Quidditch Match

November's arrival also meant that this school year's Quidditch season had officially begun.

Today was the first Quidditch match of the school year: Gryffindor versus Slytherin, with plenty to look forward to.

Not only was it a clash between two old rivals, but it was also the debut of Hogwarts' youngest Seeker in a century. More importantly, that Seeker was the highly talked-about Harry Potter!

No student would be willing to miss a match like this, so students had come early in the morning to claim the best spots in the Quidditch stadium.

An hour before the match began, the stands were already filled with excited students.

The weather was clear today, but England had gradually begun to grow cold in November. So Harry, the star of the match, still could not feel the slightest warmth. His hands and feet were even freezing.

As a Quidditch player, Harry could arrive at the pitch a little later.

He was alone now, slowly walking along the path to the players' changing rooms.

It was hard to say whether his mind was blank or a complete mess. In any case, he did not even know what he was thinking.

"I heard you didn't even eat breakfast?"

A hand suddenly reached out from beside him, holding a piece of chocolate.

It was ordinary dark chocolate, far more bitter than other kinds, yet it made him happier than the sweetest chocolate ever could.

Harry instantly broke into a smile and turned to look at the smiling Tver beside him.

"Professor!" Something suddenly occurred to him. "I, um, it's my first time playing in a match today, so..."

Tver pressed the chocolate into his hand.

"You still need to eat something. Otherwise, when the time comes, you may have the will to perform but not the strength to do it."

Watching him obediently eat it and pull a pained grimace, Tver laughed happily.

It did not actually have to be this bitter, but Madam Pomfrey had suggested that letting students suffer a little would make the lesson more memorable.

"I have a friend who was also a Seeker. On his first day playing, he was so nervous that he forgot how to fly. He spent twenty minutes on the ground before finally getting onto his broom."

Even Harry could not help laughing at that.

He could imagine how awkward it must have been for a Seeker to struggle on the ground for ages without managing to take off. At least he would not be that bad.

"But that match ended in thirty minutes, because my friend only needed ten minutes to catch the Golden Snitch."

"To this day, at only fourteen years old, he is already the best Seeker at Durmstrang—and in his entire country."

Harry's mouth fell open in surprise, chocolate crumbs clearly visible on his teeth, while his eyes were filled with longing.

So even someone that incredible had been nervous at first!

"All right." After escorting Harry to the changing room, Tver patted his shoulder.

"Go on in. Let everyone witness the debut of Hogwarts' future greatest Seeker."

Only after watching the dazed Harry disappear did Tver turn and head toward the stands.

He had not originally planned to watch the match today. He was not particularly interested in Quidditch—certainly not as interested as he was in researching badges.

But he had suddenly remembered that Quirrell would make a move against Harry today in the original story, and he was worried that Quirrell might change his plans and harm Harry some other way.

That was why Tver had come to escort Harry this far.

Honestly, he still could not figure out why Quirrell wanted to make a move against Harry.

If anything happened to Harry now, it would definitely alert Dumbledore. It would not matter if Quirrell got caught, but it would be terrible if he gave Tver away.

The only reasonable explanation Tver could think of was that Voldemort had specifically ordered it.

Only he could hold such deep resentment toward Harry.

When he reached the stands, Professor Flitwick's tiny figure was standing on his seat, waving continuously at Tver.

Professor McGonagall was seated beside him as well, but her attention had been fixed on the players already on the pitch. She only came back to herself after Tver sat down beside her.

"Why are you so late?" Professor McGonagall asked casually.

Only when she came to her beloved Quidditch pitch was she not as stern and serious as usual.

"A little something held me up."

They chatted idly when, suddenly, a shrill whistle sounded from the center of the pitch. The fourteen players from both Quidditch teams mounted their brooms and flew into the air.

At the same time, the match balls flew out as well.

Amid the cheers of the young wizards, the match officially began.

Tver truly did not understand Quidditch. Even though he had a friend at Durmstrang who was an expert in the sport, he only had a vague grasp of the rules.

Fortunately, there was a former Quidditch player from many years ago beside him: Professor McGonagall.

Few people knew that when Professor McGonagall had attended Hogwarts, she had been a Gryffindor player and had even served as captain.

It was only after a nearly fatal match in her seventh year that she had been forced to give up her greatest passion.

But her love for Quidditch had never faded. She had simply grown even more disgusted by rough Quidditch plays.

"Are they a bunch of trolls? Do they only know how to ram their opponents with their bodies?"

"Flint is attacking players with his bat! Where's the referee? Get that bastard sent off!"

"Oh, my God, that despicable brat is elbowing my player!"

Professor McGonagall muttered furiously to herself, her clenched fist repeatedly pounding her thigh in agitation.

Mm, she certainly seemed to hate it with a passion.

Professor Flitwick was already used to this.

"Minerva only becomes fanatical when it comes to Quidditch. Other than that, she's usually quite proper."

"And you? You don't seem very interested in Quidditch."

"If your students treated Quidditch as casually as yours do, you'd be as calm as I am."

But then Professor McGonagall let out a loud cry of alarm.

"What's wrong with Potter?!"

Twer and Professor Flitwick stopped chatting and turned to look.

Harry's broom suddenly bucked and rolled through the air like an unbridled wild horse, trying to throw him off.

In no time at all, Harry's entire body had been flung clear. Only his two hands still clung tightly to the broom, keeping himself from falling.

Soon, everyone noticed what was happening to him and cried out in alarm just like Professor McGonagall.

"Someone must have tampered with Potter's broom!" Professor Flitwick shouted.

His booming voice drowned out the students' cries and drew everyone's attention to the broom.

"Impossible. Flying brooms are highly sophisticated alchemical tools. The protective magic on them is more extensive than anything I've ever seen!" an upper-year student immediately objected.

But upon noticing that it was Professor Flitwick who had spoken, he hurriedly tried to make amends. "Of course, Professor, you're far more knowledgeable than I am. You must be right."

Twer shook his head in amusement.

He glanced toward Quirrell, who was sitting at the very back, muttering under his breath.

And it wasn't just him—Snape in front of him was also chanting.

One was casting a spell; the other was countering it.

At that moment, all Snape needed to do was turn around, and he would naturally notice Quirrell's odd behavior and frighten him into stopping his magic.

He was probably too worried to think clearly. Harry's accident had made Snape abandon his vigilance over his surroundings.

Just then, the seats in the staff stand suddenly caught fire, throwing the professors there into chaos.

But the flames behaved as obediently as little children in Twer's hands. With a flick of his wand, clusters of fire leaped into the sky one after another, then vanished.

Only after finishing all that did he wink at Hermione, who was hunched over, startling the young witch.

At that moment, the students erupted into thunderous cheers—Harry, back on his broom, had caught the Golden Snitch!

Though he looked rather bedraggled and had nearly swallowed the Snitch, Harry had ultimately succeeded in helping Gryffindor defeat Slytherin!