Chapter 32: Seeker's Protector
By October, Draco was not surprised to find that Harry seemed to dislike Lockhart even more. Whenever he saw Lockhart, he would try to stay close to the wall and avoid him.
Even so, Draco still encountered Harry with an embarrassed look on his face several times - he was always reluctantly dragged by Lockhart to take high-profile photos in the corridor.
There was also an annoying freshman who always surrounded Harry with a camera and took a lot of photos of him - often the kind of photos of him dodging in an awkward manner.
That annoying guy, is his name Colin Creevey? Draco sighed and decided to ignore it.
There was nothing he could do about it.
This may be the so-called "celebrity troubles" that Harry himself needs to face.
The reason Draco had no time to care was that he was too busy.
He had to attend Slytherin's Quidditch practice three times a week as Seeker, which was exhausting.
It wasn't that he was afraid of being tired. In his previous life, he had participated in many arduous Quidditch trainings - rather than being tired, he enjoyed it.
The wonderful feeling of flying always makes Draco intoxicated.
The twisting and weaving between the goalposts, the dodging and flying in the air above the field, and the thrilling sudden dives all made him feel a little bit of evidence that he was still alive - a kind of vitality that was resurrected from the dead.
"Oh, Malfoy, be careful, you're diving like that!" cried Adrian Puse, the Chaser, almost stumbling over the gust of wind he rushed past. "I almost thought you were a Quaffle!"
"I didn't mean to!" Draco suddenly raised the broom handle, climbed into the air, and shouted at him.
"New players are always like this, too excited and too cocky." Batsman Perrikin Derek grinned, shook the bat in his hand, and smiled at his teammate Lucien Boll beside him. "I don't know if he has a strong reaction ability."
"Malfoy, take this!" he shouted, swatting away an oncoming Bludger.
Perrikin Derek, that madman! Just as crazy as ever, just like in his previous life, absolutely the original! Draco cursed inwardly, hanging upside down on his broom, and doing a "sloth tree roll."
"That's not funny!" Draco shouted at him over the howling wind. "You're supposed to protect the Seeker!"
"Very clever!" the batsman exclaimed excitedly. "Another one?"
Draco rolled his eyes at the sky.
Perrigin Derek was a dark-haired senior Slytherin boy, a bit rebellious and one of the most troublesome members of the team. However, it was undeniable that his batting skills were first-rate, which gave him the capital to be arrogant and only respect those players who were truly skilled in Quidditch.
After living a new life, Draco already knew his character very well.
You can't be weak against Perrikin Derek, you have to be tough.
So, before the second Bludger could hit him, Draco rushed straight at him, frightened him with his "Transylvanian feint", and at the last moment, instead of touching the striker's nose, he dodged and, with a clever move, snatched the short stick from his hand.
"How?" Draco asked, stopping in mid-air and holding the short stick.
"You're quite brave, Draco Malfoy! I kind of like you," the arrogant beater didn't get angry, but laughed loudly in mid-air, "They definitely underestimated you!"
Very good, Draco thought calmly. Perikin Derek's approval would save him a lot of trouble. Teammates less skilled than Derek should consider whether they had the guts to provoke him.
"Malfoy, come here!" At this time, Flint shouted to Draco in the stands.
Draco threw the bat back to Derek, and soon, he landed lightly in the stands, standing in front of his captain, allowing him to look at him.
"You've surprised me a little, Malfoy. You're like a golden snitch. In one word, agile." Flint nodded at him smugly, his hands on his hips as he faced the court. "Look at this court. It won't be long before it's full of spectators, and they might cheer for your wonderful performance."
This is the Slytherin captain's method of encouraging conversation.
Flint talks privately with each player every year to give them some words of encouragement.
Draco stood silently beside him, gazing out at the empty court. Several silver-green figures, enhanced by the power of Nimbus 2001, moved through the air like shadows.
He heard his teammates yelling at each other, hitting Bludgers, or throwing Quaffles.
This feeling is both familiar and unfamiliar.
Returning to the court, he felt like a new life but also felt nervous.
He didn't know how he would feel when facing those audiences, would he feel excited or still feel dejected.
"Malfoy, I originally thought you were spoiled and wouldn't be able to adapt to the training rhythm, but unexpectedly, you are a good seedling. If you keep practicing at this rate, you will definitely surprise them when you go on the court." Flint said with relief. He no longer looked at Draco, but narrowed his eyes and stared at the shadows with a look of confidence, as if he was determined to win the Quidditch trophy this year.
Draco wanted to continue training for a long time.
Not to mention three days a week, even training seven days a week is no problem.
It's not like he hasn't done this in his previous life.
But at the moment, he can't push himself that hard. If he overtrains, he'll get tired.
The frail body of this twelve-year-old boy cannot make him as strong, robust and tough as he was when he was fifteen or sixteen.
This physical and psychological mismatch sometimes makes him feel lost.
But the good thing is that this means that there is still room for the Dark Lord to rise, so he must seize the time and deal with the damn Horcrux as soon as possible.
When he was not training, he would spend long periods of time in the library, busy studying ancient Greek and translating that damn little black book with obscure language.
He had no idea how much use the little black book could actually make.
This caused him to struggle with translation and doubt himself.
This damned difficult book! To some extent, Draco even looked forward to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. If he could get a basilisk fang - that would be the end of all problems - would he not have to translate this book?
For a moment, Draco didn't know whether the translation work or his new role as Seeker was more tiring.
At the same time, the identity of "Slytherin's new Seeker" made the students of Hogwarts talk about Draco, just like in his previous life - in an unfriendly way.
That day, as Draco was standing beside a row of crowded bookshelves, bending down to pick up the thick ancient Greek dictionary, the words of several students inadvertently floated into his ears.
"Anyway, this is blatant corruption!" Draco saw a blond-haired boy saying through the tiny gap between the books and the bookshelf. "Slytherin is so filthy that they let a second-year kid be a seeker!"
"So, Ernie, he really got into the school team by donating a broom? That Malfoy?" A boy with curly hair answered.
"Justin, this is too obvious. Apart from the Malfoy family, which other parents can be so generous? I heard Slytherin captain Marcus Flint showing off this to Gryffindor captain Oliver Wood. Seven brand new, shiny brooms, they are Nimbus 2001..." Ernie said with a somewhat indignant tone.
Draco could even hear the students gasping in envy.
Money can be very tempting. Even when mocking him, there's a hint of envy, Draco thought sarcastically. He lazily stood up, ready to leave.
No one wants to hear other people gossiping about them all the time. Even if Draco's heart has been tempered a little stronger than in his previous life, there's no need to worry about it, right?
"Oh, shut up, you know nothing!" A somewhat familiar voice angrily interrupted the conversation.
Draco stopped, turned around in confusion, and looked out through the gap - it was Hermione.
She hadn't been in his private space in the library for days.
That's right. After all, she is no longer the unwelcome little Gryffindor, so she naturally doesn't need to hide under the protection of him, the corrupt Slytherin.
Hermione walked out from the other side of the bookshelf and said to Ernie with a haughty look on her face, "If I were you, I would be careful with my words. At least I would know all the facts before speaking."
The boy named Ernie looked unhappy because he was rudely interrupted.
He was half a head taller than Hermione, and when he approached her, she looked particularly petite. "What does this have to do with an ignorant Gryffindor girl like you?" he said angrily.
"Ernie, don't talk like that, she didn't mean any harm..." said a girl with brown hair.
"Susan Bones, we are arguing about Slytherin issues! Think about what this house represents! This is a question of stance, a battle between justice and evil! This is not the time for you to speak for her, even if you are all Lockhart fans!" Ernie said impatiently, continuing to glare at Hermione.
The girl named Susan immediately fell silent.
"You, a Hufflepuff, can spread rumors everywhere, but I can't come and refute them?" Hermione held her head high, her aura undeterred by Ernie's height. She said righteously, "I was there watching the Slytherin selection the other day. He won the Seeker position fair and square by defeating the other candidates."
"Why are you going to watch the Slytherin selection? Since when does a Gryffindor defend an unscrupulous Slytherin? Are you still sane? Do you know what you are doing?" Ernie's face showed a look of contempt and confusion.
"This has nothing to do with the college! No one should be wronged! Who gave you the power to claim to be righteous? Maybe you are the destroyer of justice!" Hermione's face flushed red. She said this and turned around the bookshelf angrily. She didn't even pay attention to Susan's words of persuasion, wanting to leave this group of boring, gossiping Hufflepuffs.
What right do they have to say that about him? They don't know anything!
What does this have to do with the academy? And what does this have to do with justice and evil?
It is pure prejudice to divide people into righteous or evil based on their academy!
He's just an innocent Slytherin boy, he has nothing to do with evil!
When she was docked 50 points last school year, he was the only one who was willing to encourage her. At that time, the Gryffindor students still treated her like a slug! She pursed her lips and thought.
There were indeed some rumors questioning the legitimacy of Draco's appointment as Seeker.
This is exactly the same as what Harry experienced last year. There are always some people who look at others with malice and slander them wantonly, without considering the impact of these words on the parties involved!
The more Hermione thought about it, the angrier she became.
At the same time, a feeling of worry about him came over her: If the boy heard such discussions, would a sad expression appear on his usually calm and indifferent face?
She angrily turned around the bookshelf and suddenly found that the boy she was worried about was standing there.
A rare smile appeared on his pale face and he looked at her softly.
"Thank you for speaking up for me, Hermione," he said, his mouth curving into that beautiful curve that Hermione sometimes imagined.
He looked really good when he smiled, and Hermione was a little dazed.
"Ah, you're welcome. I think I understand your flying skills better than anyone else. You taught me to fly very well last year, and I could even take others with me, but they didn't know..." She said hurriedly, her face flushing a little.
There are many reasons why you blush.
For example, it might be because of the aftereffects of an emotional outburst during an argument just now; or it might be because she felt a little embarrassed that he had discovered her losing her temper; in short, she would never admit that it was because he smiled at her so beautifully.
"I don't care what they say - you can never shut everyone up. But I'm glad you didn't misunderstand me." Draco lowered his head and pretended to flip through the dictionary in his hand to cover up the sudden sourness in his eyes.
Every time I am talked about behind my back, it doesn't feel good.
Even though he once thought that his mentality was mature enough and his heart was strong enough, in the end, he found that he was still a person who could be hurt and cared about other people's opinions.
If no one defended him today, he would probably pretend not to care, walk away quietly as if nothing had happened, and continue to numb himself; but once someone spoke up for him, he couldn't help but care, and even felt some unfamiliar emotions - sadness and grievance.
This strange emotion was so intense that even he was startled.
And when he found out that the person who spoke for him was Hermione Granger, he was even more surprised and felt doubly wronged.
After all, in her past life, she had ridiculed him for the Seeker issue. He couldn't let go of her harsh words, which had stayed with him for a long time.
But now, the past has disappeared like smoke.
He felt relieved.
Most importantly, she believed in him and was willing to defend him. That was enough.
She was now willing to believe that he had the ability to be a seeker.
Now, she might be the only one who was willing to believe him so passionately and speak for her.
This realization was like an axe, which made a small crack in his heart as hard as ice.
It was clearly the late autumn season of October, but it seemed as if a warm April breeze was blowing towards him, and a small piece of the frozen riverbed "cracked" and cracked absurdly.
As Hermione said, Draco didn't get into the team entirely by donating a broom, but that would be a bit of an underestimation of the Slytherin Quidditch team's ambition.
This concerns the honor and disgrace of the entire college for the entire year, how can we treat it so lightly?
Slytherin captain Flint is often considered rude and abrasive – and to some extent he is – but he is also a highly responsible and ambitious captain.
Flint wanted Slytherin to win the Quidditch Cup more than anyone else. All the players were carefully selected by him, including Draco, the Seeker.
Money and sponsorship can win the favor of a Slytherin, and perhaps even an admission ticket to participate in the selection as an exception; but strength is the decisive factor in gaining the respect of Slytherin.
But people often overlook the hard work, talent and sweat of a Slytherin.
It seems that "any means necessary" can summarize all of Slytherin.
Hermione secretly looked at the boy with his head down. His profile was shrouded in the shadow cast by the bookshelf. Although she couldn't see his expression clearly, she could feel the sadness that permeated his silence.
"Oh, by the way, Draco, I came to thank you for your birthday present—" She wisely changed the subject, pretending not to notice the watery corners of his eyes, and said cheerfully, "A pair of very useful binoculars."
"I'm glad you like it." Draco calmed down, raised his head, and said with sudden enthusiasm, "This is the latest model. You'll find it particularly useful during Quidditch matches. They use the latest lenses, which are clearer than previous telescopes."
Hermione stared at his face without blinking, and when she saw that he didn't seem to be bothered by the gossiping students anymore, she felt relieved and nodded happily.
Noticing the dictionary in Draco's hand, she asked with interest, "Is this Ancient Greek? I didn't know Hogwarts had such a course."
"It's not a school course, it's some extracurricular interest research." Draco explained to her as he walked towards his private space.
"It's a very special hobby." Hermione followed. She felt that he shouldn't be left alone at this time. At least, someone should talk to him for a while.
So, she adopted a tone of surprise and extended the conversation, "I thought no one but me would like this language."
Draco raised his eyebrows and glanced at her. "It sounds like you know ancient Greek."
"Just a little bit. My mom once took an elective course in Ancient Greek, and she has always loved reading Dante and Plato in Ancient Greek as my bedtime stories..." Hermione said calmly, but Draco sensed her slight desire to show off.
Isn't Mrs. Granger, who seems gentle and kind, a bit too pushy? Don't bully Draco for not understanding Muggles.
Normally, Muggle children would listen to bedtime stories like Snow White, right?
But at this moment, Mrs. Granger's chicken-raising seemed to be of great benefit, which was surprisingly beneficial.
"Very impressive." Draco said seriously, satisfying the little girl's vanity.
"Well, could you please help me translate this passage? What does it say?" He took out a page of the little black book he had copied and handed it to Hermione carefully.
Hermione was clearly a little pleased with herself, happy that she could help Draco. Helping him in some way was perhaps the best way to alleviate her sympathy and worry for him.
"I can try. Come, get that dictionary and let's look it up together." She said positively.
Just like that, a fluffy little head with brown hair and a smooth little head with platinum blonde hair leaned side by side on the comfortable and spacious sofa, immersed in the ocean of ancient Greek with great concentration.
After an entire afternoon, the text was finally presented to Draco in a language he could understand, with clear logic.
"I was born in a remote village on the Mediterranean coast. People call me Herpo. I'm obsessed with the wonder and subtlety of magic, and have discovered many interesting things. They say it's heresy and evil. But what's wrong with magic? I enjoy the joy of exploration. If anyone can see my notes and my achievements, please pass them on and don't bury them. Remember, it's not the magic itself that's wrong, but the people who use it for the wrong things..."
"I've heard of him!" Hermione's brown eyes sparkled in the firelight. "This could be the vile Herpo, the Dark wizard from 100 AD. I read about him in a book!"
"Really? Tell me more about him," Draco said with interest.
How remarkable! She knew something Draco didn't, Hermione thought.
"I stumbled upon that book while I was having fun," she whispered, recalling the text. "Herpo the Foul was a dark wizard from ancient Greece. He was one of the earliest known dark wizards, and many of his researches still influence dark magic today. He is considered the first wizard to have bred a basilisk, and is therefore famous for it. In addition, he invented many evil curses and became the first wizard to successfully create a Horcrux. He was also one of the earliest Parseltongues."
The amount of information was overwhelming. Draco looked puzzled, his heart pounding. This wasn't just about the Horcruxes mentioned in the notes; it even mentioned the Basilisk.
So, the pits that appeared in Hogwarts in the past two years were basically dug by Herpo 100 years ago?
"Hermione, you are so amazing. Your profound knowledge sometimes makes me feel that you are not like a Muggle-born wizard..." After a moment of silence, Draco said sincerely.
In both his lives he had never cared for the name "Herbo".
If she hadn't reminded him, he might not have realized how important the little black book in the secret room of his house was.
"Where on earth did you get that?" Hermione asked, eyeing him warily.
"I saw it in a notebook," Draco said briefly. "If you're interested, I can show it to you next time."
"Why do you think I'm interested in evil dark magic?" Hermione changed her expression to one of disgust and seriously advised him, "I suggest you don't try to understand it. It sounds very dangerous."
"Of course, I won't put it into practice, I just want to understand it." Draco said.
Hermione didn't believe him, and her expression became even more skeptical.
Under her intense gaze, Draco knew she hadn't given up on her suspicions about him. With a quick roll of his eyes, he asked her, "Could it be that when you encounter new knowledge you've never known before, your first reaction isn't to explore, but to escape?"
"That's not the case. Of course I'm curious too. There are several words in that introduction that I don't quite understand, such as Horcrux. I've never heard of it and haven't found it in the library." A look of confusion appeared on Hermione's face.
"It's probably some evil black magic." Draco was a little unnatural and spoke vaguely to Hermione.
He didn't really want her to know too much about Horcruxes, as it would be too dangerous for her.
It would be best if she wasn't in danger.
Even being infatuated with Lockhart was better than studying Horcruxes, Draco thought with gritted teeth.
But in Hermione's eyes, this attitude was a bit evasive. Moreover, he also admitted that his research involved "evil black magic."
The result was that she looked at him with even more doubt, as if she was meeting him for the first time.
Just when she was arguing for him and believed that he had nothing to do with evil, she seemed to have discovered his unknown evil hobby.
And she wasn't sure if she could understand the merits of this evil hobby.
Draco gritted his teeth and accepted Hermione's scrutiny. He didn't intend to explain any further.
He tried to focus on Hailbo's notes.
Who translated that Horcrux knowledge into English?
Draco sincerely hoped that it could be anyone, but not the Dark Lord.
It wasn't impossible for the Dark Lord to translate it, Draco thought. After all, before his first downfall, the Dark Lord had always favored the Malfoys. Besides his favor for their connections, wealth, and methods, perhaps it was also due to their rich background in the Dark Arts.
"So, what's Parseltongue?" Hermione persisted, still glancing at the paper.
"Oh, I know that. Parseltongues refer to those who can speak the language of snakes and communicate with snakes." Draco carefully put away the parchment filled with translations and decided not to let her read any further.
Hermione Granger, whose curiosity was as numerous as her thick hair and whose mind was terrifyingly active, asked him a series of questions that hit the point directly, which made him a little overwhelmed.
"This is a very rare ability, and few wizards can master it. The last wizard famous for Parseltongue was Salazar Slytherin." He thought about it and briefly told her some information in an attempt to get away with it.
In fact, those are just some superficial contents that can be found in "Hogwarts, A History of the School".
Parseltongue. If Hermione had only looked it up in a book, she would have known that the Dark Lord was a well-known Parseltongue among modern wizards.
In his previous life, in Malfoy Manor, the Dark Lord was always inseparable from the giant snake named Nagini, hissing at it in words that no one could understand.
Another Parseltongue that is about to become world-famous is Harry Potter.
Perhaps, he needed to remind Harry indirectly at the right time, at least to prevent him from revealing this secret in front of everyone and being talked about by those ignorant students who believed everything they heard - especially the Hufflepuffs.
After all, it's not pleasant to be misunderstood, even if some of the misunderstanding is based on basic facts. Draco smiled bitterly as he fell into deep thought.