Chapter 231
Chapter 231
“Urgh…” Early the next morning, Suer rubbed his temples in pain. A cup lay on its side atop the bedside table, leaving behind a crescent-shaped patch of moisture.
“What time is it? I haven’t overslept, have I?”
Suer scrubbed his face. Then he remembered that he had a lesson that morning and bolted upright.
Faint snores drifted to his ears. Justin and Morn were still fast asleep.
He leant over to check the mechanical alarm clock.
It was still early.
Suer sighed with relief and lay down again. His gaze fell upon the wet mark on the bedside table, and his memories slowly returned.
“If I touch another drop of alcohol, I’m a dog.”
They had only wanted a little Butterbeer to warm themselves the previous night, but the barman at the Hog’s Head — who was actually its proprietor — could not even be bothered to heat it. Who drank Butterbeer covered in frost in the depths of winter? Heating it themselves would have taken far too long.
Fred had therefore suggested mead, which he claimed had a relatively low alcohol content.
Suer had assumed that anything with honey in its name would be much like Butterbeer.
He could not have been more mistaken. The drink was nowhere near as mild as it looked.
One bottle was not much. It provided only a single glass for each of them. Fred and George were older than Suer and had drunk before, so neither suffered any ill effects. Suer, on the other hand, had become drunk after one glass.
“If I ever drink again, I’m a dog.”
It was not until the evening before Hufflepuff’s Quidditch match against Gryffindor that Suer noticed the parchment beneath his pillow.
On the night he had been drunk, he had apparently found whatever was pressing against his chest uncomfortable and shoved it there. Between the professors suddenly increasing their homework and Suer keeping himself busy pestering Hermione, he had completely forgotten about the Marauder’s Map.
“Alcohol ruins everything!” Suer stroked the parchment and sighed.
He was alone in the dormitory. Unsurprisingly, his roommates had once again lost themselves over a chessboard, making this the perfect opportunity.
“Let’s have a look…”
Suer drew his wand and quietly spoke the words that opened the Marauder’s Map.
The parchment swiftly unfolded before him. Once its greeting had appeared, moving black dots and their labels began to fill every part of the map.
The names of Justin and Morn stood in the lower-right corner representing the Hufflepuff common room.
Cedric Diggory’s name was crowded together with seven or eight other dots. When Suer had returned to the dormitory from the common room, he had heard them discussing tactics for tomorrow’s Quidditch match.
Cedric had recently become captain after his predecessor, now a seventh-year facing his N.E.W.T.s, was forced to give up Quidditch. He also remained the Hufflepuff team’s Seeker.
The moment he took charge, Cedric declared that he would bring the Quidditch Cup back to Hufflepuff after their many years without it.
Suer sincerely wished him luck. Yes, sincerely.
But that was beside the point. Suer turned his attention to the upper-right corner of the castle, where countless tiny black dots were packed together.
A great mass of names shifted to and fro in the same area, making his eyes ache.
He worked hard to pick Hermione Granger out of the crowd and confirmed that he was looking in the right place. Strangely, however, the name he expected — Wormtail — was nowhere among them.
Suer searched the other two houses.
Ravenclaw: nothing.
Slytherin: nothing there either.
Elsewhere, Professor Snape sat quietly in his private potions workroom. He was undoubtedly brewing something.
Professor Dumbledore paced around his office. Suer had no idea what he was doing, though it was probably important Headmaster business.
Percy Weasley and his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater were pressed close together in a corridor on the sixth floor.
George and Fred were also on the sixth floor, only one corridor away from Percy and his girlfriend.
Given their fondness for mischief, something entertaining might soon occur.
But nowhere on the entire map could Suer find a name identifying Wormtail.
Instead, in the Gryffindor common room, Suer found a label reading “Peter Pettigrew”.
“Peter Pettigrew? Is there someone in Gryffindor with that name?”
Suer stared at the upper-right corner of the map and sank into thought.
He had always thought of the man as Wormtail, or simply Peter. Seeing his full name written there felt unexpectedly unfamiliar.
At that moment, the voices of Morn and Justin reached him as they analysed the chess game they had just finished. They were drawing steadily nearer to the dormitory.
“Mischief managed.”
With no time to decide whether Gryffindor had a pupil by that name, Suer tapped the Marauder’s Map with his wand and thrust it back beneath his pillow.
The following day, rain that had been gathering all night drenched the castle. Suer dug out the scarf Hermione had given him and used it to ward off the chill draughts in the corridors. By the time he reached the Great Hall, Wood was delivering a rousing speech at the Gryffindor table.
Where were the Hufflepuffs?
Oh, apart from Cedric — this was his first match as captain — they were still drinking whisky with Merlin in their dreams. At least, when Suer left the common room, Cedric had only just dragged one of their Chasers out of bed.
Rain was pouring from the sky, but according to Wood’s speech, it was no more than a light shower and could never halt their charge towards victory.
“King Arthur would never abandon a battle merely because of a rainstorm!”
The boy had gone mad over a school Quidditch Cup. Suer had even heard that Wood’s family had sent him a Howler the previous day because of his performance in lessons.
Neither the gale nor the downpour could dampen the enthusiasm of pupils and teachers. To improve her view of the match, Professor McGonagall cast a spell that kept the rain away from the stands. Naturally, only the spectators enjoyed that protection.
The Hufflepuff team finally raced onto the pitch five minutes before the match began, carrying umbrellas whose canopies had been blown inside out.
Five minutes later…
Shrill!
Madam Hooch paid no attention to her rain-soaked appearance. She blew hard on the silver whistle hanging at her chest and began the match.
According to well-informed sources — namely Morn, who knew everything — Madam Hooch dreamt of refereeing at the Quidditch World Cup one day.
“Hufflepuff is playing Gryffindor today, yet you’ve openly joined the enemy stand?” Hermione asked Suer with a peculiar expression.
“It doesn’t matter.” Suer waved dismissively, greeted several familiar Gryffindors and squeezed into the space beside Hermione.
“Hufflepuff has always believed that taking part is what matters.”
Hermione helplessly shuffled aside to make room for him.
Ron was shouting at the top of his voice. Harry had already taken his Nimbus to the highest point above the pitch, and a commanding view of the whole field was essential for a Seeker.
“I want to ask you something, Hermione. Do you remember whether Gryffindor has a pupil called Peter Pettigrew?”
“What?” Ron’s noise forced Hermione to bring her ear close to Suer’s mouth.
Looking at her soft pink earlobe, Suer resisted the urge to give it a playful nip and loudly repeated the question.
“Pettigrew?” Hermione thought for a moment, then shook her head with certainty. “I’ve never heard the name. At the very least, no one in our year is called Pettigrew.”
Suer nodded thoughtfully.
“Where did you hear that name?” Hermione asked.
Just then, Ron shouted, “Brilliant!” and cut off Suer’s answer.
Lee Jordan excitedly described the splendid move they had just witnessed. Weasley passed the Quaffle to a girl called Alicia, who immediately sent it on to another girl named Angelina. The sequence ended with Wood scoring.
The Gryffindor stand erupted in cheers at the opening goal.
Suer had to lean close to Hermione’s ear.
“I’ll tell you after the match.”