After Halloween, it's November.
Entering November means that Hogwarts Castle has officially entered winter, and it also means that the first official Quidditch match of each school year will kick off this month.
After the draw, the first match of the year was between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Although the Gryffindor players did not show it on their faces, they were actually a little lacking in confidence in their hearts.
This is because, with the support of Draco Malfoy's wealthy father, all the Slytherin team members were equipped with the latest Nimbus 2001 broomsticks, whose performance simply crushed the Gryffindor team's old-fashioned brooms. Only the Nimbus 2000 that Professor McGonagall gave to Harry could compete with them.
Fred and George, the two batsmen, had already scouted the enemy situation early. According to them, "the Slytherin team members fly as fast as lightning!"
Because of Slytherin's top hardware facilities, Gryffindor team captain Wood has been very anxious recently.
In order to defend the Quidditch Cup title, he would pull out the Gryffindor players whenever he had time and conduct a devilish training that made Harry and others shudder.
According to Fred and George, Wood's devilish training is even more perverted than Professor Dracula's Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Dueling Club!
…
The first Saturday morning in November, the day when the first Quidditch match takes place.
Harry woke up early in his Gryffindor dorm.
He lay in bed for a while, looking out the window unconsciously, looking at the Quidditch pitch in the distance from the tall Gryffindor Tower, which was still green even in winter, and thinking about the upcoming Quidditch match.
Harry was a little nervous.
He was thinking mainly about what Wood, desperate to be the defending champion, would say if Gryffindor lost; but he also thought that the teams they were facing were all riding the fastest brooms money could buy, and this obvious hardware gap was by no means something that could be made up by a little skill.
But when he thought of the arrogant faces of those Slytherin Quidditch players, the time when Malfoy humiliated Hermione as a mudblood, and the pain Ron suffered when he was hit by his own slug curse... Harry had never been so eager to defeat the Slytherin team as he was now!
His heart was in turmoil. He lay in bed with his eyes open, thinking about random things for half an hour. Then he got up, dressed, and went downstairs to have an early breakfast.
When he arrived at the hall, he found that the other members of the Gryffindor team probably had the same feeling as him and had already arrived here early.
They sat crowded around the empty long dining table, each of them looking nervous and silent...
As the time for the Quidditch match to officially begin approached, almost all the teachers and students in the school began to head to the Quidditch stadium to watch the game between the defending champion of the previous academic year and the team ranked second in the standings.
It was a hot and humid day, with thunder rumbling faintly in the sky.
When Harry entered the dressing room, his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, hurried over to wish him good luck.
Then, he and the other team members changed into the bright red Gryffindor Quidditch uniforms, and then sat down to listen to Wood's customary pre-match pep talk.
"It's undeniable that the Slytherin team's brooms are better than ours," Wood said seriously, "but every one of us sitting on a broom is better than them! We train harder than them and have flown in all kinds of weather conditions. In weather like today, if it rains, it will be an advantage for us!"
"That's quite true," George put in, shrugging his shoulders. "My clothes haven't been dry since August."
"Of course, Professor Dracula's Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Dueling Club also made great contributions," Fred added.
Wood glared at the two of them and continued passionately, "We're going to make them regret it. We're going to let them know that a Seeker who spends money to get into the team can't win the game!"
Harry nodded approvingly.
Wood was very excited, his chest heaving, and he turned to Harry and said, "It's up to you, Harry!"
"You have to show them that being a Seeker requires more than just having a rich dad. Harry, today you either catch the Golden Snitch before Malfoy does, or die on the field! Because we must win today, we must win!"
He repeated "must win" twice, which shows how strong the Gryffindor captain's desire to win is.
"So don't stress, Harry," Fred said soothingly, winking at him.
However, the next moment, Wood turned his vicious gaze towards Fred and George.
"I heard that you guys opened another bet and bet on Slytherin to win?" He said fiercely, "If I see you guys not putting in enough effort in the game today, I'll show you how I'll deal with you!"
"Ah... Hahaha, Oliver, how did you know that?" Fred laughed. "Actually, this is just our strategy. Don't you know that catchy phrase—"
"If you buy Quidditch, you'll have a villa by the sea. If you buy a draw occasionally, you'll ride on a Nimbus. If you bet big on an upset, you'll surpass the big dogs. If you buy football, you'll buy a strong team, and you'll line up on the rooftop... We are the strong team, so we can't buy!"
"After saying so much, you just want us to lose the game?!" Wood's expression became even more dangerous.
"Stop, Oliver, Fred was just joking!" George quickly stood in front of Wood and held down his clenched fist. "Actually, we are just trying to get revenge on those big dogs in Slytherin, so we deliberately spread the limelight..."
"Since we both bet on Slytherin, they will definitely think that we have no confidence in this game and will bet on it out of luck... If you don't believe me, just look, we have already deceived half of Slytherin College!"
George took out a notebook filled with various betting amounts and waved it in front of Wood.
"Besides, we only bet two silver Sickles on Slytherin. The real big bet was placed on Gryffindor by Lee on our behalf," Fred also said.
When Wood saw the astronomical number "20 Galleons" behind Lee Jordan's name, he nodded with satisfaction.
"In that case, to show my determination, help me put all my savings in this!" Wood waved his hand, "I'm going to make a big profit this time!"
Fred: “?!”
George: "Do you want to reconsider... Buy a ball, buy a strong team, and line up on the rooftop, Oliver..."
"Don't try to persuade me, I've made up my mind!" Wood said confidently.
"Okay, then I'll wait for you on the rooftop of the astronomy tower." Fred gave him a thumbs up.
"… "
Harry looked at the players who had placed heavy bets and felt even more pressured...
Finally, it was time for the Quidditch game to officially begin.
When Harry and the others came out of the locker room and walked towards the stadium, they were greeted by a noisy sound.
There were mainly cheers and applause, as both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff wanted to see Slytherin defeated, but there could also be boos and jeers from the Slytherin students in the crowd.
Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, and they glared at each other threateningly and squeezed each other's hands more tightly than necessary.
"Listen to my whistle," Madam Hooch called out. "Three... two... one..."
"All-"
The whistle sounded.
The crowd cheered and cheered them on as they took off. The fourteen members soared into the dark leaden sky together and each took a position that they had practiced countless times.
Harry, as Seeker, flew higher than any other player on the team. He squinted his eyes and looked around for the Snitch.
"Are you all right, Scarhead?" Malfoy called out in a mocking voice.
He rode on Nimbus 2001, darting past Harry like an arrow, as if to show off the speed of his new broom.
Harry didn't have time to pay attention to Malfoy. He was under a lot of pressure in this game and just wanted to find the Golden Snitch as soon as possible.
Just then, a heavy black Bludger suddenly flew towards Harry and hit him hard on the head.
He narrowly avoided it and even felt the ball brush his hair as it flew past.
"That was a close call, Harry!" George flew over and said in shock.
He streaked past Harry, bat in hand, ready to hit the Bludger at the Slytherin.
George hit the Bludger hard at a Slytherin player, trying to knock him off his broom.
But what neither Harry nor George expected was that the Bludger suddenly changed direction midway and flew straight towards Harry again.
Harry quickly lowered his broom and barely dodged it again.
George hurled the Bludger hard at Malfoy again, but it swung back like a boomerang and hit Harry's head.
Harry felt something was wrong and instantly sped up, flying to the other end of the field.
Yet he could hear the Bludger still whirring after him.
'What's going on? ' Harry wondered.
Fred was waiting for the Bludger at the other end, ready to strike. Harry ducked his head, and Fred struck the Bludger with all his might, sending it flying across the court.
"Good shot! Now everything is okay!" Fred shouted happily.
But he was wrong again.
The Bludger seemed to be attracted to Harry by a magnetic force and flew after him again. Harry had to speed up as much as he could to escape.
It began to rain, and big drops of rain hit Harry's face and splashed on his glasses.
According to Wood, this situation was beneficial to Gryffindor, who had experienced training in all kinds of weather, but Harry was not happy at all.
Blinded by the rain, he had no idea what was happening on the field and could only try to avoid the Bludger that was circling him.
"Slytherin leads, sixty to zero."
Commentator Lee Jordan's regretful voice rang out across the Quidditch pitch.
Apparently, the Slytherins' latest brooms were working, as the Gryffindors were unable to stop their rapid attack.
Meanwhile, the crazed Bludger was still doing its best to knock Harry out of the air.
Fred and George were now flying close to Harry in order to protect him from being knocked off his feet by the Bludger, leaving Harry with only the sight of them hitting the Bludger's arms, with no hope of finding the Snitch, let alone catching it.
"Someone has done something to this Bludger..." Fred also discovered the problem. He frowned and muttered, while hitting the Bludger that launched a new round of attack on Harry away.
"We need a timeout," George nodded.
He raised his hands and crossed them in a gesture to Wood, while he and Fred tried to stop the Bludger from breaking Harry's nose.
As a qualified captain, Wood obviously caught his signal and gestured to Madam Hooch to suspend the game.
"Dudu—"
Madam Hooch's whistle blew.
Harry, Fred and George landed on the ground, still having to dodge the crazy Bludger.
"What's going on?" Wood walked over with a broom and asked in confusion.
Harry was flying too high and the raindrops were too big, so Wood didn't notice anything was wrong with him.
"We were scored against repeatedly, and we couldn't organize an effective attack." He complained, "Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina from scoring? Do you really want to make money by suppressing those two Sickles in Slytherin?"
"We were twenty feet above her, trying to stop another Bludger from killing Harry, Oliver," George said angrily. "Someone had done something to that Bludger - it wouldn't let Harry go. It kept running around Harry the whole time instead of chasing anyone else!"
"Maybe someone from the Slytherin team did something to it," Fred speculated, "or maybe like last year, a dark wizard like Quirrell sneaked into Hogwarts and wanted to harm Harry!"
"But since our last training session, the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office. They were all fine then..." Wood said anxiously, "I'll try to ask Madam Hooch for a replacement Bludger."
He walked over to Madam Hooch and anxiously explained what had happened to Harry.
Then Madam Hooch nodded, took the Bludger and examined it.
"I don't see any problem with this Bludger." She checked it inside and out, then shook her head. "The Bludger's flight path is completely random. There have been cases in previous competitions where it has been flying around a person. Maybe you are overthinking it?"
"But, Madam Hooch..." Fred wanted to make another argument, but was interrupted by Madam Hooch.
"Your timeout is about to end, can you continue the game?" She looked at her watch and said seriously.
"Look," Harry shook his head at Fred and George. "I have no hope of catching the Snitch if you two keep flying around me all the time! You two should just go back to the rest of the team. I can handle that rascally ball myself."
"But we can't just watch you die!" George said excitedly.
The Weiss twins' consciences would not allow them to abandon Harry, even if they had to pay him twenty Galleons.
Just when several people were about to start an argument, an interested voice sounded -
"It seems like you guys are in some trouble here?"
…
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