After entering November, the weather became very cold, and every morning the ground was frosty.
It seemed that overnight, a thick and hard layer of ice had formed on the Black Lake, with many people playing on it.
As soon as Kael and Cedric stepped out of the warm castle, they felt a chilly wind blow against them.
"Hiss... So cold!" Cedric shivered and said, "Fortunately, I changed into thicker robes a few days ago, otherwise I'd definitely catch a cold going out in this weather."
Last year, he didn't change into thicker robes in time, and steam was coming out of his head for three consecutive days.
Madam Pomfrey's potions are like that—effective quickly, but always with some weird side effects.
"Once we start training later, it should warm us up quite a bit." Kael tightened his collar and couldn't help but quicken his pace.
"You're right about that."
...
The two of them crossed the field and arrived at the Quidditch Pitch.
They arrived fairly early; at the time, Harris was moving a box containing Quidditch Balls outside.
Kael also saw Hagrid, who was wrapped in a long mole-skin coat, de-frosting the broomsticks.
Seeing Kael, Hagrid warmly waved his hand and said, "Hey, Kael, is today your training day?"
"Yes, Hagrid."
Kael walked over and took out his wand.
"Scourgify!"
In an instant, the frost on those broomsticks was completely cleaned away.
"That's really handy..." Hagrid looked enviously at the wand in Kael's hand and subconsciously glanced at the little pink umbrella in his pocket.
His wand was hidden inside that umbrella, though for certain reasons, he couldn't use it in front of others.
"Is there anything else you need help with?" Kael asked.
"Nothing else, thank you." Hagrid picked up the brooms and said with a smile, "I would say you all should train after lunch, the weather is much warmer then."
"No choice, today is the last weekend before the match, and all three houses need to train." Kael shook his head helplessly.
If he could, he would also prefer to train when it's warmer, but unfortunately, Harris was too honest—he agreed to the last choice for pitch usage with just a bit of persuasion.
So Ravenclaw occupied the four hours after ten o'clock, followed by Gryffindor. They had to come at this time.
"Seems everyone is taking this year's match seriously." Hagrid said, "But I believe you can win, after all, Hufflepuff is last year's champion."
"Of course, that's what I think too."
Other team members began arriving at the pitch, Kael bid goodbye to Hagrid and quickly joined the training with everyone else.
Since today was just regular training and not tactical practice, Harris didn't lock down the pitch.
About half an hour later, the number of people in the stands gradually increased.
Most of them were young wizards who loved Quidditch, and upon discovering the pitch was open, they were quite happy to come and enjoy themselves before the official game.
At ten o'clock, Harris led the others down from the air after two hours of training, handing over the pitch to the waiting Ravenclaw Team.
Kael followed everyone back to the castle.
Soon, the spectators in the stands followed them out, clearly not in good spirits.
Luckily, this wasn't the first time this had happened; after a few quiet complaints, they quickly returned to the castle rubbing their shoulders.
Kael glanced at them thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?" Cedric noticed Kael's oddness and asked.
Kael said, "How about we make a warming device?"
"A warming device?"
"Exactly." Kael pointed at those who were shivering coldly.
"The temperature has been dropping quickly these past few days, and it will surely be colder on Quidditch match day. If we could launch a convenient warming device then, it should be very popular."
"Well..." Cedric seemed hesitant, he thought for a moment and said, "You make a good point, but there's something you might not know."
"During last year's match, to avoid being affected by the bad weather, we used the Hot-Air Charm and Warm-Up Charm ahead of time, and both charms are taught in third year."
Kael wasn't much concerned about Cedric's worries.
His target wasn't those upper-year students; if third-years and above didn't need it, there were still first and second years.
That was enough.
With an idea in mind, the two quickly found Conna and the twins to discuss the matter.
Cho couldn't join due to training.
The five gathered in an empty classroom, staying until noon before leaving.
"It's settled then, Kael!" Fred stood at the door, excitedly said.
"After waiting for two months... finally getting down to it." George waved his hand and said, "You know, I've been looking forward to this since school started."
"Looks like I overheard something interesting."
Just then, an eerie voice suddenly came from not far away.
Fred and George were startled, quickly turned around to look.
Snape and Filch were standing at the corridor corner, looking at them maliciously.
"It's you two again; this time I've caught you..." Filch said gleefully, staring at Fred and George, "Violating school rules time and again without remorse."
While speaking, he glanced at Snape beside him.
"To teach them a lesson, how about locking them in the dungeon? I've been maintaining those chains, ready for use anytime."
Snape didn't speak; he just saw Conna beside Kael, and his face suddenly looked very unsightly.
"Shouting in the corridor, Gryffindor deducted ten points."
Snape limped over to Kael and coldly said, "Now, tell me what foolish idea you have again."
If eyes could cast charms, Kael would probably see hundreds of Sectumsempra flying in front of him right now.
"I think, Professor, you are mistaken."
Kael rubbed his shoulder, uncomfortably said, "We were just looking forward to next week's Quidditch match."
"Better be." Snape squinted and said, "If I find you lying or breaking any school rules, I assure you, you'll be expelled."
Kael curled his lips, feeling a toothache.
He just couldn't understand.
Shouldn't Snape seek attention from Harry? Why is he still holding onto him now?
"Why aren't you speaking!"
Seeing Kael silent, Snape frowned and said disdainfully, "Being disrespectful to a professor... Gryffindor deducted another ten points!"