By lunchtime, the new Beater had already been chosen—it was Mikel.
All those Quidditch books he'd read hadn't gone to waste; he'd basically mastered the rules, and since he was a decent flyer too, he made it all the way through the selection process.
Cedric made the decision on the spot, confirming that he would take Wright's place as Hufflepuff's new Beater.
When Ryan heard the news, he was so jealous his eyes turned red.
He'd competed for Keeper before, but had narrowly lost to a fifth-year student in reaction time.
Mikel, however, was absolutely delighted, and with a grand gesture announced… he'd treat everyone to lunch in the Auditorium.
After the first team practice ended, Kael quickly returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room and found an armchair near the fireplace to sit in.
It had started raining after lunchtime.
October's rain—warm-up badge or not—you could still feel the chill. The area near the warm fireplace was obviously more comfortable.
The common room was packed, buzzing with chatter and excitement.
"What's going on?" he asked Conna, who was sitting in the armchair next to him, working on two star charts for Astronomy class.
"Our first weekend in Hogsmeade," Conna said, nodding toward a notice on the bulletin board. "End of October, right before Halloween."
"That's awesome," Cedric squeezed in from behind and said, "I'm going to Dervish & Banges to buy some broom maintenance tools. I think my broom isn't turning as smoothly as before."
Kael was pretty happy too; shopping in Hogsmeade was one of the few diversions students could enjoy.
Although he knew secret passages to Hogsmeade and had slipped out with Fred and George plenty of times, ever since Professor McGonagall had caught them red-handed at the Three Broomsticks, they'd all behaved themselves and stopped sneaking out that way.
Besides, with Dementors around this year, it was even less of an option.
Thanks to Dumbledore, the Dementors were somewhat well-behaved on school grounds, only guarding the entrances. But in Hogsmeade, it was a different story.
Especially after someone spotted traces of Sirius Black nearby…
The shopkeepers had complained more than once in the Daily Prophet, calling for the Ministry of Magic to keep better control of the Dementors—at the very least, don't let them roam into shops at will.
But nothing had really changed.
The Ministry didn't care, and Dementors… well, they didn't read the paper.
If you sneaked into Hogsmeade and ran into a Dementor, that'd be way more trouble than running into a professor.
The next day, everyone was excited about the news of the Hogsmeade visit. In Herbology Class, a lot of students were chatting about where they wanted to go when the day arrived.
Professor Sprout had to deduct points from two students before the excitement died down a bit.
"I know you're all looking forward to visiting Honeyduke's Sweet Shop, but today's lesson is just as important."
Professor Sprout raised her voice: "I must remind you, Belladonna Flower is a poisonous and dangerous plant. You need to keep your full attention when collecting pollen—unless you want to spend Halloween in the Hospital Wing!"
"Now, everyone, put on your protective gloves…"
Professor Sprout's warning worked. The moment she mentioned "poisonous," everyone tensed up, scrambling to grab gloves that had been laid out on the tables beforehand.
Seeing everyone suddenly so focused, Professor Sprout nodded in satisfaction.
She hadn't finished her warning yet.
Any plant the students encountered in the greenhouse was never truly dangerous.
Like last year's Mandrakes—they were all in the juvenile stage, and once their cries became deadly enough, Professor Sprout would transfer them to another greenhouse.
And that greenhouse was off-limits to students.
This batch of Belladonna Flowers was the same.
Their flowers were still yellow—even if someone accidentally got pollen on themselves, it'd just itch for a couple of days. No need for the Hospital Wing at all.
But once they turned purple, that was when they'd be truly dangerous. If you got pollen on you then, you wouldn't just spend Halloween in the Hospital Wing—you'd be lucky to get out by Christmas.
But that was for later. There was no rush—they could learn about those after coming back from Hogsmeade.
After Herbology, there were no more classes that morning.
Kael headed back to the castle and came across Harry near the entrance hall, looking completely dejected. His head was down, and he was walking so absentmindedly he nearly knocked over a suit of armor in the corridor.
"Hey, kid, watch where you're going!"
A painting on the wall yelled, "That's my favorite suit of armor!"
Harry said nothing, just turned and kept heading toward the Auditorium.
"What's up with him?" Kael asked.
"No one signed his permission form," Hermione explained, who was walking with him. "Professor McGonagall won't let him go to Hogsmeade."
"She's too much of a stickler!" Ron couldn't help saying. "Professor McGonagall knows perfectly well Harry's uncle and aunt are Muggles and they hate anything to do with Magic—they'd never sign the form for Harry."
But all she has to do is say the word and it'd be sorted…"
"Professor McGonagall is right!" Hermione snapped. "Don't forget Black—someone's already seen him nearby."
"Black's not an idiot—he wouldn't just show up in Hogsmeade and do something rash," Ron argued.
"Only you would think that!" Hermione shot back angrily. "Ask Kael if you don't believe me—see what he thinks."
Both of them looked over at him—well, actually, all three of them; even Harry raised his head to look at Kael.
Uh… weren't they just talking about Harry? How did the conversation end up about me?
Kael thought for a moment, then said, "I think Hermione has a point. On the day of the outing, the Dementors at Hogsmeade will be moved, so if Black wants to do something, that's the perfect chance."
"See?" Hermione said, chin up.
Ron muttered something, still feeling the two of them were overreacting.
Harry's expression didn't change much.
After all, Professor McGonagall had already clearly denied his request. Unless Uncle Vernon showed up at Hogwarts to sign the form himself, nothing was going to change.
Which, of course, was impossible.
Kael's reasoning was at least a decent excuse for not going.
Sirius Black was out there looking for him; staying at Hogwarts was probably safer…
That was all Harry could do to convince himself now.
"Cheer up, there's still the feast," Ron tried to cheer him up. "The Halloween feast is the night before."
"Yeah, that's pretty nice," Harry said, though he still didn't look that enthusiastic.
...