoy was ultimately unable to catch the Snitch as he had wished, causing their plan to fail.
This was undoubtedly the best outcome for Gryffindor. As long as Gryffindor defeated Ravenclaw in the next match, their total points would take second place, meaning that if they also defeated Slytherin, they would have a chance to turn the tables and win the Quidditch Cup.
However, none of this had anything to do with Albert.
Most of his time recently had been spent on reviewing and researching, and Isabelle obviously didn't want to mess up her last exam, so she pulled Albert along to revise with her.
In her words, the Ordinary Wizarding Levels exam was a breeze for Albert, so he might as well help her review for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, which would be useful for him in the future anyway.
Isabelle was indeed a genius, but she didn't have the benefit of the system's assistance like Albert. If she wanted to excel in her exams, she would naturally have to put in some effort.
Although Albert never worried that Isabelle would fail her exams, he was more than happy to revise with her.
Sometimes, focusing on a particular task was more relaxing than spending all day researching a bunch of miscellaneous things. Albert also realized that his areas of involvement were too broad. If not for the system's assistance, he would probably be even more exhausted than Hermione.
"Mr. Anderson, your letter." A witch lowered her head and handed a letter to Albert before scurrying away to join her two female companions, whispering something unknown.
Albert took the letter and glanced at the sender, only to find that it was from Hagrid.
He tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter, which contained two letters. One of them was a formal letter in an official format:
Dear Mr. Hagrid, We have further investigated the incident of the Hippogriff attack on a student in your class, and we have accepted Professor Dumbledore's assurance that you bear no responsibility for this unfortunate event.
However, we must express our concern regarding this problematic Hippogriff. We have decided to support Mr. Lucius Malfoy's formal complaint, and thus, this matter will be handled by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. A hearing will be held on April 20th at the Committee's London office, and we will require you and your Hippogriff to be present on that day. In the meantime, the Hippogriff should be tethered and isolated.
Below was a long list of school board members, and Albert carefully scanned through it, only to find a familiar name among the so-called school directors—Florian Fortescue.
The ice cream parlor owner in Diagon Alley.
Of course, Florian Fortescue was actually quite wealthy, and opening the shop was probably just a hobby.
As far as Albert knew, this elderly wizard was well-versed in ancient magic and had a collection of ancient magical manuscripts at home. During Christmas, he had sent Albert a rubbing of a contract curse.
Albert then opened the other letter, which was in Hagrid's handwriting.
Dear Albert, I'm sorry to bother you, and I know you're busy. I shouldn't have disturbed you, but I still felt I should tell you that everything you said about the Hippogriff has come true.
"Although Hermione said she would try to help me gather some arguments in Buckbeak's defense, I really don't want to trouble her. Also, I think you're right; it's going to be extremely difficult to win this case, and I hardly see any hope. Now, Buckbeak's fate rests in your hands."
P.S. I know you and Hermione are good friends, and perhaps you can give her some advice and help. She's too busy and has taken on more than she can chew.
"Maybe you should just keep quiet, and then you won't have so many troubles on your mind." Isabelle also glanced at the content of the letter and smiled as she cupped Albert's face.
"It's not that troubles arise because I said something; it's that I said something about future troubles that will inevitably occur." Albert shook his head helplessly. "Prophecy of disasters is never welcomed, as people only see it as an embodiment of calamity. There's a saying...ignorance is bliss."
"That's definitely something you made up," Isabelle teased, gesturing for Albert to look to the side, where Diggory and Cho were walking towards them, deep in conversation and laughter.
"Looks like Diggory has a talent for pursuing girls," Albert murmured as he watched their retreating backs. "I thought he would only have a chance to ask her out to Hogsmeade in the next semester."
"They haven't actually started dating yet. It will happen by the next semester at the latest," Isabelle sighed. "But you sure are right about everything. Maybe you really should talk less."
(End of Chapter)
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