Quidditch Season

By November, the weather had begun to turn cold.

The mountains surrounding the school had become gray and chilly, and the lake had frozen like cold steel. Every morning, the ground was covered in snow. Hogwarts Castle looked especially lonely beneath the winter sky, its tower spires piled thick with snow that reflected a blinding white glare in the sunlight. Through the upper windows, Hagrid could be seen pacing along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, wrapped in a moleskin overcoat, rabbit-fur gloves, and enormous beaver-hide boots, like a clumsy, furry bear.

Every morning when Su Yu left the Slytherin common room, he would hunch his neck in the corridor. The dungeons had always been cold, but winter made them bone-chilling. Daphne had knitted him a silver-and-green scarf, which Su Yu wore every day. Nine-Tailed Fox had one too, but she still preferred lying on Su Yu's scarf to keep warm.

The Quidditch season was approaching.

The entire school was talking about it. In the corridors, the Great Hall, and classrooms, people everywhere were discussing which House would win.

No one knew who had leaked the news that Harry was a Seeker. Some people told Harry he was incredibly clever, while others said they ought to carry mattresses beneath him in case he fell.

Su Yu had heard from Hermione that she had often been tutoring Harry with his homework lately. She had also found him a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry had been reading it with such relish that he even read while eating.

"He really likes Quidditch," Hermione said to Su Yu as she sat at the Slytherin table. She often came over to eat with Su Yu now, and she knew the aisle between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables better than she knew the corridors. "I think he's interested in everything except studying."

Su Yu leaned against Daphne's shoulder and listened to Hermione speak.

"Oh, right." Hermione lowered her voice and leaned closer. "Harry said Snape seemed to be stealing something."

Su Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Do you remember that three-headed dog we talked about before?" Hermione's eyes lit up. "The night I told you about it, I later found that the three-headed dog was standing on a trapdoor. Harry said Snape wanted to steal whatever was underneath it."

Su Yu patted her little head.

"Sometimes, what your eyes see isn't the truth," Su Yu said.

Hermione blinked her little eyes, not understanding what Su Yu meant.

On the morning of the Quidditch match, dawn came early, and it was bitterly cold.

When Su Yu climbed out of bed, it felt as though outside the blankets was another world. Nine-Tailed Fox was still curled up beneath the covers, showing only the tip of her nose, with her nine tails wrapped tightly around herself. Sister Ka had already washed up and gotten dressed. She had to go arrange today's Quidditch plans first, so she could not leave with Su Yu and the others.

She kissed Su Yu on the face, then left the dormitory.

When Su Yu fished Nine-Tailed Fox out of bed, her tails puffed up into a ball.

The school's Great Hall was filled with the delicious scent of fried sausages. The long tables were laden with steaming breakfast: toast, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, and a huge pot of hot porridge. The students chattered excitedly, anticipating the thrilling Quidditch match about to begin. Su Yu noticed that the food in front of Harry at the Gryffindor table was almost untouched—he was too nervous. Ron was beside him, patting his shoulder and saying something, while Hermione was there too, holding a small booklet and apparently explaining tactics to Harry.

Su Yu ate a great deal. He liked winter, though contradictorily, he did not like it being too cold. Sister Fa fed him several pieces of sausage, and Daphne helped him wrap up his scarf.

Around eleven o'clock, it seemed as though all the students in the school had gathered in the stands around the Quidditch pitch.

Many people had brought binoculars. The stands were very high, and the seats seemed to have been raised a little, but with so many people, it was still hard at times to see what was happening on the pitch. The flags of the four Houses fluttered in the stands—a red lion, green snake, blue eagle, and yellow badger—snapping in the frigid wind.

Su Yu was a little cold. He said he had to hold Sister Fa to warm up.

Naturally, Sister Fa did not refuse. The two of them sat in the front row of the stands. Sister Fa wore a turtleneck sweater today, along with a thick dark robe and a fur-collared coat over it. Su Yu hugged her from the side, buried his face in her chest, and collapsed entirely into her embrace. Sister Fa's body was warm; holding her felt like holding a heater.

"Are you still cold?" Sister Fa lowered her head and asked.

"I'm okay." Su Yu's voice was muffled against her chest.

Sister Fa smiled, pulled Su Yu more firmly into her arms, then tucked the hand he had wrapped around her waist beneath her sweater.

Sister Ka stood nearby with her arms folded, watching the pitch below. She wore a dark green robe today, with a silver snake-shaped brooch pinned at the collar. Her hair was tied up, revealing her slender neck. Her expression was intensely focused, her gray-green eyes narrowed against the cold wind, her lips pressed together slightly. Her entire presence seemed to say, "Don't talk to me."

Daphne, however, was not beside Su Yu today. Holding a hand warmer, she sat in the top row with Malfoy, Pansy, and several other Slytherin students, raising a huge banner that read, "For Slytherin's glory!" Pansy and Daphne held the flagpole while Malfoy shouted slogans beside them. Crabbe and Goyle stood behind them with their mouths open, and no one could tell whether they were shouting or yawning.

Nine-Tailed Fox poked her head out from Su Yu's arms, glanced at the pitch below, then shrank back in.

"So many people," Nine-Tailed Fox said. "Isn't it just riding brooms and chasing a ball?"

"You don't understand. Actually, I don't understand either. What's the point of this..." Su Yu said.

Nine-Tailed Fox snorted and buried her face in the crook of Su Yu's arm.

Referee Madam Hooch's whistle blew, and the match began.

Fourteen flying brooms shot up from the ground and soared into the sky.

The Slytherin players wore silver-and-green uniforms, while the Gryffindor players wore scarlet uniforms, making them especially conspicuous against the gray-white sky. Su Yu squinted upward. The sunlight was a little dazzling, and he could only barely make out the rapidly moving figures.

Slytherin completely dominated from the start.

Their captain and Seeker, Marcus Flint, was a sixth-year student, tall and powerfully built, like a small mountain on his broom. His flying style was brutal and direct—not nimble or evasive, but the kind that said, "I'm right here, and you can't crash into me." Several Gryffindor players were shoved aside by him and nearly fell from their brooms.

Slytherin's Beaters were also the best in the school. The two upper-year students—Derrick and Bole—worked seamlessly together, their bats whistling through the air. Under their strikes, the Bludgers flew like two black cannonballs, accurately hurtling toward the Gryffindor players. Although the Weasley twins, Gryffindor's Beaters, were quite skilled, Derrick and Bole were more experienced. Several times, they knocked the Bludgers near Gryffindor players' brooms, forcing them to dodge.

Less than ten minutes after the match began, Slytherin had scored twice.

Slytherin's Chasers worked together as smoothly as flowing water—Montague broke through on the left and passed the Quaffle to Pucey in the middle. Pucey used a feint to fool Gryffindor's Keeper, Wood, then gave a light toss. The Quaffle passed through Gryffindor's goal hoop.

Deafening cheers erupted from the Slytherin stands. Malfoy raised the flag even higher, Pansy screamed, and Crabbe and Goyle finally reacted, joining in with a few shouts.

"Slytherin! Slytherin!"

Su Yu saw Sister Ka's expression change slightly.

She was not cheering. Her gaze was fixed tightly on the pitch, her brow faintly furrowed, her lips moving. Su Yu listened carefully—she was giving instructions.

"Montague, your left side is open! Don't just charge down the middle!"

"Derrick, you hit the Bludger too high! Keep it lower!"

Sister Ka stood at the very front of the stands, one hand gripping the railing while the other was clenched into a fist. Her gray-green eyes followed every Slytherin player on the pitch. Her voice carried an unquestionable authority, more effective than Madam Hooch's whistle.

Hearing her voice, the Slytherin players immediately adjusted their tactics. Montague began breaking through on the left, while Derrick's hits went lower. Several times, he nearly struck Gryffindor's Seeker—that first-year student, Harry Potter.

But Gryffindor was not crushed.

Their Keeper, Wood, performed brilliantly, blocking three consecutive Slytherin shots. The Weasley twins also began to fight back, and the red Bludgers flew all over Slytherin's half of the pitch, nearly knocking Montague off his broom several times.

And Harry Potter—that first-year student—flew back and forth above the pitch on his Nimbus 2000.

Su Yu watched him.

Harry's flying posture was completely different from the way he usually walked. The Nimbus 2000 gleamed gold in the sunlight, astonishingly fast—faster than any of Slytherin's brooms. But accidents kept happening to him.

"That Potter flies pretty well, but why does it always feel like his broom isn't listening to him?" Sister Fa said.

"Yeah, probably some other accident," Su Yu said.

The match had gone on for nearly an hour, and Slytherin was leading by fifty points. The Gryffindor players looked somewhat exhausted, but Harry's energy seemed endless. He kept circling high in the sky, his eyes scanning every corner of the pitch for the Golden Snitch. For some reason, though, his broom was being a little disobedient today.

Sister Ka had shouted herself hoarse from the sidelines.

"Pucey! Someone's on your right! Move!"

"Montague, pass! Don't carry it yourself!"

"Flint! The Golden Snitch is on your left! Left!"

Marcus Flint suddenly turned and charged in the direction Sister Ka had indicated. He saw it—the Golden Snitch was less than two meters above the ground, hovering over a patch of low grass. Its wings beat rapidly, making a buzzing sound.

Gryffindor's Seeker, Harry, saw it too.

The two brooms dove at the same time. The Nimbus 2000 was clearly faster, Harry's body nearly pressed flat against the broom as the wind snapped his robes behind him. Flint's broom was from the Cleansweep series and was no match for it in speed.

But Flint was closer to the Golden Snitch.

Both of them reached out at once, their fingers grasping toward that tiny golden ball—

Suddenly, Harry's broom abruptly accelerated out of control, nearly throwing Harry off.

Then the spectators saw Harry collide with Flint. Harry plummeted at tremendous speed through the air before finally falling from his broom.

It turned out that Harry had swallowed the Golden Snitch in midair. Now he covered his mouth with both hands and coughed. At that moment, something golden fell into his hand.

"I caught the Golden Snitch!" he shouted, waving his hand above his head.

The whistle blew.

Madam Hooch's voice spread across the entire pitch under the effect of an Amplifying Charm: "The Golden Snitch has been caught by Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter! The match is over! Gryffindor wins!"

The Gryffindor stands erupted.

Red flags rolled like a sea of flames. Cheers, screams, and whistles mixed together, making Su Yu's ears hurt. The Weasley twins high-fived in the air, and Wood was so excited that he jumped off his broom and was caught by his teammates.

When Harry was surrounded by the Gryffindor players and returned to the Gryffindor stands, he wore an expression that said, "I can't believe it." Hermione rushed up to him, too excited to speak, and simply patted his shoulder hard. Ron jumped around beside them.

The Slytherin stands fell silent.

Su Yu looked at the scoreboard—Gryffindor had won, one hundred seventy to sixty. Harry had caught the Golden Snitch, earning Gryffindor one hundred fifty points, overtaking Slytherin in one stroke and ending the match.

Sister Ka released the railing, her hand hanging at her side. Her lips were pressed together, but her expression was calm.

"So close," Sister Ka said. Her voice was a little hoarse.

Malfoy cried that it was impossible, but there was nothing he could do.

Su Yu straightened up from Sister Fa's body, walked over to Sister Ka, and patted her shoulder.

"You played well," Su Yu said.

"We lost," Sister Ka said.

"We'll win next time."

Sister Ka turned to look at him, the crowd gradually dispersing from the pitch reflected in her green eyes. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing and only nodded slightly.

Daphne walked over and handed Sister Ka the hand warmer she was holding. Sister Ka took it and held it in her hands, lowering her head to look at the little brass warmer without saying a word.

The Slytherin players came down from the pitch. Montague's hair was a mess, Pucey's robe was torn, and Flint's face was livid. They walked beneath the stands and looked up at Sister Ka and Su Yu.

"Sorry," Flint said.

Sister Ka looked down at him.

"It isn't your fault," Sister Ka said. "Win it back next time."

Flint nodded and left with the other players.

Su Yu stood in the stands, watching Gryffindor continue its celebration. Harry was carried on Ron's shoulders, Hermione clapped beside them, and Percy wore a rare smile. In the distance, Professor Snape stood in the teachers' stand, his expression as gloomy as the sky before a storm.

Su Yu turned around and looked at the people beside him. Sister Fa, Sister Ka, and Daphne all stood quietly at his side. There were no complaints, no dejection, and no blaming one another. They simply stood quietly, watching the flags over the pitch slowly droop in the wind.

"Let's go," Su Yu said. "Let's go back and eat."

He started walking toward the bottom of the stands. Sister Fa and Sister Ka followed behind him, while Daphne walked at his side.

By the time they returned to the castle, the Great Hall was already full. However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere to be seen.

Su Yu sat down. Sister Fa sat to his right, Daphne to his left, and Sister Ka beside Sister Fa. Nine-Tailed Fox jumped onto the table, and a piece of cheesecake was soon placed before her.

"I want three pieces," Nine-Tailed Fox said.

"Why are there two fewer?" Su Yu asked.

"Because we lost. Losing puts me in no mood to eat too much."

Su Yu looked at Nine-Tailed Fox. She buried her face in the cake and refused to look at him.

Daphne poured Su Yu a cup of hot tea, Sister Ka placed a piece of sausage on his plate, and Sister Fa removed his scarf, folded it neatly, and set it aside.

Su Yu picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Is there another match next week?" Su Yu asked.

"No," Sister Ka said. "The next match is Gryffindor against Hufflepuff."

"Then we can get some proper rest."

Sister Fa smiled and reached over to ruffle Su Yu's hair. Su Yu did not avoid her.

Outside the window, the sky was gray, and snowflakes began to fall. Hogwarts Castle stood quietly in the winter afternoon, the torches on its stone walls swaying in the wind and casting the long corridors into shifting light and shadow.