At the same time, Snape's favoritism was also clear.
He always rented a stadium for Slytherin, making it difficult for Gryffindor to find a place to train.
He also turned a blind eye to many reports of Slytherin students attempting to use magic to trap Gryffindor's players in the corridors. When Alia Spinnett's eyebrows grew so long that they covered her eyes and mouth, and she was sent to the school hospital, Snape insisted that she had used a hair-growing spell herself, and refused to listen to the testimony of fourteen witnesses.
They clearly saw that Slytherin's goalkeeper, Miles Blech, cast a spell on her from behind in the library.
As a result, Dumbledore's first external activity was to protect the Gryffindor's Quidditch team.
Gryffindor's form was getting better and better, and ever since Harry joined the team, they had never lost to Slytherin.
They were full of confidence and believed that they would definitely win the upcoming match.
The only change and weakness this semester was probably Ron, but he had also improved a lot. In an unforgettable practice, he hung from a broom with one hand and kicked the Ghost Fly away from the goal post with great force, making it fly all the way to the other end of the field, and through the middle of the opponent's goal ring.
Everyone who saw this scene thought that this save was comparable to the one that Ireland's world-class goalkeeper, Barry Ryan, had saved against Poland's best ball chaser, Ladislav Lozamowski. It was simply world-class, the most spectacular save in recent years by Hogwarts, a classic dream move.
Even Fred said that Ron might make him and George proud, and they were seriously considering admitting that they were related to him.
He told Ron that they had been trying to deny this for the past decade.
But Ron had a problem, and that was that he got nervous too easily and cared too much about the opinions of others around him.
His biggest weakness was that he would lose confidence when he made a mistake. If he failed to defend a goal, he would get upset and end up conceding more goals.
Slytherin's players soon discovered this. After they could no longer attack Gryffindor's players at will, they changed their tactics and used verbal attacks. In fact, for the senior players, this tactic was useless.
For example, Harry was already used to their bragging for more than four years. So words like, "Hey, Potter, I heard Warrington swear that he's going to knock you off his broom on Saturday," did not make him tremble in fear at all. It only made him smile.
Moreover, he would reply, "Warrington's aim is so poor that I would be more worried if he were going to hit the man next to me."
Moreover, he would laugh back at them loudly so that the person who threatened him would feel bored.
But Ron had never experienced such a merciless offensive of insults, ridicule and intimidation. When some seventh grade Slytherin students whispered to him in the corridor, "Have you booked a bed in the school hospital, Weasley?"
He did not smile, but his face turned a little green.
And when Malfoy and the others imitated Ron's poor performance when he missed the Ghost Fly Ball and hit the ground directly, Ron's ears turned red, his hands trembled, and he dropped whatever he was holding.
In short, the busy October ended in a storm and November came.
The weather was as cold as frozen iron. There was a layer of frost every morning, and the cold wind cut hands and cheeks.
The sky and the ceiling of the auditorium turned a faint blue-gray, and the mountains around Hogwarts wore a snow cap.
The temperature in the castle dropped so much that many students wore thick dragon leather gloves when they rested in the corridor between classes.
On the morning of the competition, the weather was clear and cold, and Ron had also entered the most nervous stage.
That morning, Ron sat on his bed. His eyes were dull, his face pale, and he was sweating profusely. It was exactly the same as when he was accidentally hit by his own snot-spitting curse a long time ago, except that he did not really spit out the snot-spitting curse.
In the face of encouragement from Elwyn, Harry, Hermione and the others, he just kept nodding woodenly.
"Ron, are you alright?"
Ron nodded but did not speak.
"Don't be too nervous. You just have to perform like you did in training."
Ron nodded again and stared at the Star Taker in his hand.
"You need to eat some breakfast!"
Ron nodded, stood up stiffly, and followed them out.
The few of them looked at each other. This state was not good, and they could only hope that he would perform better when he went on stage.
When they walked into the auditorium, it was quickly filling up. The chatter was louder than usual, and the atmosphere was more lively.
When they walked past Slytherin's table, they heard a commotion.
Almost everyone there wore a silver crown-shaped badge on top of their silver and green scarves and hats.
"What are the words on those badges?" Harry asked curiously.
"I don't know. I can't see it clearly. It's probably imitating what we did before. Let's go, don't just stand here. "Hermione said.
The year before, during the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Elwyn, Hermione and Sirius made nearly a thousand badges and slogans for free and distributed them to the students of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw academies. There were also hot-air balloons and posters floating outside the arena, turning the entire arena into Gryffindor's home ground, leaving a deep impression on everyone.
In terms of momentum, Slytherin's team had already lost.
They were warmly welcomed at Gryffindor's table. Everyone here wore a gold and red scarf and hat.
Angelina asked them to put the crossbow bolts and the Star Taker in the middle of the long table, where everyone could clearly see the three brooms.
This undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on Slytherin, but not only did it not cheer Ron up, it seemed to suck away the last bit of his morale.
He sat down on the nearest stool, as if this was his last meal.
"I must be crazy to do this!" he whispered hoarsely. "Crazy!"
"Don't talk nonsense," Harry said sternly, handing him some oatmeal. "You're fine. It's normal to be nervous."
"No, I'm useless!" Ron said. "I'm useless. I can't play at all. What was I thinking? "
"Don't be discouraged," Harry said firmly. "Even Fred and George said it was wonderful when you saved the ball with your foot."
Ron looked at Harry in pain, then turned his eyes to the cheering crowd.
"It was an accident!" he whispered pitifully, speaking his mind and the reality of the situation. "It hit itself. I slipped off the broom. You didn't see it. I was trying to climb back up when I accidentally kicked the ghost ball."
"Oh!" Harry quickly recovered from this disappointing accident. "A few more accidents like this and we'll win, won't we?"
"Yes, Ron, you can do it. You have no problem with your technique!"
Elwyn, Hermione, and Ginny sat opposite them, wearing gold and red scarves and gloves.
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