Chương 332: Chapter 332: Substitute (Edited)
"Director, the Fat Lady has been found. In the portrait on the third floor, her mood is quite bad," Snape said quietly as he approached Dumbledore quickly after entering the Great Hall.
Coincidentally, they were close to Tom, close enough for him to overhear their conversation.
As they approached, Tom woke up but still pretended to be asleep.
"Well, I've just found a temporary guardian for the entrance to the Gryffindor portrait. Tomorrow morning, students will be able to return there," Dumbledore said.
"Oh, are there still portraits willing to do that job?" Snape mocked, aware of the portraits' attitudes after hearing what had happened to the Fat Lady. Finding one willing to take on that responsibility among those scared portraits was not easy.
"It's Sir Cadogan, he volunteered to do the job," Dumbledore replied.
"Oh..." Snape raised his eyebrows.
Both of them headed in another direction, and their voices became increasingly inaudible.
It turns out that if you want to discuss something secret, it's best to do it in a place with no one around; you never know if the person in front of you is pretending to be asleep.
Harry noticed Dumbledore's arrival as soon as the doors of the Great Hall opened. Seeing the two professors whispering in a corner, Harry was anxious, scratching his head, dying to run over and listen to what they were talking about. Harry glanced over his shoulder and found his best friend Ron with wide-open eyes, and it seemed that Ron hadn't slept either.
At that moment, Dumbledore and Snape moved, and their steps approached. Harry and Ron immediately closed their eyes, pretending to be fast asleep.
"... We've searched the dungeons, the Astronomy Tower, and the owlery, but we haven't found any trace of him," Snape said.
"Very well, Severus, I suppose he wouldn't stay here," Dumbledore replied.
The next part of the conversation was very intriguing for Harry, who was listening with interest, almost forgetting to pretend he was asleep.
"Sirius Black, a remarkable wizard, escaped from Azkaban and then broke into Hogwarts on his own..." Snape spoke with sarcasm, emphasizing the "on his own" part.
Just mentioning that name, Sirius Black, stirred up indescribable hatred in Snape: it was this person, along with James Potter, who had caused the loss of Lily... If it weren't for them, at least Lily wouldn't have died, wouldn't she?
Dumbledore, being as shrewd as he was, couldn't let the implicit meaning in Snape's words pass. He glanced at him and said, "I trust every professor at Hogwarts."
Snape closed his mouth and said nothing more.
Dumbledore turned his attention to Harry, who was a few steps away, and said in a low voice, "I believe Hogwarts Castle is safe, for now, there's no need to tell Potter anything about this, let him rest a bit. By the way, have you heard about what happened today in front of the Gryffindor common room door? Quite a pair of excellent young wizards..."
As Dumbledore whispered to Snape, he gradually moved away.
The voices of the two were already inaudible, but Harry's mind seemed to be filled with mush; he had the same question in his mind as Snape, that is, how did Sirius Black get in?
If they had asked him to answer that question a few minutes ago, he would have said without hesitation that Snape had brought Sirius into Hogwarts, to use Sirius Black to get rid of him and avenge Lord Voldemort.
However, after hearing those words, he hesitated. If it was really him who brought Black into the castle, why was Snape asking such an unnecessary question? And how could Sirius Black be so careless in his actions?
Harry delved into his thoughts, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
...
The repercussions of Sirius Black's intrusion were profound. The portrait of the Fat Lady, which had been torn apart, was replaced by the portrait of Sir Cadogan.
This knight, with an energetic and belligerent character, spent half of his day trying to provoke people to duel and the other half inventing new passwords: at least two changes a day, which was a great nuisance for young wizards of Gryffindor. Those with poor memories, like Neville, were excluded daily and had to wait for someone to let them in. This tempted them to seek unorthodox methods.
However, the hot news was always overshadowed by even more important news. As the Quidditch match approached, discussions about Black finally came to an end.
But along with the first day of the Quidditch match came increasingly adverse weather, which didn't stop Gryffindor's team captain, Oliver Wood, from intensifying the training. Under Madame Hooch's supervision, the team worked hard in each training session.
And right after the last training session before the match day, Wood brought news.
"We won't be playing against Slytherin!" Anger was reflected on Wood's face. "Flint came to see me and told me we'll have to face Ravenclaw instead. He says their Seeker hasn't fully recovered from his arm injury yet."
"Nonsense!" Harry shouted angrily, "Malfoy's arm is already healed; he's faking it! We trained specifically to face Slytherin, and now they tell us we'll be playing against Ravenclaw?".
"Can't Ravenclaw protest this unfair decision?" Fred complained as well, quite upset.
Angelina thought for a moment. "Maybe Ravenclaw thinks they have a better chance of winning in this unfavorable weather. The rain will make it difficult for the Seeker to see, which will weaken our advantage, but it won't affect Ravenclaw's ability to move quickly much."
Angelina's explanation made sense, at least most of the players believed it.
"Then let's show Ravenclaw what courage and skill in battle mean. Our combination of Beaters is the best in Hogwarts; we'll surely make Ravenclaw regret messing with us," Wood encouraged everyone.
Harry, for his part, promised himself that he would put on a great performance and catch the Golden Snitch as quickly as possible so that his teammates wouldn't have to endure the rain for too long.
The weather remained the central issue for this match. In reality, anything Marcus Flint said was nonsense. His real reason for avoiding the match was that he didn't want to fly on his broomstick in these extreme weather conditions: flying in the middle of a storm with strong winds and lightning! Just imagine, how strong must the winds be at that height? And most importantly, no one knew when the Quidditch match would end; the only way to end it was to catch the Golden Snitch. Marcus thought it would be unrealistic to try to catch it in pouring rain, and the match could last for several hours, even until the weather cleared up.
Considering this, Marcus was desperate to play against Gryffindor.
As for Ravenclaw, they had their own opinion about it. Ravenclaw's Quidditch team captain, Alejandro Richie, decided to face Gryffindor in the pouring rain for another reason. And that reason had nothing to do with the "amplification of advantages and diminishment of disadvantages" that Angelina mentioned. Rather, he had obtained special cloaks that were perfect for use in heavy rain.
"Waterproof Cloaks!" Richie handed out several new cloaks to his teammates on the Quidditch field. "Remember the Charms lesson? I tried applying the waterproof spell to these cloaks, and it worked!"
With that said, he put on a cloak himself. Indeed, when the rain started falling, it simply slid off the cloak without penetrating it.
However, a simple "waterproof cloak" wasn't enough, as rainwater could still enter from the lower edge of the cloak and wet the pants. Therefore, Richie added a waterproof spell to several pairs of pants. Additionally, with the mask on the cloak, it provided complete protection, greatly enhancing Ravenclaw's Quidditch team's performance on rainy days.
Once the players put on the waterproof cloaks, their appearance changed completely. The annoying rain disappeared, and it looked like they were in a warm and dry place instead of being on the wind and rain-battered Quidditch field.
"We should apply the waterproof spell to the masks as well!" After flying a few laps, the Seeker, Roger Davies, suggested to Captain Richie.
He had just realized that although the mask protected against the rain, water was accumulating on it, obstructing his vision.
"No problem, Impervius!" Under the watchful eyes of his teammates, Richie gently touched Roger's mask with his wand.
The next moment, not a single drop of water remained on the mask, and the rain couldn't stay on it.
"Incredible!" Roger praised before mounting his broomstick and soaring into the air. This time, he didn't have a single drop of water on his body, and his vision was much clearer than before.
He flew merrily through the air on his broomstick, circling the Quidditch field.
Finally, he reached one of the extremely high goalposts on the Quidditch field. Excited, he waved to Richie and gave him a thumbs-up.
Richie instinctively felt a bit uneasy but didn't know why.
At that moment, lightning streaked across the sky, and Richie instantly understood. He shouted, "Look out!"
But it was already too late. Lightning struck one of the goalposts. Roger startled and jerked, making a sharp movement on his broomstick and accidentally falling from it.
Fortunately, he wasn't hit by the lightning, but unfortunately, he was nine meters off the ground.
Ravenclaw's teammates only heard a loud "bang!" as they watched Roger fall into the mud, splashing a large amount of water and mud.
"Merlin!" Richie exclaimed, alarmed. Falling from a height of nine meters would have been enough to meet Merlin if it hadn't been for the water and mud on the ground.
But even with a bit of cushioning, Roger was seriously injured. He lost consciousness without saying a word. Some teammates wanted to approach and help him, but they heard Richie's loud shout, "Don't touch him!"
Richie knew that falling from that height could cause serious damage to bones and internal organs. Carelessly lifting him at this moment could make the broken bones pierce the already broken internal organs, causing severe bleeding or exacerbating the displacement of the internal organs.
In summary, fallen injured individuals should not be carelessly touched.
"Don't move him!"
Richie quickly mounted his broomstick and, after leaving a statement, flew rapidly towards the castle. He had to find Madam Pomfrey.
Flying at great speed, he went through the hospital window in less than a minute and shouted to the bewildered Madam Pomfrey, "My teammate fell from the air!"
Madam Pomfrey, as a renowned healer brought in by Dumbledore, wasn't surprised by Richie's sudden appearance, although it caught her off guard. She reacted immediately and, in less than ten seconds, pulled out her first aid kit and hopped on Richie's broomstick. Then they flew out of the window together.
When Madam Pomfrey reached Roger, it had been less than two minutes since his fall.
In just two minutes, blood had gushed from the corners of Roger's mouth.
"This is a big problem," Madam Pomfrey said with a very serious look, but no matter how serious she was, her hands didn't stop working as she quickly pulled out various bottles and jars, pouring their contents into Roger's mouth or over his body. "Internal organ rupture, broken bones, fortunately every few years, there's always one who falls from a great height; I'm always well-prepared and organized."
After applying the medications, Madam Pomfrey took out her wand and pointed it at Roger. Instantly, the blood stopped flowing from his mouth, but his face remained pale as paper.
"He's saved," Madam Pomfrey frowned, "But he must stay in the infirmary tonight. I need to monitor his recovery."
"Alright," Richie responded immediately, "Just..."
Madam Pomfrey cut off his continuation abruptly, "No 'buts,' he won't make it to the Quidditch match tomorrow, his bones need time to heal."
For Richie, it was like a bolt from the blue: the match was tomorrow, and his team's Seeker was severely injured!
Changing opponents was no longer possible; the time for that had passed. Unless the Ravenclaw team forfeited, they would have to face Gryffindor tomorrow.
In the current situation, giving up a match was the same as giving up the House Cup.
"This is a disaster..." Richie's face turned pale, his eyes lifeless. "Now we're in trouble..."
Suddenly, he stopped. Because he had thought of an idea that seemed feasible: Tom Yodel.
This first-year student's performance as a Chaser had been impressive, but unfortunately, he stopped playing Quidditch after his second year.
Now, with Roger, the Chaser, gravely injured, Richie immediately thought of this young student.
So he let Madam Pomfrey take the injured Roger back to the castle, while he disbanded the team and hurriedly returned to the Ravenclaw Tower with his broomstick; he didn't even have time to change his clothes. His clothes and shoes were covered in mud from the ground.
He found Tom in the common room, and in the face of Tom's astonished expression, he asked, "Yodel, can you play Quidditch tomorrow?"
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