24 February 1992, Hogwarts
"There's not much known about his private life, only that he and his wife, Perenelle Flamel, have lived for over six hundred years. So, why are you researching Flamel in the first place?"
Harry barely finished speaking when he saw the Muggleborn girl had run away to another corner of the library. He suppressed a small grin. That girl was so predictable.
Well, it didn't take long for Harry to regret giving that tidbit of information to Hermione. Yeah, she would have gotten it eventually, probably by accident, but the Potter scion should have expected Longbottom's reaction to it.
Yeah, it started with Quidditch of all things. For some reason, Dumbledore thought it was a good idea for Snape of all people to referee a Quidditch match that involved the house he's known for harassing. Harry didn't know what Dumbledore was expecting but sending a biased teacher to perform as an unbiased referee in a sport he's not specializing in, for an official Hogwarts game, was a bit out there.
The Quidditch games in Hogwarts were available for spectators, and most importantly the scouts. The British Quidditch teams hire exclusively from either Hogwarts or from specialized Quidditch training camps. Playing professionally is not as out there as it is in the muggle world. The population in magical Britain is not as immense in the muggle world, meaning that someone who works hard can become a professional Quidditch player. Turning the games at Hogwarts into jokes will hurt the students' chances of being taken seriously by the scouts. People could lose their real chances at achieving their dream, and all because of some decision made on a whim by the headmaster.
Really, people tend to forget how powerful the headmaster position is in Britain. The man could affect entire industries if he wanted to. Hell, he already has, by banning certain materials from being taught. Severus Snape alone is responsible for a drop in professions that require a NEWT in potions because of his requirement for students to get an O in their OWLs to continue. That's not even counting his attitude. His NEWT students are far more competent than in any other institution, but this competence isn't really required in professions just needing a passing grade.
Well, back to the Quidditch game, as expected, Gryffindor lost by a very bad margin. Snape practically fouled the Gryffindors every time they had the upper hand, and after a couple of hours of what was essentially bullying, Cedric Diggory caught the snitch, pretty much destroying any chances at Gryffindor winning the Quidditch cup.
Longbottom had especially been harassed about it since the entire team was counting on him. There was already talk of him using his fame to be part of the team. As expected, without his research in regard to Nicholas Flamel, and the constant Quidditch training to distract him, the boy went nuts. As expected, he started bullying the Slytherins and well, things started to escalate.
Harry had started the day with his friends. It was Sunday, so he had no classes and he wanted to take a day off studying just to hang out with his friends. It was too cold to get outside, and they didn't really want to stay in the common room, so they decided to walk around while exploring the castle. Well, they were exploring the castle, Harry had done that in the first month of classes and had a good idea of how it was built. Oh, there were countless secrets that he hadn't discovered, but he knew far more than his friends did.
Unfortunately, when they were walking on the second floor, there was s group of Gryffindors waiting for them. Among them was Longbottom, "Well, well, well. If it isn't the traitor."
Harry audibly groaned in exasperation, "Again with the traitor thing. We barely had more than five conversations, all of which you insulted me and called me a traitor. How can I betray you before even meeting you, you utter imbecile."
Daphne elbowed Harry in the chest who promptly shut up. Fine Longbottom started to get under his skin slightly. For some reason, practically the entirety of his Gryffindor classmates called him the 'traitor'. Harry wouldn't have been bothered about it if it just made sense. But they're just repeating what Longbottom is spewing, which was absolute nonsense.
"Don't pretend like you don't know, traitor," Neville responded with a glare.
"You know what, I don't care. I betrayed you, or I didn't betray you. I can't be bothered about it. Just think whatever you want but just stay away from me. I don't want your stupidity to be contagious."
Weasley interjected, "Don't you dare talk to him like that! He's the boy who lived."
"Which means absolutely nothing when you think about it and is not relevant to this conversation in any way," Harry drawled back.
"I bet you were glad when Snape was the Quidditch referee, Potter. Your team wouldn't have had a chance to win the cup without him cheating," the redhead continued.
"Weasley, look at my face. Take a very good look at it," Harry responded with a dry tone while pointing at his face, "Now answer me. Does this look like the face of someone who gives a crap about Quidditch?"
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