After leaving the eighth floor corridor, the two prepared to head back to the common room via the stairs.
But the next second, Kael suddenly saw Professor McGonagall just coming out of the Gryffindor common room.
That wasn't exactly surprising—Professor McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor, after all, so of course she'd be there.
But Kael noticed she was holding a finely crafted broom.
The streamlined white ash handle, paired with the slightly upturned birch twigs at the tail, all pointed clearly to its identity…
The fastest broom in the world—the Firebolt.
Professor McGonagall looked absolutely radiant, a broad smile across her face.
"Good afternoon, Professor McGonagall," Kael greeted, and Conna followed suit.
"Good afternoon…" Professor McGonagall nodded, smiling. "Have you seen Harry Potter? I have some good news for him."
"No," said Kael. "We were just practicing the Patronus Charm in an empty classroom, so we haven't paid attention to anything outside."
"Oh, how's it going?" Professor McGonagall looked at Conna.
She had already heard from some Hufflepuff students that the jellyfish Patronus on the Quidditch field last time was conjured by Kael, so she didn't need to ask him again.
"Still a little bit to go," Conna replied, taking out her wand.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A fist-sized ball of silver light flew from her wand, flitting ceaselessly around Conna.
"Oh, you're just expecting too much from yourself," Professor McGonagall said, surprised. "For a fourteen-year-old student, conjuring a Patronus form is already an impressive achievement.
Besides, you can't just compare yourself to Kael and think you're not doing well—that's not accurate."
Professor McGonagall was clearly in a great mood, not only giving Conna plenty of affirmation but even cracking a small joke to cheer her up.
"Don't stress yourself out. The Patronus Charm won't be on any exams, and you won't need it for now…"
Professor McGonagall said, "Professor Dumbledore has already taken care of everything. Unless Sirius Black's whereabouts are confirmed, those Dementors absolutely won't step into the castle again."
Conna nodded.
After Professor McGonagall left, she turned to Kael and whispered, "Looks like we're in for a tough fight next week."
"Yeah," Kael scratched his head.
Professor McGonagall showed up in the Gryffindor common room holding the Firebolt, asking for Harry—she was clearly about to give him the broom back.
Given how obsessed Professor McGonagall was about the Quidditch Cup, if the broom had any real issues, she wouldn't be so happy.
The two rushed back to the common room and told everyone what had happened.
The previously lively crowd instantly fell silent, like they'd stepped into Snape's Magic Potion Classroom.
Especially Cedric and the rest of the team members…
They'd long suspected this result, but hearing it confirmed was still unsettling.
So Cedric dragged Kael off to the pitch for extra practice.
The other team members also headed back to their dorms to grab their own brooms.
It was freezing outside, the biting wind seeping into every part of their bodies. Even Wood, a training maniac, didn't want to stay outdoors in this weather.
But Hufflepuff had Kael's Warm-Up Badges, so they didn't need to worry about that.
From afternoon until dusk, the Gryffindor team also arrived.
By now, pretty much everyone knew about the Firebolt; Wood had stopped trying to keep it secret.
They were here to test out the new broom, though Wood probably wanted to show off a bit, too… After all, Gryffindor hadn't won against Hufflepuff in years.
They weren't fighting for the right to use the complete field, just took a spot along the edge and used stones instead of the Golden Snitch for practice.
Harry, riding the Firebolt, looked like a gust of wind—no matter how tricky Wood's tosses were, Harry snatched up the stones in the next second.
Even when a few players threw from different directions, not a single stone hit the ground.
Gradually, the Hufflepuff players lost focus on their own practice, glancing over at the side unconsciously.
Eventually, Cedric simply ended training early.
Kael picked up his broom and walked side by side with Cedric out of the dim pitch.
The mood was pretty heavy.
It used to be rumor, but now having seen the Firebolt's speed firsthand, their hopes of winning felt slimmer than ever.
"It's all right…" Cedric tried to lighten things up. "Stones aren't the same as the Golden Snitch, honestly. Even without the Firebolt, I could do everything Potter just did… If you don't believe me, we can find a place and test it out.
If I miss one, I'll treat everyone to Honeydukes sweets—whatever you like."
"Of course we believe you, Captain," Mikel suddenly laughed twice. "We were just… hungry, that's why we weren't talking."
"Yeah, that's it…"
"Right, my stomach's been rumbling since earlier…"
"Heard there's pudding tonight, can't wait for dinner…"
The heavy mood seemed to vanish at once, everyone chatting and laughing as they headed into the castle.
The auditorium was as lively as always. After they stowed their brooms and got over, the Gryffindor crowd had already arrived.
The Firebolt was set in the center of the dining table, label facing up, with loads of people gathered around, congratulating Harry for getting such an outstanding broomstick to replace his Nimbus.
Malfoy, though, looked less than pleased.
Kael entered the auditorium just in time to see him approach Harry with his two usual sidekicks.
"That broom's got loads of special features, doesn't it?" Malfoy eyed it with a hint of malice. "Too bad it doesn't come with a parachute—in case you get too close to a Dementor."
Crabbe and Goyle snickered.
Harry ignored him, just kept chatting with Fred, which made Malfoy's face turn ugly.
Kael watched from the side, feeling it was pretty amusing.
Ever since Harry was accidentally rescued by Malfoy last time, neither side had talked to each other for ages.
Kael had thought Malfoy would jump at the chance to mock Harry about it, but he didn't; he seemed to treat saving Harry as some kind of shame, never mentioning it at all.
This time he just came over to ridicule Harry about being afraid of Dementors.
Seeing Harry ignore him, Malfoy snorted, squinted his gray eyes, and strode away.
But as he walked past Kael, he shouted loudly, "I think you should invent an anti-fall cloak—Gryffindor will definitely chip in and buy a set for their Seeker…"
Without waiting for Kael's reply, he joined the other Slytherin players.
They huddled their heads together, seeming to be asking Malfoy whether that broom was really the Firebolt.