The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 99 Holiday

The next morning, Ada was woken up by the noise. The ghoul in the attic always made some noise when the house was very quiet, either screaming loudly or banging on the pipes. As long as this ghoul felt quiet, no one else would be quiet.

Ada, with her hair loose, yawned as she came downstairs. She was dressed neatly today, but the mirror on the kitchen mantelpiece was still yelling at her: "Comb your hair! You look so unkempt!"

Mrs. Weasley was cleaning the kitchen, the cups, plates, and forks cleaning themselves in the sink, the clinking of which seemed to be a kitchen march. She heard the mirror and looked back, "Are you woke, dear?"

"Good morning, ma'am." Ada casually tied her hair into a bun, revealing her fair and slender neck.

When they were in the orphanage, only very young girls had someone to help them comb their hair. The older girls had to do it themselves, and no one taught them how to do a complicated hairstyle.

Ada has never paid much attention to her hair, so she usually lets her hair down, occasionally tying it into a single ponytail at the back of her head, or into a bun like she did today.

While other girls in school were dressing up, Ada was reading thick books. It must be because she was born beautiful, otherwise who knows how many people would call her a nerd!
As soon as the eggs and bacon were cooked, Mrs. Weasley put them on Ada's plate. Soon the plate was piled up like a small mountain. If Ada hadn't stopped her, Mrs. Weasley would have piled up another small mountain.

Ada originally planned to go to Ottery St. Mary, a town on the banks of the Otter River, after dinner, not to play, but to send a letter to Lady Mary. However, Mrs. Weasley told her that she could send the letter in the village, so she didn't need to go so far to the town.

The people in the village got up quite early. There was nothing strange in their eyes when they looked at Ada, a stranger. Christmas was coming soon, and the villagers just treated her as someone who came to town to perform.

There were several children playing in the village. The braver ones looked at Ada curiously, asking her if she was an actor in the town and what kind of performances there would be during Christmas.

Ada was annoyed to death until she entered the post office and finally got rid of the naughty kids. Although it was called a post office, there was actually only one employee. Ada came at the right time. If it was a little later in the evening, the postman would have left.

When they returned to the Burrow, Ginny was following Mrs. Weasley around the kitchen, while the boys were decorating the house with Mr. Weasley. In the corner of the living room was a Christmas tree that Mr. Weasley had just brought in, and the twins were hanging bells and ribbons on the tree.

Ada went to the kitchen and stood by the sink, peeling potatoes with a knife. She envied Charlie because Charlie could use magic outside of school, while Ada could only use it secretly so as not to be discovered by Mrs. Weasley.

There is strength in numbers. The Burrow was decorated with a new look in just one morning, and the atmosphere of Christmas was everywhere, so Mrs. Weasley allowed the children to go out for a walk in the afternoon. They could play Quidditch as long as they were not seen by the Muggles in the village.

The boys led the way with their broomsticks, followed by Ada and Ginny, and the seven of them headed for the Weasleys' paddock on the hill, which was surrounded by trees and would not be seen by people in the village below.

Except for the young Ron, all the boys in the Weasley family used the Crosssweep series of flying brooms. The twins used the Crosssweep Five-Star, which was a bit old but still quite useful.

Ada didn't have a flying broom, so when she left the Burrow, Charlie picked out an old broom from the broom shed and gave it to her. Ginny also wanted to take one, but Charlie and the others didn't agree.

After arriving at the paddock, Charlie took the lead and rode on his broom to the air, followed by the others, who began to throw apples to each other. They couldn't play real Quidditch, as it would be easy for Muggles to find them, so they didn't even fly too high. The apple was passed around among the boys. They had been playing this game since they were young, and Ron, the youngest, was very good at it, but his broom was a little slow, which made him look not as cool and elegant as his other brothers.

"Hurry up, Ada, don't waste time!" Fred began to urge Ada. Everyone in the family knew that she was not good at flying on a broomstick.

The other boys also began to urge her, especially Percy and Ron, who wanted to see the excellent Ada riding a flying broom. However, they were destined to be disappointed. Although Ada's talent was a little worse, her experience and proficiency were not in vain.

"Come on!" Ginny whispered to Ada to encourage her, then stepped aside.

Ada rode on the broom and pushed the ground with her feet. The flying broom rose steadily into the air. Several boys looked at Ada in disbelief. The twins opened their mouths wide, and their stomachs were filled with cold air. The twins who had been with Ada day and night had no idea that she had made such a big improvement. She couldn't even fly steadily before.

Ada is definitely not good enough to play Quidditch as a player, but she can still use the flying broom normally. At most, she flies a little slower and needs to be more careful.

After the novice female driver Ada joined in, the apple throwing and catching that used to be very good became difficult. Either Ada couldn't catch it, or she didn't throw it accurately enough, making it difficult for others to catch it.

If Charlie hadn't been a seeker and hadn't been very skilled, the apple would have been smashed by Ada. Charlie paused the game and reallocated the teams. He put the twins and Ada on the same team, and he took Percy and Ron with him.

Three against three, the strength is roughly equal, Ada is a drag on the twins' side, and Ron and Percy on Charlie's side are not on the school team. The twins put Ada in the middle, so that if Ada can't catch the apple, the two brothers can help her at any time.

After the division, Ada gradually found the fun of the game, and she caught more apples. It was not until the sun set that the seven people left the enclosure and went down the mountain to go home.

"Ada, when did you become such a good flyer?" George asked. If he asked this question to someone else, George would definitely be mocking the other person for being a bad flyer. But when he asked Ada, he was praising her, after all, Ada's starting point was too low.

Fred and Charlie also looked over. They were also very curious about Ada's "rapid progress". They had seen with their own eyes how bad she was at flying a broomstick when she was in the first grade.

"I've already told Fred and George that I'm a very good learner." The system is Ada's biggest secret, and she can't tell anyone. "Do you remember the crackling exploding cards in the first grade?"

The twins recalled the fear they felt when they were dominated by Ada while playing cards. It was a double insult to their spirit and intelligence!
"Then let's play a game tonight?" Charlie said, "Ada, don't worry, I won't bully you."

The twins shook their heads repeatedly hoping to stop Charlie from seeking his own death, but Charlie, who was confident in his card skills, still challenged Ada, and a bloody battle of crackling and exploding cards seemed inevitable.

(End of this chapter)