The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

Tom struggled to squeeze out of the crowd and came to Hermione's table. At this time, she was putting the pile of textbooks, arithmetic divination charts, rune dictionaries and other things piled on the table into her schoolbag.

"I have completed the final inspection," Hermione put away a dense note. "That quill is very easy to use. It saves a lot of effort just by not having to dip it in ink."

"Thank you, there's no need to do this." Tom helped Hermione clear the table. He felt a little guilty because Hermione had killed his share as well.

"Striving for excellence." Hermione didn't seem to care at all.

"I lent my broom to Cho Chang so I wouldn't have to attend the team's games."

"Oh?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"This way, in the second half of the semester, I can concentrate on my studies and homework." Tom said without confidence.

"I believe it." Hermione's expression said it all. She stuffed everything into her bag and left.

When Tom came to the auditorium the next day, he noticed that the atmosphere seemed a little strange: the students from the other three houses seemed to be staring at him, until Harry came in and drew some of his gaze away.

When Tom finished his meal and was about to leave the auditorium, Marcus Flint, the captain of the Slytherin team, stood in front of him with his arms folded, and several other Slytherin team members followed him. Tom was surrounded.

"Yordle, I heard you have a Firebolt?" Marcus said carelessly: "A broom like the Firebolt should belong to the sky and the arena, and should not be stuffed in a corner to collect dust. Mine I mean, since you're not going to ride it, you might as well lend us Slytherin your broom."

Tom briefly thought there was something wrong with Marcus's head. Is this allowed to be said in public? And why should I lend you my broom? Do you look like a troll?

"Of course, I won't lend you your broom for nothing." Marcus is not that stupid. He knows that this kind of thing still requires a sufficient price and sincerity, "We are willing to exchange Nimbus 2001, and at the same time, you also How do you feel about being paid a handsome sum—fifty galleons for one semester?"

In Marcus's view, he has shown great sincerity: the Nimbus 2001 is a broom that is only inferior to the Firebolt, and fifty Galleons is a huge sum of money. With this money, Tom will next You won’t have to worry about book fees for a few years—unless there’s another Lockhart-like professor.

To show his sincerity, he also took out a leather bag from his arms, which was filled with jingling gold galleons.

"Sorry, I have decided to lend the broom to the Seeker of our academy. I am not short of money." Tom shook his head.

Marcus' face suddenly turned ugly, "I think you should think about it carefully——"

Before he could finish his harsh words, Tom slammed Montague next to him away. Montague was caught off guard and staggered by Tom, which also caused a gap in the surrounding net surrounding Tom. Tom squeezed directly through the gap and pulled out the wand at the same time.

"My broom, I have the right to decide who to give it to." Tom said calmly, and at the same time he put the wand against the throat of Marcus who wanted to come over.

"Didn't your parents teach you to keep social distance?" A few blue sparks popped out from the tip of Tom's stick, igniting the stubble on Marcus' chin, and there was a burning smell. Son.

"You!" Marcus swallowed and wanted to say something more, but was interrupted again.

"Marcus, if you don't hurry up and train, what are you doing here?" Wood's voice came from behind Marcus. He brought Fred and George closer.

Seeing someone coming, Tom also lowered his wand, but he did not put it away, but maintained the state of raising his hand to cast a spell at any time.

The three people approaching did not see Tom's little move because of Marcus's shield. Fred said loudly to George: "No way? Doesn't the Slytherin team have Firebolts yet? Doesn't the Slytherin team call themselves rich? Why don't they even have a Firebolt?"

Although he was speaking to George, anyone not stupid would understand who he was addressing.

Marcus's breathing became rapid all of a sudden. Fred's words stung him, and a rush of hot blood rushed into his brain.

At this time, Wood also answered: "I don't want to hide anything. Harry from our team got a Firebolt. It is said that Ravenclaw also got one... If I were you, I would increase training." Just keep it in check so you don't get beaten until you cry on the pitch - especially your team's Seeker, he really needs more practice."

Marcus felt it was difficult to control his emotions. Even if he attacks now, he will most likely receive a curse on his face, but Marcus doesn't care about this. He would rather take a curse and teach these people a lesson. Just when he was about to lose control, he saw Richie from the Ravenclaw team approaching with several team members.

This was undoubtedly a great cooling agent, and he calmed down immediately.

"Humph. I won't worry about our team's training." He walked around Tom and left quickly.

"You have to get closer to your players." Wood said to Rich with a smile. When Wood walked in, he stretched out his fist and bumped fists with Wood.

"What did Marcus want to do with you just now?" Richie looked at Tom with concern.

Tom shrugged and told Richie what Marcus was planning.

"Despicable!" Richie cursed angrily after hearing this, "But don't worry, our college is not vegetarian!" After scolding, he did not forget to comfort Tom.

…

"Malfoy, can't you really get a Firebolt?" After walking away, Marcus asked Malfoy who was following him. He had talked to Malfoy in the morning and knew that Malfoy's father was not interested in buying a broom. That's why he came up with Tom's idea. After hitting a wall with Tom just now, Marcus felt that Draco had a lot to do here: The Malfoy family is so rich, it shouldn't be difficult to add some money to buy a Firebolt, right?

Malfoy took a deep breath, "I just talked to my dad before and got seven Nimbus 2001."

What he meant was that he had already asked for it once, and there was almost no chance of success if he asked for the Firebolt again. Although his father loved him, he was not doting on him endlessly.

However, the thought that Potter had a better broom than his own really made Malfoy very unhappy.

"I will send a letter to Dad, but don't have too high expectations." Malfoy said coldly.

"Great, I'm waiting for your good news."

————

And finally a little bit about Millicent Bagnall.

After the war, the Magical Law Commission began to try known Death Eaters and send them to Azkaban Prison. Death Eaters who attended the trial included Igor Karkaroff, Rodolphus, Rabastan, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr. Sirius Black was wrongly accused of being a supporter of Voldemort and responsible for the deaths of James and Lily Potter, and sent to Azkaban without trial.

In 1990, Millicent Bagnall retired. At the time, her successor had yet to be determined. In the early 1980s, Barty Crouch Sr. became the most popular candidate to succeed Bagnor, but after he personally sent his son to Azkaban, his prestige in the public mind dropped sharply. . In addition, many people supported Albus Dumbledore as Minister of Magic, but he was not interested in it and was determined not to leave Hogwarts. So Cornelius Fudge ended up taking the position.