This current wave of Quidditch fever at Hogwarts lasted a long time, and all the related books in the library were soon checked out. The queue for those wanting to borrow them went all the way past Christmas.
"If I'd known, I should've come earlier."
At the entrance of the library on the second floor, Harry said a little ruefully.
His special training was scheduled for seven o'clock tomorrow night, and he had planned to read some books in advance to get a better understanding of Quidditch.
But Madam Pince, the librarian, told him there were none left. If he wanted to read anything, he'd have to wait until after Christmas.
But there were still several months before Christmas. That was way too long.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Ron said with a smile. "Everyone's talking about Quidditch. If you don't know anything, you'll get laughed at."
As he spoke, Ron couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
Because he knew a thing or two about Quidditch—and on top of that, had two brothers on the house team—he'd been quite popular lately, always surrounded by groups of young wizards wherever he went.
This feeling of being noticed and appreciated by everyone was something he'd never experienced before.
"How about we ask Hermione?"
Harry asked tentatively, "I remember she had a copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages.' Not sure if she returned it yet."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
Hearing that name, Ron's grin instantly vanished.
He frowned and said with a pained expression, "She hasn't really talked to us since that day on the fourth floor.
And everyone in Gryffindor knows Hermione never keeps a borrowed book for more than three days."
What Ron said made Harry remember... Hermione really was like that.
Since the very first day of term, she always carried two books everywhere—a textbook for class and another one borrowed from the library.
She wasn't pretending; she really read them.
And in the common room, she rarely chatted with the other young wizards—always in the corner, quietly reading alone.
No one knew who first noticed it, but it became common knowledge that Hermione swapped out her library books about once every three days.
Seamus Finnigan had even sworn to bet with them that she couldn't keep it up for a whole month.
But at this rate, he was about to lose—it only took Hermione borrowing another book tomorrow and he'd have to buy a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for everyone in their dormitory.
Harry didn't really care about a box of sweets, but what he couldn't wrap his head around was how Hermione could finish a book every couple of days.
For him, even finishing a book in two weeks was a struggle.
"Forget it, then," Harry sighed.
The truth was, he was a little afraid of seeing Hermione. That genius aura of hers made him tense up every time.
"Or... we could ask Kael,"
Just then, Ron suddenly said, "I heard Fred and George say he's got some Quidditch books—more than one, even."
Harry was tempted, but hesitated: "But I don't really know Kael. Do you think he'd lend his books to me?"
"Don't worry, you've got me." Ron patted his chest, then dragged Harry off downstairs.
"Besides, there's no harm in trying... Come on, let's find him now."
The two of them hunted around the castle, from the dungeons all the way to the Astronomy Tower, but there was no sign of Kael anywhere.
Not only that—even the twins and Cedric seemed to have vanished.
In the end, on top of the Astronomy Tower, Harry happened to glance outside and finally spotted them down by the Black Lake, fishing.
...
"So, you're looking for me to borrow a Quidditch book?"
By the Black Lake, Kael looked at the panting duo and asked, "Doesn't the library have what you need? Their collection is way bigger than mine—you could've just borrowed from them."
"They're all checked out," Harry caught his breath and said nervously, "Madam Pince said we'd have to wait until after Christmas."
On the way here, Ron had offered to ask for the book himself, but Harry thought it would be better to do it personally.
After all, he was the one who really wanted to read it, not Ron.
"Quidditch books are that popular now?"
Kael looked at Harry's anxious face, didn't say much more, and simply pulled out his wand.
"Origin of Quidditch—Accio!"
Moments later, a thick book arced through the air and floated gently into Kael's hand.
"Start with this one."
Kael handed the book to Harry, "It's got some flight tips—pretty good for beginners like you."
"Th-thanks a lot!"
Harry took it quickly. "I'll return it to you as soon as I can."
Kael waved him off, "No problem. I don't need it at the moment, so take your time."
Only after Harry thanked him again did he and Ron head back to the castle.
Once they'd gone, Kael turned to Fred and George, puzzled: "What's with you two?"
Just now, when Ron saw them, he'd called out, but the twins acted like they hadn't heard, not even turning their heads.
That was definitely weird.
Fred and George liked messing with their little brother, but never just ignored him; at worst they'd at least fake a response.
"Nothing—just don't want to talk to him, that's all," Fred sighed.
"We used to think Ron wasn't clever, but never realized he was actually this daft."
"What happened…" Kael sensed some juicy gossip brewing.
George asked, "Remember last time on the fourth floor we bumped into them?"
Kael nodded—he not only remembered, he'd seen it with his own eyes.
"We found out,"
Fred said, "They'd agreed to a Wizard Duel with Malfoy, that's why they went to the fourth floor."
"A Wizard Duel?" Cedric blurted out, "Slytherins wouldn't just offer up a Wizard Duel for nothing—sounds like a trap."
"Exactly."
George shook his head, "After curfew, on the easiest floor to get caught, Wizard Duel… even a gnome could see that's a trap."
"But Ron believed it anyway…"
"Merlin, is he really a Weasley?"
"Er…" Cedric opened his mouth, seeming like he wanted to say something to defend Ron, but didn't know how.
After all, Charlie, Percy, and the twins were all quite sharp, so by comparison, Ron did seem a bit slow-witted.
"He bites at the obvious bait…" Fred shook his fishing rod, "He's not even as smart as the fish in the Black Lake!"