Chapter 22: The Darkest Moment of Quidditch

In two weeks, Harry felt he had gotten used to the existence of the magic mirror. But on Monday of the third week of the second half of the semester, the magic mirror disappeared suddenly.

This made Harry feel very regretful. He originally planned to start practicing Felix Felicis this Wednesday, but now it seemed it was ruined. Zhang Qiu told him that this mirror might have been a private item of some teacher, only temporarily stored there, and it was very lucky that they could borrow it for two weeks.

Teachers might use the mirror to study more profound magic. After being sad for a period of time, Harry gradually forgot about the magic mirror.

One day in February, Harry learned from Luo En that the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin might be the most critical match that would directly determine the ownership of the House Cup this school year, which made him feel very excited, and the two decided to watch it together.

As soon as he walked to the arena, Harry could feel the scorching atmosphere. The players of both sides were making pre-match preparations under the crowd of their respective students. Harry squeezed into the crowd and watched the seven players with a hint of envy. He could clearly hear Oliver Wood's wonderful speech before the match.

"That year's final was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and the final score was 240:70. At that time, I saw Charlie Wei Silai sitting on the chair in despair, looking like ashes. I will never forget this scene," Wood said. "At that moment I was thinking, if I become a team player, I must win everything. Now the opportunity is right in front of me, I must consider whether this is the only opportunity in my life."

"I believe the Gryffindor team can have the glory of the past, and Charlie contributed a lot," under the gaze of Fred and George, Wood raised his broom. "To recast the glory of Gryffindor, it is my duty!"

Harry couldn't help but be brought to excitement by his speech. At this moment, he was very eager for the arrival of the second year, and he also wanted to give his all for the honor of Gryffindor on the field.

However, when they sat down in the auditorium, Harry heard Luo En say "Not good" in despair.

"The referee is Snape, he is famous for being partial," Luo En said. "I find it hard to imagine that in this situation, George and Fred can still gain an advantage."

"This is nothing, Snape can't cast curses on the players," Harry comforted.

But soon, Snape called a penalty, the reason being that George hit a Slytherin player with a Bludger.

"Why?" Luo En said with dissatisfaction. "Isn't the Beater's job to hit people with Bludgers? If this is not allowed, it's better to just punish them off the field!"

"It doesn't matter, look, they changed tactics," Harry's eyes were fixed on the field, and his mind followed the Quaffle.

After this penalty, Fred and George no longer hit Bludgers at the crowd. They put down part of the Beater's work and turned to participate in the encirclement of the Chasers.

"This is miserable," Luo En analyzed. "Alicia Spinnet is just a substitute Seeker, she has always been a Chaser. You say let her find the ball, can she find it? She doesn't have that ability."

Harry noticed that the Seeker girl had been following the Chasers to do encirclement, as if Gryffindor had four Chasers.

While the Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs was wandering on the periphery of the field, looking for the Golden Snitch with concentration.

"But the game is always full of uncertainty, and our scoring is relatively easier," Harry said. "It's 30:0 now, I think the change in tactics should just be an exchange, it can't be said who lost."

"It's not calculated like that," Luo En's theoretical knowledge was richer, and he also knew the Gryffindor team better. "Fred and George have always been our rhythm engines. Other teams can't figure out when they will participate in chasing the ball. This is Gryffindor's advantage."

"Then they are chasing the ball all the time," Harry understood a bit. "It's equivalent to us playing with them with open cards, and the deterrent power of the Beaters disappears."

"Look, Slytherin is almost all shrinking defense now," Luo En pointed to the field and said. "It looks like we have some advantage, but in terms of this scoring efficiency, it's just chronic death."

"It will take us at least an hour to get 150 points, or even longer," he added. "Even if my grandmother came to find the ball in this time, the game would have ended long ago."

"Yeah..." Harry said with a worried face. "If we want to turn the tables here, maybe we have to rely on a miracle."

"Cross-position substitution is really not advisable," Luo En said with dissatisfaction. "Fred told me that Wood originally wanted to recruit you directly as a Seeker, but McGonagall felt that the precedent of recruiting first-year students could not be opened."

"Perhaps my talent didn't impress her," Harry said with some regret. "I was too casual in the flying lesson, I should have shown some techniques properly."

The two of them couldn't do anything at this time, and could only watch the scoreboard anxiously, as if it could rise by ten or twenty points on its own under the expectations of the audience.

"My god, what is Wood doing?" Luo En stood up suddenly. "He almost flew out of the scoring area, is he going to start?"

"He joined the Chasers!" Harry shouted. "Is this compliant? Won't it be penalized?"

"No, Quidditch has no penalty for the goalkeeper leaving the scoring area," Luo En said. "Because this action is too risky, almost equal to looking for death."

"I believe this is the only way," Harry said. "You can't sit still because of risks. If you don't dare to operate this time, then once, once, you will never think of operating, and miracles will never appear."

What surprised them even more was that Wood really got a Quaffle. He pretended to fly toward his own goal, but suddenly threw the ball backward from his shoulder, and the one who caught the ball was Alicia Spinnet, who appeared as a Seeker.

"Almost a back-pass that bet on a career!" Luo En shouted excitedly. "Alicia is flying so fast, they can't catch up with her at all, we are going to win!"

"But she is a Seeker, even if the Seeker throws the ball into the goal, it can't score. And, we only got 50 points now, it's still early to win," Harry said confusedly.

"This is our tactic, George said it's called Chaser-Seeker linkage," Luo En said. "Look, Alicia... damn, who is that?"

A Slytherin player was sticking closely to Alicia's side; he was the Slytherin Seeker Terence.

Harry was surprised to find that whether it was Alicia or Terence, they didn't really fly toward the goalpost, and the other Gryffindor players were just intercepting, and no one was in a hurry to pass the ball.

After a burst of confusion, the green-robed Terence raised his right hand and shouted: "I caught the Snitch!"

The scoreboard turned into 50:150 at once, and the Slytherin audience began to cheer.

"What is this, all seven people are chasing the ball, what kind of game is this," a second-year student said disappointedly. "I think this team should be more pragmatic and figure out the rules of Quidditch first."

"You're wrong, Alicia's operation is the only chance of winning within the rules," Luo En couldn't help but refute. "As a Chaser, she couldn't win the Seeker's duel at all, so she has been participating in chasing the ball, so that when she really finds the Snitch, she can cover her real intention with the Quaffle."

In the surprised eyes of that student, Luo En said angrily: "And the goalkeeper will also help pay attention to the position of the Snitch. Wood getting up to chase the ball is the signal that he found the Snitch, so he will deliberately throw the Quaffle in the direction of the Snitch, so only Alicia will catch his ball, Katie and Angelina didn't fall into position."

"This is our helpless move thought out in the absence of a suitable Seeker," he said angrily. "Did you really understand the game?"

"Forget it, saying anything is wrong after losing," the players passed by him, and Fred also patted Luo En on the shoulder.

Several Gryffindor fans who didn't understand the game were still scolding them, and the questioning of "Are you worthy of us" was endless.

"Do you think we still have a chance to get the House Cup?" Harry asked.

"Unless Slytherin loses to Hufflepuff, and then we can get at least 270 points from Ravenclaw," Luo En said in despair. "Is this possible? It's very difficult."

The two returned to the common room with frustrated faces. Several students were discussing the game just now.

"It makes no sense at all, it played like a pile of shit, I suspect Wood bought his own loss before the game."

"The Quidditch team has never disappointed in disappointing people."

"George and Fred were sleepwalking the whole time, doing nothing but walking on the field. Do they think they are still shopping in the snack shop?"

Luo En's face was very bad, and he almost rushed up to reason with these people, but Harry pulled him.

"Your brother is right, saying anything is wrong after losing," Harry said softly. "Let's go for a walk, don't listen to what these people say."

"Phew, wait until I'm in fifth year," Luo En said earnestly. "I will prove to them who is the best goalkeeper at Hogwarts."

"I don't have that much patience," Harry said. "I will go to try out for Seeker next year. If the Slytherin Seeker is still at that level, then I think the trophy can already be booked."

"That's great, Harry," Luo En said excitedly. "I'll come to cheer for you then."

The two chatted about Quidditch aimlessly while walking back to the castle, and unknowingly, they saw Hagrid's hut from afar. Harry and Luo En looked at each other and decided to go in and sit for a while, and have a cup of Hagrid's afternoon tea. ===== CHAPTER 23 =====