Just then, on the other side of the castle, a tall, muscular upper-year student wearing a Gryffindor Quidditch Team uniform shot over their heads like a red bolt of lightning, astride a brand-new, obviously expensive Nimbus broomstick.
It was Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
He had just finished his solo practice.
At a glance, he spotted the chaotic scene on the lawn, a blatant breach of discipline. He was about to swoop down and give these clueless first-years a proper dressing-down.
But the next second, his eyes were fixed on Lin Yuan.
"A genius! An unprecedented genius!"
He swooped down from the sky like a lion that had spotted its prey, landing heavily in front of Lin Yuan.
He was so excited that he even stumbled a little when he touched down.
But he didn't care at all.
He rushed up to Lin Yuan and gripped his slightly slender shoulders with both hands. His eyes were wide as saucers, flames named "Quidditch Champion" burning in their depths.
"What's your name?! You're Lin Yuan, right?! I'll remember you!" He spoke so fast it was like he was reciting a spell, spraying spittle practically into Lin Yuan's face. "Listen, kid! You have the greatest flying talent I've ever seen—no, the greatest Hogwarts has ever seen! No contest!"
"That midair hover you just did! That right-angle turn! And that last— that— that incredible stunt where you stood on your broom! Merlin's beard! You were born for Quidditch! You're the chosen one sent by God to save Gryffindor and win the House Cup!"
He was so excited he was practically incoherent.
He clung to Lin Yuan, looking at him with an almost pleading expression. Then, with all his strength, he delivered the invitation that represented the highest honor at Hogwarts to any student who loved flying:
"Lin Yuan! I, Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, formally invite you to join us! Become our new Seeker!"
"With you on our side, we'll absolutely crush those Slytherin bastards this year! We'll win back the House Cup! We'll make history!"
His voice rang out, passionate and infectious.
Every Gryffindor student around them gazed at Lin Yuan with overwhelming envy and jealousy.
A first-year, invited straight onto the House team by its captain!
Even James Potter, Harry's father, who was practically a legend, had never received an honor like this!
It was the ultimate shortcut to success!
Everyone thought Lin Yuan would accept without hesitation.
After all, he had such miraculous flying talent.
Not using it for Quidditch would be a complete waste!
And yet...
History had once again chosen the most ridiculous way to unfold.
Faced with Wood's feverishly expectant expression and the envious, jealous stares of everyone around him,
Lin Yuan simply and calmly lifted Wood's hands from his shoulders.
Then, in his trademark polite yet distant tone, he slowly said something that left everyone present completely petrified.
"Thank you for the invitation, Wood."
"But I'm sorry."
"I'm not very interested in a sport where a big group of people ride broomsticks around in the sky, chasing a few balls..."
"..."
The elation on Wood's face froze instantly.
"Not... very interested?" he stammered, as if his ears had stopped working.
Lin Yuan nodded with complete seriousness. Then, in an even more sincere tone, as though explaining why he didn't like coriander, he added a devastating final blow that shattered Wood's Dao Heart.
"That's right. I'm not very interested. I just think it's noisy."
"And instead of wasting time on the pitch, I'd rather spend my time quietly reading in the library."
"I think reading is much more interesting than chasing after a ball."
BOOM—!!!
It was as if a thunderbolt from another dimension had struck everyone present right on the crown of the head.
The world fell silent.
The passionate look on Wood's face went completely blank.
His mouth hung slightly open, his eyes unfocused.
His heart, burning with dreams of a "Gryffindor dynasty," shattered completely in that moment.
What... what had he just heard?
This once-in-a-century genius, with his godlike flying skills...
He said...
He said he... didn't like Quidditch?
He... preferred... reading... in the library?
Wood felt as if his world had collapsed.
The students around them were just as dumbfounded.
Ron's mouth gaped wide enough to fit a whole Pumpkin Pastie.
He thought Lin Yuan had to be crazy—and not just a little.
Malfoy wore an expression of disdain and contempt, but beneath it lurked a trace of jealousy he couldn't even understand himself.
And Hermione Granger.
After her initial shock, a strange light began to shine in her eyes.
A super-genius who also thought reading was more fun than watching a match?
Merlin's beard!
Did this ideal bookworm, who existed only in her fantasies, actually exist in real life?!
"Sorry, Wood. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."
Lin Yuan gave Wood, who was still completely petrified, a polite little nod.
Then, beneath the stares of everyone around him, as if they'd just seen a ghost, he turned and walked calmly toward the castle, taking his unhurried steps.
He was utterly composed, as if all he'd done was turn down a flyer handed to him on the street.
All that remained on the pitch was a poor Quidditch captain clutching his broom, utterly bewildered.
And a crowd of first-year students still reeling from the divine declaration: "I think reading is more interesting than chasing after a ball."
If Lin Yuan's "flying on his broom" and "right-angle turn" during Flying Class had merely dropped a depth charge into the small circle of first-years,
then his follow-up declaration, "I think reading is more interesting than chasing after a ball," was a category-twelve superstorm that swept through every corner of Hogwarts Castle overnight.
Of course, opinions about this "sensation" were sharply divided.
To the vast majority of students, who treated Quidditch as their life, valued the honor of the House Cup above all else, and burned with passion, Lin Yuan's behavior was nothing less than the ultimate desecration of the sacred sport of Quidditch.
"Mad! He's absolutely mad!" In the Gryffindor Common Room, Lee Jordan wailed as he clutched his head and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. "We could've had a god-tier Seeker! Someone who could grind Slytherin into the dirt! And what does he do?! He says he's going to the library to read?!"
"I bet he got hit in the head by some kind of spell." Ron was playing Wizard's Chess as he solemnly explained his theory to Harry. "Otherwise, no normal person would turn down an offer to join the Quidditch team! It's Quidditch!"
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