Chapitre 54: Quidditch Practice game
The next day after Christmas, Edward, Dulcie, Neal, and Tracey traveled to Ireland. While Dulcie and Tracey were touring around, Edward and Neal went to the Quidditch Association of Ireland to report directly.
When Kylan Twigs saw Neal, he was taken back in surprise, "there must be some kind of mistake. Excuse me for a minute". He immediately called the scout, who was working in his cabin. When he entered the office, he was surprised to see Neal there. Instead of addressing the head, he walked towards Neal and Edward, who were waiting for him.
He raised his hand for a handshake, "can't believe we met, at last, Mr. Neal. Steve Twigs". As Neal took his hand, Kylan shouted, "oi, Steve, you are ignoring me again". Only then Steve looked towards him, "oops, sorry Brother, I forgot you were there for a second in excitement to meet this genius".
Kylan then said, "so, you didn't make a mistake? Is this really the boy? When I heard you said a Hogwarts student, I thought he might be a sixth or seventh-year student like that popular seeker Victor Krum. I didn't know that he was this young".
Then Kylan looked at Neal, "your name is Neal, right?". As Neal nodded, Kylan asked, "what is your age? 14-15?". Neal replied, "13, sir. I will be 14 in the upcoming June". Kylan almost screamed, "What! You aren't even 14 yet?". Steve replied, "well, he is tall for his age, isn't he?". Kylan nodded, "yes, it is true. Wait. That's not the point. Steve, did you forget that the minimum age is 14 to even participate in games?".
Steve then replied, "well, we can always make exceptions". Kylan then shouted, "you idiot. Do you think rules are like clothes or something that you can change whenever it is convenient for you?" Hearing their conversation made Neal disappointed and angry as he expected a different scenario. He looked at Edward who was ready to blow up in anger at any time, "what should we do now?".
Before he opened his mouth, Steve argued with him, "how about you see Mr. Slytherin's skills now and check whether he is suitable for the team or not". Kylan stepped back in surprise, "Mr. Slytherin? Who is that?".
Steve replied, "who else but him". As Steve pointed Neal, Kylan looked at him and asked, "you are Neal Slytherin?". As Edward and Neal nodded, Kylan stood there like a statue and his back started to sweat while he's thinking, "dammit. What have I done? How did I miss this? Those people from the House of Avery are lunatics. I can't believe I offended this guy but I also can't give him a spot".
Kylan cleared his throat and replied politely, "Mr. Slytherin, I extremely apologize for his actions. I'll write an apology notice in Daily Prophet for the mistake. I can't change the rules, you see". Neal stood up and said, "no need. It would make a laughing stock. I'll just say that I wasn't interested and rejected the invitation".
As Kylan is feeling relieved, Neal continued, "But, since I came all the way, I will play a small practice game with the National team members". Kylan nodded with a big smile on his face, "sure, thank you". Neal and Edward followed Kylan and Steve on a broom to their practice grounds.
As they went inside, Kylan was embarrassed to see there are no main players except Aidan Lynch, a 21-year-old Ireland team seeker, and captain. Spotting Kylan, Aidan immediately landed and greeted him.
Kylan nodded and asked, "where are the others?". Aidan replied, "well, everyone else is a bit busy today. I'm training the reserve players, right now". Kylan turned towards Neal and said, "Mr. Neal, I'm sorry but...".
Neal replied with no expression on his face, "it's fine. Reserve players would do". Kylan immediately smiled and looked at Aidan who was confused, "Mr. Aidan. Do one thing. Gather two teams to have a game with young Neal".
Aidan frowned, "what's going on, sir?". Kylan took him aside for a minute and explained everything. After the explanation is done, Aidan nodded, "sure. No problem. I also have to show the kid that even reserve players are much stronger than those kids in Hogwarts".
As Aidan gathered everyone and formed two teams, Neal asked, "wait. Can I use a personal broomstick?". While Aidan nodded, Neal ran towards Edward who was carrying his suitcase. He took the suitcase and after setting it to manual mode, he opened it with parseltongue, "open". Which he created a mechanism after two years of hard work so that no one other than a parselmouth wouldn't even be able to open the suitcase.
The suitcase opened by itself and he put his hand inside and pulled out Firebolt. After giving the suitcase back to Edward, he ran towards the team. Meanwhile, the reserve members who were watching the kid in amusement got surprised, "Hey, that's a Firebolt, isn't it?".
"Wow, it seems this kid is very rich. No wonder Mr. Kylan wants him to have a practice match with us". "But, can he even handle it? I heard that it can reach 150 miles per hour in just 10 seconds". Later, as everyone took their positions, Neal asked, "can I have the Quaffle?". Aidan who chose to be in Neal's team to balance the strengths on either side, replied, "sure, you can try". Neal changed his position to the center. No one complained about it as the game was for him.
As soon as the referee threw the Quaffle up and whistled when it reached the highest point, Neal looked at the Quaffle seriously and used the burst skill to catch it in a fraction of second. The players from either side were stumped, "what just happened?" As a member of the other team whispered himself, "is Firebolt that fast?". Aidan mumbled with a surprise, "that's a burst skill, isn't it?".
Before they know what's going on, Neal flew towards the goal post like a lightning and easily passed the two players. Since the training pitch here is three times bigger than the Hogwarts Quidditch stadium, the player at the back who recovered went to defend and tried to snatch the ball when he tries to evade.
But Neal went straight towards him. As the player was taken aback for a second as he thought the kid will crash onto him, Neal increased the speed of his broom and passed through him with the lightning cut move.
All players in the pitch were shocked to see such a move. The one who was passed through just now whispered to himself in fear as his back is full of sweat, "what was that ghost skill?". Before not even 10 seconds has been passed, the Quaffle has been passed through the Goalpost shocking not just the players but also Edward and Kylan.
Kylan whispered himself in a shock, "just what is this kid?". Steve smiled, "shocked, didn't you? Last year, when I heard the rumors that a 12-year-old kid being announced as the best chaser Hogwarts has ever seen, I was also skeptical about it.
Then, I used my Metamorphmagus ability to broke into Hogwarts and risked myself to see him myself, I was shocked to see him scoring 16 goals all on his own even in the heavy rain. he is the nemesis of a seeker, you know".
And before their conversation is over, Neal already scored once again all by himself while the six members of his team looking at him as a rare beast. On the other hand, Neal was happy inside while flying with Firebolt, "yes, this broom will bring out the best of my abilities".
20 minutes later, After the game is over by Aidan catching the snitch with a score of 300-10, Neal landed on the ground while others surrounded him and praised him for scoring 13 goals alone. Neal then walked towards Edward and looked at Kylan who was stupified there like a statue. He spoke, "too bad that National team members weren't here. Even Gryffindors were better than these guys".
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone