cycle

"What Katie came across before, Professor." Harry replied, handing the necklace wrapped in the scarf to McGonagall.

"My God." I rarely see Professor McGonagall showing such a tense expression, "I heard Hagrid say that the four of you saw Miss Bell appear—no, no, no, Filch, they were with me. Together!"

She sternly waved her arm at Filch, who was walking towards this side with the detector in high spirits: "Take this necklace to Professor Snape immediately, and don't touch it!"

Rain and snow kept splashing in from the open windows. Even though there were burning torches on both sides, walking in the corridor didn't feel much warmer than before. Lini was still supported by me and Hermione, and she kept Trembling, sobbing sound from the throat.The junior students are nestled in the college lounge to enjoy the warmth of the fireplace, and most of the senior students who went to Hogsmeade to play have not yet returned to Hogwarts, so along the way, apart from the humming and singing Other than Peeves, who had smeared the unknown brown liquid on the wall, he didn't touch anyone else.

Lini, who was frightened, could barely speak, and could only nod her head in agreement when the boys explained the situation to McGonagall.Professor McGonagall frowned, and the two eyebrows were almost connected together: "So, Miss Bell went to the toilet at the Three Broomsticks to get the brown paper package and thought she needed to pass it on to someone in the school. She accidentally touched the ripped package during the argument, and that's all you know, right Lini?"

Lini nodded, I think she has completely collapsed, just now Hermione and I just needed to support her shoulders, but now it takes a lot of effort to prevent her from squatting on the cold corridor floor.

"Okay," Professor McGonagall said softly, "Miss Granger, I hope you can send Lini to the school hospital and ask Madam Pomfrey to give her some sedative."

"Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked immediately after Hermione helped Lini to leave.

McGonagall, who was watching the backs of Hermione and Lini, turned around, looking a little surprised: "The headmaster won't be back until Monday, Potter, but I think you can tell me anything you want to say about this terrible thing .”

Harry was silent for a while, and Professor McGonagall had led us to the door of her office.

"I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, Professor." A door opened in front of us, and Harry said clearly to McGonagall, "I see—"

He almost swallowed the words and glared at the corner of the office. Draco was sitting there with a sullen expression, copying something on the parchment. Draco obviously heard what Harry said when he entered the door. A mocking sneer.

"I don't know why you have such an idea, Potter, but as you can see, Mr. Malfoy didn't go to Hogsmeade today, and he has been in confinement with me for failing to complete his Transfiguration homework twice in a row. "McGonagall looked suspiciously at Harry, then at Draco, and finally at me.

Ron coughed twice in embarrassment, and Talus gave a strange smile: "Because you didn't finish your homework?"

"Yes, so I asked him to make up all the homework within today." McGonagall glanced at us sternly, "But since you said so, Potter—Mr. Can someone help you bring a package containing dark magic items from Hogsmeade?"

"Of course not, Professor." Draco replied slowly, narrowing his eyes viciously in our direction, the black shadow under his eyes was clearly visible under the light. "I don't know why Potter thinks that way, maybe his brain was kicked by a giant."

"If she asks that, of course Malfoy will answer no!" Harry, who returned to the Gryffindor tower, sat down on the armchair in a bad mood, and seemed to try his best to control himself so as not to shout loudly. "But I'm sure, he deliberately didn't hand in the Transfiguration class homework and asked Mag to lock him up and clear his suspicions. We saw Zambini on the Three Broomsticks, and he might have entrusted Zambini—"

"But Katie got the package in the bathroom." I pointed out the irrationality of the idea, "Whether it's Zambini, Crabbe, or Gore, they're bound to cause a commotion in the women's bathroom , and they don't have such a thing as an invisibility cloak. Besides, we have all seen the consequences of Neville wanting my dad to put him in confinement. Dad arranged the confinement for the day after the party. Now he is not only going to Slughorn's The party will go to confinement, and Draco can't be sure that Professor McGonagall will make him make up his homework today."

"Maybe he's got more Death Eaters on his side," Harry said firmly, and Tallus and Ron exchanged a "no more arguing at this time" look, and the three of us sat by the fire and listened. Harry muttered to himself, "Now that he's joined—"

"Professor McGonagall might have used Legilimency on him when he was asking Malfoy." Hermione, who had just returned from the school hospital, sat on the chair Talus gave up, and couldn't help retorting, "She Since I think there is no problem, it means that Malfoy should not have lied. I think we should think about who Katie is going to give that necklace to—someone wants to harm someone in the castle, and this is the point that can be determined."

"Neville or Harry." Ron snapped his fingers.

"I don't think it's possible. If you want to give us two, it's much easier to give it to us directly in Hogsmeade." Harry shook his head, "Filch must be careful with everyone who enters and exits Hogwarts." Check, so this person must be inside the castle."

"Dumbledore or Slughorn?" Hermione twitched her fingers anxiously. "I remember Alice said that when you visited Slughorn during your summer vacation, he mentioned that the Death Eaters wanted to win him over?"

"But anyway, this plan is very stupid." Tallus shrugged and sat on the arm of Hermione's chair. Ron snorted and kicked him twice and drove him to another empty chair a little further away. , "Even if the package is not torn open, the curse on the necklace will be checked before it reaches the gate of the castle."

"Very inconsiderate." Hermione nodded approvingly.

"When did Malfoy become a world-class conspirator?" Harry was very dissatisfied that no one was on his side, but we were all silent and didn't speak any more.

I thought about it without saying a word, staring at the flames in the fireplace: I don't think making such a flawed plan to send necklaces to the castle will make Draco too busy to turn in his homework, but from the moment he It can be seen that he is at least worried about something, at least "this thing" must not go well.And as for Hermione's Legilimency... who knows how much Draco has learned about Occlumency from my dad's notebooks?

Katie's injuries were much more serious than we had imagined and she was transferred to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries the next day.The news of her being cursed was spreading in the school, just like the previous rumors, it became more and more outrageous. Except for the few of us and Lini, no one knew that Katie was not the intended target of the necklace.Harry and Neville, who went to see Professor Dumbledore on Monday night, brought us some good news: Dumbledore told them that Katie's life was not in danger, and that she could return to school to continue her classes when she was fully recovered.

"How was Slughorn's party?" Harry seemed to feel that it was not good for them to leave me aside since last night, and asked me rarely when he was learning how to deal with pimple vines in herbal medicine class. Expressed a little interest in the party.

"It's okay, he's most interested in McLaggen now, probably because he thinks he can't get anything out of Neville's mouth anyway." I put on my protective glasses and said in a low voice.

"Yes, last time I introduced us to Gwenog Jones." Hermione's words had an immediate effect, and the three boys who had looked disdainful just now were visibly refreshed, and even Tallus Immediately no sleepiness appeared.

"Is that Gwenogg? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?" Ron's eyes were wide open behind protective goggles.

Hermione and I looked at each other, not wanting to comment on the fact that boys are only interested in Quidditch, she cleared her throat and continued, "I think she's a bit self-centered, but she does—"

"No more talking here!" When Professor Sprout inspected the greenhouse, he found that we were not only gathered together but had no progress, and severely divided us into two groups, "No more whispering! The other students are all doing it , Neville has already got a pod!"

Sure enough, Neville, who was a few meters away from us, was sitting there with his face covered in blood, his lips seemed to be swollen from being cut by something sharp, and he was tightly clutching something that was still beating.

"When I get my own house in the future, I won't grow these things in the yard if I die." I was still fighting with two vines, and I heard Ron mutter to Hermione, "It just bit at least I took two bites—"

"Pass me the bowl, please?" Looks like Hermione got the spoof pods ahead of us, and Talus and I are still beating the vines around Harry's wrists with various scissors and sticks Finally, Tallus managed to free a hand, and handed her the porcelain bowl on the wooden board.

"But according to Slughorn, he will hold a more formal Christmas party." I suddenly remembered this, and said to Harry, "He also asked us to find out which night you and Neville available."

"Hiss—" Harry finally struggled out of the stump of the pimple vine, and threw a pod the size of a grapefruit to Tallus, who bowled it as nimbly as if catching a Quaffle. It catches just right.

"Surely this party is for Slughorn's favorites again?" Ron and Hermione haven't found a way to open the pod yet, Ron squeezed and jumped around with all his strength The fruit is like squeezing words out of teeth.

"Well, for his slug club." I nodded.

The pod flew out from between Ron's fingers, hit the glass of the greenhouse and made a perfect arc in the air, hitting Professor Sprout on the back of the head and bounced back. Harry held out his hand to It was intercepted and returned to Hermione.I knelt down and rummaged through the toolbox by Hermione's feet for a sharper awl, and heard Ron repeat in Draco's characteristically sarcastic tone, "The Slug Club?"

"I didn't invent this name." Hermione's voice was mixed with the sound of flipping the book, "It can't be squeezed anymore, this method is wrong—"

"It's boring and ugly," said Ron angrily, "but I do wish you a good time with those 'young talents' at the party, like Slughorn's favorite McLaggen—"

"We are still allowed to invite a companion!" I was spitting out hair and fallen leaves from my mouth and was about to climb up with an awl, when Hermione's voice suddenly became high-pitched, "I, I am going to invite you, since you If the party is so boring, I won't bother with it!"

I think it's a little awkward to stand up hastily in the current atmosphere, because I'm actually standing very close to Hermione, but they obviously forgot about my existence.

"You were going to invite me?" I heard Ron ask in a completely changed tone.

"Yes," replied Hermione angrily, "but since you're willing to make me friends with McLaggen—"

I poked Harry's trouser leg and handed him the awl first, then slowly moved towards him and Talus

.

"No, I don't want to." After a pause, Ron said in a very soft voice.

If I didn't get up again, my calves would lose feeling, so I stood up and jumped on the spot.Good thing Talus had just opened the first pod, and the wriggling, green caterpillar-like pimple in the bowl distracted us from being too disgusting to listen to Ron and Hermione talking to each other. Feeling particularly uncomfortable with the conversation.

Whatever the conversation between the two of them meant, Hermione reminded me that I too needed a companion to accompany me to Slughorn's party.I looked at Harry who grabbed another pod, but he has a lot to worry about recently. The first Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin is approaching, and he still hasn't got Katie. The news that Bell is about to return to school means that the game is close at hand, but Harry, the captain of the Quidditch team, still needs to choose another Chaser in a short time.

Anyway, there's still a lot of time until Christmas, so I'm going to put this aside for the time being - but Harry can also invite his companions, what if he invites some girl who chatters around him all day long? manage?Hermione can invite Ron graciously. It seems that this matter is not that difficult. Should I also find a time to ask Harry?

"Is there still blood on my face that I haven't wiped off?" Harry, who had been stared at by me, stretched out his hand unnaturally and touched the purple-red scar from the pimple vine just now.

"No." I hurried to help Tallus slap a vine that was about to go around behind him and attack him.

It's so hard to have a one-on-one word with Harry Potter, why was I so seldom aware of it before?After choosing Dean Thomas as catcher to replace Katie, Harry was under a lot of pressure, because including Dean, he already had three classmates on the Quidditch team.Talus didn't care much about the chatter in the common room, he was also Wood's pick for the Chaser, but Ron was very nervous - he was erratic and it sounded like his mental issues were being overwhelmed by Gryffindor. A lot of talk and the upcoming first game is all induced, even worse than last school year.I sat on the sidelines in the darkening sky watching Ron keep dropping balls, he didn't seem to save a single ball - the last punch hit Talus in the mouth, and I heard Ginny fly in the air Accusing Ron's voice, Harry flew over to stop her.

After their training ended, I waited for a while before Harry came out of the locker room. It seemed that the other team members were in a good mood. Only Ron stood with Tallus with a blank expression, and nodded to me when he saw me. Nodding, he left with Talus first, and Talus could be heard talking words of encouragement to Ron from a distance.

"I don't understand. Ron performed so well in the finals last year, so he should be more confident?" I asked in puzzlement while watching Harry wipe the sweat from his forehead, and Harry replied with a wry smile: "Maybe It was because he performed so well in that game. He really wanted to copy his previous performance, but the more impatient he became, the less organized he was...but I have confidence in him. His only problem is mental tension—you waited for me so long, what’s the matter? Is it something urgent?"

"I haven't waited long." I turned my head unnaturally, "Going to the library to borrow books, I saw you guys are training... I'm also a member of Gryffindor, I'm curious about the Quidditch team's... training results , it's normal."

"Oh." Harry suppressed a smile and nodded, "It's normal."

"But there is one thing." I played with my fingers for a while, seeing that I would go back to Gryffindor Tower if I didn't speak again, I could only speak in a low voice.

Harry stopped and looked at me.

"Slughorn's party," I traced the hall carpet with my toes, "we need a companion."

"Yeah." Harry said softly, "I heard Hermione say it in herbal medicine class."

"I just, want to ask you, of course you must want to find an excuse to continue to evade, but I just want to ask... if..." I looked up into his eyes, he must know what I wanted to say, but he didn't say anything Hang on and wait for me to continue.

"What if?" I was silent for a while, and he finally asked.

"If... I want you to go with me, would you like to go with me once?" I felt my face getting hotter and hotter, and after I finally said it, I immediately added: "It's okay, if you don't want to go, I'll just go And find… uh, someone else, just—”

"Okay." He interrupted me immediately, "There is no need to find anyone else."

I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the cold wind blowing by the side of the court was not in vain, but I didn't know what to say next. The delicate atmosphere between Ron and Hermione in the herbal medicine class seemed to permeate this deserted place again. Passing through the corridors, so much so that I was even a little grateful when I heard a sudden yelling from upstairs.

We ran to the third floor and saw a tapestry from which the voice of the quarrel came from. As we walked in, we could already distinguish Ginny's angry voice and Ron's roar.

"It's a short cut back to the lounge." Harry frowned. "What's going on?"

"Ginny!" Ginny was drawing her wand when we lifted the tapestry, and I immediately disarmed her, subconsciously.Ginny, who had lost her wand, shook her waist-length hair and stared at us. Her beautiful eyes were already filled with tears of anger. She stretched out her hand to signal me to return her wand.

"What's wrong?" Harry looked at Ron, whose face was turning purple all the time, and Ginny, who was about to come over to grab the wand, and blocked me behind him, "Even if the training didn't go well just now—"

Ginny let out a loud sneer: "What's the matter? My dear brother, why didn't you tell them what you were mad about? Excuse me? Or have you finally found out that normal men and women all over the world are dating except you, and only you put This is considered an abnormal and disgraceful thing!"

"Shut up!" Ron yelled, and Harry grabbed him quickly, motioning for me to grab the baring Ginny.

"Why should I shut up!" Ginny tried to break away from me like crazy, and there was already a cry in her voice, "Think of you looking at the slimy phlegm pitifully at home, longing for her to kiss you! It's because of you Never cuddled with anyone - you should get someone to make out with you too, so you don't care what other people are doing!"

"Do you know what nonsense you're talking about!" Ron yelled, and if Harry hadn't stood in his way, he would have given Ginny a solid punch. "I just didn't do it in public—"

"In public?" Ginny laughed sharply, almost pushing me away. "Have you hidden a picture of Aunt Muriel under your pillow?"

"Be sober!" Seeing Ron's wand shoot out an orange light under Harry's left arm, I dodged to the left to avoid being hit, but Ginny swiftly shook off my hand , Harry threw Ron into the wall and yelled at him, "Don't do anything stupid!"

"Harry and Alice made out!" Ginny's voice sounded a little hysterical, "Hermione made out with Viktor Krum! Talus - as long as he wants to, he can make out with different girls every day! Only You, Ron Weasley! It's just you, desperate for favors, and seeing it as a disgusting thing because you have less experience than a 12-year-old!"

With that, she snatched the wand from me and stormed off, Ron panting like he was going to kill if Harry let him go.Harry and I didn't dare to say a word, we stared at him standing still and staring blankly at the carpet under our feet, until there was a soft cat meow, and Mrs. Norris appeared in the corner.

"Come on," said Harry finally, hearing Filch's stomping footsteps.

I probably guessed what happened. Dean Thomas is Ginny's current boyfriend. Maybe after the training, he and Ginny found the place behind the tapestry to make out, but they were bumped into by Ron.But Harry and I didn't dare to ask a word. We hurried upstairs and walked along the corridor on the eighth floor. Ron yelled at a little girl so badly that she broke a bottle of toad eggs in her hand. .

"Did Hermione really make out with Krum?" Ron asked me suddenly when he walked up to the fat lady's portrait. I was taken aback and didn't know what to say.A truthful answer should say "yes," but it's certainly not a smart answer.

"Oatmeal with fennel." As if he had gotten the answer he wanted from my expression, he turned sullenly and crawled into the portrait hole, leaving Harry and I staring at each other.

"He should have asked us if we'd ever made out," Harry said suddenly, "so he could hear us say 'no.'"

"Apparently he doesn't care about it," I muttered, and climbed into the hole with him. "That's strange, didn't Tallus go with him? Where did he go?"

"Where should we go to relax again?" Harry looked at the lounge, but he couldn't find Tallus. "I'll go see Ron, good night."