Chapter 300: Plotting Outside the Court

When the match started, Harry stared at the situation on the court without blinking. He soon discovered that Astoria was indeed in poor health; her flying speed was not fast, and she had no bright maneuvers. However, even if Draco had other plans, he should not have completely disregarded the honor of the House: it seemed that Astoria's observation was very keen. Harry noticed that she soon discovered the Snitch, and Jin Ni spent a lot of effort to block her back.

The reason Jin Ni chose to block her back instead of actively competing for the Snitch was that she discovered a very interesting thing: Crabbe and Gao Er, these two big silly beaters, were a mess in team cooperation and only knew how to take care of Greengrass. This led to the Slytherin team's front being very weak. Luo En could easily block their attacks, while their keeper Miles Bletchley was left and right in the face of continuous fast breaks, and was cut down by thirty points not long after.

"I can't take it anymore." During halftime, Jin Ni rubbed her arms and complained. "Why are the Bludgers only greeting me? Did someone open the Chamber of Secrets again?"

"Confidence is the first lesson for a seeker, and pressure resistance is the last lesson." Harry said with an encouraging smile, patting her on the shoulder. "Come on, hold on a little longer, the point difference will soon exceed 150 points."

Harry turned his head and saw Draco not far away with a livid face, while Pan Xi had a light and airy look. He didn't know why he suddenly felt a bit of sympathy. Draco actually also valued the honor of Quidditch, and plotting something with a big defeat was also uncomfortable for him.

When the match reached the second half, the Gryffindor players became more and more relaxed, while the Slytherin front became more and more soft. Knowing they were not the opponent, they simply sent a chaser to carry out close protection for Greengrass. This led to Luo En, who had nothing to do, even rushing out of the penalty area and running to the opposite keeper to start showing off.

Correspondingly, under such extreme tactical tilt, Jin Ni, as a rookie, finally couldn't withstand all the pressure. After a turn, she was blocked by three big men and had to watch Greengrass catch the Snitch one step ahead of her, ending the match at 260:170.

Except for Jin Ni who looked a bit helpless, everyone else was high-spirited, hooking shoulders and backs, laughing and talking. And after Harry greeted them, he quietly leaned toward the Slytherin direction. He was very curious about what Ma Erfu's so-called "plot outside the court" would be.

"I said it countless times, you have to pull with her, pull first, you don't remember at all!" Pan Xi said angrily.

"I was pulling." Astoria said in a low voice.

"Which wave of yours was pulling?" Pan Xi asked sharply.

"I really was pulling, you can ask the beaters." Astoria's voice was slightly louder.

"We are asking the beaters!" Pan Xi glared at Crabbe fiercely. "So many resources were tilted toward you, and the result was played like this ghost. You have such a big advantage in the line, and you caught it so late. Are you worthy of the help they gave you?"

"That, Astoria should have been trying hard..." Gao Er scratched his head and tried to defend.

"You still have the nerve to open your mouth?" Draco also got angry. He threw a notebook at Gao Er. "The opponent can counterattack and we can't, the opponent can double-attack and break the door and we can't. I really don't know what you two practiced. As long as the seeker doesn't have a big advantage, we are a rout all the way."

"I don't know either, I just don't hit accurately. We couldn't hit accurately before either, but blocking or colliding can also be played, there are many tactics..." Crabbe described clumsily the team that used to rely on physical brute force to gain an advantage.

"Look at that group of big silly guys before, which time weren't they played like monkeys by Harry and Cedric?" Draco pointed forcefully at Crabbe's chest. "Is it so hard to practice a hand of beating in a summer vacation? It's always four-protect-one when fighting, and the protection is done like shit."

"Forget it." Pan Xi waved her hand. "Let's go, it's gone this year."

"Eh, no—forget it, I won't say it." Draco also shook his head and left the court.

Subsequently, Gao Er put his hand on Astoria's shoulder and squeezed out an ugly smile: "It doesn't matter, you performed very well today, we will still protect you next time, maybe a little faster, and if we are lucky, we will win."

"Thank you, but I'm really tired after flying to the back." Astoria sighed. "You should have chosen Harper in the first place, he is much better than me."

"Oh, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it's just a match, it will be fine after exercising a bit more." Daphne Greengrass, who had been standing on the side, stepped forward and took her sister into her arms. "Vincent, Gregory, thank you for protecting her on the court."

Harry, not far away, watched this farce. He suddenly had some realization and said thoughtfully: "It seems this is the breakthrough method Draco thought of. The gap between our two teams is actually reflected in the beaters. Two beaters who are not smart and have no accuracy will make all aspects of the team fall into a disadvantage."

"So, even if he plays himself, he might not necessarily beat me in the face of the huge gap of beaters. Therefore, when Draco discovered that Greengrass's observation is actually quite good, he used this very risky plan." Harry thought seriously. "He pretended to agree with me to use substitutes, but actually hoped that Jin Ni would be a rookie, underestimate Greengrass, and be caught off guard and immediately end the match."

"Very clever tactic. If Jin Ni's technique wasn't better than he imagined, we would have been attacked. Sigh, after all, winning by weak against strong always requires a bit of luck, it's just that fate happened to stand on our side this time." After Harry finished his analysis, he also sighed with great emotion. When he came to watch the match for the first time in his first year, the Gryffindor team also chose to go all-in when the hard strength was not as good as the opponent but failed. Now that the roles are reversed, it is truly sigh-worthy.

"I admit that your Excellency's words make a lot of sense, but if, I mean if, this is exactly what Ma Erfu wants?" Eve revealed a look of having everything under control. "Putting aside the content of the match, what did Ma Erfu and Pan Xi do, and what did Crabbe and Gao Er do, what is Greengrass thinking?"

"Are you crazy or is he crazy? Or is Greengrass crazy too?" Zhang Qiu couldn't help laughing. "If you three are less crazy, you wouldn't think of this layer. Really, Luna can't tell such an outrageous ghost story."

"What ghost story?" Harry actually didn't understand what Eve meant.

"She wants to say, Ma Erfu is a very clever move." Zhang Qiu explained for Eve. "First, scold Greengrass to her face, pushing her away while letting Pan Xi set her heart at ease; subsequently, send capable subordinates to comfort Greengrass, letting the subordinates gain Greengrass's trust; finally, when he scolded Greengrass, it was toward the matter and not the person, making it convenient to repair the relationship later."

"In this way, Ma Erfu can eat Greengrass family's household without breaking up with Pan Xi: Daphne and Astoria sisters happen to marry Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Gao Er respectively." Eve said confidently with a look that saw through everything. "And after marriage, he has ways to get all three of them into bed."

"Indeed, this plan is interlocking and very clever." Harry glanced at Zhang Qiu, then revealed a helpless smile. "But just like Zhang Qiu said, if that so-called 'capable subordinate' is Crabbe and Gao Er, then unless Ma Erfu is crazy."

"Why do you think so?" Eve said with dissatisfaction. "What's wrong with Crabbe and Gao Er? They seem to be Ma Erfu's vassals, the boss has to give them a sip of soup after eating meat, right? The foundation and future of these two families are not bad. Furthermore, Crabbe and Gao Er themselves, they are tall and strong, although not very smart, they are just honest—at least they are quite good to their own people, not worse than ordinary people, right?"

"You are right, setting aside the prejudice brought by the Death Eater identity," Zhang Qiu's tone suddenly became serious. "Their reputation within the Snake House won't be very bad. Furthermore, it's almost difficult for the Greengrass family to find a better choice: now there are only two girls left in their family, and they must find a backer to protect them. The Ma Erfu family is already the best."

"By the way, there is one more point, the Greengrass family has been physically weak for generations. If they combine with the strong genes of Crabbe and Gao Er, perhaps the physical condition of the offspring will improve." Eve added.

"But what if the child born follows the mother in constitution and the father in IQ, wouldn't that be finished?" Zhang Qiu couldn't help laughing again.

"No, no, no, that's not right." Harry waved his hands, stopping the two girls' discussion. "If Greengrass really fell for that big oaf, whether it's because he's protective or strong or whatever, I wouldn't say a word. But if she's worried about other pure-blood families playing dirty and is only submitting herself to Crabbe or Gao Er to seek shelter under the Ma Erfu family, then that's different."

Harry said very seriously: "I must stop this kind of thing."

Zhang Qiu shrugged: "I know you have this strength. If doing so can make you happy, then so be it."

"What strength? Does the Order of the Phoenix manage so broadly?" Eve said disapprovingly.

"The struggle between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters is not just a struggle between Dark Magic and opposing Dark Magic. Dark Magic represents people doing whatever it takes for desire, so we should be," Harry grabbed her shoulders on both sides seriously, "a group of people willing to believe in the beauty of human nature, swearing to fight against all the ugliness of human nature."

"Speaking of this, Yanayev is bloodily suppressing Chechen opposition elements, and his secret wizard troops all use Dark Magic. Do you want to go and fight?" Zhang Qiu asked with a smile that was not a smile.

"Ah, this, this is a bit too ugly." Harry looked elsewhere awkwardly. "And it's too far." ===== CHAPTER 301 =====