Harry and the others had no way of verifying whether the owner of the Hog's Head was out of his mind or genuinely unhappy, but one thing was certain: both Lavender and Qiu were very happy.
Seeing so many people believe in their boyfriends and come to join the activity group they had organized made both girls happy from the bottom of their hearts.
But while Harry looked very excited, Ron looked very nervous.
It was hard to imagine that Ron "Gryffindor's storyteller" Weasley could actually be nervous. With him nervous, the task of greeting everyone naturally fell to Harry alone.
"Hi, everyone. I'm really happy to see so many people here, though, honestly, I'm a little surprised too." Harry's mind raced as he tried hard to appear casual. Yet even he could hear the slight tremor in his voice.
At that moment, his thoughts about Ron were rather complicated.
On the one hand, he marveled at how Ron could tell stories in the Common Room at the drop of a hat without a trace of stage fright.
At the same time, though, he scorned Ron for shrinking off to one side now, afraid to show his face.
Where's all that usual swagger of yours?
Why aren't you showing it now?
Honestly, letting me down at the crucial moment.
Fortunately, everyone was looking at him with smiles-some of the younger students, such as Colin and Dennis, looked excited. Most of the students, at least those Harry could see, wore expressions of anticipation and trust.
That settled Harry's nerves a little.
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I'm sure Hermione has told you all that we think Umbridge's current teaching methods will have a terrible effect on our development and our mastery of magic..."
"That's for certain," Fred agreed with a