Quidditch Training Ground Brawl
Seeing how distracted Hagrid was, the three offered him a few words of comfort, then said goodbye and walked back to the castle.
Their pockets were weighed down with Rock Cakes. None of them had felt it polite to refuse.
As they walked, William asked, "What do you think?"
Cedric shook his head. "William, the three-headed dog couldn't have been stolen from the Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
"I've never heard my dad mention a three-headed dog or any Magical Creature like it being seized."
Cedric's father was Amos Diggory, who worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He was also the spokesperson who had given the interview.
He told his son Cedric about everything that happened at the Ministry of Magic!
But before the attack, Cedric had never heard anything about a three-headed dog being seized.
More importantly, even after the day of the attack, he had never heard his father mention the department being attacked.
Had a gag order been issued that very day?
That wasn't the main issue, either. The attack had clearly happened on August 1, so why had the Daily Prophet only just exposed it?
What exactly was the Ministry of Magic hiding?
William found that things were starting to get interesting.
The three discussed it all the way to the Quidditch training ground, where the Gryffindor tryouts were still underway.
But instead of the cheerful scene they had imagined, the whole training ground was in an uproar. It looked like a fight had broken out.
"What happened? Has something else gone wrong?" Cho looked at William in puzzlement.
"I don't know." William shook his head, then sighed. "Cho, the next time something happens at school, don't look at me. It wasn't me who did it!"
"But I've noticed accidents always seem to happen wherever you show up."
"..."
"This looks serious," Cedric said gravely after watching for a while.
He looked very worried, but inside, he was happier than anyone knew.
It might not have been a nice thing to say, but as a rival, Cedric naturally hoped something would go just a tiny bit wrong with the Gryffindor Quidditch Team's tryouts.
Charlie Weasley's strength was acknowledged throughout the school. Professor McGonagall had boasted more than once that Gryffindor might produce another national team player!
With a captain like that, no House would underestimate Gryffindor.
William, Cedric and Cho squeezed their way into the crowd with some difficulty. Someone had indeed been injured: a girl named Angelina Johnson.
Angelina was a second-year student, like Cedric and the twins. Her long black hair was tied in a long braided ponytail, and she looked exceptionally tall and beautiful.
But now she was lying on the grass.
George's nose was covered in blood, as though it had been hit.
Fred held Angelina by the shoulders and shook her violently, shouting her name.
The girl, already dazed, passed out.
Well, William thought it was more likely Fred had shaken her unconscious.
Fred got to his feet in a rage and made to beat up Cormac McLaggen.
Cho stopped a Gryffindor girl and asked her what had happened.
It was simple enough.
Angelina had been competing for the position of Chaser. She had taken ten shots and scored eight beautiful goals, and Charlie Weasley had accepted her onto the House team on the spot.
Angelina probably had Star-Lord and Indian blood in her. Excited, she had started dancing awkwardly on the training ground.
Everything had been wonderful at first, but while everyone was doing a group dance, McLaggen had stolen a Comet 250 from somewhere.
Supremely confident in his flying skills, McLaggen had been off the ground for ten seconds when he lost control and hurtled toward Angelina.
Angelina had been surrounded by the crowd at the time, dancing a distinctly exotic grassland dance.
"Give me a look,
"Fiery and hot.
"You who lasso horses,
"So mighty and strong,
"Your galloping steed is swift as the wind..."
McLaggen really was swift as the wind... face the wind!
Angelina had been sent flying, but fortunately, there were enough people around to cushion her.
George had been less fortunate. The Comet 250's oak handle had struck his nose, and blood had poured out like a gurgling stream.
Fred had stormed up to McLaggen, and everyone was holding him back!
If another fight broke out, Gryffindor's House Points would surely reach the achievement of negative one hundred.
That score wasn't far from the all-time low. Professor McGonagall would probably go mad with anger!
With paper stuffed up his nose, George comforted him in a nasal voice. "All right, all right, Fred, I'm fine.
"Brother, don't get so worked up. This little injury will heal in no time."
George thought Fred was avenging him, and he was so moved that the wads of paper fell out and his nose started bleeding heavily again.
Fred had been held back, and McLaggen seemed to have found his courage again.
He began loudly accusing Charlie.
"You're the captain, but you couldn't even keep everyone safe. This is your responsibility."
"What? Say that again." Charlie Weasley rolled up his sleeves, revealing the sturdy muscles beneath.
Compared with Charlie, McLaggen looked like a scrawny rack of ribs.
"Is this guy crazy?" Cedric asked.
"Probably. He's the one who burned all of Eloise's hair off in class," Cho replied.
Charlie, as captain, had completely run out of patience. He said loudly, "Mr. McLaggen, please leave. According to the rules, only second-year students can take part in the Quidditch tryouts.
"If you don't leave, I'll suggest to Professor McGonagall that you be permanently banned from trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team."
McLaggen's face turned bright red. He backed away a few steps and sneered. "Throw me out? Ban me from the tryouts? I'll tell my uncle. He knows the Head of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic..."
He cursed them. "You've lost your chance at the championship again!"
McLaggen shoved his way through the crowd, only to trip. William saw that Eloise had stuck out her foot.
Her hair had grown back, and she was wearing the lion hat Professor McGonagall had given her. She seemed to like it very much.
McLaggen got up and dusted himself off. Then he suddenly jogged over and picked up the bat Fred had dropped nearby.
For reasons known only to himself, McLaggen gave the Quaffle a vicious whack with the bat, sending it flying.
Charlie was checking Angelina's injuries when the red Quaffle traced a beautiful arc and struck him on the head. He passed out...
The crowd screamed, and chaos broke out again.
The Quaffle bounced high into the air and hurtled toward William.
William drew his wand. He had originally intended to use Diffindo, but changed his mind at the last moment.
"Waddiwasi!"
Under William's control, the Quaffle swerved sharply and shot straight toward McLaggen's thigh.
McLaggen saw Charlie go down and was thinking of making a quick escape back to the castle when the Quaffle struck him squarely in the thigh. He stumbled to the ground, rolled several times and crashed into a goalpost.
The Quidditch pitch descended into chaos. Someone left the training ground to fetch Madam Pomfrey, while others checked Angelina and Charlie's injuries.
As for McLaggen... he was dragged back into the crowd by the leg, screaming.
He began to be covered in big men.
----I am the divider of McLaggen covered in big men----
(McLaggen: My uncle knows the Head of the Auror Office. Any esteemed reader who casts a recommendation vote can become an Auror, even if they fail their exams.)