"Orli's right!" Hermione suddenly understood, her eyes reddening as she rushed forward to hug Harry as well.
"We just need to find a way to get her out of the school."
"If you think of any good ideas, remember to tell us." Ginny, Fred, and George also gathered around. Through the gaps between people, Orli saw Snape's retreating figure, his robes billowing as he disappeared through the doorway like a giant bat—but she didn't want to chase after him.
He was the Slytherin Head of House, and she was a Gryffindor student. There would always be some conflicts between them that couldn't be reconciled.
Orli forced herself to face reality—Snape would never treat Gryffindor fairly and justly, much less treat Harry fairly and justly. Hadn't she known this all along?
She tried to convince herself of this in her mind, but she wasn't an emotionless machine. Her chest was bursting with anger, ready to explode.
Perhaps she could be angry for a while—ten days, half a month, or three to five days, or even just a day or two... This time he was in the wrong first. Although he didn't know Umbridge would ban Harry from Quidditch, his punishment for Crabbe was far too light...
Thinking this way, Orli finally felt a little better.
"Has anyone seen Ron?" Angelina suddenly asked.
"I think he's avoiding us," Hermione said. "We saw him earlier—"
Just then, they heard footsteps behind them. Ron walked into the changing room from outside, his face pale. Seeing so many people still gathered in the changing room, he froze.
"Where did you go?!" Hermione asked urgently.
"...Taking a walk," Ron mumbled. He was still wearing his Quidditch robes, with damp sweat stains around the collar. Orli guessed he'd planned to hide until everyone had returned to the castle before coming back to change clothes. He hadn't expected everyone to still be here.
"Go change quickly—you're covered in sweat, you'll catch cold." Ginny went over and pulled him aside.
"I'm sorry," Ron said, staring at his toes and mumbling.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because I thought I could play Quidditch," Ron said with great difficulty, looking toward Angelina.
"I'm planning to quit the team. I know my limitations—I'm just holding you all back—"
"If you quit, we'll only have three official players left!" Angelina shouted angrily, her voice thick with suppressed sobs.
Seeing Ron's confused expression, Ginny quickly pulled him aside and explained what had just happened. After she finished, Ron looked even more anguished.
"It's all my fault—"
"You didn't make me punch Malfoy," Harry said irritably.
"—if I hadn't been so useless on the pitch—"
"It has nothing to do with that—"
"It was their song mocking me that made you angry—"
"Could you just stop?" Harry exploded.
"Things are bad enough already—I don't want to hear you blaming yourself!"
Ron fell silent. He looked sadly at the hem of his Quidditch robes.
"So don't make me lose my Keeper too, or I'll jump into the Black Lake tonight," Angelina said painfully, covering her face with her hands and speaking in a muffled voice.
"Maybe Ginny can fill Harry's position. I still need to find two Beaters."
"I just hope I'll wake up tonight and find this was all a dream, and our match hasn't started yet," Katie said slowly and stiffly.
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