Contest on the Pitch

Moriarty mounted his broom and flew into the air when the system's voice sounded in his ear: "Mission issued: Lead the Slytherin Quidditch Team to defeat the Gryffindor Quidditch Team! Reward: 200 points. Time limit: one hour. Mission failure penalty: The Host must ask Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, about her heat cycle in front of the entire school!"

"Whoosh—"

Moriarty lurched sideways and nearly fell off his broom. Why did strange things always happen whenever he got on a broom to do something serious?

Last time, it had been Lockhart. This time, it was the system.

Moriarty pulled up on his broom and flew higher. The broom had been affected by his sudden movement and had dipped down into midair.

Tonks promptly began her commentary: "Oh~ We can see Moriarty making a move right at the start of the match. That's unusual for a Seeker! I think he may be feinting, but Charlie hasn't been affected. The experienced player remains perfectly still, scanning the pitch for the Golden Snitch. Look, he's moving! Charlie is flying toward the Slytherin Quidditch Team's formation! He's creating an opportunity for Gryffindor's Chaser, Mandy Finner. He really isn't afraid of accidents, is he?"

A gasp rose from the entire stadium. Out of the corner of his eye, Moriarty saw a red figure flying alone toward the Slytherin Quidditch Team.

Moriarty was certain there was no Golden Snitch there!

So Charlie wasn't going after the Golden Snitch. He was as fast as a lion at full sprint, flying over William, Leon... over every Slytherin player's head.

Chaser Leon roared, trying to get the Beaters to knock Charlie down. Clearly, Charlie had achieved his goal.

The two Beaters swung their arms wide and sent two Bludgers at Charlie. But that meant no one could restrain Gryffindor's Chasers.

Tonks exclaimed admiringly, "Just when we were focusing on the clash between Weasley King and Eternal Shine, Weasley King has shown us another side of himself—the responsibility of a captain! As an old captain, he boldly charged into the Slytherin Quidditch Team, drawing fire away from Gryffindor's three Chasers. He single-handedly broke Slytherin's strategic deployment! Now the problem has been handed to our first-year Chaser, Jericho! We can see him trying to steal the ball, but he has to face attacks from Gryffindor's two Beaters, as well as the pursuit and interception of three Chasers! Oh, look—Moriarty has moved!"

Moriarty used his signature flying technique, an improved version of the Sloth Hugging Tree Roll.

Gripping the broomstick with both hands and legs, he spun the broom into rapid rotation. Moriarty shot toward Jericho like an arrow released from its bow.

"Is Moriarty going to help Jericho? Let's see what he does!" This time, Tonks's commentary did not bring cheers. The entire stadium was deathly quiet as teachers and students craned their necks, their eyes fixed on Moriarty.

"Jericho! Eagle Head Offensive Formation!" Moriarty shouted.

"I can't! They've got me locked down!" Gryffindor's Chasers blocked Jericho from the front and both sides, pinning him in place. Two crazed Bludgers followed behind him, while Gryffindor's two Beaters watched menacingly from above.

"Descend. I'll take your position!" Moriarty flew into the air directly above and parallel to Jericho. Once Jericho descended while gripping his broomstick, Moriarty filled the gap he had left!

Moriarty now faced the same situation as Jericho, but unlike Jericho, he was moving in the opposite direction and faced two Bludgers head-on!

"Oh, no!" Tonks covered her mouth. "There's not enough time. Moriarty wants to dodge, but it's too late."

"It really is too late to dodge, so I never intended to!"

Moriarty wrapped his legs around the broom, crossed his hands over his chest, and lay flat on it! He looked as though he had fused with the broom, drastically reducing his profile. With a whoosh, he shot through the gap between the two Bludgers!

"Wow!" The entire stadium erupted. Led by Lilith, the little snakes began chanting, "Eternal Shine!"

Tonks could not contain her astonishment. "How did he do that?! How could he make that move?! Now the Bludgers have missed, and Gryffindor's two Beaters have no choice but to hit them again."

But Moriarty gave them no such chance. He shouted at Leon, "Pakin Pliers Tactic!"

Leon understood instantly. He charged at Mandy Finner, the Gryffindor Chaser holding the Quaffle.

Meanwhile, Moriarty made a wide loop through the air, bypassed the second wave of Bludger attacks, and charged toward Mandy Finner as well.

Leon and Moriarty formed a pincer attack from above and below, but on the right side, unnoticed by everyone, Jericho came charging over with a laugh!

Now Mandy Finner faced threats from above, left, and right—three opponents who could snatch the Quaffle from her at any moment!

She considered the charging Jericho the greatest threat, but Jericho suddenly dropped. While Mandy was distracted, Leon thrust out his right hand and slapped fiercely at the Quaffle clutched against her chest!

Bang! The Quaffle was knocked loose. Gryffindor's other two Chasers flew over to save it, but how could they be faster than Jericho, who had already been waiting below for the ball?

Jericho caught the ball cleanly and sped ahead in a zigzag pattern, shaking off the pursuit as he raced toward Gryffindor's three goal hoops!

Tonks saw through the tactic. "The moment Moriarty shouted Pakin Pliers Tactic, Slytherin's interception plan began! With Jericho surrounded, Leon unable to keep up with the tempo, and the two Beaters held back by Charlie, Moriarty took on the role of a Chaser. Together with Jericho and Leon, he formed a triangular formation and easily stole possession from Gryffindor!"

But when she saw Moriarty, Jericho, and Leon form an arrowhead formation and fly toward Gryffindor's goal, she smoothed her hair.

"Ahem, I don't think that was quite accurate. Look at Slytherin's current formation—that's the Eagle Head Offensive Formation Moriarty called out when he made his move! Moriarty has temporarily taken the place of a Chaser! Oliver Wood is in danger! He's about to face his first test! We can see Charlie organizing the defense, while he himself keeps flying back and forth. Has he spotted the Golden Snitch?"

Leon hurriedly asked, "Moriarty, should you go take a look?"

"No, that's a feint!" Moriarty had been keeping an eye on the Golden Snitch, but it had not appeared. "Charlie is trying to force me back. We keep advancing!"

Moriarty began flying in an S-shaped path, adding another layer of confusing three-dimensional movement to the Eagle Head formation. Wood could not be sure whether Jericho or Leon might launch an attack from behind Moriarty under Moriarty's cover.

As it turned out, he had overthought it. He focused all his attention on Moriarty, forgetting that Jericho could also perform the Sloth Hugging Tree Roll.

Jericho was like a flying dagger, suddenly charging straight in front of the goal and hurling the Quaffle!

By the time Wood reacted, it was too late. He could only watch helplessly as the ball flew through the goal hoop!

"Nice!"

"Beautifully done!"

"What a brilliant goal, boys!"

Cheers erupted from the Slytherin stands. They had scored the first goal!

"I've never seen such a spectacular contest for the first goal! Charlie struck first, Gryffindor gained possession, but Moriarty single-handedly threw Gryffindor's formation into disarray and organized multiple attacks!" Tonks exclaimed excitedly. "After twenty minutes of fierce competition, Slytherin has made it ten to one. How will Charlie respond?"

After the second kickoff, Leon took possession of the Quaffle. Charlie did not choose to interfere with Leon; instead, he stuck closely to Moriarty, leaving the other Gryffindor players to defend against Leon and Jericho.

Moriarty began to climb and dive. Charlie's flying skills were clearly impressive. Not only did he keep up with Moriarty, he could even get ahead of him and block his flight path.

"Interesting." A faint smile curved Moriarty's lips. He dove even faster, the howling wind pouring into his ears. Charlie followed close behind. At this point, he could not be sure whether Moriarty had spotted the Golden Snitch, and he did not dare gamble.

Whoosh!

Four sharp whistles split the air as the Beaters from both teams simultaneously sent Bludgers flying toward the two Seekers!

"I've got you!" Moriarty shouted as he pulled up hard on his broom and shot into the sky, shaking off the Bludgers. Charlie's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly raised his broom, hoping to catch up to Moriarty.

But Moriarty changed his flight path and began flying erratically—or so Charlie thought. Yet when he noticed that Moriarty appeared cleverly in front of Gryffindor players every single time, he realized something was wrong.

"How is he appearing there?" Charlie could hardly believe it. "It's not hard to predict a flight path, but can he really calculate everyone's flying speed?"

Before Charlie could devise a countermeasure, Moriarty was the first to catch sight of a flash of gold!

It was the Golden Snitch! The reflected sunlight made it shine even more brightly, and it was actually flying near the edge of the pitch!

Moriarty dove toward the ground again, fast as a beam of light.

Having learned from last time, Charlie's first thought was that this was another Lanski Feint. But by the time he saw the Golden Snitch, Moriarty had already pulled five lengths ahead of him!

"Oh no!" Charlie groaned.

As Moriarty neared the Golden Snitch, he stood up on his broom and stretched out his right hand!

Tonks shouted at the top of her lungs, "Look, look! This is Moriarty's signature move! He's only an inch away from the Golden Snitch! Charlie has closed the gap by two lengths, but it's too late! Moriarty has caught the Golden Snitch! The match is over—Slytherin versus Gryffindor, 160 to 0! Only one goal was scored in this match! In just thirty-five minutes, Moriarty has ended the match!!!"

Earth-shaking cheers and shouts erupted from the Slytherin stands. Lilith conjured a silver snake with her Wand, and it danced through the air.

The moment Moriarty and the players landed, the little snakes rushed over, hugged them, and tossed them into the air.

"Let's call out the most valuable player on the pitch—who is he?" Tonks said creatively.

At once, the entire stadium shouted, "Eternal Shine! Moriarty! Eternal Shine! Moriarty!"

The chanting did not begin to fade until a full five minutes later. Tonks nodded. "While we celebrate the victors, we must also pay tribute to Gryffindor. Charlie led them in giving us a wonderful match! All right, the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match has come to an end. I'm Tonks, and I'll see you next time!"