A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 41 The Selection of Hufflepuffs (First Update)

Listening to William's analysis, everyone present fell into deep thought.

The oldest among them, Cedric, had just turned thirteen; they had never thought about the issue in this way before.

Listening to William's analysis, I felt both confused and impressed.

William's analysis was, of course, very logical; after all, he had spent over a decade in his previous life reading and studying popular fiction.

He has a broad knowledge of various books, including story collections and unsolved mysteries, and is very familiar with books on topics like currency wars. He has also been active on Zhihu and other online forums for many years and has a knack for giving advice on current affairs.

"But the Ministry of Magic can't really treat Lucius Malfoy as a criminal; his family is very powerful," Cedric said.

"Back then, he was able to use Galleons to clear his name, claiming he was controlled by a mysterious person..."

"That's right, it's precisely because their family is rich that the Ministry of Magic needs to report on it so extensively," William said.

"Only if the news is reported in this way, and public opinion is unfavorable to Malfoy, will he spend a large sum of Galleons to bribe the higher-ups and buy himself peace."

William still remembers seeing on that book that Percy had written "recommended with blood and sweat by Fudge, the new Minister of Magic."

Fudge has only been in office for a short time and he's already making easy money. How could the higher-ups possibly let go of Malfoy, such a fat sheep?

Malfoy is innocent, but he's definitely going to get fleeced.

"What about the killer?" Cedric asked. "They have to release Malfoy, and then how do they explain it?"

"This means..." William analyzed slowly, "Perhaps the Ministry of Magic already knows the real killer."

Malfoy was just a smokescreen, meant to lull the criminals into a false sense of security, while simultaneously allowing the police to extort money from him.

Nobody's a fool, especially not cunning politicians.

They may lack ability and sometimes be short-sighted, but they are always adept at making money and manipulating public opinion.

Those with poor skills won't get that position!

Take Malfoy, for example. He was undoubtedly innocent, but his wand was lost and the stick was found at the crime scene. Whether it was a coincidence or someone deliberately framed him, he was given an opportunity.

Fudge doesn't need Malfoy to go to Azkaban; he just took office and all he wants is to make money!

This is a perk that even the Minister of the Department of Magical Disasters doesn't offer.

Thus, Malfoy became the scapegoat and a victim of exploitation.

But what Malfoy has no shortage of is Galleons; his financial power is not just empty talk!

Of course, these are all "reasonable" speculations made by William based on the information he has.

There's no way to understand anything more.

At this point, the selection process for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team finally began.

After giving his expert advice, William found Quidditch selections rather childish and uninteresting.

The Weasley brothers and Cho were very excited.

Qiu simply loves Quidditch. Before entering Hogwarts, she was an athletic and energetic girl.

Cedric has finally found common interests with her, which is a good start.

William suddenly realized something very exciting: once Qiu joins the Ravenclaw team, wouldn't Hedgehog be able to completely ruin one of the players?

What?! You dare to stop Ravenclaw from winning the title?! You don't love me? Let's break up!!

William could already picture Cho standing with her hands on her hips, angrily rebuking Cedric.

George and Fred were even more excited, as they were observing Hufflepuff's strength.

Charlie's injury will heal quickly, but it's uncertain whether it will leave any lasting effects or affect his condition.

Cedric and Hagrid were right; Hufflepuff is indeed a formidable opponent!

It's worth noting that Gryffindor hasn't won the Quidditch Cup in four years, while Hufflepuff managed to win it once two years ago.

George and Fred are now determined to win the Quidditch Championship.

They spent a week polishing the silverware in the prize display room at Filch's, and developed a slight itch, wanting to touch the medals whenever they saw them.

This certainly includes the Quidditch Trophy.

Percy's aftereffects were even worse than theirs; now he feels the urge to go into any toilet he sees, regardless of whether it's a male or female toilet.

The reason is simple: Percy's punishment was to clean the toilet for a week!

George and Fred are always causing trouble, so logically Filch should dislike them more.

But he left the dirty work of cleaning the toilet to Percy.

Poor Percy, as a top student, was very spoiled at home and often praised by professors at school. He almost never did any work and was never punished.

William heard from George that Percy often acted arrogantly in front of Filch, and would often try to intimidate him by acting like a top student.

Filch wasn't even a bad student; he was a Squib and never attended Hogwarts. That's probably why he resented Percy.

Pee-Pee Goose is spreading rumors everywhere that Percy spied on Myrtle while she was using the toilet, and it seems there's some truth to it.

At this moment, the selection process had already begun on the training field.

Hufflepuff was united; almost all the young wizards came to watch the selection, and everyone worked in an orderly manner to prevent any accidents.

Cedric, sandwiched among them, appeared extremely inconspicuous.

All applicants were divided into groups of ten and flew around the field.

Some people were just there to make up the numbers; they flew erratically, as if they were drunk, and crashed directly into the clubs.

To prevent any accidents from happening, Mrs. Hodge was also present at the stadium.

Her eyelids twitched, and she seemed somewhat worried about the damage to the stadium's infrastructure.

The second group consisted of ten girls. As soon as their captain, Gabriel Truman, blew his whistle, they burst into laughter, hugging each other tightly.

The scene of women, flowers in full bloom, and embracing each other was quite pleasing to the eye.

The Weasley brothers whistled, urging them to hold another selection, and William, unusually, became quite interested, watching with great interest.

The three of them stood on the stands, leaning against the railing, enjoying the breeze, and commented on the girls' figures with expert-level judgment, as if they were holding a beauty pageant.

Qiu snorted coldly, crossed her arms, and sat down in her seat angrily.

She sneered, "Boys..."

It's a good thing Cedric wasn't here. If he were, he'd probably join the beauty pageant and get kicked off the training field by Cho...

Of course, he will most likely sit firmly next to Qiu and hypocritically accuse William and the others!

The third group crashed halfway around the field. Most of the fourth group arrived without brooms. The fifth group was surprisingly composed entirely of Gryffindor students.

Lee Jordan was not selected for the House team, so in the afternoon he led the first-year wizards to try and cause trouble for Hufflepuff.

Unfortunately, he hadn't expected Mrs. Hodge to be there. This stern woman grabbed Lee by the ear and threw him out.

Fred tells William that Lee is preparing to apply for a Quidditch commentator position to showcase his talent for understanding Quidditch.

Lee also said that Charlie would regret it, burying a talented young man who had the potential to revitalize the England national team.

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(Thanks to Xiao Luo for the donation (////)\, first update, please recommend)

First update, please recommend!

(End of this chapter)