Draco smoothly steered the conversation back on track, saying gently, " Hermione is right. Diligence can raise a person's ceiling; talent alone is far from enough."
Hermione's tense shoulders finally relaxed slightly, and she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced up at Draco quickly, her eyes filled with a mixture of shame and anger, but her face no longer showed the same helplessness as before.
Parvati quickly waved his hand. "That's not what I meant. I meant that normal diligence simply can't reach this absurd level."
Draco sighed, feigning helplessness, and shrugged, saying, "Sigh, being too talented is also a kind of trouble."
Parvati almost spat out the Pumpkin Juice in his mouth because he couldn't catch his breath.
"You forced me to come clean; I didn't want to be so high-profile," Draco said, suppressing a laugh.
"I brought this on myself!" Parvati sighed, admitting defeat.
Ron laughed so hard he slapped the table, "Good question! Don't ever ask that again!"
Amidst laughter and cheerful conversation, everyone quickly finished dinner and followed Draco to the Quidditch Pitch.
From afar, Wood could be seen standing in the center of the field, head down, adjusting his equipment. At his feet were protective gear, a broom, and trial markers.
"Captain, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Draco stepped forward.
Wood looked up and smiled, "We've only been here a short while, let's get started right away. The first phase will be testing your compatibility with the broom."
He uttered the word "Get up," and the broom on the ground instantly flew precisely into his hand. Wood then handed him the broom, saying, "You should have handled one at home before, right?"
Draco nodded and took the broom.
"Put on your knee pads." Wood pointed to the protective gear beside his feet. "It's your first tryout, don't get injured."
Draco put on his knee pads and tightened the straps as Wood had instructed.
Seeing this, Wood cleared his throat and said, "Although you may already know about Quidditch, I'll explain it from the beginning. There are seven players on the team: three Chaser, who mainly pass and catch Quaffle and score goals. A goal is worth ten points."
He held up a bright red leather ball to display it.
Lavender listened intently and couldn't help but interject, "The score is too low! Catching the Golden Snitch is a whopping 150 points, it's practically game over in one go!"
Wood shook his head and said, "Actually, no. The Golden Snitch won't appear for a long time. If the Chaser pulls the lead to over 150 points, even if the opponent catches the Golden Snitch, they still won't win."
Ron's eyes lit up. "Then the Chaser's job is to ensure the score difference doesn't widen to 150 points and not drag his teammates down?"
"That's one way to understand it," Wood nodded.
Hermione said calmly, "There's no need to worry about this. Without the Chaser to compete, the whole game is just waiting for the Seeker, and the game loses its appeal; it's just a lot of waiting."
" Miss Granger is right," Wood agreed. "Every position is indispensable."
Lavender asked curiously, "Captain Wood, what's your position?"
"I'm the goalkeeper."
Lavender instinctively let out an "Ah."
Ron immediately chimed in, "Don't underestimate the goalkeeper! He's the last line of defense, absolutely crucial."
"Yes, yes, that's amazing too!" Lavender quickly added.
Wood didn't seem to care and continued, "There are two Beater who use their bats to hit the Bludger, protect their teammates, and also disrupt the opponents."
Ron asked, "Doesn't that mean you can hit whoever you want?"
"Yes, but protecting your teammates is the priority," Wood emphasized. "If you focus solely on attacking, and your teammates get hit by the ball or fall down, leaving the team short-handed, you're more likely to lose."
Ron nodded in sudden realization.
Wood opened an iron box, untied himself, and grabbed the black iron ball inside that was thrashing about.
"That's the Bludger. It's like... an energetic child who can't sit still for a moment."
He was using all his strength to suppress the ball in his arms.
Hermione frowned, saying worriedly, "That ball looks dangerous. What if it hits someone..."
Wood locked the Bludger back in the box before letting out a sigh of relief, "It's definitely dangerous; it'll indiscriminately chase the nearest person, so Beater is essential to keep it under control."
Ron added, "I've read the records; some people have been hit by it, suffered broken bones, fallen... or even died."
Neville's face paled. "It's so dangerous, why do you still want to play?"
Hermione also reached out uneasily and gently grasped Draco's arm.
Draco pressed Hermione's hand down with his own, gently reassuring her, "As long as no one's deliberately causing trouble off the field, a proper match is safe. And—I trust you'll 'keep an eye on' me."
As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of disdain and jeers erupted from the surrounding crowd.
"Huh--"
"Oh my!"
"I can't take it anymore"
Hermione blushed again, and tried to pull her hand away, but Draco gently held it, preventing her from breaking free. She could only lower her head and pretend to look at the ground.
The potentially dangerous topic of Quidditch was easily overshadowed by a dose of sweet romance.
Parvati asked curiously, "What position is Draco trying out today?"
Wood stated decisively, "There's only one position left— the Seeker."
"Wow--!" Lavender immediately let out a soft exclamation of surprise; her favorite position had always been the Seeker.
That's the key to deciding the outcome of the game.
Wood simply added, " The Seeker doesn't need to worry about anything else; just catch the Golden Snitch, and the game is over."
"Alright, that concludes the basic introduction. We'll discuss the training in more detail later. Now, let's begin the trial training."
Draco flipped himself onto the broom, and with a light flick of his wrist, the broom rose smoothly into the air, his movements calm and efficient.
Ron whistled loudly in excitement, while Lavender and Parvati clenched their hands and screamed softly with excitement.
Hermione tilted her head back, a hint of tension in her eyes, her gaze fixed intently on Draco high in the sky.
Wood shouted from below, "Do as I say first, fly one straight line forward and backward once."
Draco responded by accelerating, his broom shooting forward like an arrow, tracing a clean arc in the air.
It then nimbly turned around and flew steadily back to its starting point, its movements incredibly smooth.
"Very good." Wood nodded, then raised his wand and pointed it at the air.
Several pale blue halos of light were arranged vertically in the air, suspended still.
"Try to pass through the circle; it will disappear upon contact. It's not difficult."
This was effortless for Draco; the broom seemed like an extension of his body under his control.
It moved up and down, left and right, easily making its way back and forth, the rings fading away one after another.
Neville's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, " Draco is amazing! The broom is like his own hands and feet, it moves so freely!"
Ron grinned at him and said, "This is just a warm-up."
Wood said in a deep voice, "Next, I'll attack you with a Deterrent Ball. Dodge it as much as possible."
Hermione immediately looked up nervously. "Is there any danger?"
"Don't worry," Wood reassured, "Being 'hit' won't hurt you, it'll just explode into a cloud of colored smoke and make a sound, purely a test of reaction."
Hermione was slightly relieved.
Draco raised his hand high in the air to signal. "Ready."
Wood raised his wand, and the first luminous orb shot out rapidly, heading straight for him.
Draco slightly shifted his body to the side, easily dodging the attack. The ball of light slammed into a distant stone pillar, exploding into a burst of brilliant colored smoke.
Immediately afterwards, Wood began to release multiple orbs of light simultaneously, which surrounded him from all directions.
Draco moved with incredible agility, dodging left and right, leaping up and down, and spinning in mid-air. The broom was incredibly nimble in his hands.
All the orbs of light missed their target, leaving behind only a trail of exploding colorful mist.
Ron clenched his fist and shouted excitedly, "Well done, Draco!"
Parvati couldn't help but exclaim, "That's amazing! The reaction time is unbelievably fast!"
Wood's eyes lit up, and he raised his voice, "I need to speed things up!"
He waved his wand repeatedly, and orbs of light shot out like a barrage of bullets.
Draco remained composed, seamlessly blending his previous dodges, spins, dives, and sudden stops, weaving through the dense barrage of light projectiles without a single one touching him.
Wood looked at it, slowly nodded, and a look of genuine approval appeared on his face. He then announced loudly:
"Perfect, we can proceed to the next test!"