Chapter 110: Quidditch's Top Lineup

The body of a Puffskein is like a round ball, covered with milky yellow soft hair.

"Puffskeins have a very gentle personality," Hagrid explained, "Whether you hug them or throw them around, they are indifferent."

In fact, Puffskeins have always been one of the pets that wizards like. Some children from wizarding families are no strangers to them. However, Harry had never seen this kind of small animal, and he felt it was very interesting, while Hermione seemed to have immersed herself in its soft hair.

"Puffskeins are easy to take care of, and they will hum a tune when they are satisfied." Hagrid said loudly, "So if anyone can make a Puffskein hum, I will add a point to them."

Harry stroked the fur ball in his hand, thinking about how to take care of this little guy. Suddenly, a very thin, long pink tongue emerged from the middle of its body, stretching and spitting like a snake, as if looking for food.

"Hagrid, what do Puffskeins eat?" He asked.

"Anything, leftovers, or small bugs." Hagrid said, "But what they like most is wizard's dried boogers."

Harry gently brought his nose to that tongue. He could feel his nose itching, wanting to sneeze. Then, the long tongue retracted quickly, and Harry heard the Puffskein in his hand begin to make a rhythmic sound.

"Very good, Harry, I want to add a point to Gryffindor." Hagrid said happily, "Making a Puffskein satisfied is not a difficult thing, not bad, right?"

"I just hope," Harry heard Malfoy's lazy and arrogant voice, "Or rather, I originally thought, Hagrid, you could show us something more exciting."

"For example, a dragon, or a big spider." He said in a provocative tone.

"No rush, Mr. Ma Erfu, our great course has only just begun." Haige looked a bit uneasy. "Once you gradually become familiar with these docile magical creatures, I will introduce some larger friends for everyone to meet."

Harry actually didn't look forward to any big guys; he was worried Hagrid would cause teaching accidents.

However, in the next few classes, the magical creatures Hagrid found were basically small guys without offensive capabilities—Fwoopers, Hinkypunks, Grindylows—these were all easy to deal with. Luo En boasted several times that he didn't even need a wand to deal with them.

As for those little guys with offensive capabilities, Harry learned to deal with them in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows—these were all easy to deal with. Luo En boasted several times that he didn't even need a wand to deal with them.

Since Zhang Qiu was scared by the Boggart, her spirit had not been very good. One night, Harry even found her looking at the moon in a daze on the lawn. Harry clearly remembered that day was Friday. He had just finished listening to Lupin's theory class on Grindylows and was planning to go to the Black Lake to take a look at wild Grindylows at night, and then he saw Zhang Qiu sitting by the lake in a daze.

Harry walked up to her, wanting to try to make her happy.

"The moon is so beautiful today." Harry said, having nothing to say.

"Yes, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival." Zhang Qiu said absentmindedly, "It is the day when the moon is roundest in a year."

"What are you thinking about? Why are you so unhappy." Harry asked.

"I'm thinking, things not mentioned in divination, did they not happen, or are they not important."

"It doesn't matter, divination can only cover a part of life." Harry said with a smile, "Do I have to specifically divine what I eat every day?"

"Alright, just assume what you said is right." She stood up and patted the dust off her body, "So some things might not have happened, you just didn't notice."

"I always feel you are hiding something from me." Harry said suspiciously.

"Nothing fresh, still those things I told you on the train." Zhang Qiu shrugged, "Remember that note, call me if you have any adventure plans."

In Harry's confused gaze, she left in a hurry again.

However, Harry soon threw Zhang Qiu's distress to the back of his mind, because Wood happily announced that from October, they could resume Quidditch training. Originally, Professor McGonagall felt that a group of students on the court without protection might give Black an opportunity, but under Wood's repeated requests, she agreed to let Madam Hooch supervise Quidditch training and protect the children from being attacked by Black.

On the first Thursday of October, Wood took the players to re-familiarize themselves with the tactics. When other players were busy with positioning and changing formations, all Harry had to do was adjust the speed of the search route, making the Seeker occasionally protect the flank of the Chasers.

"Wood, I have a suggestion." After the training ended that day, Harry found Wood and said, "Our current tactics are a bit too single. We can't pull the score gap well in an advantageous game."

"Indeed, but it's a pity to let a top-tier Seeker like you join the group." Wood scratched his head, "You should put your main energy into seeking, we have to play to our strengths."

"Yes, so I'm thinking whether we can cultivate a more team-oriented Seeker as a substitute, so we can rotate." Harry said, "I found that Jin Ni actually has talent, perhaps we can arrange a time for her to have a trial."

"To tell you the truth, Harry, I have been thinking about who should take over my position as Keeper." Wood said, "I will graduate this year, where will the team go next year? Actually, I'm thinking about Luo En. He is almost the strongest among us."

"Correct, if Luo En serves as Keeper, Jin Ni serves as Seeker, and Fred and George are still Beaters." Harry found that more than half of them were Weasleys. "They will have more tacit understanding and will be better to cooperate. This way, we can form an ultimate scoring lineup."

Wood was still thinking.

"I felt it when I played against Hufflepuff last year. We need a more team-oriented Seeker." Harry said, "Compared to letting me practice a new set of tactics, I think it's better to find a newcomer to practice."

"Correct, I'm also worried that too much participation in the group will make you lose your Carry ability, so I haven't mentioned it." Wood nodded in agreement. "Then this week, let's let Jin Ni and Luo En play in a trial together."

"Training match against Slytherin, they will definitely play four-protect-one when they see newcomers." Harry said, "This way we can train the team nature of the Seeker, and also hide tactics, because Jin Ni is our secret weapon against Hufflepuff."

"Very good, Harry, I think you have the potential of a head coach." Wood nodded deeply.

They spent a Saturday conducting team trials. Jin Ni's performance was quite outstanding, and she played a style completely different from Harry's, which made Wood very happy. And Luo En, relying on his physical advantage, performed amazingly in the Keeper position. Wood almost held his hand with tears in his eyes, shouting that there were successors.

"I'm so happy to see you like this. The Gryffindor team has never fought such a wealthy battle." Wood said, "Experienced Chasers and Beaters, two genius Seekers with complementary styles, and a backup Keeper with infinite potential."

"This is simply a proper championship lineup." Wood held Luo En's hand tightly and said, "This year is my last year, and also your first year. I hope that after not winning the championship for seven consecutive years, we can win the championship for seven consecutive years and create a Gryffindor dynasty!"

"That might be a bit difficult." Luo En pulled his hand back, "But at least three championships should still be within reach."

The training match against Slytherin was scheduled for October 16th, which was the next Saturday. Wood intended to let Jin Ni and Luo En try to play. If their performance was unexpected, he even considered letting Luo En play in the official match to accumulate game experience in advance.

On the day of the training match, Malfoy found that it was Jin Ni who was playing against him, and he reminded her with a bad smile to be careful of being "military trained," but Jin Ni didn't play against him at all, but kept participating in the group to control the ball. Malfoy's series of wonderful operations could only be performed for the audience in the stands.

Finally, the training match ended at 150:120. After Gryffindor scored 120 points, Malfoy caught the Snitch unwillingly. He felt that the game was boring.

"I hope to play against Harry next time. You guys playing like this makes me very unhappy." He said to Wood in the stands, "And you, Harry, I don't want to see you using a little sister as a shield, we should compete on the same stage..."

"Harry? Harry?" Malfoy reached out and waved in front of his eyes.

"Sorry, I was looking over there just now." Harry pointed from afar to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "There is a black dog there, I don't know why I feel it is particularly strange... My god, I feel I have stared at that dog for at least five minutes."

"Then you'd better be careful, because a black dog indicates bad luck." Malfoy said hypocritically.

On the way back to the dormitory, Harry couldn't stop thinking about the black dog he saw just now. Last year, Zhang Qiu mentioned a kind of thing called the Hound of Tindalos, which made him feel very vigilant.

Because last year, it was only after she and Neville saw the black dog one after another that the Chamber of Secrets incident began to intensify, eventually almost causing the school to close. Harry was really worried that this year would be stirred up by Sirius Black, and then some sensational things would happen.

Just as he returned to the common room with a belly full of worry, Harry heard a girl shouting with a crying voice.

"October 16th! 'The thing you fear, it will happen on October 16th!' Do you remember? She guessed it, she guessed it!" ===== CHAPTER 111 =====