Chapter 199: Our Happy Life... Has Ended!
"Duncan, couldn't you have gone a bit easier? You alone scored that many points!"
"Exactly, exactly—every time you scored, you flew right past us!"
"It was like the two of us were Gryffindor traitors, your little henchmen, deliberately letting you through!"
"To think we're good brothers—yet you didn't spare a thought for us at all. Utterly disrespectful!"
"If the Gryffindor lot can't accept reality, they'll definitely pin the loss on us!"
"Maybe when we get back tonight, they'll skin us alive and hang our skeletons at the entrance to the common room, to warn everyone, 'This is what happens when you lose,' so that next time the Gryffindor players charge onto the pitch like wild dogs!"
"Oh, right—Wood will probably come keep us company too. He was the one defending against you today—tsk, tsk—and he lost that badly."
After the Quidditch match ended, Duncan changed clothes and came out of the locker room with his teammates, when Fred and George's incessant voices hit his ears.
The Weasley twins, arms slung over each other's shoulders, stood on a big rock at the edge of the Quidditch pitch. They wore broad smiles and showed not the least trace of sorrow over losing, but their tone sounded like little resentful women in the boudoir—feeble, full of grievance.
In truth, for the two of them, as long as they gave it their all on the pitch, and as long as they didn't lose to those annoying Slytherins, then whether they won or lost, they could accept it.
Duncan smiled and waved at Fred and George, then stepped aside, revealing someone the Hufflepuff players had been blocking from view.
He lightly bumped that person's shoulder and said in a fanning-the-flames tone, "Wood, they're badmouthing you. Aren't you going to teach them a lesson?"
Wood pressed his lips, his face livid. The right hand gripping his broom was so tight it had gone bloodless, his eyes bulged slightly, and the aura about him was like Professor McGonagall's.
Fred and George shivered all over, swallowed with difficulty, slid down off the rock at once, plastered smiles on their faces, and—pretending nothing was amiss—waved and greeted Wood: "Wood, you're still here? Didn't you just head back to the castle?"
"I forgot something, so I came back," Wood replied stiffly, walking toward the Weasley twins at a measured pace.
Fred's smile turned much more rigid. His eyes darted around and, as if struck by sudden enlightenment, he said, "Oh, I remember—"
"Wait." Wood stopped Fred and George in a stern voice, looking at the two of them with steady eyes. "You're right. Losing to Hufflepuff this time is mostly my responsibility. I didn't guard the goalposts well, and I'm not as outstanding as Hufflepuff's captain, Zacharias Smith. I didn't design the tactics properly."
Hearing Wood say that, the two of them panicked at once. They hurriedly said, "Wood, we were only joking. We absolutely, absolutely weren't blaming you. You kept the goal very well, and the tactics were very good. It's just that the two of us didn't execute properly, and we failed to stop Duncan..."
As they spoke, perhaps afraid Wood wouldn't believe them, they even slapped their own cheeks to show their resolve.
Wood shook his head solemnly. "I guarantee that in our next match against Ravenclaw, our tactics will be far ahead of theirs!"
"Even if I don't eat or sleep, I'll work out several brilliant sets of tactics before the next match starts. However..."
Wood's gaze swept over Fred and George, and he patted their shoulders. "I hope you can be as you said."
"On the pitch, defend like wild dogs. Otherwise I really will skin you and hang you at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room!"
Wood's tone was deadly serious, nothing like a joke. Seeing the twins nod, he finally strode toward the castle with firm steps.
Fred stared blankly after Wood until he set foot on the slope up to the castle. Then Fred came back to himself and shouted, "Wood, we really didn't mean that! Don't misunderstand! You're the best Quidditch captain at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Basking in the golden sunlight, Wood held his head high, swung his arm in a great wave, and marched off in broad, heroic strides like a valiant warrior.
"It's over..." Fred said with a face full of despair, tilting his head back to gaze at the blue sky. His shoulders drooped, and he let out a long sigh.
"Our happy life... has ended!" George's expression matched Fred's exactly. The two of them looked like a pair of beaten dogs.
"Can't you two be a bit more normal?" Standing beside Duncan, Cedric Diggory gave the twins a disdainful glance, then said to Duncan, "Go with your friends. We'll head back to the castle first. See you tonight in the common room."
"All right." Duncan smiled and nodded, nimbly dodging Zacharias and a few other "perverts" who wanted to slap his backside.
"You did very well today!" Passing Harry Potter, Cedric's handsome face broke into a smile as he spoke softly.
Today, he and Harry spotted the Golden Snitch at the same time. Unfortunately, his broom wasn't as good as Harry's, its flying speed a touch slower, so he fell a step behind. But the superiority of a broom is part of the match in the first place—someone's put money into it, so naturally their starting point is higher than a free player's.
"Thanks..." Harry hastily put away the dejection on his face, forced a smile, and spoke to Cedric.
Cedric smiled and nodded, then strolled back toward the castle, chatting light-heartedly with the other Hufflepuff players.
"Why didn't you remind us just now that Wood was right behind you?" Fred came up and slung an arm around Duncan's shoulders with mock ferocity.
"Who told you two to have your mouths rattling so fast and in such perfect sync?" Duncan shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't find a chance to get a word in!"
"Yeah." Fred sighed at that. "Having taken this blow, Wood will definitely get even more fanatical. We can kiss the good days goodbye!"
"No helping it. Winning the Quidditch Cup has already become his obsession!" Duncan followed up. "Too bad he ran up against the two of you..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fred narrowed his eyes at Duncan. "Think our skills are rubbish? Looking down on us, are you?"
Duncan slipped free of the twins' hands, fled behind Hermione Granger and Harry, and, smiling, asked Hermione, "Hermione, during the match just now, did you happen to see two rookies trailing right behind me, eating my dust?"
"Fine then, Duncan, just you wait!" Fred and George rushed in from both sides, trying to pincer Duncan, but he slipped away from them both.
"You'll see!" After a long chase, Fred, panting, propped his hands on his knees and said, "Next match, we'll definitely evolve!"
George raised one hand high. "Before Wood graduates, we'll definitely help him win the Quidditch Cup!"
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