I don't know whether it was Dumbledore's heavy punch that worked, or Rita Skeeter's report slapped the Ministry of Magic too hard in the face.
All in all, the Quidditch match at the end of November went smoothly without any accidents.
Ravenclaw defeated Hufflepuff.
Yes, that's right, the match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.
As for why it wasn't a match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, Albert wasn't quite sure.
"Congratulations on winning the game."
After the Ravenclaw team won the game, Albert followed Isobel in giving the winners a round of applause.
However, his eyes soon fell on Cedric. This guy was really a gentleman.
If Cedric had not been held back by Qiu Zhang during the game, perhaps he would have been able to catch the Golden Snitch in advance and bring victory to the Hufflepuff team.
Unfortunately, as time went on, the points gap between the two sides widened, and even though they caught the Golden Snitch, they still lost the game in the end.
Cedric's gentlemanly behavior obviously won him a lot of extra points, especially after he lost the game, he politely shook hands with the opponent.
Well, a good person in every sense of the word, the kind with good character.
"What are you looking at?"
Isobel followed Albert's gaze and her eyes fell on Cedric, the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain who was accepting complaints from his teammates, probably complaining about his gentlemanly behavior just now.
"Cedric probably wants to go after your Seeker," Albert speculated.
"Qiu is indeed a lovely girl, and she is very popular among students, both boys and girls." Isobel actually had a very high opinion of Cedric. Although he was a Hufflepuff student, Cedric's character and talent were unquestionable.
If Albert's halo wasn't too dazzling, there would definitely be a lot of girls who like Cedric.
Unfortunately, Katrina doesn't like him.
Alas, speaking of Katrina, Isobel couldn't help shaking her head and sighing. Her poor sister was already overwhelmed by the heavy workload.
It is not easy to get 12 excellent scores in the OWLs exams.
"I think Cedric will be able to get the girl by next year at the latest." Albert made his prediction.
In fact, many students in the school start dating in the fifth or sixth grade, and it is rare for them to start dating as early as Albert.
"Is this your prophecy?" the girl asked with a smile.
"No, this is speculation." Albert said gently, "Cedric is actually a very good boyfriend candidate, and his personality is also very suitable for Ravenclaw girls. With his demeanor, it won't be a problem for him to coax a girl."
"But Qiu is your admirer." Isobel said meaningfully.
"Oh." Albert didn't react and didn't care about Isobel's teasing.
"What a cold reaction. I thought you would be very happy to have a beautiful girl admiring you." Isobel blinked.
Albert was a little speechless. If what Isobel said was true, most of the girls in the school were his admirers.
The two of them walked down the stairs and left. As soon as they walked out of the stadium, Albert noticed Penelope Clearwater waving at them. "Your friends are waiting for you. They probably want you to go back to the celebration party."
"Then I'll be leaving first." Isobel walked towards Penelope Clearwater. She could see that she had something to talk to her about.
"Want to go back together?" Percy appeared out of nowhere.
"Where were you hiding just now?" Albert asked casually.
"It was not far away. You were so busy talking to Isobel that you didn't notice me." Percy said speechlessly.
"Cedric's lucky."
Albert could see that Percy wanted to see him for something, but he didn't ask. Penelope Clearwater probably wanted to find Isobel to make time for the two of them.
“Although I lost the game, I won my life.”
The two walked side by side on the way back to the castle, and Percy finally asked, "I heard that the Ministry of Magic seems to be planning to give you the title of 'Wizengamot British Youth Representative'."
"It seems so." Albert nodded, "But I don't think I will get that title."
Percy was silent for a moment. He realized that Albert really didn't care, not that he didn't know what the title meant.
"You're not going to work for the Ministry?"
"I don't plan to."
"I envy you." Percy sighed softly, "Any suggestions? Sorry, but... my father's reputation in the Ministry of Magic... they don't like him very much... I may not have many options."
Albert understood what Percy meant, but he didn't know much about the Ministry of Magic and couldn't provide much help to the other party.
"I can do divination for you for free." Albert reminded, "but you should know the result of divination..."
"I understand, thank you, Albert." Percy nodded in thanks.
In Percy's opinion, Albert might be the spokesperson for a certain faction, otherwise the title of 'British Youth Representative of the Wizengamot' would never have fallen to a Muggle wizard.
He came to Albert in the hope that he could get some help after entering the Ministry of Magic. Being a "pure-blood traitor" was bound to make it difficult for him to move forward after entering the Ministry of Magic, so joining or defecting to a faction was the best choice.
Although he failed, it was not a complete failure. Percy was actually in a good mood now.
"It seems he didn't succeed either." Percy noticed that the two people not far ahead had separated.
"No, he will succeed." Albert said and greeted Cedric who was looking over here.
"You should be more patient," Percy suggested kindly.
When Cedric found out that his confession was watched by acquaintances, he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed and asked shyly, "Do you have any good suggestions?"
"You could ask her to go with you next time you go to Hogsmeade," Albert suggested with a smile.
"Yes, and don't mention dating. Some girls will be embarrassed. If she is willing, there will basically be no problem. Of course, the other party may reject you because of age." Percy looked at Albert next to him and teased: "However, I think if this person is Albert, he probably won't encounter such a problem."
"How did you get together?" Cedric had no experience in this area and wanted to learn from the other two's approach.
"Once both parties are familiar with each other, give each other birthday and Christmas gifts to deepen the relationship, and then ask each other to go with you to Hogsmeade." Albert said and looked at Percy.
"I often wrote to Penelope. Later, well, the situation was similar to Albert's." Percy reached out and patted Cedric's shoulder and said, "There's no need to worry. Albert is not competing with you for your girlfriend anyway. You should be more proactive and confident, and show your gentlemanly demeanor. There are few boys in the whole school who have an advantage over you."
Cedric smiled a little awkwardly, considering the possibility of asking Qiu to go with him next time he went to Hogsmeade.
As they approached the castle, Albert saw Hagrid walking towards him hurriedly with a newspaper.
"Sorry, I'm busy."
After separating from the two men, Albert stayed there and waited for Hagrid to come.
Looking at the panicked Hagrid, Albert raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Did you see the front page of today's Daily Prophet?" Hagrid asked anxiously.
"I saw it. Do you mean the interview with Malfoy?"
"That bastard is going to make a formal complaint and hopes to have the matter referred to the Dangerous Creatures Committee," Hagrid looked extremely angry.
Albert raised his hand and pointed at Hagrid's hut, indicating that they should go to his hunting lodge to discuss this matter.
"You should calm down."
"How can you expect me to calm down? You don't understand those weirdos on the Dangerous Creatures Committee. They just go after those interesting animals, and all their targets are killed, without exception." Hagrid looked a little hysterical, and it was not difficult to see how desperate he was about the matter.
"Even if you do this, it won't change anything. Anger and panic won't help."
Albert bent down to rub Fang's dog head and poured a basin of cold water on Hagrid.
"What should I do?" Hagrid looked at Albert with pleading eyes, hoping that Albert could give him some advice to save Buckbeak.
The poor Hippogriff was now tied up in Hagrid's pumpkin patch, completely deprived of his freedom.
"Those on the Disposal Committee will probably favor Lucius Malfoy, so you won't be able to win the lawsuit." Albert said calmly, "So the lawsuit is just a procedure. Malfoy will use his connections to win the case and persuade the Disposal Committee to convict the Hippogriff and execute him, thereby disgusting and attacking you and Dumbledore."
"No, they can't do this. How can they do this?" Hagrid was almost desperate. "Then what should I do? What should I do to save Buckbeak?"
“You can’t win a case in court, but you can solve it in other ways.”
"You mean... I thought about letting Buckbeak go, I wanted it to fly away, but I was afraid of breaking the law..." Hagrid said painfully, "I don't want to go back to Azkaban, it's a nightmare there."
"I didn't ask you to let Buckbeak go. You can ask someone else for help." Albert sighed and reminded helplessly: "As long as you clean up the matter and leave no evidence, the people in the Ministry of Magic will not trouble you even if they guess that it was you who did it."
"But how do you explain to a hippogriff that it should hide?" Hagrid raised his head and stared at Albert with his slightly red eyes.
"I'll help you with this matter." Albert glanced at the task prompt and said to Hagrid with a smile.
"What are you going to do?"
"You don't have to worry about anything. You don't have to know anything. Just tell me the time before you lose the case and the Disposal Committee comes to chop off Buckbeak's head."
"You're not planning to..." Hagrid was shocked by Albert's audacity.
"You know nothing. Don't reveal any flaws, otherwise no one can help you."
After Albert reminded him again, he stood up and prepared to leave.
"I don't know anything."
Hagrid said dryly as he looked at Albert's departing back.
As soon as he left Hagrid's hut, Albert glanced at the pumpkin field not far away and walked straight there.
"Come out," he said.
Hermione came out from behind the cover and looked at Albert with a complicated expression, obviously having eavesdropped on the conversation between the two.
"How much did you hear?" Albert asked.
"Most of them," Hermione asked worriedly. "Are you really going to..."
"Don't say it." Albert stopped him.
"Is it really impossible to win the lawsuit?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.
"We can't win." Albert said bluntly, "So, we can only use tricks."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hermione asked.
"You're planning on breaking the law?"
After a long silence, Hermione asked, "What about you?"
"I don't know. It's not illegal unless you're caught."
Albert looked at Hermione and said seriously, "Please keep it a secret and don't let anyone else know, okay?"
"Um."
Hermione felt lost and confused, unable to understand, so she just nodded slightly and agreed to help Albert keep the secret.