thefictionvixens Chapter 193 Three Crowded Brooms
Chapter 193 Three Crowded Brooms
Harry's feeling that his luck wouldn't be very high on Saturday was evident from the very beginning.
Harry was sleeping soundly at five o'clock in the morning when he was startled awake by Neville's scream from a nightmare. The others in the dormitory mumbled a few words and quickly fell back asleep, but Harry tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep again.
Four hours later, Harry, with dark circles under his eyes, set off for Hogsmeade with a refreshed Ron and Hermione.
As they left the castle and passed Durmstrang, the ship moored on the Black Lake, they bumped into Viktor Krum, who walked from the cabin onto the deck wearing only swimming trunks, revealing his muscular physique. Before Hermione could wave to her foreign friend, he nimbly stretched out his arms and jumped into the water with a splash.
"Merlin!" Harry exclaimed, dumbfounded. "Has he gone mad? It's winter, even the giant squid in the cold water aren't out and about—"
“Maybe the giant squid will be woken up—” Ron replied naturally, but there was no worry in his words. On the contrary, he seemed to hope that something unexpected would happen.
Harry and Hermione both noticed, but Harry pretended not to, while Hermione immediately frowned and defended her new friend.
“Wickdor has always had a habit of swimming, and the place he came from is much colder than here,” Hermione said, changing the subject. “He became an internationally renowned star not only because of his talent, but also because of the sweat and effort he put in behind the scenes that people can’t see. Although he is Durmstrang’s, he is really good.”
Harry continued to pretend he didn't understand Hermione's implied meaning.
Just last night, Ron was sitting in the common room talking about his idea of joining the Quidditch team next year, while a curly-haired girl from his grade giggled and cheered him on. Hermione pointed out sharply that he couldn't even keep practicing the basic flying skills.
Ron's face flushed red, clearly thinking about what happened last night, and he couldn't help but start attacking Hermione.
"You mean to say that his abs are really good, right? You couldn't take your eyes off him just now..."
"If you're envious, you should find a way to get them yourself, instead of making sarcastic remarks about other people's abs..."
It's started again.
Harry groaned in despair. Lately, Ron and Hermione had been constantly making sarcastic remarks to each other, but they still insisted on being together, leaving Harry caught in the middle and in a dilemma.
Fortunately, once they arrived at Hogsmeade, the two naturally ended their argument and strolled with Harry through the streets, focusing on finding Hagrid. They hoped to bump into him and persuade him to return to teach as soon as possible.
But luck still hadn't smiled on Harry. When they were sure that Hagrid wasn't in any of the shops they passed, Ron and Hermione exchanged glances and suggested they sit at the Three Broomsticks and have a Butterbeer, which everyone loved.
Harry pushed open the tavern door, his gaze instinctively sweeping across all the tables before freezing involuntarily. He recognized many familiar figures, but none of them were Hagrid—
Two identical red heads sat near the bar in the tavern, singing and laughing in unison, making the beautiful proprietress laugh heartily.
In the middle, on the coziest sofa, Leila and Cedric Diggory were chatting in hushed tones, huddled together intimately.
The window seats not far away were much quieter, occupied by Harry's very familiar old friend, Slytherin's archenemy—
Draco Malfoy and his friend, a handsome boy with skin like an Egyptian sorcerer, each drank their beverage in silence.
Malfoy seemed somewhat absent-minded. When the tavern door was pushed open, he only glanced up and then turned back to continue fiddling with the blanket in his hands, seemingly unaware that Scarface, whom he had been fighting for four years, was standing at the door, stunned like a fool.
In an instant, Harry suddenly didn't want to go in anymore. He felt that there was something strange about the atmosphere in the room, like the oppressive calm before a storm.
Unfortunately, someone didn't give Harry the chance to back down and leave.
Ludo Bagman leaped out from the most secluded corner of the shop and rushed over to grab Harry's hand—who had been cornered in a dark corner by a group of goblins. The goblins all had grim faces, crossed arms, and looked menacing.
“Harry!” Ludo Bagman exclaimed eagerly. “That’s wonderful! I’ve been hoping to see you! Congratulations again on your outstanding performance against that dragon, it was fantastic!”
Draco listened with scorn to the discredited Ministry of Magic official's eager flattery of the savior scarred head, but had no interest in mocking him as usual.