Chapter 57: Quidditch Debut

Saturday's match was Gryffindor against Slytherin, the first Quidditch match between the two sides this school year, and also Harry's debut on the field.

Wood planned to use a relatively ordinary tactic in this game, that is, Chasers and Seekers perform their own duties, with Beaters acting as the rhythm engine, constantly using Bludgers to find opportunities, and the whole team flexibly changing tactics according to the effects they achieved. But even so, the autonomy Harry obtained was still greater than the autonomy a Seeker should have in normal circumstances.

When the Seeker profession just stepped onto the competition stage, they were just wandering around for a whole game, observing the Snitch and trying to catch it. But with the progress of tactics, the Seeker's participation in overall encirclement became a necessary thing. On one hand, this is because the encirclement with the Seeker's participation will be more overall and easier to grab the Quaffle, and on the other hand, it can also make it difficult for the opponent to judge whether the Seeker is preparing to participate in the encirclement or using the encirclement as a cover to catch the Snitch.

And the duel between Seekers actually tests the details and control of mentality of both sides. The psychological game in this can be very complex, but the goal of the game is actually very simple, that is, when seeing the Snitch, you must make the other side believe you didn't see it, and when you don't see the Snitch, you must occasionally make the opponent think you saw it.

Just looking at the data from practice matches, Harry is worthy of being the youngest and most talented Seeker in the school team. Although he is just a newcomer with slightly immature consciousness, just looking at the time required to discover the Snitch for the first time, Harry's speed is almost the fastest; on average, it takes less than four minutes for him to lock onto the Snitch's position in the stadium for the first time. This finding speed will exert very great pressure on his opponent.

This time, the opponent is Ma Erfu of the Slytherin team. His performance in all aspects is relatively mediocre, but he has a strength that other Seekers don't have, which is that facing Harry Potter, he dares to operate. Cedric always puts down the actions in his hands after Harry makes a move, trying to stop him, whether he really found the Snitch or just intended to cooperate with an encirclement.

But Ma Erfu is different. Sometimes he judges that Harry didn't find the Snitch, so he will design some tactical actions himself to have a resource exchange with him. From the perspective of a bystander, that is, Ma Erfu doesn't lack some exquisite highlight moments, but more often it is him being played around by Harry.

This game is also Ma Erfu's debut. Both Seekers know that in an official match, with everyone going all out, the results achieved by their newcomer debut directly determine their tactical status in the team for a long time to come.

At the beginning of the match, Harry and Ma Erfu found each other without prior consultation. They flew side by side, doing all kinds of dangerous skill actions. The opening confrontation was very fierce because both intended to gain an advantage in momentum in this wave, so as to be more calm in the subsequent searching process.

Ma Erfu suddenly performed a left roll in flight, which startled Harry. He was planning to operate a sudden stop without showing weakness, but a Bludger flew over, almost hitting his head.

After Harry dodged the first attack of the Bludger, the ball flew toward him again like a boomerang.

At this time, Harry hadn't realized the seriousness of the matter. He started to lean toward the twins as he did in normal training. When he found that he was targeted by a Bludger, he started to lean toward the twins.

Harry didn't care whether the person holding the short stick beside him was Fred or George. He lowered his head slightly, and the Beater gave the Bludger a full-force blow. From the direction it flew, it could cause no small impact on Slytherin's formation.

Just when Harry intended to seize this opportunity to assist in participating in a small-scale encirclement, he was surprised to find that the Bludger turned its head in the air again and flew toward himself.

The Beater hit the Bludger preparing to attack Harry for the second time. This wave was a hurried hit, too late to aim, so the Bludger just left the two teams far away.

"I'll help you catch a wave, four-on-two." Harry said.

Just when they were adjusting their brooms preparing to fall into position, that Bludger that flew far away forced its way back, directly disrupting Harry's plan.

After hitting the Bludger away for the third time, Harry realized that things might be a bit wrong, and Fred and George also noticed that this Bludger was too persistent toward Harry. Now they could only protect Harry in all directions, avoiding him being injured and leaving the field because of the Bludger.

The twins had never felt that hitting a ball was such a frequent thing. They could still hit the ball very far at first, causing some trouble for Slytherin, but soon the two had to start taking turns hitting the ball, and the force was also much smaller.

"No, we have to call a timeout." Harry said. He couldn't see anything except the constantly waving arms of George and Fred.

Wood also noticed the abnormality of the Bludger. He turned his head from time to time to look at the situation here. When he noticed George's gesture, he quickly raised his hand, signaling to Madam Hooch.

After the timeout, Wood asked hurriedly: "What's going on, why is this Bludger like it's targeting Harry?"

"It's not like it, it is targeting Harry." Fred said panting. "We hit it away from Harry at least a hundred times, it's completely useless. The Slytherin people must have cast a spell on him."

"But since the last training, all balls have been kept by Madam Hooch." Wood frowned. "They shouldn't have this opportunity."

"Listen to me, Wood." Harry gradually calmed down from the chaos just now. "Undoubtedly this is a conspiracy aimed at me. I don't want us to stop the game because of this."

"Then what do you think?" In Wood's heart, Harry's safety and the victory of the game were equally important. He decided to respect Harry's own opinion.

"If it goes on like this, I can't find the ball at all. I suggest turning to operations next." Harry said. "The problem is only one Bludger, the other Bludger is still flying around on the field. Slytherin's Beaters are relatively dead-brained, they only fly around looking for the other Bludger."

"Now the Bludger is chasing me and hitting me. Although I will fly more difficultly, it is equivalent to liberating Fred and George. In the front, we can form a five-on-three situation, which is actually favorable to us." Harry analyzed. "And if I take this flying Bludger and keep following Ma Erfu, this ball will interfere with both of us at the same time."

"In this way, this Bludger chasing me instead becomes a neutral resource we can use." Wood clapped his hands suddenly. "And, if you find the Snitch and start accelerating, Ma Erfu might not necessarily keep up. He might still think you are dodging the Bludger."

"In fact, as soon as the game resumes, I have to start accelerating and maneuvering." Harry said helplessly. "Because I really need to dodge the Bludger."

"Are you ready to play?" Madam Hooch asked.

"Ready." Wood saw Harry nod to him, so he agreed to resume the game.

After rising into the air again, Harry noticed that it started to rain a bit, and the Bludger was still persistently looking for his trouble. He held the slippery broom handle tightly, calculating how he should operate in his heart.

Harry performed a pull-up directly, flew a long distance diagonally, calculated the speed of the Bludger slightly, and after a left roll, quickly flew toward the right. While flying, he adjusted his orientation left and right, looking just like there was a Snitch in front.

Ma Erfu saw Harry pull his operation to the full again, and he didn't see the Snitch for a while under the interference of the scattered light rain. After weighing it slightly, he decided to keep up with Harry.

"Are you okay?" Ma Erfu said loudly. In Harry's ears, this was blatant mockery.

"I'm fine, I'm about to catch it!" Harry said deliberately.

Harry kept accelerating, sometimes turning, sometimes diving. His broom never slowed down, which made him feel a bit dizzy. The dampness from the wooden handle made Harry a bit worried, but he knew that the only chance to win the game now was that he could persist, persist under the attack of this Bludger until Gryffindor achieved a sufficiently large score difference in the front.

Ma Erfu was still following behind Harry. The Bludger also caused no small interference to him, but compared to the Bludger, what made him more uncomfortable was the increasingly larger raindrops. The Slytherin team rarely trained in the rain, and he wasn't very used to this kind of flying in the rain.

On the contrary, Harry was already a bit used to this situation. Wood had pulled them to train in the rain more than once. According to George, their robes hadn't been dry since August.

"I must keep flying, keep flying." Harry thought while performing another dive and emergency pull-up. "Until they get enough points, or a miracle happens—"

Just when the word 'miracle' flashed through his mind, a golden light also flashed before his eyes. Through his glasses wet by the rain, Harry captured the figure of the Golden Snitch in the gaps of the water droplets. He instantly realized that the opportunity was fleeting, and there was no room for hesitation at this time.

Harry adjusted his position and turned to rush toward the Snitch. But in this short second of pause, that Bludger hit his right arm hard, directly causing his entire right hand to lose strength. Harry could only hold the broom handle tightly with his remaining left hand. He hadn't thought about how to catch the Snitch in his current state, only thinking about getting close first.

The speeding Harry and the Bludger constantly rushing toward him. Ma Erfu was somewhat accustomed to this situation. He dodged the Bludger's attack, then followed behind Harry unhurriedly, not noticing Harry's true intention at all.

Harry approached the Snitch. He made a bold move, which was to clamp the broom with his legs, while he stretched out his uninjured left hand to try to catch the Snitch. But the left hand was ultimately not as flexible as the right hand. He missed the Snitch, and the high-speed moving small ball hit his face directly. In a burst of chaos, Harry fell heavily from the broom, and Madam Hooch blew the whistle to announce a timeout hurriedly.

Just when everyone was worried about his safety, Harry's left hand was raised high, showing the small golden ball covered in saliva, and he shouted with his last bit of strength: "I caught the Snitch!" ===== CHAPTER 58 =====