Hufflepuff's Tryouts

As they listened to William's analysis, everyone present fell into thought.

Even the oldest among them, Cedric, had only just turned thirteen. They had never thought about things this way before.

Listening to William's analysis, they couldn't quite understand it, but it sounded impressive.

William's analysis was certainly well reasoned. In his previous life, he had spent over a decade reading and studying cheap popular literature.

He had dabbled in everything from story magazines to unsolved mysteries, knew books like Currency Wars inside out, and had spent years hanging around forums and Q&A sites. He knew a thing or two about pontificating on affairs of state!

"But the Ministry of Magic can't really treat Lucius Malfoy as a criminal. His family has a lot of influence," Cedric said.

"Back then, he even managed to use Galleons to clear himself, claiming that You-Know-Who had controlled him..."

"Exactly. It's because his family has money that the Ministry needs to make a big show of reporting it," William said.

"Only by reporting it and turning public opinion against Malfoy will they get him to pay a huge sum of Galleons to bribe the people at the top and buy his safety."

William still remembered Percy seeing the words "passionately recommended by Fudge, the new Minister of Magic" on that book.

Fudge had only just taken office and was already grabbing easy money. How could the people at the top bear to let a fat sheep like Malfoy go?

Malfoy was innocent, but he was bound to be fleeced.

"What about the murderer?" Cedric asked. "They'll have to release Malfoy eventually. How will they explain it afterward?"

"That suggests..." William said, laying out his analysis at a leisurely pace, "that perhaps the Ministry already knows who the real murderer is.

"Malfoy is just a smokescreen to lull the criminal, and they can take the opportunity to ask Malfoy for money at the same time."

Nobody was an idiot, especially not those shrewd old politicians.

They might not be particularly powerful, and they could sometimes be shortsighted, but when it came to making money and fooling the public, they were always experts.

Anyone who lacked the skills could never have reached those positions!

Take Malfoy, for example. He was undoubtedly innocent, but his wand had been lost and had turned up at the crime scene. Whether by coincidence or because someone had deliberately framed him, they had seized the opportunity.

Fudge didn't need Malfoy to go to Azkaban. He had just taken office, and what he wanted was money!

That was a perk he hadn't enjoyed as head of the Department of Magical Catastrophes.

And so Malfoy became the scapegoat, a crop of leeks ready to be harvested.

But Galleons were the one thing Malfoy had in abundance. The power of money was no empty phrase!

Of course, these were all William's "reasonable" conjectures based on the information he had at hand.

There was no way for him to know anything beyond that.

Just then, the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team's tryouts finally began.

Having just held forth as an expert, William found watching the Quidditch tryouts a little like watching children play house, and he promptly lost interest.

The Weasley brothers and Cho were both excited.

Cho simply loved Quidditch. Even before coming to Hogwarts, she had been a sporty girl, the energetic sort.

Cedric had finally found a shared interest with her. That was a good start.

William suddenly realized something delightful. Once Cho joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, wouldn't that effectively put one of Hufflepuff's players out of commission?

What? You dare stand in Ravenclaw's way when we're trying to win the cup? You don't love me. We're breaking up!!

William could already picture Cho standing with her hands on her hips, berating Cedric.

George and Fred were even more excited. They were sizing up Hufflepuff's strength.

Charlie's injury would heal soon, but there was no telling whether it would leave any lasting effects or affect his form.

Cedric and Hagrid had been right in their assessment. Hufflepuff really was a formidable opponent!

After all, Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in four years, while Hufflepuff had at least won it once the year before last.

George and Fred wanted to win the Quidditch championship now.

They had spent a week polishing the silverware in the Trophy Room for Filch, and it had left them with a little problem: whenever they saw a medal, they wanted to touch it.

That naturally included the Quidditch Cup.

Percy's lingering problem was even worse than theirs. Whenever he saw a bathroom now, he wanted to go in, regardless of whether it was the boys' or girls'.

The reason was simple: Percy's punishment had been to scrub the bathrooms for a week!

George and Fred were always causing trouble, so by rights, Filch should have hated the two of them more.

Yet he had given the dirty job of cleaning the bathrooms to Percy.

Poor Percy was a top student, doted on at home and frequently praised by professors at school. He had scarcely ever done any work, much less been punished.

William had heard George say that Percy often acted high and mighty in front of Filch, using his status as a top student to lord it over him at every opportunity.

Filch didn't even qualify as a poor student. He was a Squib and had never attended Hogwarts. That was probably why he had come to resent Percy.

Peeves had also been telling everyone that Percy had peeped on Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom. It seemed the rumor hadn't come from nowhere.

By now, the tryouts had begun on the pitch.

Hufflepuff was united, at least. Nearly all the young witches and wizards had come to watch the tryouts, and everyone was taking precautions in an orderly fashion to prevent accidents.

Among them, Cedric was utterly inconspicuous.

Everyone applying to join the team was divided into groups of ten to fly a lap around the pitch.

Some were just there to make up the numbers. They flew all over the place, as though they had drunk bootleg liquor, and crashed straight into the goalposts.

To prevent any more accidents, Madam Hooch had also come to the pitch.

Her eyelids kept twitching, and she looked somewhat worried that the pitch's facilities would be damaged.

The second group consisted of ten girls. As soon as the captain, Gabriel Truman, blew his whistle, they dissolved into giggles, doubled over, and clung to one another in a huddle.

With the girls gathered together and hugging one another, it was quite a pleasing sight.

The Weasley brothers whistled and called for them to try out again. Even William, for once, took an interest and watched with relish.

The three of them stood in the stands, leaning against the railing in the breeze and appraising the girls' figures with the eyes of self-proclaimed experts, as though judging a beauty contest.

Cho snorted, folded her arms, and sat in her seat, fuming.

"Boys..." she sneered.

Fortunately, Cedric wasn't there. If he had been, he probably would have joined the beauty-contest judges and then been kicked off the pitch by Cho...

Of course, he would most likely have sat resolutely beside Cho and hypocritically criticized William and the others!

The third group crashed into a heap halfway around the pitch. Most of the fourth group had come without brooms. The fifth group turned out to be Gryffindor students, every one of them.

Lee Jordan had failed to make his house team, so that afternoon he had brought the first-years along to pass themselves off as Hufflepuffs and try to disrupt the tryouts.

Unfortunately for him, he hadn't counted on Madam Hooch being there. The stern woman seized Lee by the ear and threw him out.

Fred told William that Lee was planning to apply for the position of Quidditch commentator to show off his talent for understanding the game.

Lee had also said that Charlie would regret overlooking a young genius capable of reviving the England National Team.

(Thanks to Xiaoluoluo for the tip (//?//). This is the first update; please send recommendations.)