As November arrived, the weather in the Scottish Highlands turned bitterly cold.
The mountains surrounding Hogwarts were shrouded in heavy, grey clouds. The peaks were covered in thick white snow, and the lake surface was as cold and hard as a sheet of steel. Every morning, the ground was covered in a glistening layer of frost.
In such a season, the Quidditch season began.
On the Quidditch pitch, Hagrid, the groundskeeper—wrapped in a long moleskin coat, wearing rabbit-fur gloves and huge beaver-fur boots—was diligently defrosting the team's broomsticks. On the lawn just outside the pitch, the Quidditch captain gathered the players, quietly explaining their respective tactics.
However, 2 Gryffindor Beaters were somewhat neglecting their duties. They were not listening to their captain's instructions on the lawn, nor were they seriously warming up before the game. Instead, they had sneaked into the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's office.
At this moment, a pair of red-haired twins were standing in front of Dracula's desk, their eyes fixed intently on their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, who was leaning back comfortably in his chair.
'Professor, today is our first Quidditch match of the year—you must come and watch!' the twins said loudly, their voices echoing slightly in the stone office.
Dracula glanced at the clear, crisp weather outside the window, a subtle curl at the corner of his lips. He casually dismissed them.
'I am not interested in Quidditch. You go and play yourselves. Good luck.'
'Professor!' Fred said anxiously, slapping his hand on the table for emphasis. 'Today's match is related to your 40 Galleons! And Harry—the student who admires you the most—will also be playing in this match! Are you really not tempted at all?'
Dracula looked at Fred's action of slapping the table. His gaze flickered to the glass of red wine on the desk, which had been shaken to the very edge of the table and had almost fallen off. He raised his hand slightly.
Immediately afterwards, Fred floated uncontrollably upwards, all the way to the ceiling of the office, where he found himself unceremoniously suspended from a rather ornate chandelier.
'Intending to damage the professor's office property—this is the punishment you deserve,' Dracula said casually, as he picked up the goblet that had moved to the edge of the desk and took a light, deliberate sip of the bright red liquid.
George glanced at his good brother dangling from the chandelier. He secretly retracted his own hand, which had also been pressing on the table, and took a cautious step back.
'Professor, are you really so heartless?' George changed his approach and began to showcase his rather impressive acting skills for Dracula.
He knelt dramatically in front of Dracula, his face contorted in an expression of profound sorrow, complete with (entirely fake) tears and sniffles, delivering a truly miserable monologue.
'Poor Harry! He has been living in his mean aunt's house since he was a child and has never even seen his parents! It was not until he came to the magical world that he finally had an admired professor as an emotional support! A Quidditch match without you watching—it is simply incomplete for Harry!'
Dracula's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at George, who was trying his absolute best to sell this tale of woe. He felt that since George had gone to such lengths, it would seem too indifferent—too ruthless—not to go.
'Alright, stop crying. I think you have been acting quite hard,' he interrupted George's fake crying and said, 'I will go to watch the match.'
Hearing Dracula's affirmative reply, George immediately retracted his sad expression and revealed a look of utter surprise. Fred, still hanging from the chandelier, also managed to give him a thumbs-up.
However, admitting defeat so easily was not Dracula's style. He then added:
'But George Weasley dirtied the professor's office floor and also needs to be punished.'
Saying that, Dracula—with another flick of his wrist—also hung George on the chandelier, where he dangled side by side with Fred. The 2 red-haired boys, wearing their gold and red Gryffindor Quidditch uniforms, hung side by side from the ceiling, looking like 2 identical marionettes.
Afterwards, Dracula ignored the 2 living treasures. He opened a pure black umbrella, walked out of his office, and stood for a moment in the long-lost, clear sunlight.
The 2 Weasleys waited until the professor had left the office. They sighed in relief and then winked at each other.
'Wow, that was so thrilling!' George exclaimed, his voice slightly muffled from his upside-down position. 'If it were not for my quick wits, we would have been finished this time! Why did we come to provoke Professor Dracula anyway?'
'Do not talk nonsense, George!' Fred retorted loudly. 'Have you forgotten? We spent all our Galleons betting with those Slytherin big shots! If Harry cannot catch the Golden Snitch, then we will be completely broke!'
Speaking of this, the 2 were about to start bickering as usual, when they suddenly realised something was terribly wrong
'Wait—we seem to be in a bit of a pickle!' George suddenly interrupted Fred's .actions.
'What is wrong?' Fred asked belatedly, still swaying slightly.
'Wake up, Fred! We are still hanging from the chandelier!!!'
For today's Quidditch match, the Gryffindor team members were full of confidence.
Because they had a secret weapon—Harry Potter!
After several weeks of intense training, Harry was about to participate in his first match ever. This match was between the Gryffindor team and the Slytherin team. If the Gryffindor team won, their ranking in the House Cup championship would rise to 2nd place.
As Gryffindor's secret weapon, Wood—the team captain—had decided to keep Harry's participation a closely guarded secret. Therefore, almost no one had actually seen Harry play Quidditch.
However, the news that Harry was going to be the Seeker still somehow leaked out.
Because of this, there were worshippers of the "Saviour" who ran over to tell him that he would play brilliantly. There were also old Slytherin rivals who smugly told him that they would hold mattresses and run along under him to prevent him from falling too hard.
Harry did not know which statement was worse. He also did not know that the Weasley twins had also contributed to the leak of this news.
In order to get the Slytherin "big shots" to bet with them, the twins had secretly revealed the name of the Saviour, Harry Potter. They had even declared that Harry would catch the Golden Snitch and end the entire match in his very first game!
The Slytherin students were overjoyed when they heard this. They did not think that a 1st-year student who had only trained for 2 months could possibly be a secret weapon. They all bet heavily that Harry would fall off his flying broom.
As for the culprits, the Weasley twins only just managed to rush to the pitch moments before the match began.
The 2 of them had hung on the chandelier in Dracula's office for a very long time. It was not until they remembered the Quidditch match that they finally thought that they could use the Summoning Charm to call the flying brooms placed at the entrance of the office, and then ride the brooms down from the chandelier.
Fred and George undoubtedly received a stern scolding from Wood.
Finally, amidst the Weasley brothers' characteristic laughter, Wood's serious warnings and impassioned encouragement, and the deafening cheers of the spectators in the stadium, Harry followed Fred and George out of the locker room and walked towards the bustling, expectant stadium.
The Quidditch match was finally about to begin!
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