"She's definitely going to be the first one to fall out." Before the competition began, Ron, gnawing on a chicken pot pie he'd snuck from the kitchen, made a muffled prediction. "Hermione can't even ride a broomstick properly, let alone—Merlin's jizzy socks!"
Harry followed Ron's suddenly wide eyes and saw that the moment Hermione was magically pushed forward, her wand had already flicked out swiftly.
She hovered slightly like a nimble bird, and as her robes fluttered, she landed steadily on the ice, while five or six students around her had already fallen into a heap.
"Levitation Charm!" Harry exclaimed, nudging Ron's arm. "She used the spell on the soles of her shoes!"
Ron's pie froze in his mouth. "Did she plan this from the very beginning?"
Harry suddenly pointed at the rink. "Look! She's about to go through the misty zone."
While other contestants were bumping around in the fog like headless chickens, Hermione suddenly lowered her body. A burst of spell light shot from the tip of her wand, and the ice in front of her instantly became as smooth as a mirror.
"She's not going to—"
Before Ron could finish, Hermione had already used the momentum to slide.
Her entire body was nearly parallel to the ground, her chestnut curls skimming the ice, as she shot through the narrow gap beneath the mist with a "whoosh." The crowd instantly erupted in cheers.
"Merlin's beard!" Ron gasped. "I think I've seen that move in a Quidditch match!"
Immediately after passing through the mist, there was a fork in the path.
To the left was a straight route filled with "tripping ice bumps," while to the right lay a not-so-narrow ice crack, with only a narrow "swinging ice bridge" spanning it.
A Slytherin student was trying to rush onto the ice bridge. Hermione didn't hesitate. She quickly pointed her wand at the edge of the crack. "Ice Bridge Creation!"
A new ice bridge, closer to her side, instantly formed.
She didn't even wait for the bridge to fully stabilize, using the inertia from her high-speed slide to make a light leap, landing steadily at the center of the bridge and sliding across.
Meanwhile, the Slytherin student lost his balance on the shaking bridge and fell into the crack with a "plop," drawing a round of laughter.
Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's shoulder. "Watch out! Someone's trying to cheat!"
They saw a Ravenclaw boy secretly pointing his wand at the ice in front of Hermione.
Just as Harry shouted a warning, Hermione seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She cast a counter-spell in advance. The boy's feet slipped, and he landed headfirst into a snowdrift.
"Beautiful!" Ron exclaimed, punching the railing, completely forgetting his pie. "When did she learn that move?"
"She's barely rested lately," Harry grinned. "She's been practicing every day!"
The most exciting part was the "slippery trap" just before the finish line.
While other contestants were getting twisted up in that area, Hermione suddenly conjured a series of small ice slopes. She weaved left and right between them, and her speed actually increased.
"She's using the obstacles to accelerate!" Harry suddenly stood up. "No, she's going to crash!"
"Slow down!" Ron shouted as well.
Hermione was speeding toward the boundary at a terrifying pace.
Just in time, her wand flared with a brilliant flash of spell light, and the ice in front of her instantly reshaped into a miniature roller coaster track with a spiral slide.
Without hesitation, she stepped onto the newly conjured slide.
She spun around the spiral twice at high speed, cleverly shedding most of her momentum, then her wand flashed again. "Restitit lepos! Impedimenta!"
A sharp screech echoed across the arena as ice chips flew in all directions.
Hermione carved two long white lines into the ice before coming to a stop—just an inch from the boundary line—her robes billowing high from the sudden deceleration.
The arena fell completely silent.
Hermione calmly pointed her wand at her robes. "Scourgify."
All the scattered ice chips vanished instantly.
Then the lake shore erupted into thunderous applause. Every student who had witnessed the scene broke into wild cheering and clapping.
"When did Hermione become so... so..."
"Wickedy cool?"
"Exactly!"
"Perfect execution! Textbook level!" Kestrel swooped down like lightning, landing in front of Hermione. She patted her shoulder enthusiastically, her face glowing with admiration and excitement.
"That was splendid, Miss Granger—first place! Gryffindor earns 20 points!"
The Gryffindor students erupted in cheers again, while Hermione, now feeling a bit embarrassed, quietly hugged her scattered books to her chest. Taking advantage of the crowd's distraction, she slipped away from the chaos and ran off.
"Hey! The champion's running away!" Seamus shouted, pointing at Hermione's retreating back.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances and wordlessly took off after her.
...
The field test was over, and a few more scratched and bruised young Wizards had ended up in the infirmary. When another group of laughing and joking students burst through the door, Madam Pomfrey's hand—mid-pour with a potion bottle—visibly trembled.
Seeing this group of injured yet cheerful students, an ominous feeling welled up inside her.
"Was it Professor Lumina's Defense Against the Dark Arts class again?"
Several students immediately nodded.
She sighed, and with a flick of her wand, a row of small bottles filled with purple potion flew onto the table and neatly lined up.
Several seventh-year medical volunteers immediately sprang into action, skillfully distributing the potions.
"It was an ice event this time, Madam," said a Gryffindor student, his face dusted with ice chips, excitedly. "It was way more fun than last time's 'tunnel warfare'! At least you don't get covered in mud."
Madam Pomfrey snorted and turned to Alaric, who was organizing the bandages. "Would you mind fetching more dittany from the storage room—and tell Dumbledore that if next month's budget happens to go over—" she paused meaningfully, "—he knows exactly who's to blame."
Ever since Professor Lumina arrived at Hogwarts, Madam Pomfrey had been forced into regular bouts of overtime due to the professor's "lessons." Thankfully, she had a few senior students to help, or she'd have been completely swamped.
...
In the castle corridor, Hermione, clutching her books, was caught up to by Harry and Ron.
"Why are you running?" Ron asked breathlessly as he stopped her.
"You're the champion! They're even talking about throwing a little celebration for you in the common room!"
Hermione hugged her books tighter, her ears turning red. "That's too much… It was just a temporary track test."
"Too much?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "You conjured a spiral roller coaster on ice, and no one could touch you!"
"It's not as impressive as it sounds," Hermione said as she walked. "I just learned some basic skating at a Muggle ice rink when I was little."
"Seriously," Ron added, leaning in with genuine admiration, "I think you could make the Quidditch team now!"
Hermione shook her head repeatedly, a few curls bouncing slightly. "That's completely different! Today, I studied the track layout beforehand and had a plan. Quidditch requires real improvisation—dealing with Bludgers and mid-air collisions. And..."
She paused, her voice softening with a hint of embarrassment. "You know... I'm not very good on a broom."
"Alright," Ron shrugged, then suddenly his eyes lit up. "But speaking of flying—did you notice just now? Professor Lumina didn't even use a broom! She just went 'whoosh,' like that!"
"It looked a lot like the magic Professor Greengrass used!"
"Huh? Professor Greengrass? What magic?"
"The spell he used when he first appeared in the Forbidden Forest last year." Hermione's tone became particularly certain. "Although the form of the shadow was a bit different, the core principle is definitely very similar!"
"What does that mean?" Ron asked, confused.
"It means they might've known each other before," Hermione said confidently. "That's probably why Professor Lumina asked Professor Greengrass to help freeze the lake—and he actually agreed."
"Now that you mention it... it really does seem that way," Ron nodded thoughtfully. "That's why Mr. Noctis is so familiar with her."
"Do you think we'll get a chance to learn that magic?" Harry suddenly spoke up. "I've never experienced flying freely without a broom—it must feel incredible!"
"Oh? Really?" Ron immediately grinned and elbowed Harry. "I seem to remember you falling off your broom from fifty feet during a Quidditch match. That should've felt pretty similar to this spell!"
Harry, poked in his sore spot, couldn't help but laugh. "Shove off, Ron! That felt awful! I mean controlled flying!"
~~~~~~~
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