The next morning at breakfast, Evan told Hermione and Elaine about what had happened the night before.
Hermione analyzed the situation along Evan’s line of thinking, but Elaine’s focus was quite different.
She said that when she was a child, she had also encountered companions who enjoyed bullying others. Her usual approach was to give such people a good beating, and then they would behave! All that talk about cruelty, mystery, and domineering nature — none of it was useful.
If they didn’t listen, she would just hit them until they did. This method of education was certainly straightforward, and perhaps it would be effective.
Riddle should be thankful that he was in a Muggle orphanage instead of a vampire castle, otherwise he would have had no chance to grow up.
Because based on what he did in the orphanage, he might have been beaten to death long ago!
When Harry and Ron arrived, one look at Ron’s expression made it clear that Harry had already told him everything.
“Incredible!” Ron couldn’t wait to share his thoughts as soon as he sat down. “I mean, this is terrifying — learning about You-Know-Who’s childhood and his unknown past. Not everyone gets to see something like this.”
“Yeah, it’s a very precious memory.”
“But I still don’t get why Dumbledore’s showing you all this?” Ron continued, pulling a plate of sausages in front of him. “It’s really interesting and everything, but what’s the point?”“Dunno, Dumbledore says it’s all important,” said Harry, “and it’ll help me survive…”
He couldn’t help but think about the prophecy again. In the prophecy, only one of them — he or Voldemort — could survive.
To live or to die, that was the question.
Harry hoped that he could take some initiative instead of waiting for Voldemort to make the choice.
“I think it’s fascinating,” said Hermione earnestly. “Dumbledore must have thought carefully before showing you. It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?”
“Only by understanding Voldemort can we defeat him,” said Evan. “By the way, how was Slughorn’s latest party?”
Last night, while Evan and Harry were attending Dumbledore’s lesson, Hermione and Elaine went to Professor Slughorn’s party. After hearing that Slughorn had prepared special dragon blood, Elaine had no resistance.
Sure enough, she now had a nostalgic look on her face. “The food was great. The dragon blood was of high quality. I heard that…”
No one except her was interested in the taste of dragon blood.
“What about other aspects?” Evan asked, interrupting Elaine’s memories of the taste of high-grade dragon blood.
“Well, other aspects?!” Elaine tilted her head and seemed to think hard for a long moment before finally saying, “I have no impression. Apart from the delicious food, I don’t remember anything else.”
If Professor Slughorn heard this response, who knew what he would think?
What a failed party. He didn’t invite Elaine over to let her eat to her heart’s content.
However, one should not have any extra expectations for such a foodie.
“It was quite fun, really,” Hermione took over the topic at the right time. “Like Elaine said, the food Slughorn prepared was very exquisite. There were many things I’d never tried before, and they tasted good. He drones on about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he’s so well-connected, but apart from these unpleasant things, the rest was pretty good. Oh, and he also introduced us to Gwenog Jones.”
“Gwenog Jones?” Ron’s head shot up, his mouth stuffed with sausages, bread, and eggs. He swallowed hard, his eyes widening. “The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?”
“That’s right,” said Hermione. “Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but she’s not a bad person and has a bit of a reputation.”
“Oh my God, Hermione, she’s not just a little famous, she’s very famous!” Ron retorted immediately.
It was common knowledge that the Holyhead Harpies were one of the oldest Welsh Quidditch teams.
This team was unique among all the Quidditch teams in the world because it had always been composed exclusively of witches.
Despite being an all-female team, the Harpies had an impressive record in Quidditch history.
They had created countless legendary moments, leaving lasting impressions on audiences.
For example, in the 1953 Quidditch final against the Heidelberg Harriers, the game lasted for seven days and was extremely difficult. In the end, the Holyhead Harpies’ Seeker Glynnis Griffiths caught the Snitch with an amazing move and won the championship that year.
The most memorable scene was not that the Harpies won the championship, but that at the end of the game, the captain of the Heidelberg Harriers, Rudolf Brand, famously dismounted from his broom at the end of the match and proposed marriage to his opposite number, Gwendolyn Morgan, in front of everyone.
It was said that the scene was very romantic and touching, and was witnessed by countless spectators.
But Morgan didn’t accept the proposal. Instead, she concussed him with her Cleansweep Five…
The dramatic ending also made this incident a classic, and people still talked about it today.
After that, the Holyhead Harpies went through a few years of decline.
Since Gwenog Jones became captain, the team had been revitalized. This year, they were considered one of the top contenders for the championship, alongside the Kenmare Kestrels, the Wimbourne Wasps, and the Tutshill Tornados. Gwenog Jones herself was recognized as a star player.
Even though the Wizarding World was in such turmoil now, it had not stopped wizards’ passion for Quidditch.
No wonder Ron was so excited when such a character appeared in Hogwarts.
“You should’ve asked her for an autograph,” he exclaimed.
Hermione ignored him and said to Evan and Harry, “Slughorn’s going to have a Christmas party, and there’s no way you’ll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you two can come. I think you should come this time. It’s actually not as bad as you think.”
“Now I remember, I promised him that I would take you two there,” Elaine interrupted, looking at Evan expectantly.
“Alright, I’m free anytime,” said Evan, deciding to attend Slughorn’s party.
The operation was scheduled for the Christmas holidays, and everything that needed to be prepared was ready. He didn’t have any urgent matters recently…
Since that was the case, going to Slughorn’s party might not be such a bad idea.
Besides, with both Hermione and Elaine personally inviting him, Evan had no reason to refuse; though it was obvious they had both been won over by Slughorn.
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