Over here, Ron was ready to confidently grab Draco, refining him in an instant, while Hermione over there was showing interest in Luna's hat.
She had made a lion-shaped hat, as big as a real lion's head, teetering precariously on her head.
"Oh, Luna." Hermione cradled Luna's lion head in her hands, "It's really big, isn't it?"
"I'm supporting Gryffindor," Luna said pointing to her hat, "watch what it can do..."
She reached out with her magic wand and tapped the hat, and the lion's head opened its mouth wide, letting out a realistic roar that startled everyone around.
"Not bad, right?" Luna said cheerfully, "I wanted it to eat a snake symbolizing Slytherin, but there's no time for that now—anyway... good luck, Ron!"
With that, she gave Ron a meaningful wink and floated away.
"I think I'll have good luck too!" Ron said happily, "I feel full of energy now!"
"Ha." Hermione snorted, "Was it Luna's wink that gave you strength, Weasley!?"
"Of course not." Ron immediately recovered, "How could it be Luna, it was obviously your encouragement that gave me strength."
Hermione nodded in satisfaction.
She leaned in beside Ron and gave him a light peck on the cheek.
"Good luck, Ron," she said, then turned politely to smile at Harry, "and you too, Harry."
Harry knew he was just an afterthought; Hermione mainly wished Ron good luck.
Ron was a bit dazed until Angelina came over to call him, guiding them through the hall, he came to his senses a bit.
"She kissed me..."
Ron murmured, covering his face, touching the spot on his cheek where Hermione had kissed him, looking somewhat bewildered as if he didn't understand what had happened.
"Oh yes, she kissed you." Harry said beside him, "She did kiss you—now here comes the question, are you ready to knock them all out?"
"Wait, what did you say?" Ron didn't quite catch what Harry said.
"Look." Harry motioned towards Slytherin's direction with his chin.
Ron looked where Harry pointed and saw the crown-like badges on the chests of the Slytherins, inscribed with:
[Weasley is our King]
"That shouldn't be anything good." Alicia Spinnet said nearby, back to normal, no longer with eyebrows that covered her whole face.
"I choose to believe it's something good." Ron said confidently, "Maybe after we completely conquer the Slytherins, this badge will be sold out."
"We believe in you, mate." The twins said in unison from either side.
They descended the stone steps, stepping into the chilly air.
The frosted grass crunched underfoot as they hurried down the slope towards the stadium.
The weather was nice today, no wind, the sky was a uniform pearly white, meaning visibility was good, but no glaring sunlight.
"Looks like Angelina's prediction was wrong." Alicia said from behind, "See, today's weather is really nice, we don't need to play a Quidditch match against Slytherin amidst cold wind and rain, do we?"
"Better to be prepared, Alicia." George chimed in to support Angelina.
"I wish it would rain." Katie Bell said beside them, "That way we'd be prepared, and Slytherin wouldn't be."
"Let's get changed." Angelina told them, "Put on your robes, we're getting ready for the talk!"
They headed to the locker room to change, with Ron's mind still dwelling on Hermione's kiss, he even put his clothes on backwards.
If it weren't for Harry helpfully stepping in, Ron might've experienced a feeling of choking.
"Don't get distracted, Ron." Harry patted Ron's shoulder, "Wait until after the match to deal with whatever it is, okay? Let's focus on playing well first, Hermione's watching up there—Plus, you took the Blessing Potion, surely you'll beat those Slytherin... uh."
He ultimately didn't say "scum" because, as a substitute professor, he couldn't say that even though he would've if he was just a Gryffindor.
The noise outside grew louder as people flocked from the castle to the field.
"Ladies!" Angelina began her speech.
"And gentlemen." The Weasley twins chimed in simultaneously.
Angelina rolled her eyes at them, "It's our first game since Oliver's left school. I believe you can continue to keep the Quidditch Cup in Professor McGonagall's office, not let some bat spoil it—"
With that, she pulled out a piece of parchment.
"I saw Slytherin's final lineup," Angelina said, looking at the parchment, "last year's batters Derek and Poole left, but Monty seems to have found two ordinary gorillas instead of particularly good flyers. These two are named Crabbe and Gall, I don't know much about them—"
"I do." Ron raised his hand and said, "They seem not to know the front from the back of a broom."
Angelina put away the parchment and said, "Still, I always wondered how Derek and Poole found the field without a compass."
"Crabbe and Gall are the same lot." Ron reassured her.
"Looks like that's a good thing, at least our opponents are simple-minded." Angelina said happily, "But we must not be complacent, even if they don't know one end of a broom from the other, we have to go all out and show the Slytherins what we're made of!"