After the mascots of both teams appeared, it was the turn of the Quidditch players of both teams to enter.
Ludo Bagman was shouting the name of every Quidditch player at the top of his lungs, until Viktor Krum came on the field, the atmosphere on the field was finally completely ignited, and countless spectators were cheering for Krum.
"Is this guy Viktor Krum?"
Albert used a panoramic telescope to observe with great interest the young seeker who was floating above the field on a broomstick. He was a tall, thin man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. He was not particularly handsome, at least not in the category of a pretty boy.
With the referee blowing a sharp whistle, the game officially began.
The brooms of both teams were very fast, and the ghost ball was passed quickly among the chasers from the beginning. Even Albert had to admit that compared with the exciting game in front of him, the Quidditch game at Hogwarts was just like a child's play.
However, compared with the exciting game, Albert was more concerned about the panoramic telescope in his hand. He discovered other uses for this thing. Just turn the slow knob on the right to slow down the speed within the field of view. It was simply black technology.
As far as Albert could remember, there was no magic that could achieve this effect.
What's even more amazing is that if you press the game analysis button on the top and then point the camera at the attacking chasers, purple text such as "Eagle Head Offensive Formation" will appear on the camera. Even Albert couldn't figure out the principle for a while.
However, the magic world, with such advanced technology, is extremely backward in some aspects, especially the communicator that appeared at the last International Alchemy Conference.
If Albert had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have been able to imagine that wizards did not have this technology and were still using owls to communicate through letters.
I can only say that this is truly a world of novels.
Perhaps, trying to explain magic using common sense is a foolish thing to do.
Albert put down the panoramic telescope and glanced at Nia beside him. The girl was holding the telescope in both hands and watching the game intently. She didn't like to shout like other spectators, but it was not difficult for Albert to see that she was extremely excited. The new rules of Quidditch brought Nia a different visual enjoyment.
The game became intense right from the start, and the score gap between the two sides was not widened, but any wizard who knew a little about Quidditch could easily see that the Bulgarian team was vaguely being suppressed by the American team.
It was not until twenty minutes into the game that the Bulgarian team finally scored their first goal, and the Veela even danced to celebrate the first goal.
The moment the dance music sounded, Albert felt his mind go blank and was filled with extreme joy, a bit like the feeling of being under the Imperius Curse. He shook his head and immediately broke free from that feeling.
Of course, this might have something to do with the Veela stopping dancing.
Fortunately, I didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
Albert couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. In order to hide his emotions, he grabbed some popcorn and put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly.
"I really don't understand. Won't your hands get sore from holding up the binoculars all the time?" Albert couldn't help but complain in his heart.
The game had lasted for more than half an hour, and Bulgaria was always at a disadvantage in the score, trailing the United States with a score of 50:20.
In fact, Albert was more curious about how such a competition could last for three months. Even if it lasted for two days, it would be incredible.
Maybe they will stop to rest and continue the game the next night
Albert ultimately attributed it to the fact that the magical world is always full of unscientific things.
Except for the Seeker, the other players of the Bulgarian team were a bit disappointing. It must be said that the fact that the team was able to reach the finals was largely due to Viktor Krum's efforts.
Jenny from the American team was obviously no match for Krum. She had been led astray by Krum for the third time. When people saw Krum accelerating into a dive, they thought he saw the Golden Snitch. However, that was just Krum's attempt to distract his opponent.
Jenny was lucky enough to stop herself from crashing to the ground. When she saw Krum climbing up, she realized that she had almost been tricked by him.
That was Krum's usual "Wronski feint."
So Jenny stopped staring at Krum and tried to find the whereabouts of the Golden Snitch on his own.
"I feel like the American team is going to win." Nia put down her binoculars and rubbed her wrist. Her wrist was sore from holding the binoculars to watch the game.
"It's best not to easily determine the outcome of the game before the Golden Snitch is caught or the scores of both sides are far enough apart."
"is that so?"
"Yes." Albert asked gently, "How did you feel about the Quidditch World Cup?"
"It's very interesting and exciting," Nia said excitedly. "But can Bulgaria really turn the tables? Now, the gap between the two teams has opened up 70 points, and the score will only get bigger!"
"A gap of 70 points is actually the same as a gap of 140 points. Only a gap of 160 points can be considered a real victory. Because catching the Golden Snitch can get 150 points in one go. As long as Krum of the Bulgarian team catches the Golden Snitch before that, he can easily turn defeat into victory." Albert explained.
As Bulgaria's opponent, the United States must have studied the Bulgarian team's weaknesses. As long as they can restrict Krum and create a sufficient gap in points, Bulgaria will eventually lose the game even if Krum can really catch the Golden Snitch.
Therefore, the American team specifically targeted Krum to prevent him from concentrating on searching for the Golden Snitch. However, such a tactic was not easy to implement.
At this moment, cheers broke out again in the stadium. The American team scored again. They were putting pressure on the Bulgarian team little by little. The American team's tactics were actually quite successful until... After the referee blew the whistle to suspend the game, the game began to become unscrupulous.
Although there was no situation where batsmen from both sides attacked each other with sticks, the frequency of umpires blowing the whistle increased significantly.
"Did the Bulgarian team do this on purpose?" Nia asked puzzledly while looking at the suspended game.
"The Bulgarian team just wants to break the opponent's suppression by committing reasonable fouls." Isobel, who had been silent until now, answered her, "Disrupting the opponent's rhythm and ensuring Krum can break free from the opponent's suppression is the key to Bulgaria's victory."
"The Bulgarian team has always relied on the Seeker to catch the Golden Snitch to win the game. The level of their other players is relatively average, so they have to adopt such tactics, especially in this situation." Albert could understand it. After all, the tactical core of the Bulgarian team revolves around Krum.
"As long as you don't get sent off, doing certain things to win the game is accepted because the winner should not be blamed. I remember there was someone in school who grabbed someone else's broom from behind." While saying this, Albert couldn't help but look at someone. The guy who did this was right in front of them.
"Look, Krum is about to catch the Golden Snitch." Katrina shouted, alerting the three guys who were chatting.
The spectators were screaming and cheering for their respective seekers. Waves of red and green were rising on the court, and countless pairs of eyes were staring straight at the two figures diving downwards.
Krum of the Bulgarian team was diving rapidly after Jenny of the American team, like an athlete who had jumped out of a plane without a parachute.
"They're going to fall to the ground!" Nia screamed in horror.
At the last moment, Jenny slowed down because the Golden Snitch was too close to the ground. She was not sure if she could dive and grab the Golden Snitch without hitting her head on the ground.
However, Krum, who was diving with her, showed no sign of slowing down and soon passed Jenny.
With a thud, Krum fell heavily to the ground.
Everyone thought that Krum would pull up the broom at the last moment, but the scene before them was beyond their imagination.
Did Krumm's Wronsky fake go awry
"Is he dead?" Nia looked away in horror and leaned her head in Albert's arms.
"Don't worry, he's probably not dead. Wizards are very tough." Albert comforted Nia softly. In fact, this was also what he had always wanted to complain about. It was incredible that he didn't break his neck after diving from a high altitude and hitting the ground head-on, but only crooked his nose.
Perhaps, the protective gear worn by the athletes were cast with a shock-absorbing spell to relieve the pressure of the impact. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why Krum only had his nose broken. He did not believe that a hooked nose had the special effect of absorbing impact.
With the help of the doctor, Krum soon regained consciousness. The talented seeker admired by countless people raised his right hand with difficulty. The audience soon noticed his action and saw the golden light shining from between his fingers.
"Oh my god, Krum caught the Snitch, he caught the Snitch," Bagman yelled. "Bulgaria wins!"
The scoreboard flashed the final score, USA: 90, Bulgaria: 170.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly stagnated, the audience's voices became louder and louder, and finally broke into countless shouts of joy.
As usual, the Bulgarian team rode around the field on broomsticks, but it was not hard to see that Krum was not doing well.
After the game, Albert didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, he and Nia continued to sit in their seats, eating popcorn and talking about what had just happened.
"Aren't you leaving?" Lumiana asked Albert who was still sitting there eating.
"No hurry, let others go first." Albert didn't want to squeeze on the stairs with others, especially since there were many fanatical fans who had lost money. God knew what they would do when they got excited.
"Then we'll leave first!" Lumiana followed her grandfather and left.
"Why Krum ended up on the ground."
Katrina was actually very curious about this, but she didn't know much about Quidditch, and Albert, who had served as a seeker, obviously had more say.
"Maybe the Golden Snitch was too close to the ground and he only had one chance, so he didn't slow down," Albert speculated.
"Isn't that Krum afraid of breaking his neck?" Nia muttered softly, "Quidditch games are so dangerous. An ordinary person would definitely die if they fell from such a height."
"Actually, I'm also curious about why Krum didn't break his neck. I think there must be some protective measures." Albert speculated.
"Don't you know?" Katrina asked in confusion, "I remember you used to be a seeker!"
"Before?" Nia blinked curiously and asked, "Why did you give up?"
"Well, Quidditch training is too troublesome, and I have a lot of things to do all day, and Gryffindor also has a good seeker, so I gave up." Albert shrugged and signaled that they could leave.
When they were going down the stairs, the four of them met many distraught fans of the American team, who had not yet recovered from the shock. However, what surprised Albert the most was that many fans of the American team actually believed that the Bulgarian Veela was the main reason for their loss, and even had some unpleasant verbal conflicts because of it.
"Many fans get carried away and do anything," Albert pulled Nia away from the chaos. Staff from the Ministry of Magic had already gone over to stop them.
"I thought they would be more reasonable?" Katrina muttered softly.
"They have been living too depressingly in the American wizarding world, so they naturally need to vent after going abroad, especially since they just lost a large sum of money and are feeling very aggrieved." Albert curled his lips. It was not difficult to guess the cause of the conflict.
Reason has never been associated with the United States.
In free America, the saying that shootings happen every day is no joke.
Albert never doubted the claim that wizards were imprisoned in the American Ministry of Magic every few days.
An hour had passed when the four of them left the gymnasium and returned to the camp.
"Four cups of hot chocolate," Albert said to the house-elf, and then sat down in a chair.
If it weren't for Nia, they would probably just Apparate back.
The camp was so noisy, the tents were not soundproof at all, and people were celebrating Bulgaria's victory everywhere outside.
"It seems some people don't plan to sleep!" Katrina muttered softly as she listened to the noise outside. "Poor Kathryn, she must be very disappointed. The American team actually has a good chance of winning if their Seeker can be brave enough."
"She was right to give up. It would not be worth it if she broke her neck." Albert didn't think it was okay for Jenny to slow down. Krum's move was very risky. If his luck was off, he might have fallen to his death.
The house-elf brought four cups of hot chocolate with milk.
"After you finish drinking, go back and rest. If anyone can't sleep, I have a potion here that can guarantee a good night's sleep."
"Forget it, we don't need that stuff." Katrina took a sip of hot chocolate and returned to her room.
"Thank you, I had a lot of fun today." Nia walked up to Albert and gave him a hug, then picked up a cup of hot chocolate and went back to rest.
"Let's go back and rest too." Albert said to Isobel.
"I remember you seemed to say something would happen during the World Cup?" Isobel suddenly asked.
"Well, after the game, it should be the Death Eaters who caused the trouble. However, we should pack up and leave immediately after watching the final, so we should be able to avoid any possible danger." Albert already had a response plan.