Mysterious Journey
Chapter 946 Diggory and Weasley
After a thorough examination lasting over half an hour, the Hogwarts' matron could only speculate that perhaps it was due to excessive pressure and lack of rest, leading to Draco Malfoy's recent poor condition—a common occurrence at Hogwarts, usually seen in fifth-year students.
Although Draco insisted that a good night's sleep would restore him, Harry and Ron forced him to drink some potent revitalizing potions.
As a result, during the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match that weekend, Draco seemed to be piloting a jet-propelled broom, leaving a trail of white vapor in the sky. However, his condition wasn't the reason for the match's loss. After unexpectedly losing to the first-year team last week, the Hufflepuff team took things seriously, shifting their tactical focus from Cedric to Hannah.
As the final whistle blew, Hannah's broom was adorned with four extra stars.
Apart from Goyle, Crabbe, and Draco, she ruthlessly knocked all the remaining senior Slytherin players off their brooms.
In the Gryffindor versus first-year team match that afternoon, Luna, with her astonishing luck, caught the Snitch right next to her own goal hoops before Harry even had a chance to spur his broom into the air, setting a new record for the shortest Quidditch match in Hogwarts history.
However, those who had purchased the high-priced Hogwarts match tickets from outside the school didn't express much protest.
Apart from a small number of hardcore Quidditch enthusiasts, the vast majority of spectators were actually there for the three meals included with the ticket and the added bonus of a Hogwarts day trip. Amos Diggory was one such loyal consumer. Since Arthur Weasley had flaunted his family's excellent "prospective daughter-in-law" in front of him, the highly competitive Mr. Diggory had started to take things seriously in this regard as well.
Of course, like most parents, after witnessing firsthand how Hannah slammed the Slytherin players into the ground.
Amos Diggory immediately crossed the Abbot family off his list of "potential in-laws," even though the Leaky Cauldron was rapidly evolving into the "Leaky Cauldron Hotel Group." A serious, gentle girl like Miss Hannah was simply too dangerous.
In comparison, the Ravenclaw ladies were clearly more suitable for their excellent Cedric.
"Hey, Ced, you might think I'm being a bit long-winded—"
Amos Diggory patted his son on the back, speaking with the experience of someone who's been there, done that.
"You'll be sixteen next year, you need to start thinking about dating some pretty girls at school. You'll find out after you graduate that focusing all your energy on studying at Hogwarts is such a waste—oh—I'm not envying the Weasley kids who are dating early, but you need to start making moves, or all the good girls will be snatched up by those rascals around you."
"I'll be in my fifth year next year, Dad," Cedric muttered quietly, his expression slightly awkward. "I have to prepare for my O.W.L.s, and as far as I know, George and Fred weren't the ones making the moves. I told you before, it was because they failed to steal potatoes..."
"Then you try organizing one next time. Don't be careless, the Gryffindor bad boys are the worst—especially when it comes to chasing girls. Your honest and upright personality is just too easy to take advantage of, just like I was back in the day... Never mind..."
Amos Diggory shook his head dismissively, sighing with emotion, then winked at his son.
"Speaking of which, I've been keeping an eye out for you these past two weekends. There are several Ravenclaw girls you could consider dating, like that female prefect who's likely to become the next Head Girl next semester. You need to act fast."
"Uh, Dad, are you talking about Penelope?"
Cedric sighed helplessly, looking at his old man with a headache and sighing even more heavily in his heart.
Of course, he knew why Mr. Diggory was in such a hurry. After all, the Weasleys and the Diggorys were neighbors.
With Arthur Weasley and Amos Diggory being colleagues, neighbors, and parents of students, it was easy to guess what the two bored middle-aged men talked about whenever they met. In the previous round of exchanges, Old Diggory had suffered a particularly brutal "face-riding output" due to George Weasley's successful engagement with Miss Strip, so he couldn't wait for Cedric to help him win back a game in front of Weasley.
Except...
"She's Percy's girlfriend, they just went public this semester. Uh, Percy Weasley—they've been together since last year, apparently."
Cedric stopped abruptly after saying the first half of the sentence, wishing he could slap himself hard across the face.
"Another one?! See what I was just saying, the Weasleys are always scheming about these things!"
Upon hearing this "bad news," Mr. Diggory's eyes widened suddenly.
Obviously, this also meant that even after Meryl Strip graduated this semester, Mr. Diggory would still be subjected to a second round of face-riding output when he next met Mr. Weasley, and this time it would last for a year, which was practically equivalent to him having to avoid Arthur afterwards.
And most importantly, since their own rascals had successively escaped singlehood, Arthur was especially fond of asking about other people's situations everywhere.
"It's okay, it's okay... Anyway, Miss Clearwater is also a year older than you. Uh, why don't you try to get to know Miss Marietta Edgecombe later—oh, you definitely know her, she's also a good girl, she's also on the Ravenclaw team, you'll definitely have a lot in common. By the way, her mother, Madam Edgecombe, is the Director of the Floo Network Authority at the Ministry of Magic, her office is right downstairs from mine—"
"The Ravenclaw team disbanded, now the only one left in the air is..."
Cedric spread his hands with a headache. Of course, he knew Miss Marietta Edgecombe. She had asked him out at the last party.
However, it just so happened that their Hufflepuff had lost the match that day, and he wasn't in the mood to play much that night, except for reluctantly reviewing the match with those old rivals from Gryffindor. Besides, the perfume the girls wore that night was a bit pungent.
Of course, he didn't dare tell Old Diggory these things. If he was bound and sent to the door by his parents like George, that would really be embarrassing.
You know, George Weasley has now become a public joke among the boys.
After all, people rarely find such a unlucky fellow in Gryffindor who is completely inferior in learning, fighting, reputation, and even emotional status, and even secretly dating during the holidays, he was directly bound to the door by his own parents to apologize, and finally completely tied up the choice of the second half of his life.
"I don't care, you have to find a girlfriend this semester—this is what your mother and I want."
Amos Diggory's short brown beard trembled, interrupting Cedric's voice, and said in an undeniable tone.
"Unless you can find a girlfriend, you can stay at Hogwarts this Christmas, it just so happens that your mother and I haven't had a world of our own for a long time. You reminded me of one thing, you won't have time to fall in love next year, I don't want you to become like the Weasley family's eldest and second children, what's the use of just having good grades, if they end up marrying a dragon and an elf like them—hey—that would be terrible!"
"This is really not something to rush, Dad, I don't have any for the time being..."
"Hey, Cedric, watch out!"
Before the young Hufflepuff Quidditch captain could finish speaking, a quirky shout came from behind him.
Immediately afterwards, a bright red Bludger flew straight towards him.
However, as one of Hogwarts' leading Seekers, Cedric's reaction speed was naturally top-notch. He quickly turned around and blocked it in mid-air, easily stopping the sudden Bludger attack, looking towards the location of the attack with a helpless expression.
"Miss Weasley, can't you find a different way to call people? This is really dangerous..."
"If you can't even catch such a slow ball, you might as well just admit defeat in the next match—"
Ginny Weasley, riding a broom, floated in the air a good four or five feet above the Hufflepuff stand, saying nonchalantly.
If it weren't for creating opportunities for that shy senior, Cho Chang, she wouldn't bother with this dull, taciturn Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. She had heard her dad talk about his and the neighbor Diggory's silly "compare sons" game at home.
In Ginny's opinion, any of her brothers was better than Cedric... well, except for Ron.
"The Weasley's little daughter, Ginny Weasley, the Chaser from the first year team."
Cedric sighed helplessly, shrugged at his dad, and explained in a low voice.
He was beginning to agree with Mr. Diggory's point of view, the Weasley family was indeed troublesome. Especially this first-year student who had just entered Hogwarts, was a huge trouble—relying on the fact that her family had six brothers in school, Ginny was almost like a little witch.
And the worst thing was that under the encouragement of the Weasley twins, who were always eager to stir up trouble, this witch especially liked to target him.
Thinking carefully, it seemed that since he refused Cho Chang's team invitation last time, the frequency of Ginny's tormenting him had increased, and she would occasionally use various reasons to drag him to the first-year team as a sparring partner, and she had been deliberately or unintentionally bringing him and Cho Chang together.
From the motive alone, this loud, quirky Miss Weasley had an amazing understanding with his dad.
But from Cedric's point of view, Cho Chang, who had an oriental face, was very good in terms of appearance and personality, and he was somewhat tempted.
Therefore, during this period of time, he had still agreed to Ginny's invitation in a half-hearted manner, leading the Hufflepuff team to play training matches with the first-year team—another reason was that, apart from the first-year students, the other three teams were unwilling to train with Hannah.
"I'm a Seeker, not a Beater—dealing with Bludgers is Miss Abbot's responsibility. Okay, what's the matter today?"
Cedric Diggory casually threw the Bludger in his hand back into the air, and asked with a helpless tilt of his head.
"We and Hufflepuff won this weekend's match, so Granger asked me to ask, are you Hufflepuffs planning to host a social gathering? Aren't you the Hufflepuff prefect, if there's no problem, go arrange tonight's program—"
Ginny floated around in the sky, saying in a brisk tone.
"Because of the professors' requirements, now the heads of the colleges have to apply for and provide corresponding plans and performers to host such small-scale cross-college activities. Elena's side has now passed, it depends on your side—by the way, the members of our first-year team this time, um, Cho will also come to be the organizer and referee of the banquet, you should know what I mean, don't be so wooden this time..."
Ginny paused for a few seconds, glared at Cedric Diggory threateningly, and pulled up her broom.
"Okay, the message has been delivered. If you don't refuse, then it's assumed that you agree, remember to divide into groups."
————
————
Yay!