Chapter 200: Exploding Snap
By the open ground beside the Black Lake, a huge willow drooped its branches, forming a cool patch of shade. Under the sunlight, the lake rippled with glittering waves, and fish kept leaping merrily at the surface.
The giant squid that dwelled in the lake's depths had also darted over to the shore, its tentacles—coated in a slick film—resting on the bank as it basked lazily in the sun. Its narrow eyes watched, with interest, the area beneath the willow where a group of students sat in a circle, bursts of laughter rising from time to time.
After the Quidditch match ended and they had eaten lunch, Duncan and the others found themselves with nothing to do, and since the weather was fine, they arranged to play by the Black Lake. Hermione sat pressed close with Hannah and Ellie on a flat stone, faces lit with excited smiles, leaning forward to watch.
The Niffler, Pro, curled into a ball on the damp grass and rolled back and forth with all its might, constantly doing one silly, adorable thing after another. Its performance was clearly very popular with Hermione and the others; whenever it did something especially cute, a few cheers would always go up.
Following those cheers were silver Sickles and bronze Knuts tossed to its side by Hermione, Hannah, and Ellie, piling into a little hill in no time. Pro was overjoyed and performed with even greater gusto—he absolutely loved this job.
These days Duncan was no longer easy to fool; getting coins from him was not so simple, and every time Pro tried he would end up exhausted and dizzy. This was much easier now—just a wiggle of the backside or a few squinty, dopey expressions, and the money came right to him.
Not far to the right of Hermione and the others, Duncan, Fred, George, Neville, Ron, and Harry sat in a circle on the grass.
"Are you all ready? You've got the rules down, yeah?" Fred asked with a grin, his gaze sweeping over everyone. He was twirling a cardboard box in his hand, its surface emblazoned with a line of colorful cursive: Exploding Snap.
"Ready!" Neville took a deep breath and nodded very seriously; he had never played a game like this before and was worried he would make a mistake.
Harry wore the same expression. When Fred had told them the cards would explode, he had looked a bit uneasy.
"Don't worry, it's a simple game," Ron said breezily with a wave, sounding full of confidence as he spoke to Harry and Neville. "I've played loads of times at home with Fred and them. It's not hard at all—when we play, you just need to be a little careful and you'll be fine!"
"Right!" Harry said earnestly to Fred. "I'm ready too. We can start."
"How about this—let's try the simple, traditional play first," Fred suggested. "If Harry and Neville get the hang of it quickly, we'll move on to the two harder ways to play."
Everyone nodded their agreement; no one objected. Fred took the cards out of the box and set the deck face down on the grass in the middle; the backs were printed with a fire-red bomb that kept bouncing.
"Game on!" Fred tapped the bouncing bomb with the tip of his wand and spoke rapidly.
The deck rose quickly to the level of their eyes, and then the top card spun down. Only at the last moment did it flip over and fall onto the grass, revealing the picture on its face: a swordsman holding a longsword.
Duncan and the others kept their eyes fixed on the card. Neville muttered nervously under his breath, "Swordsman, swordsman..."
When the second card spun down, everyone raised their wands, gazes locked straight ahead. As the card was about to flip, Ron leaned forward a little, his wand surreptitiously stretching out.
"Ha, first point's mine!" Ron crowed the instant the card was halfway over, eagerly pointing his wand ahead.
But his delighted grin froze almost at once—because when the card finished flipping, although it showed a warrior in armor, he was holding a long spear.
"How can this be..." Ron stared at the two cards wobbling towards him, his mouth drawn down, a mournful look on his face.
"Who told you to be so hasty? Heh-heh, my dear little brother, accept your punishment!" George said with a playful laugh.
The traditional way to play Exploding Snap was very simple: when you saw two cards with the same picture, you tapped them with your wand to score a point; the highest score at the end won. But if you tapped wrong, or if you ended with the lowest score, you would face a tiny little punishment.
Resigned, Ron shut his eyes. The cards hovered over his head—and with a boom they exploded, fine paper confetti drifting down in a gentle shower.
Hermione and the others, who had been teasing Pro, jumped in fright and hurriedly turned to look. Seeing Ron's miserable state, they could not help covering their mouths and giggling. Ron's hair instantly fluffed into an explosion, and black smudges streaked his face—he looked like he had just crawled out of a grimy fireplace.
Fred clicked his tongue and said, "Honestly, you look exactly like the ghoul upstairs at our place!"
"I'm half-convinced you're its brother, not ours!" George's grin stretched almost to his ears.
"Pah, pah!" Ron spat out paper scraps, then smeared the black smudges evenly across his face. "Carry on, carry on. Don't get cocky, you two. You'll end up just like me later—I don't believe you won't slip up even once!"
The floating deck began spinning down cards again. This time Ron was much more cautious. He stared ahead with intense focus, gripping his wand tightly in one hand. Only when he saw, clear as day, that the pictures on two cards were both roaring flames did he raise his wand high.
"This time I—" Ron had not finished speaking when Duncan's wand flicked, swiftly tapping the two cards Ron had been eyeing.
"Sorry, looks like you were a bit slow," Duncan said with a crooked smile as he drew his wand back. The two cards slid in front of him.
"Damn it, I'm done talking this round!" Ron said angrily. He kept his eyes glued to the cards, not daring even to blink.
But as time went on, the pile in front of Duncan grew higher and higher. Fred and George had won quite a few as well, and even the newcomers Harry and Neville had several cards by their hands, while in front of Ron there was still nothing but grass swaying pitifully in the breeze.
"Don't worry, it's a simple game," Fred said, smirking and waving his hand, mimicking Ron's tone from the very start.
"I've played loads at home with Fred and them, not hard at all!" George added in a sing-song, taking the mickey. "Right, Harry?"
Ron looked at the empty grass before him, his face flushing scarlet, his ears puffing hot air like a train whistle. "I only messed up this round. Let's start over, and I'll show you my true strength!"
Just then, a crow perched on a nearby bough happened to caw a few times, as though mocking what Ron had just said, and everyone burst into laughter again.