Flint's Bitterness

That's strange, really strange.

Draco was completely baffled.

He even began to doubt whether he had guessed wrong.

"We're going to win the Quidditch Cup this school year." Draco was even more confused when he heard Roger Davies, who had become very cautious since his arrogant failure last year, say this.

"Our trump card is not training methods."

"It's Harry Potter!"

"He is the greatest Seeker in Hogwarts, and indeed in the world!"

"I can't believe my eyes!"

"He's the best!" said Phoenix, Cho Chang, Bradley, Richard, Henry, who were standing next to Harry.

"No matter what they say, you might as well go and support my business directly. You'll understand once you see it." Ron patted Draco on the shoulder.

Harry is indeed very impressive, as Draco observed Harry's training from Ron's perspective.

He never imagined that anyone could be so agile as to dodge six baseballs thrown at him in an instant.

Combined with Harry's fastest broomstick— Nimbus 2001 —it's unimaginable.

With Harry's unstoppable speed, they would only be able to win if the rules weren't changed, unless their opponent was Harry alone.

Clearly, their captain Flint, was aware of this as well.

Wood of Gryffindor is the same.

For reasons unknown, they announced the Triwizard Tournament almost simultaneously, emphasizing that this was their last chance to win the Quidditch Cup.

Wood was probably meant to boost morale. But he didn't understand why his captain, Flint, did it.

Until—"Draco, you're Potter's friend, go talk to Harry and the others. If he throws the next game against us, he and his teammates will each get Galleons. My budget is 100 Galleons, this is my last chance!" Draco finally understood Flint's intention.

Flint deliberately blocked him in this dilapidated room because— Flint wanted to play the victim and then use Galleons and his relationship with Harry to get Harry to go easy on him.

Do you know Josephina Flint?

"She was the Minister for Magic, my ancestor."

"Unlike Wood, who comes from an ordinary family, I can pursue my dreams even after graduation."

"But I, and most of the players on our team, have to take on the burden of our families after graduation."

"Like me—I'm going to be the director of the Portkey Office at the Magical Transportation Department."

"That's why we've always been so obsessed with winning, because our time at Hogwarts is the only time we have to play Quidditch."

"I envy them so much, being able to pursue their dreams!"

"And my life, I can see the end from the beginning." Seeing Draco frown, Flint quickly spoke his mind.

"But—even if Harry agrees, we might not necessarily win." Draco shook his head.

In his view, Gryffindor Hufflepuff were formidable rivals.

The reason Hufflepuff lost so badly to Ravenclaw last time was only because Harry was the Seeker. If Harry had been the Chaser, Hufflepuff with Dudley might not have lost.

"As long as Ravenclaw the water out, it'll be fine."

"We'll handle the rest ourselves. What we need is hope—and we can't see that in front of Harry Potter." Flint clenched his fist.

An hour later, gasps of surprise echoed through the Quidditch Pitch.

"What?"

"Is this Flint?"

Why should we give them the free pass?!

"Draco, do you think we should go easy on them?" Harry remained remarkably calm while everyone else was surprised and angry.

"It shouldn't be like that."

"I just don't like to refuse."

"Flint is serious this time, unlike before," Draco shrugged.

"So we don't need the 100 Galleons?"

"Um—I—I mean, even if we let them win, with Harry on our side we can still easily take the championship." Ron's gaze was hesitant.

"The point isn't about winning the championship, the point is how Quidditch can be associated with dirty money," Roger said angrily, swinging his broom.

"Then Draco, you take us to turn back Flint." Harry patted Draco on the shoulder.

"As expected, I knew the outcome all along."

"However, Harry, I always felt that Flint wouldn't only have this one trick up his sleeve."

"You need to be careful—I have a feeling he might resort to underhanded tactics," Draco said seriously.

Meanwhile, atop the towering Astronomy Tower, a handsome, dark-haired boy was watching the Quidditch Pitch.

It was as if he could see and hear everything happening there with just his eyes and ears.

"What's wrong, Tom?" A tall, thin, upright old man with a white beard stepped out from behind the black-haired boy.

"The Slytherin these days—alas, they're just ridiculous."

"Harry Potter did indeed refuse."

"However, he has changed a lot recently."

"It's not just about magic."

"His physical flexibility and reaction speed are also improving rapidly."

"Does the Potter family have any Care of Magical Creatures bloodlines? Like your Dumbledore's Phoenix?" The dark-haired boy Riddle squinted.

He now finally believes that Dumbledore's Prophecy is reliable.

Before this, he would have thought that Harry Potter had the potential to survive against Voldemort.

Perhaps Harry defeated Voldemort last year.

But Voldemort was still very vulnerable at this time.

As Voldemort's Horcrux, or rather, another Voldemort, he knew very well how powerful he was in his prime.

Defeating Voldemort is possible, but killing him?

With Voldemort's immense power and immortality, frankly, if it weren't for the fact that he was also Horcrux, he would have lost confidence in killing Voldemort long ago.

"No."

"Severus and I had discussed this before."

"Just because he noticed that Harry has been distant from him lately." Dumbledore's face was full of a strange smile.

"What?" Riddle asked with interest, noticing the intriguing story behind Dumbledore's expression.

"Because of a dream."

"After investigating, Severus discovered that Harry's estrangement from him was all because of a dream," Dumbledore, keeping everyone in suspense.

"Dream?"

"Could it be that Harry Potter dreamt of Snape bowing down to that 'me' and pretending to be 'me' as an undercover agent?" Riddle's thoughts wandered.

Just as Riddle's expression grew increasingly certain, Dumbledore chuckled, "No, you were wrong after all!"

"Harry dreamed that Severus became his father."

"Of course, Lily is still his mother."

"This has kept Severus smiling lately."

"Many unsuspecting wizards mistakenly believed that he had found a new lover," Dumbledore said, finally sighing.

It's clear that he really hopes these guesses are true.

"That's obviously impossible. You know, Snape betrayed 'me' for that woman." Riddle finished speaking and looked at Harry, his eyes flashing with a strange light.