Quidditch Pitch
Afternoon sunlight leaked through the gaps in the clouds, casting patches of shifting light onto the green lawn.
There weren't many people in the stands. Since there was no official match today, only a few students were scattered across the spectator seats in small groups, holding binoculars and looking at who knew what.
In the center of the pitch, two teams were undergoing intense competitive training.
Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
Figures in two different colors darted back and forth across the pitch, moving so quickly that it was dizzying.
Lynn sat at the highest point of the stands.
This position had the best view, allowing him to take in the entire pitch.
He hadn't come here to watch Quidditch.
His passion for the sport wasn't particularly high.
He had come here to find someone.
Lynn looked toward Cedric and found that even when the Golden Snitch flew by not far from him, Cedric didn't move at all.
His gaze was fixed on the distance.
"What are you looking at?" Lynn muttered, following Cedric's line of sight.
Well...
The two Seekers were staring at each other across half the pitch.
What kind of decent person didn't look at the ball, the Snitch, their teammates, or the score during a match, but instead looked at their opponent?
Lynn wanted to rush down and shout:
Are you here to play Quidditch or to go on a date?
The match continued.
The score was tight, with Hufflepuff leading by thirty points, but Ravenclaw's Chasers clearly had better chemistry, their plays flowing smoothly.
Lynn noticed that Cho's expression began to change.
Her gaze moved away from Cedric and started scanning the pitch, drifting toward the center.
Cedric moved too.
His broom followed Cho's direction by half a meter, then stopped.
His expression carried a hint of disappointment.
Lynn almost laughed out loud.
He felt he could write a thesis now.
The title would be A Study on the Correlation Between Attention Allocation and Romantic Relationships in Quidditch Matches.
Cho's skill actually wasn't bad.
Her flying posture was stable, her turns were flexible, and her speed wasn't slow.
She was only slightly behind Cedric.
Cho's broom suddenly accelerated.
She leaned low, diving toward the right side of the pitch like an arrow released from a bow.
The Golden Snitch was right there, flying close to the ground.
Cho pursued it closely, so closely that Lynn thought she might crash into the railing of the stands in the next second.
Cedric moved as well.
Not because his reaction was slow, but because he had been looking at Cho again and hadn't noticed the Snitch.
By the time he turned his broom to give chase, Cho was already several body lengths ahead.
But Cedric's speed was faster.
His broom had been modified by Lynn, and its acceleration performance far exceeded any mass-produced model on the market.
He suddenly pressed down on the broom handle, and his whole body seemed to be catapulted forward, tearing through the air with a sharp whistle.
The gap was closing.
One body length.
Half a body length.
One shoulder.
Both of their hands reached out toward that golden flash at the same time.
The match was over.
Lynn stood from the spectator seats and walked down the stands.
By the time he reached the edge of the pitch, the Hufflepuff players were gathered in a circle, conducting a post-match review.
Cedric stood in the center of the circle, still holding the Golden Snitch, saying something.
Lynn walked to the edge of the circle and patted Cedric's shoulder.
Cedric turned his head.
Seeing that it was Lynn, he was momentarily stunned.
"Lynn? Why are you here? Have you finally decided to join the Hufflepuff team?"
"I need to talk to you about something."
Lynn glanced at the curious players nearby, who were all pricking up their ears.
"Can we talk privately?"
Cedric nodded, handed the Golden Snitch to Edgar nearby, and followed Lynn to a large tree at the edge of the pitch.
"What is it?" Cedric asked.
Lynn didn't beat around the bush.
He briefly explained Hermione and the others' idea, what Harry had said, the current state of Umbridge's teaching, and the fact that they needed a "teacher" to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
After Cedric finished listening, he was completely dumbfounded.
"Huh?"
His eyes widened, and his brain seemed to stall.
"Me? Be a professor?"
Lynn nodded, praise coming naturally.
"Your grades have always been at the top of the year. You learn spells as soon as you're taught, your grades in every subject are O, and your spell application is full marks. Whether in practice or theory, you're very solid."
The corners of Cedric's mouth curled up slightly.
"And," Lynn continued, "I often see you teaching younger students in the common room."
"When they ask you questions, you're never impatient. If they don't understand after one explanation, you explain it twice. If they still don't understand, you find another way. You're very patient, and your methods are good."
He paused.
"If a professor has to be chosen from among the students, no one is more suitable than you."
Cedric could no longer suppress the smile on his face.
"Even though it sounds like you're praising me," Cedric said, his voice carrying a hint of amusement, "I still feel motivated."
"Don't worry about the details."
Lynn waved his hand.
"So, do you agree?"
Cedric was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.
"As long as they're willing to listen, I don't mind."
Lynn patted his shoulder.
"I knew I could count on you," Lynn said. "Then it's settled, Professor Cedric."
Cedric shook his head, the smile on his face carrying a trace of helplessness.
"I'm not qualified to be a professor," he said.
"If Cho called you that, you wouldn't think so."
Cedric's face instantly turned bright red.
He was just about to retort when he heard the click of a shutter.
Cedric snapped his eyes up.
Lynn was holding his Magic Phone, the lens pointed at him, and on the screen was a newly taken photo.
"I'll sell this photo to Cho."
Lynn turned the Magic Phone around to let Cedric see the screen.
"She should like it a lot."
He stuffed the Magic Phone into his pocket and then—
Bent down, snatched up Cedric's broom that hadn't been locked yet, and straddled it.
With a kick of his feet, the broom accelerated away from the spot.
"Lynn!"
"I'll help you check it over! You're welcome!"
...
"Oh, esteemed Professor Cedric."
Fred winked at Cedric.
"Please allow us to greet you."
"And offer our humble respects," George added.
Cedric rubbed his hair in distress.
Two weeks.
A full two weeks.
It had been two weeks since Lynn had shoved the teaching task for the "Defense Against the Dark Arts Extracurricular Practice Group" onto him.
During these two weeks, he had received "kind greetings" from the Weasley twins every day.
At first, Cedric would blush and explain, "I'm not a professor."
But two weeks had passed, and he had found that no matter what he said, it was useless.
He felt he should have gotten used to it long ago.
But when he saw Fred and George walking toward him in the Great Hall this morning, his temple still throbbed uncontrollably.
Fortunately, these two knew how to show some restraint and didn't shout it out in public.
But...
As luck would have it, today was a Hogsmeade weekend.
"Good morning, Fred. Good morning, George."
"Good morning, Professor Cedric," the two said in unison.
Cedric's temple throbbed again.
Seeing that Cedric had almost rubbed his scalp red, Lynn felt somewhat embarrassed.
After all, he was the one who had found this job for Cedric.
He cleared his throat, interrupting the Weasley twins' next round of attacks.
"Ahem! Cedric, what are you planning to buy in Hogsmeade today?"
Fred and George exchanged a look and sensibly retracted their mischievous expressions.
Cedric gave Lynn a grateful look.
He lowered his hand from his head, fumbled in his pocket, and pulled out a piece of parchment folded into quarters.
The paper was densely covered with writing.
Lynn leaned in to take a look and found that what was written on it wasn't a lesson plan or syllabus, but a series of numbers.
"What is this?"
Lynn pointed at the numbers and asked in confusion.
"We plan to custom-order a batch of robes for the club members."
Cedric's finger tapped the paper.
"For them to wear during activities. We can't have everyone sitting together for class in their respective house robes. It looks too much like a house rivalry."
Lynn was stunned.
He stared at the parchment covered in data, then at Cedric's calm face, his mind racing.
"Are you being this generous?" he asked.
Even if they found the cheapest tailor to custom-order a batch of robes, it would still cost quite a few Galleons.
Although Cedric's family was well-off, it wasn't to the point where he could casually pay for clothes for an entire club.
Cedric gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"Mainly, some Slytherins wanted to join the club a while ago. In the end, Ron wouldn't agree no matter what."
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
It wasn't surprising that Ron wouldn't agree to Slytherins joining the club.
"So what does that have to do with custom-ordering robes?" Lynn asked.
"So those Slytherins used a money offensive. They donated a large sum of money to the club as activity funds," Cedric added.
Lynn was amazed by the logic of those Slytherins.
How had they come up with such a brilliant solution?
Ron didn't agree to them joining the club?
No problem.
They didn't need Ron's agreement.
They just needed to make the club's funds so abundant that Ron would be too embarrassed to refuse.
You couldn't exactly spend someone else's money while saying you wouldn't let them in, right?
Although Ron was thick-skinned, he wasn't that thick-skinned yet.
"So what did Ron say?" Lynn asked.
Cedric thought for a moment and replied in as objective a tone as possible, "He didn't say he agreed, but he didn't say he disagreed either. But he stopped opposing it."
Lynn nodded.
Understood.
Ron had been stunned by the money.
There were already quite a few people on the small path leading to Hogsmeade, walking in groups of three or five, talking and laughing.
Fred and George walked at the front, while Cedric and Lynn followed behind at a leisurely pace.
Fred and George had originally planned to look for a shop to rent first.
They had been looking at storefronts in Hogsmeade recently and had already seen several.
One had a good location and an outrageously low rent, and they planned to talk to the landlord today.
But halfway there, the two suddenly changed their minds.
"How about we go look at the robes first?" Fred turned back and said to George.
"Right, let's look at the robes first," George chimed in, finding a reason even faster than Fred. "It's for the club robes, after all. We need to check the fabric, choose colors, and compare prices. What if that tailor shop happens to have a discount?"
Cedric glanced at them but didn't speak.
He knew these two all too well.
They weren't really interested in the robes.
They were interested in the "robes made with Slytherin's donated money."
To put it bluntly, they wanted to see exactly how much money those generous Slytherins had spent and what grade of robes would result from it.
Lynn didn't speak either.
He didn't care.
Anywhere was fine.
He didn't have anything special to do today anyway.
So the four of them changed direction and headed toward Gladrags Wizardwear.
The moment Lynn pushed open the door, a faint scent of lavender mixed with the smell of wool, silk, and fresh fabric wafted over him.
Warm and comfortable.
There were already a few customers in the shop.
Two Slytherin girls.
And Draco.
Lynn had some impression of those two girls.
The tall one was Daphne Greengrass, a fifth-year Slytherin student.
The shorter one was her younger sister, Astoria Greengrass, who was in third year.
The three of them turned their heads at the sound of the door.
"Good morning, everyone," Cedric spoke first, his voice gentle. "I didn't expect to run into you here."
Draco immediately saw Lynn walking behind him.
"Good morning, Lynn. And Cedric."
Daphne nodded slightly, the corner of her mouth curling into a brief smile.
Astoria's reaction was much more enthusiastic.
Her eyes lit up, and she turned fully to face Cedric, a bright smile blossoming on her face.
"Good morning, Professor Cedric! And Lynn."
As for the Weasley twins, the girls chose to selectively ignore them.
It wasn't intentional.
It was an instinctive reaction.
They simply didn't quite know how to deal with these two.
Fred and George's reputation at Hogwarts was too loud.
So loud that most people would run through one thought in their heads before speaking to them:
Is this person setting a trap for me?
Fred and George didn't care.
They happily ran into the shop, each picking up a robe that looked very expensive, examining it over and over while making clicking sounds of admiration.
"This one's not bad."
Fred held up a dark green velvet robe in front of him and measured it against the mirror.
"This one's not bad either."
George picked up a silver-gray one and similarly held it up.
"Are you buying?" the shop assistant nearby asked with a smile.
"No," the two said in unison, hanging the robes back up.
The assistant's expression froze for a moment, but it quickly returned to a professional smile.
They had likely seen plenty of customers like this.
Cedric ignored the twins' antics.
He walked to the display case, his gaze falling on the row of brooches and scanning them casually.
Daphne and Astoria stood nearby, still choosing.
Astoria picked up a silver snake-shaped brooch, held it against her sister's chest to measure, then put it down and picked up another.
Cedric watched for a while, then turned to Lynn and said, "Those three are the Slytherins who used the money offensive."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for the people nearby to hear.
Lynn looked at the three Slytherins, then at Cedric.
"Then their taste is pretty good," he said. "At least they know to spend money on something proper."
Cedric smiled and didn't reply.
"What kind of robes do you plan to make for them?" Lynn asked.
Cedric pulled that piece of parchment out of his pocket again and glanced at the dense data on it.
"I haven't decided yet," he said. "I'll look at the fabrics first, then choose the colors. Nothing too flashy, but nothing too dull either. After all, it's for class, not for a ball."
Lynn nodded.
"How about adding a badge?"
Lynn had a sudden idea.
"Just like a Quidditch team, with a logo embroidered on the chest. One look and everyone will know they're from your club."
Cedric thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up.
"That's a good idea."
"Then it's settled."
Lynn patted his shoulder.
"I'll leave finding the design to you. Since you're the professor, you have the final say."
Cedric gave him a helpless look.
"I'm not a professor."
He sighed, stuffed the parchment back into his pocket, and walked toward the fabric sample rack.
---
Enjoying the story?
Receive extra updates and read up to 60+ chapters ahead on Patreon.
Patreon: patreon.com/mrfanfiction140
Happy Reading. Be sure to leave a review!!!