Uninvited Guests on the Competition Stage

The strong winds and heavy rain did not lessen because of the Quidditch Match; they remained the same as yesterday.

But as the most popular sport at Hogwarts, even in such heavy rain, the entire school's faculty and students still came out to watch the game as usual.

They ran along the field towards the stadium, and some people had their umbrellas blown away halfway there, leaving them to duck their heads to shield themselves from the fierce wind.

Kyle's Impervius badges played a crucial role at this moment. The Hufflepuff team stood at the front of the stands in the midst of the torrential rain and wind. They didn't use umbrellas, but they weren't wet at all, and even their hair was dry.

Their unusual behavior naturally caught the attention of others.

Malfoy ran over from the direction of the locker room, still wearing his green team jersey.

"Kyle... how did they do that? Have you come up with something new again?"

"I guess so." Kyle pointed to the shiny thing on Cedric's chest.

"Impervius badge, a must-have for rainy days."

"I'll buy one," Malfoy said without even asking the price, without hesitation.

"A wise choice." Kyle handed him a new one. "Then... ten Galleon."

Malfoy took the badge and reached into his pocket... The next second, his expression suddenly turned somewhat awkward.

He forgot that he had changed into his team uniform, which didn't have pockets; in other words, he didn't bring any money.

"As one of our valued customers, you can also try it out first."

Kyle then opportunely remarked, "We can decide whether to pay after the game."

Malfoy's expression softened considerably, and he made a few polite remarks, trying to appear relaxed.

The gist is... he wasn't without money; he just suddenly wanted to experience the treatment of a premium customer.

Furthermore, he would pay regardless of the outcome; the Malfoy family would never disappoint their friends when it came to Galleon.

After Malfoy left, many more young wizards came up to ask him questions.

However, the minimum price of five Galleon has prevented Impervius badges from selling very well.

But there's nothing that can be done about the price of magical items; five Galleon is already a very low price.

Of course, the map doesn't count; that's a welcome gift for new students, a Fawley.

In the final minutes before the match began, Malfoy arrived again.

"I'll buy six more," he said, then took out seventy Galleon and gave them to Kyle. "And the one I bought before... I just tried it, and it worked very well."

As luck would have it, Oliver Wood arrived at that moment.

"Professor McGonagall told me that there are waterproof gadgets here." He asked, "How much?"

"Five Galleon for a regular one, ten Galleon for a dragon scale," Kyle said.

"Two regular ones." Oliver Wood took out ten Galleon and handed them to Kyle.

Malfoy scoffed from the side, looking at Oliver Wood with disdain.

Oliver Wood, however, didn't care at all.

"Tools don't represent strength, Malfoy, you're bound to lose."

Malfoy wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but by then Madam Hooch had already started walking towards the center of the field, so he had to quickly run back.

Oliver Wood's case was much simpler; he simply jumped off the stands on his broomstick and handed the Impervius badge to two younger Chaser.

A few minutes later, the competition began with Madam Hooch's whistle.

Cheers erupted from the stands.

"This feels amazing." Hufflepuff's new goalkeeper walked over from the front. "There were at least a hundred people looking at me just now, including Angelina Johnson from Gryffindor. She looked this way three times. I bet she's completely smitten with me."

"You must be mistaken, she's definitely looking at me..."

The group laughed and joked as they sat down next to Cedric. One of them turned to Cedric and asked:

"Kyle, is this badge really being given to us?"

"Of course," Kyle nodded. "We agreed on this beforehand."

"That's ten Galleon..." the man exclaimed. "If there's another good thing like this next time, remember to call me. I can stand here all day."

"No problem." Kyle smiled.

At that moment, another cheer erupted from the stands.

Slytherin scored the first goal, and some Slytherin students excitedly threw their umbrellas away.

Amid the cheers, Qiu and Mikel squeezed through the crowd.

"We didn't miss anything, did we?"

"Perfect timing, Slytherin just scored their first goal." Kyle looked at them and said, "How are you guys?"

"Great!" Mikel grinned. "The sleeping beans worked wonderfully, but I slammed them on the table too hard; my forehead hurts a little."

"I ate the other half of the swollen candy too," Cho said. "Madam Pomfrey didn't see anything wrong with it at all."

"That's good."

"This is all thanks to your Wand-Lighting Charm," Mikel said, sitting down and half-jokingly. "Honestly, I always thought only I could do it, but I didn't expect you could do it too, and without even fainting."

"It's nothing, I just relied on the Ancient Runes." Kyle waved his hand.

The group watched the game while chatting, or rather, they spent most of their time chatting.

The heavy rain not only affected the players, but was also unfriendly to the spectators in the stands.

Through the rain, they could only barely make out a few shadows darting around, but it was difficult to recognize who those shadows were.

On the commentary desk, for the first time, Lee Jordan didn't make any jokes. He had to concentrate fully and try to guess who had the ball based on the blurry figures.

"Beautiful... Gryffindor has won back ten points... Well done, Angelina ... Well, it could also be Spinnet ..."

The sky grew increasingly dark, and as the first lightning bolt struck, the conditions on the field worsened.

Lee Jordan had never been so eager for a game to end quickly, but under these circumstances, it was incredibly difficult to spot the Golden Snitch.

"This match won't last until evening, will it?" Mikel asked. "It's so cold out there; I should have worn a thicker robe."

"If the Golden Snitch doesn't get caught...yes!" Cedric said. "Although school matches are much simpler than professional matches, the rules are still the same."

I remember the longest Quidditch Match at Hogwarts was two days... that match also produced the two worst Seeker in the school's history."

"No..."

Kyle suddenly said, "I think it won't be until tonight."

He looked up at the gloomy sky.

Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating hundreds of hooded figures.

They were Dementor; they stood there, and a terrifying chill began to spread across the stadium.

The cheers from the crowd suddenly disappeared, replaced by terrified screams.

"Damn it, I knew it was getting so cold all of a sudden!"

Mikel jumped up from his seat. "Why are these monsters here?"

"It was probably the cheerful atmosphere on the field that attracted them," Kyle said. "Dementor feed on people's happiness, and the field was practically a feast for them... Few Dementor could resist such temptation."

"What should we do then..." Mikel asked, shivering, and tightened his robe, as if that would keep him warm.

"It's alright," Kyle said, watching the Dementor get closer. "Professor Dumbledore certainly wouldn't let them here."

"But Professor Dumbledore isn't in the castle."

Mikel said somewhat flusteredly, "This morning Professor McGonagall went to the Hospital Wing to get some Invigoration Draught. I pretended to be asleep and overheard her conversation with Madam Pomfrey... Professor Dumbledore had already gone to London by then and wouldn't be back until tonight."