Quidditch Culture of Each House

To Bernard's disappointment, even when the Black Lake was frozen enough to skate on in November, nothing strange entered Hogwarts again.

"Eugene, I can understand Bernard, but why are you so disappointed?"

It was rare for the five of them to eat lunch together in the Great Hall, and Klon looked at Eugene beside him in disbelief. He had actually followed up Bernard's complaint with a "too bad"!

"The troll must have been brought into Hogwarts by someone. That person must have done it for a reason. Since he hasn't made any other moves for so long, either he has achieved his goal, or he is still plotting in the dark."

Uther cut a slice of sausage and put it in his mouth.

Eugene nodded in agreement.

"Hmm..."

Klon scratched his head, knowing that his roommates' analysis was correct, but...

"Isn't it also possible that he has already been dealt with by Professor Dumbledore? After all, he is the greatest wizard of this century!"

"...That's true, if Professor Dumbledore solved the problem, he probably wouldn't tell us."

Uther nodded.

"What do you think, Adam?"

Eugene turned to Adam.

"Me?"

Adam raised his eyebrows. If Eugene agreed with Uther, he wouldn't have asked him. Had he noticed something?

"I think things probably aren't over yet... Of course, I'm just guessing."

"I think so too... It's a strange feeling."

After becoming familiar with them, Eugene spoke a little more, but he rarely expressed his feelings so proactively. For a moment, the others were silent.

"...Well, no matter what, Professor Dumbledore will always solve everything, right? Let's think about something to be happy about, like the Quidditch match that starts tomorrow!"

Klon spoke to break the silence:

"Everyone heard, right? Gryffindor's Seeker this year is actually a first-year, and it's the Savior, Harry Potter!"

"Gryffindor versus Slytherin... To be honest, I don't find this match very exciting."

Uther smoothly changed the subject:

"Hannah and them said that Slytherin always likes to play dirty during matches, using any means to win. Even if Harry Potter is strong, he might not win—unless he catches the Golden Snitch right at the start."

Despite saying that, everyone honestly gathered in the stands of the Quidditch pitch the next day.

"This is my first time watching Quidditch from this angle!"

The surroundings were a bit noisy, and Bernard had to raise his voice.

"Actually, it's the same for us."

Klon was leaning on the railing, looking very excited:

"Look, they're coming in!"

Adam looked down. It was too far away. From the stands, he could only see green and red teams below, and he couldn't tell which was which.

However, the shortest one in red should be Harry.

They had met once when they enrolled, but hadn't had much contact since. After all, the only classes Gryffindor and Hufflepuff took together were Astronomy and History of Magic, and Adam himself had kept a certain distance from them.

With a sharp whistle, Madam Hooch's silver whistle, the two teams rose into the air almost simultaneously.

"Wow~"

Exclamations rang out in unison from the stands, mostly from first-years who were seeing a formal Quidditch match for the first time.

The Quaffle was fiercely contested back and forth in the hands of the Chasers from both teams, the Keeper was always vigilant to prevent the opponent from breaking through the three goals, the Beaters protected their teammates from the Bludger's attack, and the Seekers...

The two Seekers were wandering on the edge because the Golden Snitch was nowhere to be seen.

"Despicable!"

Klon excitedly slapped the railing—in fact, he wasn't the only one doing it—because the Slytherin Beater hit the Bludger towards a Gryffindor Chaser, almost knocking him off his broom.

"Doesn't that count as a foul?"

Bernard widened his eyes. Such behavior was unimaginable in the Muggle world.

"Of course not. That's within the rules. After all, no one can guarantee that the ball they hit won't accidentally hit something."

"Okay, that makes some sense..."

However, the situation on the field quickly changed. The previous ball seemed to be a signal, and the Slytherin Quidditch team quickly showed flexible moral qualities, repeatedly jumping on the edge of fouls.

Madam Hooch's silver whistle blew again and again, but it only made the Slytherin team more concealed and difficult to determine when they fouled, and did not awaken their competitive spirit at all.

Even Adam couldn't help but complain:

"These guys should replace the snake flag with the flag of Stealing Country, so shameless!"

"That's just how the rules of Quidditch are. There are too many ambiguous areas for those who are interested to exploit."

Adam and them were right next to the railing. As the game progressed, more and more students squeezed over. The one who spoke just now was Cedric.

He sighed as he watched the chaotic scene on the field:

"This is why Hufflepuff always has a hard time winning... We always put the fun of Quidditch first, but it seems like we're the only ones who think that way."

If the Hufflepuff team were really that mercenary, Cedric's strength would have gotten him onto the team long ago.

The Hufflepuff team wouldn't kick any member off the team just to win.

Ravenclaw is a special case. They have a desire to win, but they don't let training interfere with their personal lives, so the gap between the team's upper and lower limits is huge. They compete with Hufflepuff for third and fourth place almost every year.

As for the Slytherin team, whose playing style is suspiciously similar to a certain thieving country...

"Look at the field!"

Klon's exclamation made everyone look over. They saw Harry struggling to control his out-of-control broom—his broom suddenly started shaking up and down, rolling and tumbling in the air.

"What's going on? Did Harry Potter's broom get damaged?"

Klon stroked his chin and analyzed:

"I heard that the school's flying brooms are all very old models..."

"The old models are the ones used in flying class. The ones used in matches are reliable and guaranteed. Usually, only a curse can interfere with their operation."

Cedric's expression was very serious:

"A curse? How dare Slytherin—"

The most outrageous thing Slytherin did last year was just directly ramming into people. In a few years, will they be throwing spells at each other in the sky?

"I remember that a curse needs to be chanted while staring at the target to be activated, right? Let's see who it is!"

Klon waved his fist.

However, after searching for a while, the group didn't see anyone chanting a spell. None of the Slytherins on the field fit the criteria.

"Looks like the worst-case scenario has happened—the person chanting the spell is in the stands!"

But how could they find that person among so many people in the stands?

Or rather, how should the Hufflepuff team respond when they encounter this situation?

"Perhaps it's an even worse situation—"

Eugene suddenly spoke, squinting at Harry, who was still climbing higher while shaking in the air:

"Maybe the person chanting the spell isn't trying to help Slytherin... He's just trying to hurt people."

Uther was stunned, remembering what Eugene had said yesterday:

"Are you saying... the person who brought the troll into Hogwarts?"

Eugene nodded.