When Hannah and Susan heard that Octopus Brother had gone back, their faces fell instantly, filled with regret.
"I missed it! I missed it!" Hannah exclaimed, crossing her arms and stamping her feet. "I took a special detour to get here!"
Susan sighed as well, "I should have run faster."
Olivia laughed and smoothed things over, "Alright, alright, I'll definitely call you in advance next time. Octopus Brother is very close to Draco and Hermione, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
"Tell me, tell me, what just happened?" Susan pressed. "Is Octopus Brother really that big? Is he obedient?"
Upon hearing this, Ron immediately jumped in, his face contorted with grievance as he launched into a frantic rant:
"Don't even mention it! That guy's differential treatment was outrageous! He was polite to all of you, but he only targeted me! Just because I made a joke, he kept spraying water at me!"
Lavender chimed in, "Who told you to laugh at him for not having a wife? You're hitting Octopus Brother where it hurts."
"I was just stating the facts!" Ron declared confidently, "And I got sprayed all over, while you guys just watched the show!"
Harry couldn't help but laugh, "You were really loud when you apologized just now."
"That's to save my life!" Ron said righteously, "Otherwise, he could have sprayed me into the lake!"
Hannah and Susan listened with their eyes shining, feeling both envious and amused.
"If I had known, I would have run my legs off to get here."
"You must invite us next time, and don't sneak off again!"
Draco glanced at the crowd indifferently, casually put his arm around Hermione's shoulder, and spoke in a tone that was both relaxed and slightly boastful:
"You can watch it if you want, just let me know next time! But—it only listens to Hermione and me."
Hermione gently slapped his hand away and said, "Don't talk nonsense."
Neville added in a low voice, " Octopus Brother... is actually very gentle, as long as you don't provoke him."
Ron immediately retorted, "That was for you! It wasn't gentle at all with me!"
A group of people walked towards Hogwarts Castle, chatting and laughing. The liveliness by the lake gradually dissipated, leaving only laughter and chatter along the way.
The group returned to the castle, where Neville, Harry, and Olivia joined in their studies.
Needless to say, Susan and Hannah were even more obvious.
Only Ron's trio wanted to postpone their homework until Sunday.
Great Hall was served in the auditorium in the evening.
As soon as Draco and the others sat down, they saw Ron, Lavender, and Parvati sighing and looking worried.
Olivia put down her fork and asked them curiously, "What's going on? Who upset you this time?"
Ron said bitterly, "I have to take Flying Class next week, and of all times I have to take them with Slytherin."
Lavender also looked disgusted. "Having Potions Class with Slytherin is annoying enough, now there's another one."
Parvati agreed, "Exactly, those guys always love to mock students from other houses, especially us Gryffindor, because of their background and how good their brooms are."
In fact, Potions Class was alright... at least Snape treated everyone the same when it came to scaring people.
The Slytherin were just as afraid of Snape.
Hearing the three's complaints, Neville froze for a moment. "Flying... Flying Class... I'm afraid I'll lose my grip on the broom again, or fall off..."
Hermione shared this concern.
She silently made up her mind:
[No, I can't panic. I need to review the flight manual several more times beforehand and try to memorize the maneuvers.]
She remained calm on the surface, only gently comforting Neville: "Don't be afraid, I'll be with you. We'll practice slowly, nothing will happen."
Draco noticed her furrowed brow and asked, "Are you worried?"
Hermione glanced at him and whispered, "... I'm afraid I won't do it well."
She had never actually ridden in the sky; no matter how well she memorized the theories, she still felt uncertain.
Draco, noticing the rare unease she showed, smiled gently and promised, "Don't worry, I'll give you private lessons."
Hermione responded very obediently, "... Mmm."
Draco had just finished comforting Hermione in a low voice
Ron, who had been staring at him for half a day, finally couldn't help but click his tongue. He deliberately raised his voice and said:
"Hey you two, can you stop whispering to each other all the time? Is there anything we can't hear?"
Olivia looked over and chimed in, "Exactly, exactly! They're probably saying things we shouldn't hear again!"
Lavender and Parvati exchanged a glance and immediately joined in the teasing. "Hey, you haven't even had your Flying Class yet, and you're already taking extra classes in private?"
Caught red-handed, Hermione quickly shrank back, awkwardly picking up her water glass to cover up her embarrassment. "We weren't... we were just talking about Flying Class."
Draco, however, remained unfazed, and he made an excuse:
"Stop speculating. I'm just worried that someone might crash and embarrass Gryffindor on their first flight."
Olivia deliberately dragged out her words: "Oh~ afraid of embarrassing Gryffindor? I don't believe it~"
Ron chimed in, "Me too! Draco, can you give me a private lesson while you're at it too?"
Draco glanced to the side with a look of disgust and said without any mercy, "Get lost, I don't want to have anything to do with you, stay away from me."
Upon hearing this, Susan immediately covered her mouth and couldn't help but whisper, "... We've been exposed."
At this moment, Hermione put down her cutlery, glanced at the people laughing so hard they were practically falling over, and silenced the commotion with a single sentence:
"If you keep making noise, you'll have to write your own Potions homework, Divination paper, and theory notes for next week's Flying Class. I'm not lending you any of them."
The entire room fell silent instantly.
Ron's expression froze instantly. "... No!"
"Okay, okay, we'll shut up, we won't say anything more!" Lavender immediately backed down.
Hermione merely glanced at everyone and said indifferently, "Let's eat."
The world is finally peaceful.
Harry suddenly remembered something and looked at Draco: "Isn't today your official Quidditch practice? Can we go watch?"
Draco nodded slightly. "Come whenever you have time."
After dinner, a group of people followed Draco toward the Quidditch Pitch, like a small group of family and friends.
Upon arriving at the stadium, I saw Wood leading the entire team in the center of the field, pacing back and forth with a broom in hand, looking both excited and serious.
Upon seeing Draco, Wood's eyes lit up instantly, and he strode over to him, saying, "You've finally arrived! I was worried you'd forgotten the time!"
"Perfect timing! Let me introduce the team members to you." Wood turned around and introduced them one by one.
"These are Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell, three Chaser."
" The Beater are Richie Gu and Andrew Kirk; I'll be the goalie. From now on, we're all on the same team."
After the introductions, the team members' reactions immediately split into two camps.
Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were all friendly, nodding and smiling in acknowledgment.
They value ability more and have no aversion to newcomers or those with established identities.
But Gu and Andrew stood still, their indifferent faces showing obvious resentment.