The sun gradually sets in the west, looming in the lingering clouds and mist. The golden afterglow turned into pillars of light, falling through the gaps in the clouds towards the mountains in the distance. Among the majestic momentum, it also gives people a feeling of an old man's twilight years.
The weather was still very cold, the cold wind kept whistling on the Quidditch pitch, and there seemed to be a faint rustling sound coming from the Forbidden Forest in the distance.
Maka and Charlotte rushed to the court together. He discovered that the lawn of the Quidditch pitch was obviously magical and was still green in the cold winter.
"You're here? Move around quickly, the test will start soon." Darren saw Maka approaching and immediately welcomed him with a smile.
While Maka was stretching her arms and kicking her legs to stretch her muscles, Darren introduced him to the official Hufflepuff players one by one. It turned out that one of the old team members was about to graduate. After learning about Maka's talent, he simply retired early to prepare for his job after graduation.
Maka said hello to the team members, and then he discovered that besides him, there was another fourth-year student who would participate in this temporary selection with him. I don’t know whether Maka borrowed the light of the old team member or the fourth-year student borrowed the light of Maka. Maybe it’s both!
"Okay, let's get started!" Darren smiled, then put on a more serious face and began to explain the test content to the two of them.
The goal of this temporary test is to recruit a suitable chaser.
In a Quidditch team, there are three Chasers, who are responsible for passing the "Quaffle" to each other and trying to throw it into the three goal rings of the other team. Each time the Quaffle is scored, your team will gain ten points.
The chaser needs to have a very strong tacit understanding and be able to avoid the "bludger" hit by the opponent's batter - this obviously requires a high level of flight of the player.
Before the Seeker catches the Golden Snitch, they have to throw the "Quaffle" into the knocker as much as possible, constantly grabbing the basic score.
The old player who has retired now plays this position.
Therefore, this temporary test was divided into three stages in accordance with selection practices.
In the first stage, the candidate needs to work with two other active chasers to conduct the Quaffle catching and passing test, which tests the candidate's reaction ability and passing accuracy.
The Quaffle is the only ball among the three types of ball that does not move by itself. It will be completely controlled by the chasers on both sides.
Maka sat on the broom, watching the fourth grade student not far away doing various flying movements stiffly, and suddenly felt that maybe she could really do it.
"It's okay, but the reaction speed is too slow. Always pay attention to the surrounding situation!" Seeing the other party flying this way, Charlotte next to Maka said with a smile.
She is the Seeker of the Hufflepuff House team, and I heard her level is quite good.
"Go! My little brother, I think it's you!" Charlotte slapped Maka on the back so hard that she almost slapped him off the broom.
"Ouch! I said senior sister-" "Stop being so nagging, go quickly!"
Maka felt like she was a strange baby in Charlotte's Poké Ball. She threw her forward and had to go to the field to fight to the death without complaint.
"Let's go!" Kristen, a fifth-grade female chaser, said and passed the Quaffle towards Maka.
Maka immediately accelerated forward and caught the Quaffle just as it reached it. At the edge of the court, captain Darren kept shouting "move, move, move", urging him to start moving erratically.
"Pass it to me!" shouted another chaser, Charles, who had now flown behind Maka.
Maka, who was making a small dive diagonally downwards, threw the Quaffle back from his shoulder without looking back. He had already predicted Charles' specific position.
"Oh! Beautiful reverse pass!" Darren shouted excitedly on the side.
It has to be said that Maka's powers of observation are indeed very strong. He can keep a close eye on every move of the Quaffle while grasping the exact position of the other two at all times.
"Give it to me!" Kristen passed under Maka at high speed, and the closest contact between the two was only more than 10 inches.
But Maka still firmly grasped the opportunity and handed the Quaffle into Christine's hands the moment she passed by.
The players on standby on the sidelines couldn't help shouting, and the two old chasers on the court even exchanged excited glances with each other.
Kristen herself didn’t even plan to complete the high-speed switching technical action just now, but Maka did it!
The two veteran team members looked at each other and planned to do an action together that they had never wanted to test.
I saw the two of them approaching quickly on broomsticks, and Maka only made a "keep up" motion before flying forward side by side.
"Twenty feet apart, running in and out, passing the ball at a high frequency!" Charles said.
Maka immediately understood that this was a medium-tech move in the "Quidditch Classic Moves Collection" - the Trident Attack Formation.
He quickly reached the spot on the left and then spiraled in and out with the other two. While advancing at high speed, the Quaffle was passed back and forth by the three of them at an extremely high frequency, causing the other players on the sidelines to almost hold their breath.
It was not until the three of them spread out by leaning over to hold the ball, drawing three arcs in the air and rushing towards their different goal rings, that the three of them stopped one after another.
Charles smiled awkwardly at Maka. At the last moment of the high-speed pass, he missed the ball and let it go.
"Charles! It's because you keep making mistakes that we don't dare to use technically difficult moves in official competitions! Let's see how you face Maka today. You know, he is only a freshman!" Chris Ting laughed angrily, pointed at Charles with her slender fingers and shouted loudly.
Maka looked at this heroic short-haired girl, recalling the feeling of cooperating with each other just now, and felt very happy.
"Oops - I know! I must practice well next and set a good example for Maka." Charles scratched his head and laughed.
It seems that Maka has been assigned by the two active chasers in the first stage.
"Captain, I think that's it! It's him, that's right!" Christine shouted towards captain Darren.
Maka saw Darren also nodded, and then glanced at the other candidate who was a little frustrated, feeling that accepting this status quo calmly was not in line with the image he was trying to create.
He thought for a while and said to Darren: "I think it is better to complete the test, otherwise it will be unfair to the senior who participated in the selection together."
Darren looked back at the fourth grader next to Charlotte and nodded.
"Well, you're right." Darren said, "Then continue the second phase of testing and throw the ball into the ring."
Of course, this is not just a matter of throwing the ball into the goal ring, the goalkeeper is not a vegetarian!
The goalkeeper of the Hufflepuff House team is none other than the captain, Darren Criss.
"Hey, little brother! Our captain Darren's goalkeeping skills are average. Just take it easy and don't hurt his self-esteem for a while!" Charlotte put her arms around Maka's shoulders and said with a smile, without lowering her voice at all. plan.
"I heard everything!" Darren was at the goal not far away. He was turning around and looking viciously at him with his eyes widened!
The test for the fourth-year seniors ended quickly. There were ten goals in total and three were scored, which was actually pretty good for the candidates. Of course, this also shows that Darren's defense is indeed average.
It was Maka's turn. He was holding the Quaffle and looking at Darren, he was really hesitant.
"Don't worry! The stronger you are, the happier I will be. After all, you are a Hufflepuff!" Darren said to Maka with a smile.
Maka nodded after hearing this, put aside her doubts, and rushed to the door knocker on the right.
Darren reacted immediately and moved a little to the right, guessing whether Maka was preparing to take action or just wanted to shake him away.
He could see Maka's flying movements just now. The smooth and fast small arc movement undoubtedly showed that Maka's flexibility was beyond doubt.
Getting closer, getting closer, and as expected, Maka began to pull up and spin.
Darren immediately moved towards the middle door, but unexpectedly, Maca only pulled up but did not make any lateral displacement.
This is a fake move! He uses the illusion of a small range of rotation to deceive the goalkeeper and return to defend the mid-wicket, but he only needs to use the power of rotation to pull back to the height of the side door ring to throw the ball.
The Quaffle was thrown into the right ring that had become an empty goal without any surprise, a beautiful goal!
After ten pitching drills, Macca scored 90 points without any mercy under Darren's defense. If the last ball hadn't been brushed to one side by Darren's fingers, Maka would have passed with full marks.
"Awesome!" Darren greeted Maka with a grimace and flew to the sidelines. He said as he flew, "In this year's Quidditch Cup, you will be the secret weapon of our Hufflepuff team! No, you are Super secret weapon!”
"I have never seen a new player with such great talent! They are just like those rookie monsters in the professional trials!"
"Senior Darren, don't say that. Quidditch is a team sport, and not one person can handle the entire game." Maka said with a smile.
This is indeed the case. For example, in the World Cup, there are always some surprisingly strong elite players, but so what? In the total points Quidditch game, you don't win the championship just by winning more games. Personal heroism is always just a joke.
Even the Golden Snitch worth 150 points will be eclipsed by the basic score obtained by high-level teamwork. Not to mention the personal level of the chaser, tacit cooperation is the key.
"The next step is the last stage. The test content is very simple. Try to avoid the batter's attack on you as much as possible!"