Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1435: If This Is Not Love

Evan went to Hermione and Elaine’s bedroom to prepare milk for Elaine. Hermione also seemed to have something to say to him…

But he was so tired. Whatever those two wanted, they could deal with it themselves.

Evan had already made up his mind; once everything was settled, he would curl up on Hermione’s bed and refuse to move, no matter what.

In the common room, Harry helplessly watched Evan, who had turned into a cat, being carried away by Hermione and Elaine, feeling a bit sorry for whatever ordeal awaited him.

The girls’ dormitory… A black cat and two girls; what could they possibly be up to? Surely Evan wouldn’t stay there overnight…

Would he? He wouldn’t, right?

Harry’s mind was in a mess and he didn’t feel like sleeping, so he decided to stay up and wait for Evan for a while.

He took a seat by the fire, looking down into the dying embers, first imagining what Evan might be going through, then gradually drifting back to their earlier conversation.

So Dumbledore had argued with Snape. In spite of all he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he trusted Snape completely, he had lost his temper with him. … He did not think that Snape had tried hard enough to investigate the Slytherins … or, perhaps, to investigate a single Slytherin: Draco Malfoy?

Even Evan had admitted that Malfoy was the culprit in both attacks, so it had to be true.

Thinking back to Snape’s conversation with Malfoy during the Christmas party, his attitude had been nothing but indulgent. He wasn’t investigating Malfoy; he was trying to help him.

They were on the same side. They were both Death Eaters.

Harry thought that Dumbledore might have been deceived by Snape, although this possibility was very low. Or maybe he knew about this matter. So was it because he did not want Harry to do anything foolish, to take matters into his own hands, that he had pretended there was nothing in Harry’s suspicions?

Just like what Evan had asked just now, asking Harry to do nothing…

But why?

If Malfoy was behind this, why not capture him immediately?

Maybe Dumbledore did not want anything to distract Harry from their lessons, or from procuring that memory from Slughorn. Perhaps Dumbledore did not think it right to confide suspicions about his staff to sixteen-year-olds. …

“There you are, Potter!”

Harry jumped to his feet in shock, his wand at the ready. He had been quite convinced that the common room was empty; he had not been at all prepared for a hulking figure to rise suddenly out of a distant chair.

A closer look showed him that it was Cormac McLaggen.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back!” said McLaggen, disregarding Harry’s drawn wand. “Must’ve fallen asleep. Look, I saw them taking Weasley up to the hospital wing earlier. Didn’t look like he’ll be fit for next week’s match.”

Match?

It took Harry a few moments to realize what McLaggen was talking about.

“Oh … right … Quidditch,” he said, putting his wand back into the belt of his jeans and running a hand wearily through his hair.

He had never expected that someone would talk to him about Quidditch at this time. McLaggen’s obsession was so deep…

“Yeah … he might not make it,” said Harry tiredly. “He needs to rest for a while.”

“Well, then, I’ll be playing Keeper, won’t I?” said McLaggen eagerly.

“Ah?” said Harry. “Yeah, I suppose so. …”

He could not think of an argument against it; after all, McLaggen had certainly performed second-best in the trials.

If Ginny and Elaine hadn’t deliberately made things difficult for him, he would have performed better than Ron.

“Great! I’m a member of the team then,” said McLaggen in a satisfied voice. “So when’s practice?”

“What? Oh … there’s one tomorrow evening.”

“Good. Listen, Potter, we should have a talk beforehand. I’ve got some ideas on strategy you might find useful.”

“Right,” said Harry unenthusiastically. “Well, I’ll hear them tomorrow, then. I’m pretty tired now … see you …”

With that, he hurried back to his dormitory, giving up on waiting for Evan in the common room.

Meanwhile, after enduring Elaine’s antics, Evan had successfully nestled himself under Hermione’s blankets.

It was really too late, and seeing that she couldn’t get Evan away, Hermione, who had changed into pajamas, could only let him stay here. It wasn’t the first time, after all. Besides, with the magical restrictions in place, Evan couldn’t change back into his human form, so there was nothing to worry about.

Having made up her mind, Hermione originally planned to sleep with Evan in her arms, but soon, she started feeling a little creeped out by the way he moved under the blankets. So, she used her own Animagus transformation.

And that was how two cats ended up curled up together on the bed, leaning against each other. It was so warm under the covers…

The news that Ron had been poisoned spread quickly next day, but it did not cause the sensation that Katie’s attack had done. People seemed to think that it might have been an accident, given that he had been in the Potions master’s room at the time, and that as he had been given an antidote immediately there was no real harm done.

In fact, the Gryffindors were generally much more interested in the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, for many of them wanted to see Zacharias Smith, who played Chaser on the Hufflepuff team, punished soundly for his commentary during the opening match against Slytherin.

Besides, Hufflepuff had a star player this year, making them Gryffindor’s strongest competition for the Quidditch Cup.

Some even said this match would decide who would win this year’s Quidditch Cup.

Despite the match’s importance, Harry had never been less interested in Quidditch.

After that conversation, he finally accepted Evan’s advice and did not act rashly, but he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy.

Still checking the Marauder’s Map whenever he got a chance, he sometimes made detours to wherever Malfoy happened to be to keep a close eye on him.

If this wasn’t love, Evan truly didn’t know what else to call it.

That same evaluation also applied to McLaggen and Lavender. Evan suddenly found that these two people began to appear in his sight more and more.

Harry was now being dogged wherever he went by Cormac McLaggen, who kept up a constant stream of hints that he would make a better permanent Keeper for the team than Ron, and that now that Harry was seeing him play regularly he would surely come around to this way of thinking too; he was also keen to criticize the other players and provide Harry with detailed training schemes, so that more than once Harry was forced to remind him who was Captain.

Meanwhile, Lavender kept sidling up to Harry to discuss Ron. Because Madam Pomfrey did not allow her to stay in the hospital wing all the time, and Ron was still unconscious, she decided to use this method to vent her emotions and express her love for Ron.

Honestly, this was almost more wearing than McLaggen’s Quidditch lectures.

At the very least, McLaggen only pestered Harry, ignoring Evan, Hermione, Elaine, Colin, and the others.

Lavender, however, wanted to talk to everyone who knew Ron, telling everyone how she felt about his poisoning, her current pain, and the love they once had.

Considering her position, there was no way to refuse to listen to her words…

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