The wonderful sunny weather delighted the Hogwarts students at the very end of November. That amazing, pleasant mix of coolness and even deep autumn cold paired with warm morning sunlight was simply magnificent. The forest smells had long since changed, replacing summer aromas with those light notes found only in autumn, and you start noticing them precisely in weather like this. A true connoisseur of such days would only be missing deciduous trees with their full variety of autumn colors.
But the weather was not the most important thing that autumn day. What truly mattered was the Quidditch match between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw house teams. The stands were once again full on this late November weekend, on the twenty-seventh. Full of students, and a few rare guests, whether from the Ministry or the Board of Governors, as well as some students' parents.
"Didn't expect this, did you," said the blond Slytherin known to everyone as Draco "Slimy Slug" Malfoy, standing in the stands with his ever-present companions, the large boys Crabbe and Goyle.
"What do you mean?" asked Nott with a smile, arguably the most presentable-looking Slytherin boy in their year.
"Just look who crawled out of the library," Malfoy said with a smirk, nodding toward Daphne Greengrass, who was standing among the Slytherin girls in the stands.
"Draco, take it easy," Nott advised with a practiced grin. "No need to start a conflict out of thin air."
"Tch. She's hanging around with that Mudblood."
Crabbe and Goyle nodded in unison, putting on faces of seriousness and disapproval. It only amused Nott, though he did not hurry to comment or show his attitude toward what was happening. He had long felt that the house let Malfoy get away with everything. His father would buy him out of trouble if needed, and the house could always present Malfoy in a light unfavorable to others. Everyone seemed to forget how corrupting total permissiveness was.
"And good for her."
"What?" Malfoy stared at Nott in surprise.
"Tell me, have I ever lied to you?"
"Can't recall."
"I'll put it this way, Draco. Hector Granger is a talented boy. A lot of people were glad the Head of House put a stop to your pointless attacks on him."
"It's improper for a pure-blood young lady to associate with a Mudblood."
"She's not marrying him. A competent wizard is always useful."
"Useful… Tch…" Malfoy hissed off to the side, adjusting his short ash-blond hair. "What use is he? No lineage, no money, no influence. Unlike my father…"
Theo merely shook his head in weary disappointment, while Draco and his enforcers went off to find a better spot to watch the match.
Meanwhile, both teams entered the field and, almost immediately, took to the sky on their brooms, waiting for the referee to release the balls.
The whistle blew, the balls shot upward, and the students greeted Hector's interception of the Quaffle with excitement and loud cheers. He was a black-haired boy flying at lightning speed on a broom of an unfamiliar shape.
Nott had not expected anything particularly interesting from the game. He was not a Quidditch fan at all, like a fair number of students. Still, like many children and teenagers, he was susceptible to mass enthusiasm. Watching the cheering frenzy around him, Nott tried to figure out who he should root for, since the urge was already there. The Ravens, the Badgers, or maybe some specific player.
"…And Hector Granger opens the scoring with an incredible maneuver!" Lee Jordan's voice rang out across the field.
About half the crowd erupted in cheers, while the other half began loudly supporting Ravenclaw.
Nott couldn't help noticing that Daphne Greengrass, his classmate whose behavior irritated Malfoy, kept sneaking glances at the new Hufflepuff. If it were someone more dangerous than Malfoy, and a girl from a simpler family instead of a Greengrass, there would surely have been a scandal in a couple of weeks, with no culprit ever found. But Draco was Draco. Everyone knew that as long as he did not cross the line, he could do whatever he wanted, while everyone else calmly went on with their lives, socializing within their house, making acquaintances, and maybe even friends.
"…Ravenclaw has equalized the score!"
"Woo!"
Still, it was interesting. Why was Daphne spending time with Hector? A real mystery. And Nott disliked mysteries. They tended to twist meaning beyond recognition. Why would a girl like Daphne, with her family and connections, need a Muggle-born wizard, even a fairly talented one?
Nott rubbed the back of his head, which still ached from that stupid incident at the beginning of the school year. Merlin himself must have cursed him to go for a walk with Malfoy and his walking meatballs. Everyone had warned him. "If Malfoy goes for a stroll, let him. Don't go with him. A fool finds trouble, and you get caught in the splash zone." But no matter how talented Granger was, he had no value to the Greengrasses. Or to any family that adhered, even slightly, to the idea of Blood Purity. Even the Weasleys would not have bothered, reputation notwithstanding.
"Hufflepuff takes the lead again thanks to Granger's lightning-fast attack! The score is now sixty to fifty in favor of the canary-colored house!"
"Mr. Jordan!"
"I mean, in favor of the proud students of the great house of the no less great Helga, Professor!"
Suddenly, Nott had a thought. The girls had been acting a little strange toward the boys this year. Somehow different. Hard to put into words. Trying to impress them, maybe? Oh. Could it be that Daphne simply liked Hector?
"No," Nott said aloud, waving it off. "That's nonsense."
Unless he had some sort of secret.
However, thinking about it bored Nott quickly, as did watching the match, which eventually shifted focus to the Seekers, Diggory and Chang. Why? Because the rest of the players were playing tactically, which was not very spectacular. It was confusing, everyone flying Mordred-knows-where, doing Merlin-knows-what, making you want to send the whole thing to Morgan. Hector scores, the Ravenclaw Keeper puts the Quaffle back into play, it quickly ends up on Hufflepuff's side, and Hector does not manage to intercept it. No matter how fast he is, he cannot be everywhere. And Ravenclaw's Chasers are good too, landing solid shots through the Badgers' hoops.
When the score neared a hundred in Hufflepuff's favor, it became clear that the Badgers had increased their lead by forty points and were no longer neck and neck with the Ravens. The game grew increasingly intense, and the spectators risked breaking their necks following the rapidly changing action.
"…An astonishingly tactical and well-thought-out game!" Jordan enthused across the field.
"I agree with you, Mr. Jordan," McGonagall confirmed, as always taking the role of second commentator. "The tactics of both teams are very strong and allow them to play to their strengths while covering their weaknesses. As we can see, Hufflepuff is increasing its advantage."
"Yes, Professor! And the Ravenclaw captain is calling a ten-minute timeout. The gap is already sixty points. What do you think?"
"It seems to me that the Ravenclaw team is not prepared for very long matches where maximum effort is required. In that regard, Hufflepuff clearly has the advantage. You can see that they show no visible signs of fatigue, unlike their opponents…"
Nott stopped listening to the commentators. When the teams took off again, he became a typical fan, cheering along with everyone else.