Oliver Wood and the 1994 Quidditch Final

In April, daffodils, camellias, and lilacs, with their small petals, bloomed beautifully, perhaps realizing that their flowering season was coming to an end, and they bloomed exceptionally brightly.

Tulips and bluebells took over the job of adorning the fields, sprouting up in clusters, and Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest completely shed the shadow of winter, becoming bright and beautiful.

Hokey's death added a touch of melancholy to the Easter Holiday. Loren and the others witnessed a tragic story, but they didn't know the protagonist, so their melancholy couldn't be escalated into sadness.

During the remainder of the holiday, Harry and Ron occasionally reminisced about the Voldemort and Horcrux, and after giving them a scathing critique, they were taken by Wood to the Quidditch Pitch for intensive training.

After the training, they were faced with piles of homework, and the Easter Holiday ended amidst such worries and the pressure of assignments.

After Easter, tensions between the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams, as well as between the two houses, reached a breaking point, with minor clashes frequently occurring in Dueling Club, Charms Class, and even Care of Magical Creatures.

In their spare time, the young wizards would often see large black bats flying out of the Abandoned Classroom, a sign that someone had been Bat-Bogey Hex.

This little curse, invented by Miranda Goshak, can turn the target's boogers into large black bats that fly out of the nose. It is not very harmful but extremely insulting.

"Harry, are you ready for tomorrow's match?"

"Sigh, I don't know either..."

On Friday morning, Loren and the others leisurely walked down the stairs and met Hermione, who was sitting on the sofa.

With the competition approaching, Harry and Ron were very nervous, rehearsing their tactics every night. As a result, Loren woke up a little late today, and Hermione, who was waiting in the Common Room, even recited a chapter of medieval A History of Magic.

"Sigh..." Harry said with a frown, "Wood is under too much pressure, and the pressure he's putting on us has increased as a result."

Do you need off-field assistance?

As Loren spoke, he reached out to smooth Hermione's slightly wrinkled collar. "I can use Polyjuice Potion to disguise myself as Lee Jordan and go on stage to give a commentary, which will surely drive Slytherin crazy."

Ron's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Hermione gave him a cold look and asked in a strange tone, "Then Professor McGonagall got so angry that she canceled our team's results and put you in solitary confinement until the end of the exams, would that satisfy you?"

Harry and Ron remained silent, believing that Hermione had already grasped some of the essence of a certain commentator's style.

"Wouldn't it be fine as long as she doesn't find out?"

"..."

The group arrived on the first floor laughing and joking. From afar, they saw a crowd gathered at the entrance of the Great Hall, whispering and discussing something, but they couldn't make out anything.

Student council Percy quickly restored order and, with the help of several boys, carried the two upperclassmen out and hurried upstairs to the Hospital Wing.

Loren and the others learned the whole story from Seamus while they were having breakfast. In the morning, two groups of young wizards, Gryffindor and the other from Slytherin, got into a fight in front of the Great Hall. In the chaos, it was unclear who started it, but the two sides started fighting.

When Percy arrived, a fourth-year Gryffindor student and a sixth-year Slytherin student had leeks coming out of their ears, which even the Counter-charms couldn't stop. To prevent the leeks from growing into their brains, Percy had no choice but to take them to the Hospital Wing as soon as possible.

The night before the match, when Loren and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, they could hear the noise coming from inside the Portrait Hole from outside.

The Common Room was noisy, and George and Fred dealt with the stress by being even more boisterous than usual. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie laughed heartily at their jokes. Wood squatted in the corner in front of a Quidditch arena model, moving the little figures around with his wand while muttering to himself.

Harry and Ron sat by the window, away from the bustling center.

Compared to Ron, who wasn't participating, Harry looked terrible. His pale face was devoid of any color, and he kept opening his mouth to breathe, as if the tension in his stomach had turned into a stone blocking his throat, and he was struggling to vomit it up.

As Loren and Hermione walked inside, they passed the Notice Board and saw the results of the morning's fight posted. The brawl between Gryffindor and Slytherin had a serious impact, and both sides had a large number of House Points deducted.

Seamus walked over and proudly explained, "Although we and Slytherin both lost points, the one who went to the hospital was a sixth-year student, while ours was a fourth-year student. This shows that we are stronger than Slytherin!"

"..."

Hermione felt she should reflect on herself; she actually thought there was some truth to this bizarre argument.

They came to Harry's side and said some comforting words, but Harry's complexion did not improve. Fortunately, Wood stood up and suddenly shouted:

"All team members, go to sleep!"

Saturday.

It was a clear, windless day. Apart from the glaring sunlight, the other environmental factors were perfect for Quidditch.

Harry and his Gryffindor teammates were greeted with enthusiastic applause as they entered the Great Hall, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff classmates at their tables also applauded them.

Wood looked even more nervous Harry, hardly like a seasoned team captain. He spent the entire breakfast urging his teammates to eat more, while he himself couldn't eat anything.

The final started at 11:00 AM. After having breakfast and resting for half an hour, the team members quickly formed groups and went to the court to warm up and familiarize themselves with the environment.

Loren and Hermione followed behind the group of young wizards, walking slowly toward the audience.

Lavender and Parvati walked past them hand in hand, making strange noises, and walked away laughing without waiting for Hermione to ask.

Hermione looked up at the bright sunshine, then turned to look at Loren. His small face was handsome, and his fair skin, nurtured by the long winter, seemed to glow.

"The weather's getting warmer, the fire in the Common Room fireplace has gone out, what about those Fire Salamander you kept?"

Loren's gaze swept over the young wizards in the audience who were cheering for Gryffindor. Three-quarters of the audience wore bright red roses, waved red flags with Gryffindor lions painted on them, or held banners with slogans such as "Gryffindor!" and "Lion wins the cup!"

Behind the Slytherin Quidditch hoop sat a group of young wizards wearing green ornaments, the silver snake pattern Winky on their flags. Professor Snape sat in the front row, also wearing green ornaments, with a gloomy smile on his face, probably in a bad mood.

Loren could understand Snape, but whoever was in his shoes wouldn't be in a good mood seeing the entire arena filled with supporters of the opposing forces.

Hermione found a seat in the back row, where she could see most of the court. The slightly deserted atmosphere in the back row suited their tastes.

"George and Fred are leaving. They said they'd give them a good home. What's wrong?"

After a few seconds of silence for the Fire Salamander, Hermione asked, "So, can you turn into Fire Salamander now?"

"No..." Loren shook his head. "I tried more than a dozen different approaches, but I still couldn't imitate the unique Magic Power of the Fire Salamander."

"Gryffindor Quidditch Team is on the field! Potter, Bell, Johnson..."

The team entered the field, and commentator Lee Jordan's voice echoed throughout the stadium, eliciting boos from the Slytherin side, which were then drowned out by even louder cheers.

Hermione noticed that Ginny and Luna were sitting together, both wearing slightly exaggerated lion head masks that made them stand out in the crowd.

Hermione couldn't help but glance at it a few more times. Waiting for the court to quiet down a bit, she whispered:

"Don't be too disappointed, Loren. Although there are records that Merlin and Fairy Morgan can transform into various animals at will, there is never a record of a human transforming into Fantastic Beasts. Perhaps this idea was never going to work in the first place, and even Legendary Wizard couldn't do it."

The Slytherin players entered the field. Apart from Seeker Draco, the rest were all burly, broad-shouldered, and tall.

"Slytherin Quidditch Team has also entered the field, led by Captain Flint. He's made some adjustments to the lineup, seemingly focusing more on size than technique—"

Lee Jordan's commentary drew boos from the Slytherin audience.

During the pre-match handshake, Loren saw Flint and Wood exchange a few words from afar, then his gaze followed the players on both sides as they looked up:

"I also realize that it may not be possible to do it with magic skills alone, so I plan to try other methods."

"What method?"

"I will borrow the Magic Power of Fantastic Beasts and put it to use."

"What's the meaning?"

The two men's conversation was very casual, with most of their attention focused on the situation on the court.

The bright red Gryffindor Quidditch Team and the dark green Slytherin Quidditch Team uniforms intertwined, leaving trails of afterimages above the pitch.

The use of identical flying broomsticks weakened Harry and his friends' equipment advantage and completely eliminated the Slytherin Quidditch Team's equipment advantage. In a simple contest of ball skills and tactics, Slytherin gradually fell into a disadvantageous position and began to use some dirty tricks based on their physical advantages.

Fortunately, Wood was prepared for this and used various passing maneuvers to keep the Slytherin players busy and unable to organize an effective attack.

Loren straightened his back slightly to broaden his field of vision:

"Just as Mr. Ollivander makes wands and Alchemy use animal materials to create magical items, wizards always find ways to harness certain characteristics of Fantastic Beasts."

However, the original method had many limitations; even with elaborate and complex rituals, it could only achieve negligible results.

Hermione said thoughtfully, "Just like how a wand with Fire Dragon's mane core can slightly amplify the power of a spell, and a wand with Unicorn Hair core has a special resistance to Dark Arts..."

You want to use dragon fire directly to fight Dark Arts with Unicorn Hair?

"Not exactly, but very close..."

Loren watched as Harry and Draco grappled together, their robes, painted in dozens of fancy flying maneuvers, seemed to transform into magnificent flowers.

"Complex Fantastic Beasts often possess multiple Magic Power."

"Remember the Basilisk from last year? Its eyes held two kinds of Magic Power, one that could petrify and the other that could kill instantly... Dumbledore and I collected some of the Basilisk's Magic Power, which could only be used through the strange eyes. But there are still many limitations, such as the fact that the eyes of alien creatures cannot fully exert these Magic Power."

"I'm wondering if the talent left behind by the Fairy Morgan would allow me to directly use this Magic Power..."

Upon hearing such a startling idea, even though the situation on the field had already entered a heated phase, Hermione couldn't help but glance at Loren several times. "Will there be any danger?"

Loren smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will consult Professor Dumbledore before conducting the experiment."

Just as Hermione was about to ask a few more questions, a deafening cheer erupted from the stadium, and Lee Jordan had to strain his voice to barely explain the situation to the audience:

"We won the trophy! We won the trophy!"

"Eighty to sixty! Eighty to sixty! With Gryffindor leading by twenty points, Potter caught the Golden Snitch!"

The entire stadium erupted in cheers as countless young wizards dressed in bright red rushed over the barriers and surged onto the field. Streams of red flooded into the ocean, and countless hands rained down on the Gryffindor players. All the players were lifted up by the crowd, with Harry being hoisted to the highest point.

Substitute goalkeeper Ron struggled to push his way in front of Harry.

Loren and Hermione didn't join in the fun. Loren cheered with the crowd, acting ecstatic. He couldn't help but get up, hug Hermione, and even jumped up and down a few times.

"..."

Hermione felt a little speechless as she was embraced by this person. The embrace lasted for several minutes until the crowd began to disperse. She then pulled her arms away and looked at him helplessly.

"Have you been planning this for a long time?"

"Don't you understand what you're saying?"

Loren looked at the crowd celebrating their victory below, his expression unchanged, seemingly without any ulterior motives.

Hermione's expression was calm, but a glint of light flickered in her eyes. "I thought you would kiss me after the hug, pretending to be too excited to control yourself, and maybe even stick your tongue out."

Loren's eyes widened, and a look of heartache and regret gradually appeared on his face. "Is... is it possible?"

"Of course not!" Hermione elbowed him, then turned and headed towards the stands. "Let's go back to the Common Room to celebrate with Harry and the others!"

"..."

Loren blinked, then stepped forward to follow.

It feels like I've lost a hundred million; I'm just completely devastated.

But the opportunity has already passed, and we can only make plans for the future.

Winning the game would keep Harry excited for at least a week, while Wood didn't seem as thrilled.

When the championship party ended and everyone was leaving, Loren, who was walking behind, saw Wood squatting alone in a corner. He was talking to the Quidditch arena model that had been with him for several years, his voice was very soft, and he was often silent.

Loren and Hermione exchanged a glance, then quietly went upstairs to their respective dorm rooms.

After that day, Oliver Wood frequently spoke with team members, recounting the mistakes he had made during his tenure as captain and planning the team's future development... The talented Seeker Harry was the main focus of his conversations, and the backup goalkeeper Ron was also given special attention.

It was like a peaceful farewell.