Come on, say that again?

On Saturday morning, William, Hermione, Anne, Cedric, and Cho left the castle.

They were going to visit Hagrid.

However, as they passed the Quidditch Pitch, the five separated, with Anne taking Hermione's arm and pulling her towards the pitch.

The two were holding hands; to an outsider, they would have looked like sisters.

Actually, they argued countless times during the summer vacation.

So, girls are really strange creatures. Even if the relationship is just so-so, they still hold hands when they walk down the street.

Even going to the toilet requires going in groups, as if afraid of little monsters.

This is truly baffling behavior from a girl!

When have you ever seen guys holding hands while going to the bathroom...? Tsk tsk, William can't even imagine that scene, it's too exciting.

"Where are they going?" Qiu asked as they crossed a meadow. "Aren't they going to see Hagrid?"

"They went to watch Gryffindor's training first. Wood started his special training early in the morning, Anne dragged Hermione along to assess everyone's abilities firsthand, as she wants to join the team in a few years."

"Ha, Anne's joining the team too?"

William nodded. "During the summer vacation, I bought two Nimbus 2001 for Anne and Hermione. Anne is doing quite well in her studies."

"How is the performance of the Nimbus 2001?" Qiu asked with concern.

"The fastest speed is a bit faster than the Nimbus 2000, but the start-up time for both is about the same, so overall it's still within an acceptable range," Cedric explained.

"I have some statistics on Nimbus 2001 that I've compiled. I'll show them to you when I get back."

They played 5v5 brawl during the summer vacation and specifically tested the various performance aspects of Nimbus 2001.

Qiu nodded and then asked, "Is Gryffindor starting special training so early this year?"

"Yes, they're really keen to win the Quidditch Cup," William laughed.

"Especially when Lockhart gave the Golden Prisoner Award to Professor McGonagall, she berated Wood in her office for half an hour, giving him a firm order that he absolutely had to win the championship."

"Students from other colleges are all stumbling blocks on our path to defending our title." Qiu said, chin in hand.

"Could we recruit Anne as our spy to find out their tactics?" she suggested again, offering another wicked idea.

"Don't even think about it. Anne was trying to figure out our tactics this morning," William laughed.

"If Anne were to become a spy, she would definitely become a double agent, and she would feel a great sense of accomplishment if she could defeat Ravenclaw."

"This is troublesome. It seems our biggest enemy will be Gryffindor. As for the others... they're all worthless and not worth worrying about."

"Hey, you two are going too far!" Cedric complained. "Are you pretending I don't exist? We Hufflepuff have made it to the Grand Finals three times; we're the real favorites to win the championship. What are Gryffindor as trash?!"

William and Cho both laughed.

"We Gryffindor are the favorites this year, unlike those lousy bastards like Hufflepuff!"

In the Quidditch locker room, Wood waved a towel and loudly encouraged everyone.

However, no one listened to him; they were all drowsy and had arrived at four in the morning, so they were incredibly sleepy.

George had puffy eyes, messy hair, and was fast asleep with his head down.

Snoring, teeth grinding, sleep talking... he does it all!

One can't help but marvel at the talent of Gryffindor.

Fred went even further, drooping his head onto Angelina's shoulder, slowly and desperately trying to move it down, whether on purpose or not.

Angelina wore a smile, but her eyes held a murderous glint, ready to lash out at Fred at any moment and slap him to wake the scoundrel up.

Harry was sleeping the best, his head resting on Nimbus 1700's broom, but he seemed to have skipped breakfast, constantly chewing on the wood and making a crunching sound.

"Alright, guys, let's start training and test out the new tactics I just told you about!"

Wood woke everyone up and led them out of the locker room and onto the field.

"We're out!" Anne called out as she entered the Quidditch arena.

The two walked towards the stands, where Ron and Colin were already waiting.

Colin Creevey, also a first-year Gryffindor wizard and a huge Harry fan, was taking pictures one after another with his camera.

Ron sat alone in the chair, seemingly not liking him.

"Why are we only starting now?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "Didn't Wood say yesterday that he was going to take the Gryffindor group to see Hogwarts at four in the morning?"

"Who knows what's going on?" Ron yawned.

"I suspect Wood took Harry and the others and slept in the locker room all morning."

That's a complete slander against Wood. Harry and the others did sleep all morning, but Wood didn't sleep at all; he was in a state of high excitement the whole time.

Gryffindor began warming up, but within minutes, Slytherin students appeared.

"What's going on? Why are Slytherin students here?" Ron asked. "It's Malfoy!"

Ron seemed to have spotted an enemy. He jumped off the stands and ran towards the center of the arena, followed by Anne and Hermione.

"Flint!" Wood yelled at the Slytherin Quidditch Team captain, "This is our practice time! We got up especially early! Get out!"

"Oh, Wood," Flint said with a laugh, "That won't do. I have a note specially signed by Professor Snape; we need to train new Seeker."

Flint deliberately waved a piece of paper in his hand.

"You've added a new Seeker?" Wood's attention was diverted. "Where?"

Malfoy, accompanied by his two henchmen, emerged from behind the six tall players, a smug smile on his pale, pointed face.

"That's right, it's me."

Malfoy stared intently into Harry's eyes, licking his dry lips, his gaze burning.

finally,

He's finally closed the gap between himself and Potter!

The two were no longer so distant; Malfoy could openly exchange ball-playing techniques with Potter on the grass.

During the competition, they can sweat profusely, chase each other recklessly, and engage in physical collisions on the brooms in various ways.

And you don't have to worry about hurting the other person.

Ron had clearly thought of this as well; his eyes were gloomy and jealous as he looked at Malfoy's team uniform.

He also wanted to play ball with Harry!

Flint began to flaunt the Nimbus 2001 donated by Old Malfoy, its seven flying brooms Winky in the sunlight.

"Nimbus 1700? Hah, that's obsolete. Only you guys would treat trash like a treasure," Malfoy said smugly. "Never seen anything this valuable before, have you?"

"At least none of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team players had to pay to get in," Hermione said scathingly. "They got in entirely on merit."

Malfoy's smug face turned bright red, and he said angrily, "Nobody asked you, you stinking Mudblood!"

These words, once spoken, were like a depth charge.

Flint had to rush in front of Draco to prevent Fred and George from pounce on him and assault him.

Alicia screamed, "How dare you!"

Wood took off his shoe, intending to smash it against Malfoy.

Ron reached into his robes and pulled out his wand, but Flint quickly grabbed his hand.

Unnoticed by anyone, Anne bypassed the crowd, quickly walked to Malfoy's side, and slapped him hard across the face.

Her voice was cold as she said:

"Come!

One more curse,

Give it a try?!

Malfoy was stunned and wanted to retaliate, but Anne was faster, pulling out her wand and pointing it at his chest.

A spark erupted from the tip of the wand, and a spell was about to be unleashed.

Malfoy retreated in a panic, but Anne, still angry, chased after him and kicked him hard in the stomach.

Malfoy collapsed to the ground, covering his face with his left hand and his lower abdomen with his right, choking back sobs.

"My dad..."

Anne raised her chin, retorting sharply, "What's wrong with your father? My brother is William Stark."

"If I ever hear you curse Hermione again, it won't be as simple as just a slap."

Malfoy was speechless, choked with emotion, and didn't know what to say.