"Anduin, I never expected you to be so vicious when you finally swore. Did you see Travers's expression just now? His face turned bright red." Once everyone had left, Vivian covered her mouth and giggled at Anduin.
"But you're both Slytherin students. This will make things worse for you in your House. I've caused you trouble." After Travers left, Charles returned to his usual slightly shy manner and apologized to them.
"You don't need to apologize to anyone. Backing down only encourages people to push you around. You can only grow stronger by learning to fight back. Being weak is a sin. I don't like trouble, but I'm not afraid of it. Besides, I'm a Muggle-born wizard sorted into Slytherin. I was prepared for this." Anduin looked at Charles calmly as he spoke.
These pure-blood kids weren't enough to keep him up at night.
Then he turned to Vivian. "But you, Vivian—if they dare give you trouble, tell me. I'll figure something out for you."
Vivian nodded. "Don't worry. Vanessa takes good care of us, and I'm third in line to inherit the Bulstrode family. They wouldn't dare do anything to me."
Anduin was a little impressed with Vivian. He hadn't expected her to be third in line to inherit the family. No wonder they valued her so much, even though she was the child of a Squib and a Muggle. It seemed the Bulstrode family had very few heirs.
After chatting for a while, the three of them split up and entered the pitch. Anduin and Vivian went up to the stands, where Vanessa had saved them seats.
"I heard you had a run-in with Travers at the entrance to the pitch. You need to learn to stick together in our House. Things aren't going well for us, and winning the House Cup seems a distant dream. Sigh." Plenty of people had passed by while Anduin and the others were arguing with Travers, and the news had reached Vanessa. She proceeded to lecture the two of them.
Anduin couldn't help rolling his eyes as he listened to Vanessa. He didn't want to undermine unity, but some people clearly did. And Vanessa seemed far too soft to him. What good were reminders and advice after the fact? It would take a firm hand to keep those unruly little snakes in line.
The two of them gave Vanessa halfhearted replies. Seeing this, she could only sigh helplessly. As a Prefect, she was deeply invested in the House Cup, but the undercurrents of the Wizard War had left Slytherin in constant turmoil. In all the years since she'd enrolled, Slytherin had never won the House Cup. Nearly every year, Slytherin and Gryffindor would tear into each other, then watch Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff swoop in and claim the prize.
The gloomy weather seemed to warn everyone at the pitch that the coming match wouldn't be especially sunny. Once the players from both sides had taken their places, Madam Rolanda Hooch soon blew her whistle, announcing the start of the school year's first Quidditch match.
Anduin swore he'd never seen such a savage sport. The moment the match began, the two teams crashed into each other, even the Seekers. And once the Chasers got hold of the Quaffle, they didn't try to score right away—they hurled it straight at their opponents instead. To Anduin, it was absurdly like passing the ball to the other team.
The Beaters were even more vicious. Whenever a Bludger came by, they smashed it at their opponents. If none came near, they simply swung their bats at each other. The teams even put together some tactics: Gryffindor formed a ring to try to surround Slytherin, while the Slytherin players formed a triangle and charged as a group.
For a while, Anduin found himself thoroughly engrossed. Unfortunately, Madam Hooch couldn't take any more and hurriedly called a timeout. Ten minutes into the match, neither side had managed a single shot, but several players were already sporting black eyes and bruises.
Anduin silently lamented the interruption. He was more interested in the brawl than the match, and the various Tactical Movements on display had opened his eyes.
During the brief timeout, Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch went onto the pitch and warned both teams. Afterward, the match fell somewhat into proper order. The Chasers began a more conventional attack and defense, while the Beaters continued fighting each other without pause.
Fouls were happening left and right: double-teaming, elbowing, grabbing, kicking. Anduin even saw one player spit at an opponent. It gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. The scene reminded him of a game he'd played in his Previous Life called Road Rash.
Anduin felt as if Madam Hooch was about to whistle herself hoarse. Foul, penalty shot, penalty shot, foul—the whole match unfolded in this bizarre atmosphere, while Professor McGonagall watched the farce from beside the commentary box, her face livid.
The match went on for more than an hour. Slytherin had already had one player sent off and another carried off injured. Gryffindor's Seeker had also lost his footing on his Flying Broomstick, fallen, and broken his leg.
The situation now was that Slytherin had only five players left and was outnumbered, while Gryffindor had one extra player but no Seeker.
There were no substitutes in Quidditch, after all. So although the numbers on the pitch had shifted to five against six, the match could only end if someone caught the Golden Snitch or the captains of both teams agreed to call it. Judging by the two captains, a friendly discussion was unlikely.
But Gryffindor no longer had a Seeker. So the situation was this: unless Slytherin caught the Golden Snitch, the match couldn't end. The score was 70 to 130, with Gryffindor in the lead. Gryffindor had assigned two players to interfere with Slytherin's Seeker, making the end of the match seem almost impossibly far away.
Another hour passed. The score had become 110 to 280. With an extra player, it was much easier for Gryffindor to score. But by then, Slytherin's Seeker had no intention of searching for the Golden Snitch. Even if he caught it, they'd still lose, so what was the point?
The strange match grew more and more bizarre. Slytherin's Seeker made no effort to find the Golden Snitch, and Gryffindor seemed to realize what was happening. They pulled back into a defensive formation and stopped attacking aggressively, trying to conserve their energy. Slytherin's attacks were fierce, but they were already a player short—and one of their five players was the Seeker. It was effectively four against six, and they couldn't break through at all.
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