Over the next few days, besides Sirius Black, the school had another topic making the rounds — though only in a smaller circle.
Was the person who had secretly duelled Black the same intruder who had fought the troll a year ago… oh, except that person had now been forcibly renamed the Guardian.
"I bet he's really tall. There's no way anyone else could beat a troll and a villain like Black!"
"And all those Dementors going missing lately must have something to do with him too! He's the Guardian of Hogwarts — anyone from outside who tries to break in gets dealt with!"
"'Guardian'… what a gorgeous title. He must be so handsome. I'd love to see what he looks like~"
Ahem. That last line came from some anonymous girl in the first throes of a crush, and had nothing to do with Kate.
At the very least, she wasn't tall in the slightest, and she certainly wasn't handsome.
At first she'd never intended to steer public opinion in this direction at all. The break-in by a "villain" like Sirius was already attention-grabbing enough on its own.
Who would have guessed that one offhand remark from Ron would land straight on her second identity — and then spread the theory around besides?
Fortunately, people's attention stayed fixed on Sirius. The rumours about her only circulated in a small circle and didn't affect the bigger picture.
Kate had also quietly kept an eye on Harry's state. Compared with Sirius, what that boy cared about most was, of all things, Quidditch — he was set on putting in a good performance at Saturday's Quidditch match.
Right, then. Saturday's match was Gryffindor against Slytherin, and the two houses were old rivals.
She'd been wondering why Malfoy hadn't come around this time to borrow her Firebolt. Then, at noon on Friday, she heard the news.
"We're not playing Gryffindor?" She looked at Pansy, thoroughly puzzled. "What happened?"
Pansy seemed a little embarrassed by the team's decision herself, and explained under her breath, "Our captain says Draco hurt an arm in training, so he can't play."
Injured?
Kate's eyes flicked to Malfoy, who was still shovelling food down without a care in the world. Did that idiot have the faintest awareness of being injured?
No. He couldn't even be bothered to fake it.
Kate sat speechless for a moment, then turned to look out of the window at the gale and driving rain that had been going on for days.
Case closed. Slytherin didn't want to play in weather like this, afraid they'd perform badly.
"Which means Gryffindor gets Hufflepuff instead," Pansy said, ticking things off on her fingers. "I hear Hufflepuff has a new captain who's also their Seeker. Cedric Diggory, I think his name is."
Kate raised an eyebrow and turned toward the Hufflepuff table. It took her a while of searching before she found the boy who looked uncannily like Edward Cullen.
"You think he's good-looking too, don't you?" Pansy said with genuine regret. "A friend mentioned him to me before. Such a shame — he's a half-blood Wizard."
Not in the mood to argue with her about the shaky foundations of blood purity, Kate studied the boy for a few seconds, then let her gaze drift toward the Ravenclaw table.
So in the original works, Cho Chang and Cedric met on the Quidditch pitch too, and that was how they ended up together?
Maybe her stare was too obvious, because Cho Chang, who had been laughing with her friends, seemed to sense something. She glanced back in mild surprise — and their eyes met.
Kate's mouth twitched in embarrassment, and she whipped her head back around.
Gossip was beneath her. Who somebody liked was none of her business!
Still…
Her head sneaked back around again.
As a friend, surely there was nothing wrong with showing a bit of concern?
Carrying that gossipy — no, concerned — frame of mind, Kate had barely risen from her seat when she saw Cho Chang stand up too, all the way across the hall.
She understood at once, walked straight out of the Great Hall, and waited by the doors. A moment later Cho Chang came out with an armful of books.
"You've got class this afternoon?"
Kate slipped nimbly around behind her and, before she could react, whisked the books out of her arms. One look told her they were extracurricular reading about Quidditch.
Cho Chang blinked, and when she saw who it was, a smile crossed her face — which grew lovelier by the day. "Your hands are getting faster and faster. It's a waste that you don't play Quidditch."
"Please, spare me," Kate said, throwing her hands up in surrender. "With my flying, I'd only drag the team down."
As she spoke, she handed the books back. "My house is ducking the match tomorrow, so it looks like our two houses will be facing each other next time."
"Oh? You think I'll lose?" Cho Chang tilted her chin up, eyes bright with laughter.
The two of them were the same age, but perhaps because Kate trained so diligently, she was already a few centimetres taller than Cho Chang.
Kate put her hands on her hips and made a great show of being torn. "Forcing a friend not to support her own house — that's terribly inhumane of you."
"Then we'll settle it at the match." Cho Chang shook her head, laughing, and gave her a light punch on the chest with a loose fist.
They walked on side by side. Kate thought for a moment, then asked, "When I went to Hogsmeade the other day, I don't think I saw you. Have you been practising at weekends too?"
"It's a new season. Everyone on the team is fired up." Cho Chang spread her hands, then asked eagerly, "So? Was Hogsmeade fun?"
Kate blinked. "Hermione took me to this little tea shop. It was really cosy, and the black tea was lovely. We could go together next time."
"A tea shop?" Cho Chang's steps faltered, and her expression went a bit odd. "It wasn't called Madam Puddifoot's tea shop, was it?"
"Is it famous?" Kate's eyes widened in surprise. "Although I did think the decor was a little too pink. It didn't really go with the snow outside."
You're probably the only person alive who'd be worrying about the interior decorating.
Cho Chang grumbled inwardly while managing to keep her smile in place. "It's fairly famous, yes — in a certain sense. And Hermione took you there of her own accord?"
"Of course, otherwise I'd never have found the place! It's tucked away in such an out-of-the-way spot, and yet it's packed. Strange, isn't it?"
All right, then.
Faced with someone this monumentally dense, Cho Chang felt equal parts exasperation and relief.
At least Kate hadn't caught on yet, which meant she could go on enjoying a comfortable friendship with her.
She curved her lips. "Sounds nice. Next time we're both free, let's go and sit there together."
"It's a deal." Kate agreed without a second thought. "Shame Luna still has another year to wait — otherwise the four of us could all go."
Cho Chang smiled and said nothing.
If the four of them went in together, it wouldn't just be the owner — the other customers would probably find it very strange indeed.
But looking at the anticipation on Kate's face, all she could do was agree gently: "All right. Next year, we'll go together."
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