48 Chapter 48: Gryffindor's Victory and Hagrid's Slip
Gryffindor's players quickly grabbed the ballooned Harry before he could float away, pulling him back down to the ground.
Everyone was on the verge of bursting into laughter at the sight of the balloon-like Harry, but they suppressed it, trying to maintain some decorum.
Harry, feeling thoroughly pranked, opened his mouth to say something, but whether it was due to his throat being swollen or for some other reason, he couldn't produce any sound. He could only exhale heavily.
Witnessing this comical scene, the players couldn't hold back their laughter any longer. The Weasley twins laughed the loudest, praising Alaric as a masterful prankster.
After a good laugh, they managed to compose themselves. Captain Wood drew his wand, intending to revert Harry to his original state, but no matter what spell he used, it had no effect.
When he tried "Finite Incantatem," the balloon-like Harry not only failed to return to normal but swelled even larger. What could have been stopped by one person now required several to barely keep him grounded.
Helpless, they turned to the "culprit," Alaric.
However, Alaric didn't personally intervene. Instead, he released Himari from his shoulder.
Himari crawled onto Harry's body, struggling not to fall off several times due to the enormous balloon.
Then, she extended her claws hidden beneath her paw pads, gently poking Harry. Afterward, she leaped away like an escape artist.
In the next moment, the area where Himari poked Harry started to deflate, and Harry, like a balloon losing air, was propelled in various directions along with the escaping gas.
This included the Weasley twins, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet, who were grabbing onto him. All five of them tumbled and fell, creating chaos.
But what surprised them was that Harry, after spewing out the air, released a Golden Snitch from his mouth. Gryffindor had won mysteriously, with a score of 170 to 60 against Slytherin.
After the match, Hermione, along with Alaric, hastily caught up with Ron and Harry, wanting to discuss the unexpected events regarding Harry. Instead of joining the celebration, Ron and Harry had decided to visit Hagrid's hut.
In the small wooden hut, Hagrid brewed a pot of strong tea for the four.
"Oh, I know you two," Hagrid said, pouring the tea while looking amazedly at Alaric and Hermione.
"The well known duo from Ravenclaw, 'Mr. Popular' and 'Miss Know-It-All.'"
"Thanks for the tea," Alaric nodded slightly resigned. He was accustomed to such teasing, but Hermione blushed.
Hagrid then brought out a bag of treacle fudge, sweet and soft, which, when toasted over the fire, could stick to one's teeth.
Soon, they began discussing the unexpected incidents on the Quidditch pitch.
"It was Snape who did it," Ron explained to everyone. "I saw it. He was casting spells on Harry's broom, muttering and staring at Harry all the time."
"I saw it too," Hermione added. "If Ron hadn't stopped Snape, Harry might still be up in the sky."
"Why would Snape do something like that?" Hermione asked.
Ron and Harry exchanged glances, finally deciding to tell the truth. They described the events that happened on Halloween night and their recent discovery to Hagrid.
Hagrid slammed the teapot down.
"How do you know about Fluffy?" he asked.
"Fluffy?" Ron and Harry were puzzled.
"Yeah—it's mine—bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub last year—I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—"
"What?" Harry urgently asked.
"That's enough, stop asking," Hagrid abruptly interrupted. "It's top-secret, understand?"
"But Snape wanted to steal it," Hermione insisted.
"Nonsense," Hagrid replied. "Snape is a teacher at Hogwarts. He would never do something like that."
"Then why did he want to kill Harry?" Hermione asked loudly. The events of that afternoon seemed to have significantly altered her opinion of Snape.
"I can tell when I see bad intentions and evil spirits. I've read everything about them in books! You have to make eye contact with them; Snape never blinked the entire time, I saw it!"
"Sorry, but I think you're mistaken," Alaric said helplessly.
"When I was using a spell to control Harry's broom, I clearly felt it. Before me, at least two forces were acting on the broomstick.
In other words, besides me, at least two people cast spells on the broomstick."
"And the reason Harry didn't fall to his death is that these two people didn't both want to harm him.
In fact, only one of them wanted to harm Harry, and the other was consistently trying to save him. Snape was just one of them.
To be fair, you can't judge whether he meant well or not by looking at him alone."
At this point, Harry earnestly thanked Alaric, including the last magic that turned him into a balloon.
"But Snape has always disliked Harry. How could he want to save him?" Hermione countered.
That's because during his student days, Snape secretly admired Harry's mother, and his feelings toward Harry were more like loving someone by association.
As for why he hated Harry, it was because Harry's father often played pranks on him, and then he married the woman Snape loved.
Alaric wanted to explain it this way, but he couldn't say it out loud.
"I also want to tell you that you're wrong!" Hagrid exclaimed, angrily.
"I don't know why Harry's broomstick behaved like that, but Snape would never want to kill a student!
Now, you guys Listen to me - you are meddling in things that have nothing to do with you. This is dangerous.
Forget about that big dog and what it is guarding, this is between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel...."
"Aha!" Harry said, "So there's a man named Nicolas Flamel involved, right?"
Hagrid was furious. at himself for revealing a secret due to a slip of the tongue.
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