Harry looked at Sherlock with confusion, not understanding why he would say women were his forte. How strange! He wasn't good with that at all!
But before he could ask, a familiar call sounded—Hedwig had flown in from outside.
She hopped onto Harry's shoulder, affectionately pecked his ear, then extended her leg toward her master. A letter was tied there.
Harry looked at Sherlock in surprise.
Sherlock smiled. "Read the letter first."
Harry untied and read the letter. In just moments, he looked up at Sherlock again, saying somewhat awkwardly, "Cho says she knows our opponent changed to Hufflepuff and wants to meet with me."
Sherlock had expected this.
Hermione was a bit slower but, hearing Sherlock's earlier words and seeing Hedwig's arrival, she understood.
Ron was slowest to react. Only now, hearing Harry's words, did he understand what was happening.
"Ooh—"
The three's knowing smiles made Harry feel quite embarrassed.
But even so, that didn't mean women were his forte, did it? Cho Chang was already his friend, and they were both Quidditch Seekers. Wasn't it normal for her to show concern after learning the news?
Just as he was about to argue—no, explain—a girl with red hair came running into the common room.
"Harry!"
Ginny acted as if she didn't see anyone else, walked straight toward Harry, and said anxiously, "I heard our next opponent changed!"
Sherlock, Hermione, Ron: ←_←
Harry: (°ー°〃)
Now there was nothing more to say.
Seeing Ginny so enthusiastic, Harry could only recount the specific details to her again.
"Don't worry, Harry."
Ginny consoled him. "Remember last time against Hufflepuff? Even though Snape was referee and kept favoring Hufflepuff, you caught the Golden Snitch in just a few minutes!"
"Ginny, you sound just like George."
"That's because it's true! Hufflepuff? Piece of cake!"
After saying this, Ginny looked at Sherlock, Hermione, and Ron. "Oh, you're all here!"
"..."
Sherlock, Hermione, and Ron said nothing, just looked at Harry: →_→
Harry felt even more embarrassed.
But his good friends didn't mention Cho Chang in front of Ginny.
Ginny chatted for quite a while before leaving satisfied.
Soon after she left, Harry and Ron returned to their dormitory as well. Seeing that Sherlock and Hermione weren't planning to leave yet, Harry said goodbye to them both.
Ron ignored Hermione, only saying goodnight to Sherlock.
Seeing this situation, Harry sighed inwardly, not knowing what to say.
After the two left, Hermione looked at Sherlock somewhat hesitantly.
"Sherlock, am I... am I wrong to act this way?"
"Right and wrong have always been relative. The key question is, do you think you're in the wrong?"
"No!"
Hermione shook her head.
As Hagrid said, cats chasing mice was the natural order of things. In her view, Crookshanks pursuing Scabbers was just playful behavior—he definitely wouldn't actually eat Scabbers.
Rather, it was Ron who, ever since Crookshanks jumped on his head at the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley, had held a prejudice against him. Now, things had developed to the point where he maintained his subjective judgment without any evidence.
After hearing Hermione's thoughts, Sherlock didn't directly comment on the matter.
"In first year, I told you to never care about others' opinions, and never let others' actions sway you. But you told me then that you couldn't do that."
Sherlock clasped his hands under his chin and leaned back, shifting to a more comfortable position.
"My response to you was this. since you can't change others, try to change yourself—it's still the same now."
Hermione looked at Sherlock, her gaze gradually becoming resolute.
In first year, Hermione had chosen to change herself. But this time, she would not compromise.
Over the next few days, Oliver Wood frequently appeared in Sherlock's line of sight.
Of course, Sherlock wasn't his target.
By now, he'd given up hope of persuading Sherlock to join the Quidditch team. Better to leave that task to Harry after he graduated. With Harry and Sherlock's relationship, he should be able to convince Sherlock.
He kept running over to find Harry between classes to give him advice. Clearly, he took this match very seriously.
Harry himself felt the same way.
He'd accepted Cho Chang's invitation and spent part of each day meeting with her. Meeting with a beautiful girl who shared his interests was always pleasant.
Cho Chang had unreservedly shared all the intelligence she knew about Hufflepuff with Harry.
Regarding Harry's exchange of information with the Seeker from another house, Wood expressed strong approval.
"Chang is every bit as good as Diggory. Harry, you need to find a way to get more intelligence about Hufflepuff from her. If necessary... ahem... you can even make some sacrifices. As long as it's for Quidditch, I unconditionally support you."
"Um... that's not necessary, Oliver."
Hearing Wood's implication, Harry didn't know what to say. "Cho's been proactively sharing information with me these past few days."
"That's exactly what I mean—Harry, well done!"
"..."
"Oh, Chang's coming. You two talk, I'll go first!"
Seeing Cho Chang approaching, Wood winked at Harry, showed a mysterious smile, then quickly left.
"Was that Wood? Why did he leave?"
Cho Chang saw Wood hurrying away and asked somewhat puzzled.
This made Harry even more awkward. He couldn't very well tell Cho that Wood wanted him to extract intelligence from her, could he?
Fortunately, Cho Chang was an understanding girl. When Harry didn't explain, she didn't press further. They quickly moved on to the main topic.
"Although Diggory is tall and very strong, he turns very quickly. You absolutely can't let your guard down."
Cho Chang looked into Harry's green eyes and said in a soft voice, "Last year in our match against Hufflepuff, the final score was two hundred twenty to one hundred fifty."
Harry's ability to read matches had become quite sharp by now, and he immediately understood. "So Diggory caught the Golden Snitch in the end?"
"Yes," Cho Chang nodded. "In that match, it was only thanks to the two Beaters and my efforts that we could prevent Diggory from catching the Snitch before we reached one hundred fifty points."
As she said this, Cho Chang's face showed some relief, then she said seriously.
"But this year is different. After becoming captain, Diggory quickly identified the gaps between Hufflepuff and the other teams. He also addressed his team's weaknesses by selecting a batch of new players."
"Oliver said the same thing—he told us not to underestimate them."
"Yes, Captain Wood is absolutely right. This year's Hufflepuff is no longer a one-man team with just one excellent Seeker. However..."
Cho Chang's tone shifted, and she said firmly, "I believe in you, Harry! You're faster than him, and Gryffindor is stronger than Hufflepuff in their adjustment period! As long as you have confidence, you can definitely defeat Hufflepuff!"
"Thank you, Cho."
"I'm waiting to compete against you in the next match—don't disappoint me!"
Seeing Cho Chang's somewhat playful smile, Harry clenched his fists and made up his mind. No matter what, he had to catch the Golden Snitch before Diggory.
In fact, despite Wood's repeated emphasis on taking this match seriously, Harry's psychological pressure was actually much less than before last year's match against Slytherin.
Compared to the enormous pressure those seven Nimbus 2001s from Slytherin had given him, Hufflepuff really wasn't much—oh, now it was six—poor Malfoy still hadn't been discharged from the hospital wing.
Hufflepuff had indeed updated their lineup, but from Cho Chang's description, his team's strength was still solidly above theirs.
So as long as nothing unexpected happened, beating them wouldn't be a problem.
"Harry, it's time for class. If we don't leave now, we'll be late!"
Just then, a voice called out. Harry and Cho Chang both turned around.
They saw Sherlock, Hermione, and Ron standing together, looking at them with knowing smiles.
Recently, whenever Harry was with Cho Chang or Ginny, his three friends would show this kind of benevolent, fatherly smile.
Both Harry and Cho Chang felt somewhat embarrassed under their gaze.
Cho Chang was first to compose herself and proactively asked, "Sherlock, what's the next class?"
"Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Defense Against the Dark Arts? Now that you mention it... Professor Lupin seems to have taken leave recently. Yesterday afternoon, our Defense Against the Dark Arts class was taught by Professor Snape."
"What? What happened to Professor Lupin?"
"Sorry, Hermione, I don't know why. Professor Snape, who was substituting for Professor Lupin, refused to say anything. When someone asked too many questions, he found an excuse to deduct points."
"Snape again? Doesn't that old bat feel uncomfortable if he doesn't teach us a few Defense Against the Dark Arts classes every year?"
"Ron, besides the regular teacher, Professor Snape is obviously the best choice to substitute for this class."
"That may be true, but I've had enough of the past two years! We finally got a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that everyone likes who can teach us real skills. I thought we were free, but the old bat is back to substitute!"
"Um... actually, I think Sherlock has a point. Professor Snape's ability is beyond question. Especially compared to Quirrell and Lockhart, he can teach us real skills. All he needs is to change his teaching style."
"I'd agree with you, Miss Chang, if he didn't always pick on Harry and deduct points."
"Uh... that might be difficult. Professor Snape's dislike of Gryffindor students is acknowledged by everyone at school, though I don't know why..."
"Because Harry's father was in Gryffindor."
"Ah?"
Hearing Hermione's words, Cho Chang was stunned. She didn't understand at all what the connection was.
Hermione was about to explain when her expression suddenly changed.
"Oh no, we need to get to class right now, or if all four of us are late, Gryffindor might end up with negative points."
"Yes, you'd better hurry!"
Cho Chang said, giving Harry a gentle push.
When the four arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, they found that Snape hadn't appeared.
This made all three except Sherlock breathe a long sigh of relief.
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