"It's starting! It's starting!"
The spectators in the stands waved their hands, cheering loudly for their teams.
The young Hogwarts students rose to their feet and held up pictures of their champions, while the hats they wore let out all sorts of cries to match the occasion.
At the center of the field, Madam Hooch, the match referee, kicked open the enormous, tightly locked iron chest.
Whoosh!
A baseball-sized key shot into the sky, trailing a bright streak of light. No wonder they had said it would be easy to spot.
Madam Hooch glanced at her watch and blew the silver whistle in her mouth again.
The match had begun!
Zhang Xiao tossed out his Small Sword and leaped onto it. A clear sword cry echoed through the room, keen swordlight flashed, and a rainbow-like streak shot straight into the sky!
At the same time, figures flew out of the preparation rooms and charged toward the field.
"Oh! We can see the champions leaving their preparation rooms, heading for different stages according to their planned strategies."
Ludo spoke rapidly:
"All right, we can see that Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons, and Uagadou have all adopted a 1-2-2 strategy.
"In our pre-match predictions, this was the most basic and reliable formation."
Just then, the scattered cheers from the stands suddenly turned into a thunderous chorus of startled cries. Ludo hurriedly put on his specially made magical glasses.
Then he sucked in a breath as though cold air had struck an aching tooth:
"5-0-0????"
He clutched his head, his eyes nearly popping out:
"Koldovstoretz has actually gone with a 5-0-0 formation! What are they thinking?
"Wait, what are they riding?"
The magical projection immediately zoomed in, revealing five Koldovstoretz wizards dressed like Muggles, riding enormous White Poplars as they roared back and forth across