Chapter 43: Scheming Boy George

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"Professor Snape, we had reserved the entire Quidditch pitch in advance! Besides, it was because Malfoy insulted Hermione, calling her a Mudblood, that Ron attacked him!"

Though Wood and the others were furious, they didn't dare argue with the fearsome Snape. However, Harry wasn't willing to let it go so easily.

Snape's gaze grew even sharper.

"Are you lying to me?"

"Malfoy, did you call Hermione a Mudblood?" George suddenly interrupted, asking Malfoy before Snape could speak.

Feeling emboldened with Snape present, Malfoy raised his head proudly and replied smugly, "She is a Mudblood! Hogwarts shouldn't accept students like her."

"Hogwarts doesn't accept students based on your opinion!"

Hearing Malfoy's slur, Snape immediately turned and harshly reprimanded him. After all, the witch he had loved most—Harry's mother, Lily Evans—had also come from a Muggle family.

Seeing his goal achieved, George quietly stepped back.

Malfoy, clearly shocked by the rare scolding from Snape, quickly shut his mouth.

Snape then looked at Harry again.

"I'll cancel the earlier deduction, but Potter, for speaking back to a teacher, Gryffindor will still lose five points."

Harry wanted to protest, but Hermione tugged on his arm.

It was better to lose just five points instead of the twenty they had originally lost.

"Ugh!"

At that moment, Ron opened his mouth, only for more shiny, giant slugs to come spilling out.

"Finite Incantatem!"

George stepped forward, waving his wand. A blue magical beam struck Ron, and the slugs instantly disappeared from his mouth.

Earlier during his tutoring session, Snape had mentioned that if you encounter Dark Magic and don't know the counter-curse, it's always a good idea to try a general counter-curse. George had decided to give it a try, and surprisingly, it worked.

"Thank you, George," Ron said, grateful as he finally returned to normal.

Harry and Hermione also nodded toward George in appreciation. They understood that without George cleverly prompting Malfoy into revealing the truth, Gryffindor would have lost an additional fifteen points.

George gave them a sly wink before stepping back to Snape's side.

"I just wanted to test the general counter-curse I learned."

Snape, hearing this, remarked casually, "George assisted his fellow student, so Slytherin will gain five points."

The Slytherin Quidditch team members, who had just looked defeated, immediately perked up again.

"That's enough about this incident. The Slytherin team needs to begin training with their new players. You may leave."

At Snape's dismissal, Wood quickly led his team off the Quidditch pitch.

However, after exiting, Harry, Ron, and Hermione quietly sneaked back and hid in the stands to spy on what was happening.

They weren't trying to gather information about the Slytherin team; they were simply curious to see who would be chosen as the new Seeker—George or Malfoy.

They had already learned from Ginny the day before that George was joining the Slytherin team.

At first, they assumed George would naturally be the Seeker, just like Harry had been the previous year. But today, they found out that Malfoy had already secured the position of Seeker, thanks to his father buying the entire team brand-new Nimbus 2001 brooms.

So now, they were worried that George might face difficulties joining the team.

"By now, you all know about George," Snape said after Wood and his team had left. "He's capable of performing high-difficulty maneuvers on a school broomstick—moves that even professional Quidditch players struggle with."

"That's why I've decided to appoint him as the team's new Seeker."

As soon as Snape made the announcement, Malfoy's face turned pale.

"Headmaster, you promised my father that I'd be the new Seeker!" he protested.

"Just like Adrian Pucey and Terence Higgs, you will leave the team to focus on your studies. Malfoy, you'll take the position of Chaser," Snape replied without hesitation.

This arrangement had been planned since the night before.

Malfoy did indeed have a natural talent for flying, and his father's generosity had greatly boosted the strength of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Replacing Terence Higgs, who had lost to first-year Harry in skill, with Malfoy was logical and aligned with Slytherin's best interests.

But now that they had George, a true broomstick prodigy, the position of Seeker, the most critical role on the team, had to go to him.

Still, Malfoy had brought substantial value to the team, so swapping out the less essential Chaser, Adrian Pucey, seemed like a fair trade.

"Headmaster, I disagree! I want to be Seeker and face off against Potter!" Malfoy shouted immediately.

Everyone knew by now that he was slated to become the Slytherin Seeker. If George took his place, he would lose face in front of the entire school.

Besides, he'd always wanted to outshine Harry, and only as a Seeker could he hope to do that.

"Headmaster, you know George is friends with Harry and the Gryffindors. If he's made Seeker, he'll definitely go easy on Harry during the match!" Malfoy protested.

"Malfoy, do you really think that a Slytherin wizard can't be friends with someone from Gryffindor?" George stepped forward, standing before Malfoy.

"I think that not only can we be friends, but if it's the right choice, a Slytherin could even marry a witch from Gryffindor in the future. We're all Hogwarts students, and competition is normal, but refusing friendship or relationships because of different houses is absurd.

Who says students from different houses can't be friends or even spouses?" George said, challenging Malfoy's narrow-mindedness.

The rest of the Slytherin team was stunned by George's bold statement. They fully expected Snape to harshly reprimand him for it.

"Headmaster, see? I told you, George would throw the match for Harry! He even talks about marrying one of those filthy Mudblood Gryffindors! A Slytherin wizard marrying a Gryffindor witch? That's the biggest joke I've heard today!" Malfoy sneered.

"Enough! Levicorpus!"

Snape, his face darkening, cast a spell that hoisted Malfoy upside down into the air.

"You can either play as Chaser or leave the team," Snape said coldly.

"Mess with me, will you?" George's lips curled into a smirk. He had deliberately provoked Malfoy into making that outburst.

What Malfoy didn't realize was that Snape's deepest regret came from the rift between himself and Lily Evans, Harry's mother. The divide had stemmed from being sorted into different houses and his insistence on upholding Slytherin pride, which had ultimately driven Lily into James Potter's arms.

Malfoy's comments were like a direct slap to Snape's face.

"Headmaster, it seems Malfoy is still not convinced. How about this: he and I will have a match. Whoever catches the Golden Snitch first will be the Slytherin Seeker."

George wanted to make sure Malfoy was utterly defeated, so he wouldn't dare challenge him again. It was also the perfect opportunity to solidify his status in Slytherin.

"Levicorpus countered!"

With a wave of his wand, Snape lowered Malfoy back down.

Snape had a close connection with Malfoy's parents. Besides being former Death Eaters, they had been classmates, and Snape had once been a potential godfather to young Malfoy.

If Malfoy hadn't struck such a nerve today, Snape wouldn't have been so harsh with him.

"Very well. Let's have a match. The winner becomes Seeker, and the loser takes the role of Chaser."

(End of Chapter)