Chapter 389

Two hours later, after an earful of complaints and watching others throw tantrums—one person smashed a broom, another knocked out a few teeth—Harry finally finalized the Chasers: Katie Bell, a mature and steady veteran; Jin Ni Weasley, a flying prodigy on the rise; and a newcomer named Demelza Robins, who was agile, had a good attitude, and was quite a promising talent.

Next came the Keeper tryouts. Harry had originally thought this would just be a formality, but after he casually eliminated the first few competitors, he was surprised to find that McLaggen's performance was excellent: he saved all five shots, and even Luo En hadn't done better than him.

"Good heavens, I have nothing to say to that." Harry patted McLaggen on the shoulder in surprise. "Why didn't you come to the tryouts last year?"

"Oh, I was in the hospital during the tryouts last year," McLaggen said with a hint of boasting. "I made a bet with someone and ate a pound of Doxy eggs."

"Eh, you missed a great opportunity." Harry felt this guy was a bit unreliable. "As for now, considering the issue of match experience, perhaps I can only have you as Luo En's backup."

"But match experience is something you only get once you're on the field, right?" McLaggen said, sounding unconvinced. "Or should we keep competing, maybe another five, or even ten shots?"

"Fine, but not now." Harry said calmly. "You can join the team first, and when we train, we'll decide who starts based on performance."

McLaggen grumbled as he walked toward the stands, while Luo En stood by his side.

Harry had deliberately left the Beater tryouts for last because he wanted to observe everyone's performance carefully and, combined with the other team members he already had a rough idea about, put together a team with a cohesive style.

But the Beater candidates disappointed him. Only one person named Jimmy Peakes had some power, another student named Ritchie Coote had decent accuracy, and the rest found it difficult even to hit a Bludger.

"If we really can't do any better, we'll have to keep those two? But that's too pathetic." Harry frowned as he commented. "We'll go from being the strongest team to second-rate overnight."

"Yeah, I don't think they can support any tactics." Luo En scratched his head. "That would waste all of Wood's hard work."

"Are the Beater tryouts over? Should we compete another round?" McLaggen had wandered over at some point.

"Don't rush, we're still discussing." Harry looked up at the stands; the other team members were sitting properly in the front row, and he suddenly found McLaggen quite annoying.

"Get the job based on ability." McLaggen said deliberately. "How can a tie show ability? I really think we need a few more rounds."

"You don't understand the problem at all!" Harry snapped at him, dissatisfied. "It's not about the Keeper now; it's about the Beaters, and even how the whole team should play!"

"Quidditch is never won by seven strong individuals; it must be seven people who fit together. Can you understand that?" Harry poked McLaggen in the chest. "You only talk about how strong you are, but can you tell me how we win the match? What strategy do we use? Even if you keep the goalposts airtight, if the Chasers can't score, we'll only ever get 150 points. Do you think 450 points is enough to win the House Cup?"

McLaggen's eyes widened; he seemed to have never thought about this question before.

"This is a game that requires brains, mate." Luo En patted him on the shoulder magnanimously. "For example, if the Chaser has control of the Quaffle, but the opposing Keeper isn't a pushover, we have to use the Beaters to interfere with him to score. Do you understand?"

"So we're currently anxious because we can't find good Beaters. Seriously," Harry re-evaluated McLaggen's build, "do you have any interest in being a Beater?"

"I'm not really good at that." McLaggen said hesitantly. "I still think I'm pretty good at keeping, right?"

So such a blockhead could only be a Keeper, Harry thought with a mix of helplessness and frustration. Unlike Luo En, who had both a strong physique and agile tactical thinking, his understanding of the entire game... Harry clapped his hands together suddenly.

"I've got it. Let McLaggen be the Keeper." He said excitedly. "Luo En, you and I will play as Beaters."

"What?" Luo En opened his mouth in a daze.

"Our ability to read the game, our judgment of the situation, our mutual understanding—we've always been highly consistent in these areas. We'd be the perfect Beater pair," Harry explained his idea. "And our basic flying skills are solid enough; we just need to practice hitting. This is great, I think this is the best solution."

"But who will be the Seeker?" Luo En hadn't fully recovered yet. "Jin Ni? But then we'd have to find another Chaser..."

"We'll use that first-year, Edith." Harry's mind was incredibly clear at this moment. "She's very talented; we just need to focus on training her to find the Snitch. I can handle the interference; I know that best."

"Seems like it. You know the weaknesses of Seekers best, and I understand Keepers." Luo En blinked. "Crabbe and Goyle are total idiots; we can beat Slytherin entirely on our own performance."

"Great, now there's only one problem left," Harry strode toward the stands, "and that's how to convince McGonagall."

When they arrived at the stands, most of the others had already left, but Edith was indeed there, sitting between Nicola and that little chubby boy. The other two boys were nowhere to be seen, Mia had quietly left, and Hermione was sitting over by Eve, though he didn't know when that happened.

"Edith." Harry said kindly. "We want you to be the Seeker, and Luo En and I are switching to Beaters. What do you think?"

"Ah, I don't know much about it." Edith said modestly. "But I will do my best."

Harry called the players over, said a few brief words, and also told Dean Thomas, who hadn't made the cut, that if McGonagall absolutely refused to let Edith play, he would have Jin Ni switch back to Seeker and let him fill the vacant Chaser spot.

But the truth was, sixth-year Dean really didn't fly as well as first-year Edith, a frustrating fact he admitted himself.

When Harry found McGonagall and told her his idea, Professor McGonagall didn't object; she just looked at him with a smile.

"You remind me of the past, Potter." She said in a nostalgic tone. "Wood and you from before—you've both grown up now."

"I agree to this," she glanced at Edith, who was a bit nervous nearby. "You can join the team."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. On the way back, they even discussed how to solve the broom problem for Edith.

"I think I can take out a loan to buy one." She said. "If I'm frugal, I should be able to pay it back."

"Gringotts doesn't seem to have a loan service?" Luo En scratched his head.

"Right, no credit loans, only mortgage loans." Harry pondered for a moment. "However, I can personally exchange some Galleons for you; common Muggle currency is fine."

"Are US dollars okay?"

"That works too. Personally, I recommend the Nimbus 2001; if you have the money, you can also buy a Firebolt." Harry said while doing some mental math. "A Nimbus is about twenty thousand dollars, and a Firebolt would be over a hundred thousand."

"The Firebolt has already dropped in price, right?" Luo En said from the side; used to being poor, he couldn't stand hearing such large numbers.

Edith's expression was very ugly. She said quite reluctantly, "I, I'll go back and ask my father."

"Actually, this isn't very reasonable." After seeing Edith off, Harry said thoughtfully. "No one forbids Muggle-borns from playing Quidditch, but with the sky-high price of brooms, plus Gringotts' harsh exchange rates and limits, is Quidditch also excluding Muggle-borns?"

"But professional teams usually provide brooms," Luo En said. "Didn't Cedric switch to a Firebolt?"

"But if someone hasn't even played for the school team, how can they enter a professional team?" Harry shook his head. "However, this is one approach. I think the school should provide funds to buy brooms for Muggle-borns, and they would only need to return them to the school team after they leave."

"Wow, does that mean those ancient things in our training room came from that?" Luo En said curiously. "Could there have been such a rule in the past?"

"I don't think so," Harry shook his head. "It's more likely they were donated by students or professors. What I'm saying is that the Ministry of Magic should establish a special appropriation to solve this problem."

"But doesn't the Ministry of Magic have no money either? Dad has been saying lately that making the TARDIS cost too much money."

In that instant, Harry thought of many things. Were there deeper conspiracies and layouts surrounding the Doctor's plan? However, he convinced himself not to think too much. As long as they were walking on the path of justice, spending a little more money really wasn't a very high price to pay.

"Forget it, I'll ask Snape when I go to see him tonight." Harry said. "I think at least now that the school has money, we can try to get it started."

That night, under Mia's indifferent gaze, Snape refused the proposal without a second thought.

"I don't object to you sponsoring the team yourself, Young Master Potter; after all, background is part of one's strength." Snape said coldly. "But the school doesn't have extra money for you to play the saint. If you really want to gain an advantage over Draco, do as he does and pay out of your own pocket to buy a few brooms. Besides, a certain Padfoot is richer than Lucius now."

"Alright, let's continue with the previous topic. Today's reference material is Chapter Six of *Advanced Dark Magic Decryption* and page 12 of Grindelwald's notes, regarding Inferi creation and corpse control techniques. We need to study the commonalities of how spells affect human tissue..."