The 86 Overtakes!

At the sound of the whistle, six broomsticks shot forward at once.

The grounds erupted with earth-shaking cheers. The honor of their Houses was at stake; losing to their opponents in front of the entire student body would be utterly humiliating.

It was clear that Cedric and Marcus, both riding Cleansweep Sevens, were the fastest. They flew neck and neck at the very front of the pack.

Fred, Angelina, and another Slytherin student followed close behind them, also riding Cleansweep Sevens.

Roy's battered Model 86 broom was clearly less powerful, but with the body control of a special operations operator, Roy still clung tightly to the back of the pack.

The stretch from the grounds to the castle's first watchtower was entirely straight, requiring pure acceleration. In straight-line flight, Cedric and Marcus, who were in the lead, clearly had better control over their bodies.

As they approached the first corner, Lee Jordan in the stands somehow took on the role of commentator, loudly calling the race.

"We're coming up on the first corner! Let's see how the racers handle it!"

At the bend, the two who had been flying side by side finally pulled apart. Cedric's technique was evidently superior. With Marcus blocking the inside line, Cedric cleverly braked early to seize the inner position. After rounding the tower's pointed tip, his earlier acceleration gave him a one-body-length lead over Marcus.

Angelina, in the second group, might have been a girl, but her flying skills were formidable. Her smaller frame gave her a more flexible turning radius around corners, allowing her to pull slightly ahead of Fred and the other racer after the bend. She was only half a body length behind Marcus.

Though Roy accelerated slowly, his control through corners was the strongest. After the first bend, he somehow gained a slight lead over Fred by accelerating from the outside line.

"Oh my God! It's Roy! What a beautiful outside-line acceleration overtake! Could he and his 86 create a miracle in this race?!"

Marcus, having been left behind by Cedric, looked utterly unwilling to accept it. Yet no matter how desperately he chased, that gray-black-haired figure ahead was always one step faster.

With Cedric in the lead, the Hufflepuff students on the grounds burst into thunderous cheers.

As they neared the bend by the Astronomy Tower, perhaps stirred by the faint cheers carrying over from the grounds, Marcus made up his mind and flew straight through the pavilion at the top of the tower.

That daring move shortened his turning distance. Cedric, who had been playing it safe while leading, was caught by Marcus because of it.

This spectacular maneuver instantly ignited the Slytherin students' passion. Many young wizards even jumped straight up from the stands. For a moment, cries of Marcus Flint's name echoed throughout the entire school.

Flying through the pavilion was extremely dangerous, so Angelina and the others chose the safer route. This widened the gap between them and the two racers in front once more.

Just as Angelina was about to catch Marcus, she was pulled back again and unwillingly returned to the second group. But this time, Roy had moved up.

"Roy! It's Roy! He also chose to fly through the pavilion! What an incredible move! It has raised his position by another place. He's now only behind Cedric and Marcus—the suspense in this race isn't over yet!"

Someone had apparently cast Sonorus on Lee Jordan, and now his machine-gun-like commentary was loud enough for the entire school to hear.

Professor McGonagall had been marking this week's Transfiguration assignments in her office in the tower. But just as she finished grading Cedric's essay, the noise outside her window caught her attention.

Outside the window, Cedric and Marcus flew side by side on their broomsticks, streaking past Professor McGonagall's office window with a whoosh.

"What is this? Am I seeing things?" Professor McGonagall could not believe what was before her.

She was not mistaken. Roy soon shot past the window on his broom as well, with Fred and the others following behind him.

Professor McGonagall hurriedly pushed open the window and stuck her head out in disbelief, trying to see what was going on.

In fact, it was not just Professor McGonagall. Nearly every student and professor near a window in the whole school noticed the racers chasing one another through the air and the noisy grounds below.

When they flew past Ravenclaw Tower, nearly every student in the Ravenclaw common room crowded around the windows to watch the race.

"Why aren't any Ravenclaw students taking part in this race?"

Seeing the spectacle, an older Ravenclaw student could not help asking.

The office tower, Ravenclaw Tower, then Gryffindor Tower, the main tower, and the Headmaster's Office tower.

The six racers chased one another, the distances between them constantly narrowing and widening, but the rankings never changed.

After rounding the Headmaster's Office tower, they had completed most of the course. Once they went around the second annex, they would return to the straight sprint back to the grounds.

After weaving through the castle towers for so long, Roy had been drifting continuously. By now, he had caught up to the point where he was almost within reach of Cedric and Marcus at the front.

Roy gripped his broomstick tightly and silently calculated as he looked at the track nearing its end.

"That tower is—Professor Thorn's office!"

They were about to reach the final corner. By then, many older students had gathered on the grounds to watch the excitement, all loudly cheering for racers from their own Houses.

Lee Jordan's commentary rang through the sky above the grounds.

"We're approaching the final corner! Cedric and Marcus are still dead even. It looks like the final—my God! It's the 86! The 86 overtakes!"

From a distance, Roy saw that both windows of Professor Thorn's office were wide open. Professor Thorn himself was sitting in his chair, watching the race outside.

A bold plan formed in Roy's mind. He flipped upside down beneath his broomstick and, like a cannonball, precisely slammed through Professor Thorn's office window.

Roy shot straight through the room, stirring up a fierce gust that sent countless sheets of parchment flying everywhere.

Everyone was stunned as he passed through two such small windows in one go. But it also saved Roy a great deal of distance, and with that maneuver, he had now taken first place.

The grounds seemed to fall silent for two seconds before the Hufflepuff students erupted into even fiercer cheers.

Thorne, who had merely been sitting in his office watching the excitement, had not reacted at all. He only felt something whoosh straight through the room.

By the time he came to his senses, the office had been swept into a complete mess by the gale.

Thorne sat in his chair, still shaken, staring at the wreckage covering the floor. He truly had no idea what to do.

"Roy, you really are..."