A Once-in-a-Millennium Prodigy

That was right—Iron Wire was George's trump card for controlling a Flying Broomstick.

Whether a Flying Broomstick flew well mainly depended on how proficiently a wizard could control it.

By wrapping a ring of Iron Wire around the broom, aside from using magic to control it, he could also use magnetism to make finer adjustments. It was double insurance.

With this body's weight of only a few dozen pounds, magnetism alone could actually make him fly, though it was not as fast as a Flying Broomstick.

He had used the same technique on his wand. There was a ring of Iron Wire at the end of it, so that if the wand ever left his hand, he could summon it back instantly.

"Hold your brooms tight, rise a few feet, then lean forward slightly and descend vertically back to the ground.

Listen for my whistle: three—two—one!"

As Madam Hooch's whistle sounded, the young wizards all kicked off at once and mounted their Flying Broomsticks into the air.

Most of them were unsteady once airborne, carefully struggling to maintain their balance. But some had prior experience and flew very well and very quickly, Ginny among them.

"Ginny, excellent! You're flying remarkably well."

Ginny's outstanding performance quickly caught Madam Hooch's attention. She could not help loudly praising her and was about to award points to Gryffindor when a wave of shocked cries interrupted her.

Turning to look toward Slytherin on the right, an utterly incredulous expression appeared on her face.

"Oh, Merlin! That's a Starfish Inversion, the Woollongong Shimmy, a Sloth Hugging Tree Roll, and a Lanski Feint. That's impossible!"

What had she seen? She had seen George, the Slytherin Star, performing difficult Quidditch maneuvers that only world-class Quidditch players could master.

The Starfish Inversion, for example, was a move only top-tier Flying Broomstick Keepers could perform.

When the Quaffle was about to enter the hoop and there was no time to block it, the Keeper immediately hung upside down from the Flying Broomstick by one foot and spread all four limbs to stop the Quaffle.

The Woollongong Shimmy was an advanced technique in which a Chaser sped forward in a zigzag pattern to confuse the opposing Chasers.

The Sloth Hugging Tree Roll was an extremely difficult move used when a Bludger came hurtling in. The player hung from the broom, wrapped both hands and feet tightly around the handle, then rapidly spun the Flying Broomstick like a drill to knock the Bludger away.

The Lanski Feint involved a Seeker pretending to spot the Snitch far below and diving sharply toward the ground, prompting the opposing Seeker to imitate them. But just before hitting the ground, the first Seeker stopped the dive, leaving the other with no time to react before crashing into the ground and being knocked unconscious.

This move required a Seeker to have absolute control over their Flying Broomstick.

If one mastered even a single one of these four moves, one could absolutely apply for any position—Seeker, Chaser, Beater, or Keeper—on a national Quidditch team.

Even she could not flawlessly perform all four moves, much less on the Cleansweep series brooms used for school instruction.

The Cleansweep series brooms used at the school were decades old. They were naturally fine for ordinary lessons, but once they went too fast, they would shake and become difficult to control.

Yet look at George. Not only could he control one, he could even perform all four of those classic, high-difficulty maneuvers.

"Twenty points to Slytherin! You may practice freely. George, come with me!"

Once George landed steadily, Madam Hooch shouted excitedly, stepped forward, and pulled him toward the castle.

"Was that really your first time riding a Flying Broomstick?"

She asked in disbelief as they walked.

George nodded, pretending to be a little shy.

"I couldn't ride one where I lived, but I've read some books and introductions about Quidditch."

He knew his plan had worked.

With this body's strength and magnetism's stabilizing control over the Flying Broomstick, not to mention those four moves, he could have danced ballet on it or pulled off a few Thomas Spins without any trouble.

"Oh, you really... This is unbelievable."

Hearing George's answer, Madam Hooch was nearly at a loss for words.

Head of Slytherin's Office. Snape was seated in his chair, writing down his research insights on a newly created Potion, when hurried knocking disturbed him. Frowning, he waved his wand and opened the door.

"Madam Hooch, is there something so important that it requires this much urgency?"

Only after seeing that the visitors were Madam Hooch, the Flying Class instructor, and his house's most outstanding student did his expression soften slightly.

Madam Hooch excitedly pushed George in front of Snape.

"Professor Snape, your Slytherin has produced a once-in-a-millennium Quidditch prodigy. You would never believe it—on his first time riding a Flying Broomstick, he performed..."

"Everything you said is true?"

Hearing Madam Hooch's words, even the usually expressionless Snape could not remain calm.

As Slytherin's head, he had deep feelings for the house. Ever since Slytherin had lost to Gryffindor last year—especially to a Gryffindor with Harry in it—he had remained bitter over it.

If George truly possessed such extraordinary Flying Broomstick talent, then Slytherin would not lose again for the next seven years.

"I'm not old enough for my eyes to be playing tricks on me, and plenty of children from your house saw it too."

Madam Hooch looked somewhat angry at Snape's doubt.

Snape quickly said, "I'm not doubting you. I'm merely surprised."

He turned to George and revealed a smile uglier than a cry.

"George, you're very good. You've always been very good.

This Saturday, I will personally arrange for you to join the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Gryffindor can make exceptions, so can Slytherin!"

"Um... Professor, I don't really want to join the Quidditch team."

George replied, pretending to be embarrassed.

Hearing George's words, Madam Hooch and Snape both froze. Then, almost at the same time, they asked, "Why?"

Joining a Quidditch team was every young wizard's dream. Besides, George had such extraordinary talent with a Flying Broomstick—he was practically born to be a Quidditch player.

George looked up at Snape and coughed lightly.

"It's like this. Compared to Quidditch, I prefer studying magic, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts. And Professor Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are... so I need more time to study on my own.

But if I join Quidditch, I'll definitely need to train often, and then I won't have enough time. Sigh... Studying on my own is really difficult."

"What you say makes sense. Compared to Quidditch, studying magic is what truly matters. Lockhart really is an idiot too. Hmm."

Snape could not help falling into thought.

In his view, studying magic was certainly more important than Quidditch. He had little interest in Quidditch himself; he mainly wanted Slytherin to win the Quidditch Cup as its head.

"How about this? You join the Slytherin team, and I'll try my best to keep them from calling you to training. From now on, I'll set aside half a day every weekend to personally tutor you in Defense Against the Dark Arts."