Light Wheel Company: Excitement

Chapter 66 Light Wheel Company: Excitement

"This seems interesting."

Avada in the stands raised an eyebrow: he seemed to understand the significance of the Seeker profession—it essentially added a new system to Quidditch.

Before the Golden Snitch slows down, it's a normal scoring contest between the Seeker and the Beater; but once the Snitch slows down and becomes catchable, the normal game switches to another mode, where both sides start interfering with each other's Seekers and protecting their own Seekers from being blocked—catching the Golden Snitch is never just the Seeker's job, but requires the cooperation of the entire team.

The two phases are interspersed, and the rules and tactics can be linked, which brings more tactical options and possibilities. This is the highlight of Quidditch—of course, this is on the premise that both teams adhere to the rules of the game.

Last year's competition wasn't nearly as entertaining as this one. The scoring phase was practically a foul contest, and after the Snitch slowed down, its high position caused the Seeker's and other players' contact zones to separate, with each group fighting their own game... which is why Avada had the illusion that the Seeker didn't need to participate in the contact.

Of course, the ridiculously low cost of committing a foul is still a drawback.

However, both Gryffindor and Slytherin unusually adhered to the rules in this match, perhaps to give the Savior some face, or perhaps Baron's presence slightly eased the animosity between the two sides. In any case, with strict adherence to the rules and no divisional separation, the match was quite exciting, even making Avada Kedavra feel thrilled.

After the Snitch disappeared, the match returned to the first phase. The Chaser and Beaters continued their intense battle, with Baron continuing to roam the field searching for the Snitch, while Harry remained high in the air…

Suddenly, Harry's flying broomstick began to shake unnaturally, and then the shaking began to intensify rapidly until it almost threw Harry off.

Then, the Nimbus 2000 completely lost control, starting to convulse and twist wildly, slowly and higher, pulling Harry away from the arena...

"My broom is broken!"

He shouted down, but unfortunately no one could hear him. He was too far away from the people below, and they were focused on the competition, oblivious to any extra noise...

"Voldemort has made his move."

Avada frowned, his gaze shifting from the arena to Quirrell and Snape in the stands. He noticed that their heads were indeed held higher than everyone else's, their eyes fixed on Harry's flying broomstick, muttering to themselves...

"Hermione? Hermione? Help!"

Seeing that Harry's broom was getting increasingly out of control and was about to throw him off, Avada couldn't help but look anxiously towards the Gryffindor seats. She then saw Hermione frowning and scanning the audience with a serious expression. It seemed that it would be some time before Snape's location was confirmed, and it was questionable whether Harry's broom could even last until the next second!

"Baron seems to have stopped cruising; his broom is slowing down... What's he trying to do?"

Just then, Lee Jordan, who was passionately commentating on the situation, noticed something unusual about Slytherin's Seeker: "He flew right up to Madam Hooch, is he going to the toilet? Wait, he pointed to the sky, let's see what's going on... Good heavens! Harry, what are you doing!?"

"Harry's broom seems to be malfunctioning. Merlin, above! Fortunately, Baron noticed the problem in time and reported it to the referee. Madam Hooch is ascending to Harry's side to provide emergency protection..."

"As expected of Baron."

Avada nodded slightly: Baron had been keeping an eye on Harry's movements while searching for the Snitch and using feints to distract him, and to prevent Harry from spotting the Snitch first. He was also the first to notice Harry's unusual behavior. In the heat of the first phase, the only other Seeker in the entire arena was probably the other Seeker.

Meanwhile, Hermione finally knocked Quirrell over and secretly set Snape's robes on fire. Amid the chaos, Harry's broom gradually regained its balance.

"Wait a minute, it seems like the entire audience is focused on Harry's broomstick because of the commentator's attention... Won't Nimbus Inc. be going to lose money?! Their latest groundbreaking product almost killed their savior..."

Seeing that the situation had passed, Avada's mind began to stir, and he couldn't help but start to mourn for the Nimbus Corporation.

"After this is all over, explain to Baron and have Mr. Shafik discuss issuing a statement with Dumbledore. Otherwise, Nimbus Corporation's market value might plummet... By the way, do magical societies even have stock markets?"

While pondering the details of the magical world, Avada refocused on the match. Just as Harry regained his balance, he suddenly twisted his head and plummeted almost ninety degrees towards the ground. Baron, however, had already begun his race towards the same spot...

"The Seekers have spotted the Snitch again! But this time it's different; the Snitch is appearing very low, almost flush with the ground!"

"Baron is closest to the Snitch because of his distance advantage, while Harry is still some distance away... Baron is slowing down! He's probably worried about hitting the ground with his broom if he's too low, so he's trying to approach the Snitch with a gentler curve... Slytherin is intercepting the diving Harry! But Fred and George blocked him! Well done!"

"Harry overtook Baron, who had already slowed down, and he was very close to the ground! But he didn't slow down; he was still diving at full speed!"

"A beautiful lift! He made a near 90-degree turn, less than two meters off the ground! Merlin, what exquisite skill! And the Nimbus 2000 truly deserves its reputation as a revolutionary product; with any other broom, that would probably have snapped in two..."

"Harry's broom hit the ground! He's covering his mouth with his hand, probably nauseous... Wait, what's he holding?!"

"It's the Golden Snitch! He caught the thief!"

"Score 170:50, Gryffindor wins!"

A deafening roar, almost shaking the stadium, erupted from the Gryffindor seats. Amidst the cheers and chaos, the first match of the year concluded beautifully—a match even worthy of commemoration: not a single player committed a foul in the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game, and the Slytherin Seeker even helped the Gryffindors… It wouldn't be an exaggeration to include it in the school's history!

Thank you.

Before leaving, Harry ran over gratefully to thank Baron, apparently having heard about Baron from his teammates. He then remarked, "If only Slytherin were all like you."

"..."

Baron silently rolled his eyes: Good grief, I saved your life and you insulted my academy. Although my academy does have some flaws, you little rascal, aren't you being a bit too honest?

In the end, he could only manage a few words of praise for Harry's 90-degree turn with a smile, then, while silently vowing to himself that next year he'd get the best broom and give the kid a good beating, he left the arena with the still somewhat indignant Slytherins. Harry, after celebrating with his teammates, returned to his friends…

"It was Snape!" Ron eagerly explained to Harry and Hagrid. "Hermione and I both saw it. He was chanting a spell for your flying broomstick, muttering to himself, and his eyes were glued to you!"

"nonsense."

Hagrid shook his head, clearly disdainful of such remarks: "Why would Snape do something like that?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances, unsure how to tell him. Finally, Harry decided to tell the truth: "I've found out some things about him..."

"On Halloween Eve, Snape tried to pass through the passage guarded by the three-headed dog, but was bitten on the leg. We believe he was trying to steal something the dog was guarding!"

Hagrid: ?!

(End of this chapter)