Chapter 212
Chapter 212
Everyone seemed to have grown accustomed to Malfoy’s determination to cause trouble in Care of Magical Creatures.
The young wizards might be children, but they were not fools. Hagrid had also given them tangible rewards. Apart from the few Slytherins obliged to flatter Malfoy, hardly anyone joined him in targeting Hagrid any longer.
As for Gryffindor, there was even less need to ask. Hagrid was one of their own.
There was an old saying: three times was too many. Malfoy’s repeated fault-finding had exposed the purpose behind all his mockery to a great many people.
By the time Suer finished Potions, stayed behind to process ingredients for Snape and finally returned to the Great Hall, students everywhere were pointing towards the Slytherin table and covering their mouths to snigger.
Good heavens. Was that really the “dashing” young Master Malfoy, who plastered his blond hair with gel every day to preserve its shape?
He had plainly taken a bath the moment class ended. What Suer could now see was curled, frizzled hair, complete with several black scorch marks. His already impressive hairline looked more impressive still, and his gleaming white forehead appeared to have gained another half-circle.
What had happened?
Ron took enormous pleasure in Malfoy’s misfortune. Once Suer removed the embellishments from his account, the sequence of events soon became clear.
Young Master Malfoy had once again felt the urge to bully someone. With his two cronies shielding him, he snatched Trevor from Neville and prepared to throw the toad into the fire for a laugh.
Why had Trevor accompanied Neville to Care of Magical Creatures? Neville did not know either. He had only discovered the toad after reaching the classroom.
Neville threw himself forwards to save Trevor from the flames, but used too much force. At that precise moment, a salamander happened to be beside Malfoy’s foot. By an extraordinary coincidence, Malfoy trod down hard upon it, and the creature died on the spot.
Perhaps several salamanders in that fire had been mates of their tragically young companion.
Whatever the reason, every salamander in the blaze flew into a rage. Their eyes turned red, and they attacked Malfoy together. Thin threads of fire merged into a single pillar.
Small streams joined to form a torrent. It was the same principle.
Malfoy was caught completely unprepared. And as everyone knew, most hair gel was highly flammable…
An enraged Professor Hagrid deducted a full twenty points from Slytherin.
“Malfoy even lost his eyebrows. I wonder whether old Malfoy will want to kill himself from shame when he sees what his son looks like! Ha ha ha!” Ron deliberately shouted.
The next moment, Malfoy covered his face and hurried from the Great Hall with his cronies.
Hermione was nowhere to be seen at dinner. Harry said she had already eaten.
“We were in class together only a moment ago, but Hermione suddenly vanished. By the time we reached the Great Hall, she’d finished dinner and gone.”
“Do you know how Hermione managed that?”
Suer feigned puzzlement and shook his head. There was no need to ask. It had to be that miraculous alchemical device that allowed a young wizard to travel through the river of time: the Time-Turner.
Since Hermione was absent, Suer naturally returned to the Hufflepuff table for dinner. Unexpectedly, he saw Cedric at the Ravenclaw table, sitting beside a long-haired girl and talking and laughing with her.
Suer raised an eyebrow, and a teasing smile curved his lips.
“Good evening, Cedric. Oh… and who might this be?”
“Ah… er… good evening, Suer.” Cedric looked up in astonishment, colour spreading over his fair face. “Er… she… she’s…”
Unlike the stammering Cedric Diggory, the girl rose with perfect composure and held out a hand to Suer. “I’m Cho Chang.”
“Cedric’s girlfriend.”
So this was Cho Chang. Suer was surprised. She looked nothing like the girl he remembered from the films. A verse from the Book of Songs described her perfectly:
“Her hands are tender shoots, her skin congealed cream; her neck is graceful, her teeth like gourd seeds, her brow delicately curved. How lovely her smile, how beautiful her eyes.”
What could suit a girl of Eastern heritage better than an Eastern verse? Their homeland was a country of handsome men and beautiful women, after all.
The girl who made Harry fall in love at first sight could never have possessed the square face of the film version. To be considered the loveliest girl in Ravenclaw, where more than sixty per cent of the students were witches, her beauty had to be formidable.
“Ah… hello. I’m Suer Bones Ellison. You can call me Suer, as Cedric does.” Suer quickly took the offered hand, bowed with gentlemanly courtesy and released it after the lightest touch.
“I know who you are. Cedric has told me about you. You’re the most outstanding third-year in Hufflepuff.” Cho Chang smiled.
“No, no. Cedric is the truly outstanding one. All the Heads of House like him.” Suer smiled modestly.
As he spoke, Suer waggled his eyebrows at Cedric, made a comical face and secretly raised a thumb.
Well done, Cedric. Quietly plucking Ravenclaw’s loveliest flower.
Behind Cho, Cedric gave a shy smile and returned the thumbs-up.
You’re not doing badly yourself.
Suer answered with a smug look. Naturally. Hermione’s looks were among the best in Gryffindor too.
“Well, I won’t disturb you. I’ve only just finished helping the professor, and my body is already protesting.”
He had merely come to greet Cedric. He had no wish to stand there like a third wheel.
By the time Suer finished dinner, few people remained in the Great Hall. Most young wizards had chosen to spend the evening beside a warm fireplace or rush through–which often meant copy–their homework. Suer intended to do the same.
That plan collapsed when Fawkes appeared.
Familiar talons seized his shoulders. Familiar flames blocked his vision. When he could see again, both feet had landed upon a soft carpet.
Suer sighed. He would have to climb all the way back from the eighth floor to his dormitory later. Then he met a pair of brilliant blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles.
“Good evening, Professor Dumbledore.”
“Good evening,” Dumbledore replied warmly. Two recording orbs Suer knew extremely well rested upon the desk before him.
“There have been far too many matters demanding my attention recently, so I could only speak to you now, Suer.”
“I can explain, Professor.” Suer stared straight ahead. “It was an accident. I only intended to record Hagrid’s first lesson. I never expected anything like that to happen.”
“Oh?” Something almost amused flickered in Dumbledore’s eyes. He stepped out from behind the desk holding a letter. “I must say, these two recording orbs have helped Hagrid enormously. He has spoken very highly of you. This is the Ministry’s reply.”
“Magical creatures injuring wizards has always been a difficult issue. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures remains divided over whether creatures that harm people should be destroyed.”
“With the recording orbs as evidence, Hagrid is out of danger, isn’t he?” Suer asked softly.
“Hagrid is, certainly. But the hippogriff…” Dumbledore shook his head. “Its fate remains under debate. Newt heard of the affair and has been working tirelessly on its behalf.”
“Then this letter?” Suer had accepted the envelope from Dumbledore.
“A summons. The Ministry requires further details. Please take it to Hagrid for me,” Dumbledore said.
Suer’s gaze moved past him to the recording orbs, puzzlement upon his face.
“I did not give these two to the Ministry,” Dumbledore explained, apparently reading the question. “They are crucial pieces of evidence. The dispute over the hippogriff now touches deeper interests, and the orbs must appear at the proper moment.”
Right. Another complicated struggle… Better to let the adults fight it out.
“I’ll give this to Hagrid tomorrow.” Suer nodded.
“Thank you.” Dumbledore inclined his head. “Do you remember what I once told you, Suer?”
Suer looked uncertainly into Dumbledore’s pale-blue eyes.
“Fate may have countless possible outcomes, yet the one outcome that finally occurs is shaped by every path leading towards it. Anything that happens may influence that result.”
“Like time, fate may be interfered with, but it must not be mocked. Your gift is highly unusual. When you make a choice, I hope you will consider its consequences more carefully.”
Dumbledore paused. For one instant, his eyes went distant.
“So that when a certain moment arrives in the future, you do not regret what you chose today.”