Harry and Ron both thought Hermione was overthinking things.
Hermione had no other leads for the moment, so she could only let the matter drop. After the feast, the students returned to their respective houses' Common Rooms.
Like all the new students before them, the first years were sent straight to their dormitories. Clearly, rowing across the lake and then walking such a long way had left them rather more tired.
The older students, by contrast, had much more energy. They chatted in the Common Room for quite a while.
Their conversation revolved mainly around three topics: the recent Quidditch World Cup, the Dark Mark that had appeared after the final, and the upcoming "Magic Cup" tournament.
But apart from the World Cup, which everyone could discuss with some substance, they had little of any real value to say about the other two.
A few students-mostly young witches and wizards from Muggle families-were curious about Mad-Eye Moody and asked the students from wizard families what sort of person he was.
They talked late into the night before finally returning to their dormitories to rest.
That night, many of the young witches and wizards probably dreamed of becoming the champion representing Hogwarts, competing in the "Magic Cup" tournament, and even winning it.
At least Harry did.
He dreamed that he won the final victory, with Cho Chang cheering and jumping for joy in the crowd. Her face was always so pretty, her smile so radiant, so...
"Wake up, Harry. Didn't we agree to visit Hagrid this morning?" Ron's voice roused Harry from his lovely dream.
Harry opened his eyes and, for the first time, found Ron's face thoroughly unappealing...
As was usually the case at the start of term, there were still several days between Back-to-School Day and the actual start