This day was Saturday, no classes. Although the Goblet of Fire in the hall captured everyone's attention, nobody would stay in the hall or the great hall all day.
After breakfast, everyone dispersed. Vid took a book and went to the Umbrella House to pass the time.
He hadn't been there long when Theo and another brought homework. Then Padma came, bringing a pile of snacks; within half an hour, everyone else had arrived one after another.
Michael was the last to enter, his face full of frustration, and slammed the door with a "bang," startling everyone.
Padma raised an eyebrow and said loudly, "Hey, no one's offended you here."
"Sorry." Michael scratched his head, sat in his seat, randomly pulled a book, opened it, and then irritably threw it down.
"What's up?" Vid asked, "Did you argue with someone?"
Michael, looking unwilling to talk, said sullenly, "Nothing."
But Padma seemed to understand, "It's Daphne, right?"
"Daphne?" Several people repeated in unison, their expressions extremely shocked.
"Michael... your new girlfriend is Daphne from Slytherin?" Hermione asked bluntly.
"Yeah, is that strange?" Michael said, "She's so pretty, and her personality isn't as awful as Pansy's. Maybe you haven't noticed, but she never actually bullies anyone voluntarily."
"But she's never stopped Pansy when she bullies others, has she?" Hermione sharply pointed out, "She's an accomplice."
Michael's gaze shifted, stubbornly saying, "What accomplice... if she doesn't keep consistent with them, her situation in the house would become difficult, it's unavoidable."
"But, how come you're with her..." Harry said confusedly, "I have no issues with Daphne, but I thought you didn't like Slytherins either."
"To be exact, I don't like most Slytherins who promote pure-blood theory. I get along well with quite a few Slytherins, like Astoria."
Michael corrected, and then said, "However, the reason I'm with Daphne is because I saw her defending her sister in front of Pansy, and later, hiding by the greenhouse crying, which made me feel she's... different."
He gave a guilty glance at Padma, his voice lowered a bit towards the end.
Padma, however, seemed unaffected, as if she were unconcerned, asking, "So why did you argue again today?"
At this, Michael's expression returned to being gloomy again:
"Daphne... she wanted me to accompany her to the maze today, but I said I was going to the Umbrella House. I had planned to finish my essays today, but... when I said this, for some reason, she started crying, and even said if I didn't care about her, we might as well break up..."
"And then?" Vid said in surprise, "She said that, and you still came here?"
Michael wasn't exactly a clueless guy; he knew how to make girls happy. Normally, he should be able to cheer Daphne up in a couple of sentences, not run to the Umbrella House in a huff.
"Sigh... I'm just a bit bothered..." Michael lay on the table, saying gloomily, "Daphne's quite cute, but if I have to date her, I'd have to give up my usual lifestyle, always making concessions to her preferences, I just feel I can't stand it."
Padma sneered slightly, "You're such a fool."
"What?" Michael looked at her in confusion, "You think my thinking is wrong?"
"Don't you get it?" Padma, in a tone that held intellectual superiority, looked down at Michael, saying, "She doesn't really want to go to the maze, nor does she mind you coming to the Umbrella House—she just thought that since you insisted on coming here, it was because..."
She bit her lip, her face slightly red, saying, "...to see me."
Padma was the most beautiful girl of their year, and when a light blush appeared on her cheeks, it was like a sunset hidden beneath a frozen lake, extraordinarily beautiful.
Michael's gaze suddenly fixed, he seemed dazed for a while, before realizing what she had said, slowly blinking, and let out an "Ah."
After a couple of seconds, he stammered, "So that's... how it is..."
He flipped through his book noisily again, put it down, and looking like there was a hedgehog on his chair, sat restlessly, and eventually stood up suddenly.
"I... I should explain it to her again..."
He didn't even know who he was saying this for, pulled the chair aside, and then ran out of the Umbrella House.
The others in the room, including Vid, were afraid to speak due to the tense atmosphere between the two.
When the sound of the door closing came, everyone instinctively looked at Padma.
But Padma seemed to feel nothing, pushing her homework towards Hermione, saying, "Hermione, did you finish your essay on Muggle-Repelling Charm? I was thinking of pairing spells like this..."
The stagnant air in the room seemed to start flowing again, and everyone regained their breath.
Theo leaned closer to Vid, whispering, "Did you see Michael's eyes just now? I think he actually still likes Padma."
"Just acting on appearance. It's just that Padma and her friends are good-tempered, otherwise, Michael will get himself axed sooner or later," Vid commented coldly.
Theo asked puzzledly, "What do you mean?"
"Wise men do not fall in love," Vid said earnestly, "Love is a drug that makes one lower their intellect, with a mental control power scarier than Imperio."
Theo was speechless, and after a long while, said, "It's not that absolute..."
After lunch, it started to drizzle, and the air was filled with the moist smell of soil, making it particularly refreshing.
Through the window, everyone could see quite a few students from foreign schools lining up excitedly outside the maze, even the rain couldn't dampen their enthusiasm.
"Why doesn't the school seal off the maze?" Padma muttered, "It's our Hogwarts training resource..."
Seemingly thinking this sounded stingy, she added, "Besides, what if those guys cause damage inside?"
Leian asked, "Has anyone decided to participate in the competition? Have you all signed up?"
Everyone looked at each other, Leian first said, "Neither I nor Theo planned to participate, everyone in our house thinks there'll definitely be a Cedric."
"I didn't sign up either." Padma shrugged, "Compete in a potentially deadly competition? Spare me."
"Same here." Hermione cautiously said, "I don't think I've mastered enough knowledge, and I can't be selected anyway. Since that's the case, there's no point in signing up."
"That's what I thought too." Neville chuckled gently.
Remaining Vid and Harry, the two exchanged glances.
"So it seems only the two of us signed up?" Vid said.