You Must Think It's Interesting, Right?
"What's the matter with you guys?" Ron was confused at first, but then he started to shiver as Snape's deep voice came from behind him.
"You must have been under the misapprehension that defaming a professor would be amusing and unpunished, eh? Weasley!"
Ron swallowed hard at the sound of the voice, felt a chill run down his spine, and turned to see Snape's grim face.
"S-Professor Snape…" Ron stammered, his face stiff.
He then remembered that Snape had been at the Quidditch match all along, and that he had said those words almost to Snape's face…
Ivan couldn't help but feel sorry for Ron for a second, wondering if Snape had some sort of special ability, such as being able to appear behind people who badmouthed him…
Ron always got caught talking behind his back…
Ivan then recalled that there were exceptions, such as when Ron and Harry complained in the Headmaster's office in their first year and Snape was not there to hear it, so it was probably pure bad luck on Ron's part…
Luckily, Professor McGonagall intervened and saved Ron from further embarrassment.
"Severus, is it as Mr Weasley says?"
Professor McGonagall did not believe that Snape, her long-time colleague, would be so indifferent to the lives of his students.
However, when Ron spoke earlier, not even the Slytherin students tried to defend him. Instead, they acquiesced, which made her suspicious.
"No, that's only because our show-off Mr. Harls is one step ahead of me!" Snape said casually, his eyes lingering on Ivan for a moment before continuing.
"However, I can't use the God-Extinguishing Guard. If I were to do it, it might be more troublesome to deal with…"
"You can't use the Hundun Guard? Why? As far as I know, only… only those people can do that." Professor McGonagall looked at Snape in bewilderment.
Snape's answer greatly surprised her, as McGonagall had the impression that only a Dark Wizard with a malicious mind would be unable to use a Psalter.
"Whatever you think…" Snape began coldly, glancing over at the pale Harry in Madam Hooch's arms.
Confirming that he was unharmed, Snape left with a flick of his sleeve, not caring about the wizards who were pointing fingers at him.
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and stared after Snape for a long time. She felt that she needed to tell Dumbledore about this when he returned.
Not many people could understand the conversation between the two professors, but it did not stop them from speculating privately that few wanted to believe that Snape was incapable of repelling the Dementors, and most of the lesser Gryffindor wizards believed that he did so deliberately.
Ron suspected that Snape must have fled in fear of punishment for leaving in such a hurry…
Ivan shook his head as he listened to them. Snape was quite desperate to hide his Patronus…
"Harry, you're finally awake! How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
Madam Hooch's excited voice rang out, attracting everyone's attention.
"What's going on? Why am I here?" Harry, who was lying in her arms, opened his eyes blankly and looked around. His mind was a mess, so he asked curiously.
Harry had a vague memory of soaring high into the air, feeling colder and colder, as if he had heard someone scream, and then he remembered nothing.
However, this feeling was familiar to Harry. Had he experienced it before?
"It's a Dementor! There are over a hundred of them, and they must have attacked you from above, causing you to fall!" Ron explained.
Dementors again? Harry's heart felt cold, and he could not feel any warmth in Madam Hooch's arms…
"Come on, we all saw it. The Dementor got close to Potter and he fell off…" Malfoy dragged the crowd out of the room and looked mockingly at Harry.
"Against so many Dementors, no one would be immune!" Ivan explained, then turned to Malfoy. "As I recall, you were quite fast when the Dementors came down!"
Malfoy choked, his face turning red and then white, and he wasn't the only one running…
Malfoy, however, could not argue with this, as Ivan, a third year student, was able to deal with the Dementors instead of running away…
"What about the game? How did it go? We didn't lose, did we?" Harry asked anxiously, breaking away from Madam Hooch, ignoring Malfoy's taunts.
"Of course not…" Ron shook his head and was about to say that he would definitely rematch when several Hufflepuff wizards shouted back.
"No, you've lost. Diggory caught the Golden Snitch! Lots of people saw it when Potter fell out of the sky!"
Harry and the others looked over as Hufflepuff's Seeker, Cedric Diggory, appeared from the other side, his right hand outstretched.
A golden ball with wings lay in Cedric Diggory's palm. It tried to fly away, but was caught by several fingers.
"You caught it…" Harry watched, dazed, his head spinning, but he knew the game was over…
"If it weren't for those Dementors, Harry wouldn't have fallen out of the sky! He'd have caught the Golden Snitch! It's not fair… we need to rematch!" Ron raged, feeling sorry for Harry.
Some of the lesser Gryffindor wizards also supported Ron's claim, clamoring for a rematch…
"Unfair? Diggory was brave enough to catch the Golden Snitch when it was surrounded by Dementors! This proves that not everyone is as vulnerable as Potter… Weasley! It can't be that the next match Potter is blown off his feet and everyone has to race again, can it?"
Malfoy gave Harry a derisive look, with an odd drawl.
Ron scowled at Malfoy,
Harry, on the other hand, opened his mouth groggily, trying to speak, but failed.
This was because he believed Malfoy to be right. Diggory was a Seeker, just like him. If Diggory could overcome the Dementor's influence and capture the Golden Snitch, and he could not, how could he question Diggory's courage?