Triple Coverage and a Trap

"His speed was fast—blindingly fast! Merlin's beard, I can't believe he's only riding a Cleansweep Six. Not even a Nimbus 2000 can reach that kind of speed—Hufflepuff's players are chasing him, chasing him, but none of them can catch up—not even Diggory, who's gone after him—can he stop him?—oh, he failed—Ye Ting keeps going—heavens, he slipped past the Keeper—the Quaffle is in!! He scored! He's scored again! Oh, he's a genius! In his very first Quidditch match, he's scored two goals in less than three minutes! I've never seen such a talented player. This is madness!"

Ye Ting turned back casually and high-fived his teammates one by one. Several older teammates even ruffled his hair. They were overjoyed, because Ye Ting's performance had told them one thing—Ravenclaw's era had arrived.

Over the course of the match, Ye Ting showed off his prowess. Although his broom's performance limited his top speed, his unpredictable changes in pace and precise positioning still allowed him to intercept Hufflepuff's passes five times in a row. Every interception was followed by an unexpected goal, and every interception set off cheers from the stands. The players assigned to mark him could not keep up with his rhythm at all and were left behind time and time again.

Lee Jordan's commentary was like the final shovelful of dirt being thrown onto their graves. "The score is now seventy to zero! Hufflepuff is completely outmatched. They've fallen into a deadlock—they can't attack, they can't defend, they can't even pass the ball! Before this Ravenclaw rookie, they can do nothing. They're facing an incredibly powerful predator. The slightest opening will bring a fatal blow!"

Cheers from the surrounding stands were mixed with waves of jeers, and the target of those jeers was obvious.

"Damn it... this guy."

"We're completely no match for him..."

Hufflepuff's Chasers had been thoroughly shaken by Ye Ting. Their movements gradually lost their former strength, and their focus grew worse and worse—they were nearly desperate.

With his team being crushed by a single opponent, Diggory, as captain, had no choice but to make a difficult decision: use a special tactic to salvage the situation.

He himself and the two Beaters would be responsible for keeping Ye Ting tightly marked, ready to surround him at any moment. Meanwhile, the three Chasers would have to expose themselves completely to the Bludgers while facing the opposing team's other two Chasers, relying on a direct offensive push to score.

This extreme tactic required the team to give up control of the Bludgers, abandon the search for the Golden Snitch, and focus entirely on attacking. One mistake could lead to severe consequences.

For example, Ravenclaw's Seeker might find the Golden Snitch quickly without anyone interfering and end the match at once.

Or the attacking Chasers might be struck repeatedly by Bludgers without any protection, with disastrous results.

Of course, Diggory had thought this through carefully before deciding to use this tactic. He believed that both dangers could be overcome in the short term: Ravenclaw's Seeker, Cho Chang, was still a second-year rookie. Though she had some talent, she was unlikely to find the Golden Snitch anytime soon, so she posed little threat to Hufflepuff.

And without Beaters protecting them, the Chasers could use a "penetration" tactic to keep themselves from being harmed by Bludgers for a short time—the so-called penetration tactic meant abandoning their own formation and completely mixing into the opposing players' formation. With both sides tangled together, it would be difficult for the Beaters to accurately hit the Bludgers at their opponents without injuring their own teammates.

Thus, during a stoppage in play, Diggory briefly arranged the tactic with his teammates.

As soon as Hufflepuff put the ball back into play, Ye Ting noticed that one Seeker and two Beaters—a total of three grown men—were eyeing him like tigers.

He tried to get around them and compete with Hufflepuff's Chasers for the Quaffle, but instead of doing their own jobs, the three of them swarmed forward to block him.

The two opposing Beaters even tried to pinch him from both sides, but he evaded them with ease. He first accelerated, then suddenly slowed to a stop just as they were about to close in on him. The two Hufflepuff Beaters could not brake in time and crashed into each other on the spot, nearly falling off their brooms.

After that, Hufflepuff's players no longer dared to surround him so recklessly. Yet the three still ignored their own duties and kept entangling themselves with him, leaving him completely unable to join the contest for the Quaffle.

Meanwhile, Hufflepuff's Chasers charged into Ravenclaw's formation. They engaged Ravenclaw's Chasers in close-quarters combat, three against two, leaving the Beaters beside them—who had already gained complete control of the Bludgers—with nowhere to strike.

Before long, Hufflepuff broke through near Ravenclaw's scoring area.

Hufflepuff's strategy was already obvious: their Beaters and Seeker would hold him back and separate him from his teammates, while their three Chasers used their temporary three-on-two advantage to complete an attack.

So his opponents did have some skill. They were not helpless weaklings incapable of fighting back.

Ye Ting nodded to himself. Their response was decent, but it still would not be enough to trouble him.

He made a gesture to Ravenclaw's Keeper and Chasers. The three of them immediately changed tactics after seeing it. Rather than focusing on fighting for the ball with their opponents, they chose to tangle with them instead, doing their best to slow Hufflepuff's attack.

Then Ye Ting waved to Ravenclaw's two Beaters, and they nodded in understanding. They gave up on using the Bludgers to interfere with Hufflepuff's Chasers and instead struck the Bludgers toward Ye Ting.

At that moment, Ye Ting was being held up by all three opposing players, and the four of them were not far apart.

Seeing the incoming Bludger, Ye Ting silently calculated the positions and speeds of the Bludger, the opposing players, and himself. Then, seizing the right moment, he darted ahead of one of Hufflepuff's Beaters.

Ye Ting's sudden move to cut him off startled the Beater. He hurriedly changed direction before colliding with Ye Ting, only to be caught off guard and struck squarely by the incoming Bludger. He nearly fell from his broom.

The three-man defense Hufflepuff had set up against Ye Ting immediately revealed a flaw.

Cedric Diggory and the other Beater were dodging another Bludger. Seeing this, they immediately tried to move up and help, but it was too late.

At that moment, Ye Ting was like a tiger released from its cage, a dragon entering the sea. He instantly took advantage of his speed, shook them off, and flew toward his own half of the pitch.

Only then did Diggory realize that, at some point, Ye Ting had lured all three of them far away from the center of the pitch. A considerable distance now separated them from the Chasers' battle.

It was already too late for them to return and help.

Diggory could not help but marvel: Ye Ting truly was a genius.

He had found a way to deal with Ye Ting and thought he had everything under control.

Who could have imagined that Ye Ting would still toy with him in the palm of his hand?

Hufflepuff was destined to lose this match.