translating_wizard
patreon
Chapter 996: Slytherin's Beaters
🕑 Added 2024-01-19 08:32:56 +0000 UTC“How’re you feeling?” Ginny asked Ron. "Everything all right?"
He was now staring into the dregs of milk at the bottom of his empty cereal bowl as though seriously considering attempting to drown himself in them.
"He's just a little nervous," said Harry. "… Been nervous for quite a while."
“Well, that’s a good sign, I never feel you perform as well in exams if you’re not a bit nervous,” said Hermione heartily.
"Dear, I'm looking forward to your performance later," Lavender said, equally enthusiastic, as she walked over and sat next to Ron.
She didn't go to see Ron's previous training sessions, so she didn't know much about Ron's real situation.
Anyway, the times she did go, Ron performed quite well, like an excellent Keeper, with a fantastic broomstick to boot.
Ron smiled stiffly, but still said nothing. Lavender didn't seem to mind and continued talking enthusiastically.
"Well, with everyone supporting you and the whole school coming to watch, all you need to do during the game is..."
Evan felt Lavender had better not continue talking. These words of encouragement did not have a good effect at all.
Ron became even more nervous, as he seemed to realize that there would be nearly a thousand pairs of eyes staring at him today.
Just then, he saw Luna drifting over from the Ravenclaw table.
“Hello,” she said in a vague and dreamy voice.
Everyone looked at her in surprise, and many people in the Great Hall were staring at Luna and a few openly laughing and pointing.
Just like the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin two years ago, she wore a hat in the shape of a lion's head. However, this time, the hat was even more brightly colored, and was about the size of a real lion's head, and precariously perched on her head.
It seemed that her Transfiguration had improved greatly compared to her second year.
“I’m supporting Gryffindor,” said Luna, pointing unnecessarily at her hat. “Look what it does..."
She reached up and tapped the hat with her wand. It opened its mouth wide and gave an extremely realistic roar that made everyone in the vicinity jump.
The sound was exactly like that of a real lion, incredibly lifelike.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” said Luna happily. “I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, you know, but there wasn’t time."
“It's actually not too difficult!" said Evan, and he also took out his wand and tapped the sausage in front of him.
The sausage changed rapidly, becoming longer and larger, changing color to dark green, and finally turned into a Slytherin snake.
It flew towards Luna's hat and landed between the lion's jaws, its tail looped around its paws to hold it in place.
"That's exactly what I wanted!" Luna nodded, and the hat wobbled.
"It's still actually a sausage; if you get hungry during the game, you can just take it down and eat it," said Evan.
"I know. Anyway … good luck, Ronald!" She drifted away happily.
They had not quite recovered from the shock of Luna’s hat before Angelina came hurrying toward them, accompanied by Katie and Alicia.
“When you’re ready,” Angelina said, “we’re going to go straight down to the pitch, check out conditions and change. Ginny, you come too; put on your team robes. I just asked Madam Hooch, and she said we can have substitutes, but they can only play if someone else is genuinely unable to. In case of any mishap, you'll be ready to step in. Coote and Demelza are still too young."
“I see!" Ginny said, looking a bit excited, not as nervous as Ron.
In fact, considering the Weasley family's upbringing, Ron and Ginny were only a year apart, and their environments were similar. However, their personalities were completely opposite; Ginny was much more optimistic than Ron. Could it be that the younger sister was more favored than the younger brother?!
That's why Ginny was so confident?
Her only weakness was Harry, and after she decided to give up on Harry, this weakness was gone!
"You go ahead; we'll be there in a bit," Harry assured her. “Ron’s just got to have some breakfast."
“Evan and I will go ahead and find seats in the stands," Hermione said, pulling Evan to stand up, followed Angelina and walked outside.
Harry and Lavender stayed with Ron, hoping to spend their last moments cheering him up.
"We don't have to find a seat today."
"Lavender wants to kiss Ron, and there are so many people there; he'd feel embarrassed," Hermione whispered.
"How do you know?" Evan asked.
"Because she told her plan in the dormitory last night and I haven't slept yet," Hermione replied.
"I'm suddenly curious, what do you usually talk about in the bedroom at night?"
"Definitely more open-minded than you imagine. We..." Hermione suddenly stopped as they reached the Slytherin table. She clearly saw the words on their crown-shaped badges:
WEASLEY
IS OUR KING
"How could they do this? Ron will collapse when he sees these badges!" Hermione said angrily, looking at the shining silver badges in disbelief, "No, we have to go back and warn Harry; we can't let Ron see these badges."
As expected, when they returned, they witnessed Lavender openly kissing Ron in front of many people.
Then, she left laughing, and Ron seemed to wake up a bit, touching the spot on his face where he’d been kissed.
Looking at Ron and the particularly bold Lavender, Evan thought it would be better to be more reserved.
He wouldn't be able to stand it if Hermione was so enthusiastic.
More than ten minutes later, they left the castle, descended the stone steps and walked into the icy air.
The frosty grass crunched under their feet as Evan and Hermione hurried down the sloping lawns with the crowd toward the stadium.
There was no wind at all and the sky was a uniform pearly white, which meant that visibility would be good without the drawback of direct sunlight in the eyes.
These were relatively favorable conditions for the Keeper, and of course the same was true for the spectators below.
Just like Gryffindor, the Slytherin team had also recruited new players this year. Their Beaters, Derrick and Bole, had left, but it wasn't until the last day that everyone found out who they had chosen as the new Beaters.
Perhaps due to Malfoy's influence, Montague finally decided on Crabbe and Goyle.
In Angelina's words, they were the usual gorillas, and not someone who could fly particularly well.
There was no need to worry; they didn’t look bright enough to tell one end of a broom from another.
However, Crabbe and Goyle continued the Slytherin team's style as always, that was, robust, far beyond what a Quidditch player should be. They seemed to have given up on technique and fully planned to rely on their bodies to win.
To hell with Beaters, the bats in their hands were for hitting people.
