The gloomy weather couldn't dampen the excitement of the little wizards for the Quidditch match.
"...The Quaffle is now in Marcus's hands, he's circling around Alicia, and now the only thing standing between him and the goal post is Wood... What! Angelina suddenly breaks in from the side, a fantastic steal! So impressive, no wonder I've been into her for years..."
Lee Jordan's commentary echoed across the field.
"Lee, talk about the game!"
Professor McGonagall's shout rang out not far from the commentary stand.
"Okay, Professor, I got it, Professor." Lee Jordan paused, then continued to shout, "Angelina is heading straight for the Slytherin goal, she's getting close, soon she'll... Ah! Damn you, Adrian, I thought you were only wasting air—"
"Lee!"
"Okay, Professor!"
...
The noisy field gave William a bit of a headache, looking at the little wizards flailing their arms and legs around, he felt like he really couldn't fit in—he just couldn't find the fun in this sport, just like he never watched the World Cup in his previous life.
"About that diary..."
Hearing the voice beside him, William turned around helplessly, "Honestly, Ginny, do you have to ask three or four times a day?" The red-haired girl had somehow already sat behind him, and Luna was beside her, looking puzzled.
The two were now almost inseparable outside of their respective common rooms, reportedly because Ginny started suspecting her roommates after the diary went missing and caused a stir by searching (and causing chaos) in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, which almost got her ostracized by most Gryffindor girls.
So Luna, who also didn't have many friends, naturally became her best friend.
"I just..." Ginny's mouth turned down slightly, looking a bit sad.
"Your brother's fine, he's just Petrified, waiting for the Mandrake... How many times have I said this?" William shook his head, raised his voice slightly, and changed the topic, "Why don't you look up, Harry Potter is flying pretty well."
After regaining the diary, he asked Ginny about what she had written in it before and, after assuring her that he wouldn't tell anyone, he learned of her feelings for the Savior.
"Pretty well?" Cedric turned his head, "That's an understatement. He's flying fantastic, I knew last year that Gryffindor would be our tough rival. Seriously, if you joined the team, with Silas graduating next year..." he invited William again.
"No." William's refusal was as straightforward as ever.
"Alright then—" Cedric sighed, and turned back to the field.
"Wait—" Ginny seemed to notice something, her pretty eyebrows furrowing slightly, "Isn't Harry...?"
Following her inquiry, the others instinctively looked up, seeing Harry awkwardly hanging onto his broom, with a pitch-black Bludger relentlessly chasing close behind him. Two red-haired figures were following Harry, using their bats to try and smack the Bludger away, but to little effect.
And because of the missing two Beaters, Gryffindor's score fell behind by a large margin taken advantage of by Slytherin, even Lee Jordan's commentary became lower. It started raining, and quite a few black umbrellas started popping up from the stands, as the gloomy weather seemed to have foretold today's weather.
"...Someone tampered with that Bludger." Cedric concluded with just a glance.
"Could it be Slytherin?" Since the matter involved Harry, Ginny was even more anxious than she was when Ron was Petrified.
"Who else could it be?" Cedric said irritably, he despised such underhanded tricks to win games.
"...Gryffindor called a timeout." Luna pointed to the field, in the rain curtain, Oliver Wood raised his hand towards Referee Ms. Hooch, and a short whistle followed, "In that case... is the game over?"
"Impossible!" Cedric shook his head firmly, "Gryffindor won't just lose to Slytherin like that, Potter will certainly continue the match, even if it means dying on the field—"
"You don't even know Harry Potter."
"But we're both Seekers!"
Tch, no really, what's with all this enthusiasm?
Seeing Cedric's face full of "belief" and "passion," all William could feel was speechlessness, was he really getting old?
Just as Cedric predicted, after a brief timeout, the match continued. This time, Fred and George no longer tailed behind Harry, only to see the boy flying straight up into the sky alone while the black Bludger still chased doggedly close behind him.
"At this rate, he'll surely die!" Ginny raised her head, her face full of anxiety. The increasing rain obscured the view so much that soon those flying in the field became just blurry silhouettes.
"He won't die." William's tone was as resolute as Cedric's earlier.
"...How do you know?"
Obviously, 'cause Harry Potter's the protagonist, if he dies, it's all over. Who in their right mind writes the protagonist off in their second year?
Based on his memory and impression of "Harry Potter," this kid has at least seven years of school to complete.
William said no more, keeping his eyes on the blurry silhouette highest in the sky, his eyes faintly gleaming blue—after a moment, he turned to look at the stands below...
He initially thought Slytherin was behind this, but now it seems...
"Excuse me." William stood up.
"Where are you going?" Cedric obediently moved his legs apart, asking instinctively.
"To the bathroom, want to come?"
"Uh, I'd rather not."
...
"...Sorry, sorry, sorry... Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter..."
The small figure stood trembling, tears kept falling from his large eyes, the ears folded behind his head revealing his inner anxiety, yet he kept his hands raised, fixating on the silhouette in the sky with blurry vision.
Finally, the Bludger struck hard against Harry's arm, and the small figure let out a cry of guilt simultaneously.
Seeing Harry Potter finally crash into the muddy ground, the figure seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Dobby meant no harm to Harry Potter, Dobby did this to save you, sorry, sorry..." Seeing Harry holding the Golden Snitch high, the small figure shrieked and kept banging his head against the pillar below the stands.
"You're saying sorry, and yet you hit him with the ball?" William's tone was somewhat odd.
"Ah!" The figure was startled and raised its hand instinctively.
"Petrificus Totalus. (Petrificus Totalus)"
The glow of the charm flashed, and before the figure's fingers could curl in, it dropped stiffly to the ground.
"...House-Elf?" William grabbed the figure by the hind leg and picked it up, "Seems like it's not from Hogwarts?"
However, because these elves mostly look alike, William dared not claim he knew every elf in the school, so he planned to send it directly to the kitchen...