Signing Up for Quidditch?

Seeing the stunned expressions on the Young Wizards, Sir Nicholas was delighted. He did not like hearing people call him "Nearly Headless Nick." This was a small bit of revenge.

Sir Nicholas put his separated head back onto his neck, cleared his throat, and said:

"All right, Young Wizards of Gryffindor, I hope you can win the House Cup this school year, okay?

Gryffindor has never gone this long without winning a prize!

Merlin's Beard, Slytherin has actually won six championships in a row. Bloody Baron is always showing off in front of me. It's truly unpleasant.

Oh, right. He's Slytherin's ghost."

Sir Nicholas pointed toward the Slytherin table. Harry saw a ghost sitting in the seat beside Malfoy.

He looked terrifying, covered in blood from head to toe. Bloodstains marked his tattered robes, making him far scarier than Sir Nicholas. Even without trying to frighten anyone, he made Hermione shiver in fear again.

Miss Otter was far more timid than expected.

"Why did he become like that, all bloody?" Seamus was especially interested.

"I've never asked." Sir Nicholas shook his head. Ghosts disliked letting others know how they had died.

After the Young Wizards had eaten their fill, Harry once again sensed a subtle spatial fluctuation. This time, he was prepared and discovered that it was not the result of a single spell, but the combined effect of many spells cast together.

Presumably, the House-elves had cast magic together and used "Apparition" to move away the remaining food.

Once the food vanished, the plates were spotless again, polished enough to reflect light.

New food soon appeared: candy, jelly, rice pudding, syrup fruit pie, chocolate cupcakes, fried jam doughnuts, strawberry pudding soaked in liquor, ice cream in all sorts of flavors...

These were desserts. Harry thought that if every meal was this lavish, he would raise both hands in agreement that Hogwarts was the best Magic School in the world!

Young Wizards were simple by nature, and after just one meal, they had already become familiar with one another.

Neville shared stories about his family with Harry and the others. For example, he had always believed he was a Muggle, only awakening his magic through an accident at the age of eight.

Seamus shared the story of how his father had been frightened by his mother's identity as a witch.

A while later, the pudding and other after-meal snacks vanished as well. Dumbledore stood again and announced to the Young Wizards that Quidditch player tryouts would be held during the second week of the term. Any Young Wizard who was interested could sign up.

All Young Wizards born into wizarding families loved Quidditch, but Harry felt nothing for it. He wanted to devote more time to becoming stronger.

But then he thought that becoming a Quidditch player might raise his fame to another level.

Being the Savior alone was not enough. He also had to be outstanding, so that other Young Wizards would admire him. That would be more beneficial for developing borrowers.

Harry decided to consider whether to become a Quidditch player.

As for whether he could become an outstanding Quidditch player, Harry had not considered it at all.

First of all, his father James Potter, who was not a good person, had been a Chaser and the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

His father had possessed a talent for Quidditch, so his own talent could not be too bad.

Besides, at Kamar-Taj, as long as one became proficient in using borrowed magic, one could fly. He could do the same with the Chaos Magic in his body, and he was even more agile.

Magic could not be used in Quidditch, but subtly using magic did not break the rules. Combining magical flight with a Flying Broomstick, his maneuverability far surpassed that of ordinary wizards. In a Quidditch match, that could create a completely crushing advantage.

After mentioning a few more points to note and specifically criticizing the two troublemakers, Fred and George, Dumbledore took out his wand and gave it a light flick.

Long golden ribbons drifted from the tip of the wand, twisting and winding high above the Great Hall before finally forming rows of letters:

"Everyone, choose your favorite tune, and let us sing the Hogwarts School Song together!" Dumbledore declared grandly.

The entire school began singing loudly:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts,

Whether we are bald old men or children with skinned knees,

Our minds can take in

For now our brains are empty, filled with air, dead flies, and trivial nonsense,

Teach us some knowledge of worth,

Give back what we have forgotten,

Just do your best, and leave the rest to us,

We will study hard until we turn to dust.

The song had no fixed tune, and every Young Wizard had their own melody. Most of them finished singing in a scattered mess, but the Weasley twins continued singing to the tune of the Funeral March.

This was not against the rules. After the two had finished, Dumbledore took the lead in applauding, and his applause was the loudest.

This made Harry like Dumbledore even more. This kindly old man was somewhat similar to the Supreme Mage.

They stood in high places, dignified yet kind, dependable yet still childlike. They always stood at the forefront, yet were never far away.

"What wonderful music. All right, Young Wizards, it is time to rest. Go back to bed now. Leave one at a time and return to your dormitories." Dumbledore announced the end of the Sorting Ceremony.

The Gryffindor students followed Percy through the noisy crowd, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase.

Many portraits hung along the wall beside the stairs. As Harry and the others passed by, the portraits offered them blessings:

"Welcome to Hogwarts!"

"What a lively group of Young Wizards."

Hogwarts had an extremely complicated layout. Under Percy's guidance, Harry and the others passed through one hidden corner after another.

Doors behind sliding panels, corridors behind hanging tapestries, staircases that rotated and shifted on their own...

All of it was incredible.

Under such circumstances, even spending a week would make it difficult to memorize all these hidden passages. Not to mention, these hidden passages were the most obvious ones. There were countless more concealed deeper within Hogwarts.

Harry felt that searching for these hidden passages in the future would be a form of fun in itself.

Suddenly, the Gryffindor group stopped in place. A bundle of canes floated through the air.

Hermione looked confused. "What is that? Some kind of magic?"

Hearing Hermione's question, Harry froze. He could clearly see a mischievous ghost waving the canes around in front of the group.

Why could Hermione not see the ghost? Could it be invisibility magic?

Because of Chaos Magic, Harry's spiritual sight reached deeper than that of ordinary mages.

The Supreme Mage had once told him that once he became strong enough, he might be able to observe other dimensions through spiritual sight alone.

He might even see Parallel Universes from different timelines!

The Gryffindor upperclassmen clearly knew what was happening. Percy reassured the Young Wizards:

"It's a ghost who likes playing pranks. There's no need to be afraid."

He raised his voice slightly and called out in a low shout, "Peeves, show yourself!"