Snape limped away, and Filch, seeing this, could only regretfully follow him.
He had previously thought they could finally reopen the dungeons this time, but it was just another false alarm.
"This is not fair!"
Fred pouted in the direction Snape left, complaining, "Clearly there were three people from Hufflepuff, so why does he only deduct points from Gryffindor?"
"Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, don't worry about the details," Kael patted his shoulder, seriously saying, "Here, on behalf of all Hufflepuff, I want to express the most sincere gratitude to Gryffindor."
Fred put his hand on Kael's arm, equally serious, "In return, Gryffindor would like to make a request."
"No," Kael refused without even thinking.
"Hey, I didn't even say what it was..."
"Whatever it is, no!"
"We can talk about this later..." Cedric frowned and said, "Did you notice that Professor Snape seems to have injured his leg?"
"We knew that a few days ago."
George shrugged, "When he was teaching us in Potion Class, he almost stood in one spot the entire time and didn't walk around. Which was impossible before."
"From then on, we suspected something was wrong with his leg."
"Also, we found blood on the floor of the Potion Class, but none of the young wizards got hurt that day."
Fred and George took turns speaking, and soon presented the clues they had found earlier.
"No wonder we haven't seen much of him lately."
Cedric pondered, "But don't you find it strange? This is Hogwarts, so why would Professor Snape be so seriously injured?"
"Who knows," Fred thought for a moment, "Maybe he went to the Forbidden Forest. I heard he often goes there to gather some Potion Materials, perhaps he encountered some dangerous Fantastic Beasts."
"Or maybe he went to the Restricted Area," George reminded, "Don't forget all the professors were looking for the Troll in the castle on Halloween. Maybe he went there and got bitten by the Three-Headed Dog."
As they chatted, they left this corridor.
Snape and Filch had already left, but nobody knew if they might suddenly turn back.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, it was better to stay away from here.
Afterwards, the twins needed to return to Gryffindor Tower, so they parted ways at the staircase.
Kael and Cedric went downstairs towards the Hufflepuff Common Room.
As for Conna, she said she had something to do in the library and left halfway through.
...
In the following week, Kael got busier, and so did everyone else. They all had to spare at least an hour each day to tinker with a new product in an empty classroom.
Until the second week, when the Quidditch game finally started.
That morning, the weather was clear and cold, the dining hall was filled with the enticing aroma of sausages, and everyone was eagerly anticipating an exciting Quidditch game, chatting cheerfully at the tables.
"The first match is between Gryffindor and Slytherin."
Cedric said as he ate his bread and looked at the schedule he had organized, "They're the first match, only then it will be us against Ravenclaw."
"Gryffindor..." Mikel asked thoughtfully, "Their Seeker is that first-year student named Potter, right?"
There was never any secret at Hogwarts. Despite Wood's best efforts to guard the news, Harry's appointment as the Seeker was leaked out.
Being a first-year exception to become a Seeker, making him the youngest player in a century… Harry's hype quickly surpassed Kael's, becoming the subject of everyone's discussion.
Although the topics of discussion varied, some thought he would perform excellently, while others were skeptical.
For example, Slytherin's Malfoy had publicly stated on more than one occasion that they would carry a mattress and run under Harry to prevent him from falling.
Others all cared about whether Harry performed well, but only Malfoy worried if he would fall.
Heh, they must truly love each other.
Everyone raised their heads and looked towards Gryffindor's table.
Harry was sitting there looking annoyed, surrounded by a group of people holding sausages or toast, seemingly trying to persuade him to eat something.
"He looks quite nervous," Mikel remarked.
"It's his first time playing a match... well, at least most people are like that." Cedric said halfway, then suddenly noticed Kael calmly eating toast.
Also a newcomer playing for the first time, but he didn't seem nervous at all, acting no different from usual.
Just then, Fred and George walked into the auditorium, but they didn't sit down to eat; they just wandered a bit and left.
After seeing them, Kael, Conna, Cedric, and Ravenclaw's Cho quickly finished their breakfast and left the auditorium together.
Following Fred and George, they arrived at the entrance passage to the Quidditch Pitch.
Somehow, a wooden rack had appeared here, neatly displaying various cheering tools glowing with blue light.
There were bottles that could emit a lion's roar, as well as glow sticks crafted into snake shapes that could dance in the air.
The shimmering blue light seemed to drive away the cold; the closer you got to the rack, the more obvious the warmth you felt.
"Bluebell Flames... what a genius idea." Fred said, touching the rack, "Those young wizards finally don't have to freeze while watching the game."
Bluebell Flames is a magical Charm. Despite the word "flame" in its name, its temperature isn't high, only about fifty degrees, and it could even be held in hand without any problem.
And it looks beautiful, like blue bellflowers.
"Everything is here," George said. "We need to go into the field in advance later, so we won't be able to help."
"No worries, we'll handle the rest," Cedric said with a smile.
Originally they hadn't planned on having Fred and George help today; it was they who insisted.
Cho found a place beside the rack and sat down contentedly, "But honestly, this place is just too comfortable."
At this moment, Cho finally understood why Kael chose to set up the selling point here.
The warm Bluebell Flames danced, driving away the cold. It was like two completely different worlds from the frigid passage.
The game would soon begin.
Fred and George were called to the players' changing room by Wood, and not far away, the figures of young wizards began to appear.
They left the auditorium, heading towards the Quidditch Pitch.
...