Chapter 132: Chapter 132
He, along with Neville and a once again silent Hermione in tow, made their way to their friends.
"Did you hear how Harry killed that troll?"
"I heard he used a really powerful spell to blow it to pieces."
"Really? I heard he through it out of one of the second story windows."
Harry did not allow the conversations going on around him to bother him. They had been happening ever since he had killed that troll. The only thing he did do was take careful note to see which ones were continuing to look at him in fear. Thankfully, there were only a few left. Since there had been no perpetuation of violence on his part since the troll incident, most people had just decided that him killing a troll was some kind of noble act designed to protect the school. Harry had no intention of dissuading them of that illusion.
As he sat down, greeting his friends and receiving greetings in turn, Harry let his eyes drift to the Slytherin table. He immediately locked onto the form of the three individuals that he had befriended. He had been hoping to convince his Slytherin friends to sit with them at breakfast, lunch and dinner, but so far had not been able to bring the subject up.
The reason, of course, was due to how Daphne Greengrass still refused to have anything to do with him. He wasn't sure why she was so adamant on keeping her distance, but it was very unfortunate, both because it hindered his plans and because he really did want his friends to sit with him.
Looking at the trio of Slytherins, Harry saw that they were being very quiet. Even the normally talkative Tracey was silent. He frowned. It was not hard to see the worried look on Tracey's face. Blaise was harder to read, but by now Harry could claim to have gotten a decent enough grasp on how the boy worked to tell he was unnerved by something as well. And it was not hard to figure out why.
Or more specifically, who. Daphne Greengrass was not looking like her usual self. The cold indifference was still there. Her icy chips of blue were the same as always. The difference came in her posture. Her shoulders and back, normally set perfectly straight were slumped. Harry even noticed the bags under her eyes. Hardly noticeable. He guessed she was covering them with make up, but Harry could easily tell the difference between now and the first time they had met. She looked tired.
He contemplated this new change. Had something happened to her recently? Was she under some kind of duress? Perhaps a family matter? Whatever it was, it must be a grave matter. The girl had an extraordinarily well-crafted mask. For something to be capable of putting a crack in it meant it had to be a monumentally stressful matter.
With nary a sound or outward sign of his thoughts, Harry did his best to put the matter out of his mind. Until Daphne or one of her friends came to him for help, there was nothing he could do. Forcing the issue would only exacerbate the problem.
Piling on some eggs and a few bagels, Harry began to focus on his food and the conversations going on between his friends. He found himself talking to Terry about his upcoming Quidditch match.
"Are you worried?"
"Not really," Harry shrugged and put a fork full of eggs into his mouth with a thoughtful expression. He swallowed, then looked at Terry. "Woods has been training us a lot, and we've gone over several plays. He's particularly focused on the Slytherin team, since they're well established as cheaters. A lot of what we've been focusing on recently are learning what kind of dirty tricks they'll attempt to pull. I don't think there's anything the Slytherin team can do that we haven't already covered."
"The Slytherin team has been known to cheat a lot," Terry allowed, "I've heard tell from some of the older years that that's the only reason they've won the Quidditch Cup several years in a row." He shook his head. "Personally I think it's a disgrace to Quidditch to cheat your way to victory. There's no sportsmanship in that."
"Tracey certainly agrees with that sentiment."
The two shared a bit of a chuckle over that. Tracey Davis' disgust with her own house team was well known to the friends. Several times already she had ranted about how repulsed she was that her own house team was being ruined by a bunch of overgrown troll's. Personally, Harry just thought she was upset that the Slytherin Captain, Flint, didn't allow females on the team. She had complained many times about how sexist the Slytherin team was as well.
"Still, you're not worried at all?" asked Terry, getting his fifteen seconds of laughter under control, "you still haven't gotten a broom yet. Or have you?"
Harry grimaced.
"No, I still don't have a broom." He ran a hand through his hair. A nervous gesture. "To be honest, I would have thought that problem would have been solved by now, but I guess there are more problems than I thought."
"What were you trying to do?" the question came from Susan, who was sitting on his left. She looked at him curiously, her head tilted to the side.
Harry opened his mouth to answer, but didn't get the chance. A light sound, magnified by the acoustics of the hall and most likely some kind of sound amplifying spell, sounded throughout the room. Everyone turned to Professor Dumbledore, who was tapping his spoon on a goblet.
Professor Dumbledore stood up and smiled at the crowd of curious students that were obviously wondering why he was here, and why he had just interrupted breakfast.
"Good morning to you all. I hope you have been enjoying your time here at Hogwarts. I do not normally do this, but as the situation has just come up last night, I have an important announcement to make, one that I think many of you will be elated to hear."
There was a twinkle of amusement in Dumbledore's eyes as he spoke.
"Before we begin, I would like to thank Mister Potter for his efforts on this. Without him, none of what I have to say would have been possible."
Harry blinked as all eyes turned towards him, his friends included. He wasn't aware of having done anything that would warrant such a commendation, unless...
Harry's eyes widened in realization just as Dumbledore continued, "thanks to his efforts Nimbus Racing Broom company has decided to donate twenty-eight brand new Nimbus 2000's to our school for our four Quidditch teams to use."
There was a moment of shocked silence. All eyes had gone wide as they stared at the raven haired boy. Harry shifted a bit under the stares, wondering if perhaps he had gone too far this time. Maybe he should have done something a bit more discreet.
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