章 98: Chapter 98: Quidditch Fever (2)
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The snow had stopped, but the rain grew heavier.
A bone-chilling coldness permeated the air, but it failed to extinguish the passion for Quidditch in the hearts of the spectators. People were cheering for their respective teams.
In a inconspicuous corner of the stands, Albert and a few of his dorm mates huddled together, watching the match. Hagrid, drenched from head to toe, sat beside them. The people around them completely ignored the freezing rain, cheering for Gryffindor's goals.
Albert lowered his single-tube telescope and used the Water-Repelling Charm on the lenses of his glasses to prevent the rain from blurring his vision.
On the Quidditch pitch, the intense competition continued. Slytherin never missed an opportunity and quickly seized the chance to counterattack.
With the protection of his teammates, Montague, the Slytherin Seeker, carried the Snitch into the scoring area. Nearby, the Beater, Locke, skillfully took advantage of the moment and hit the Bludger, aimed at him, toward Gryffindor's Keeper, Wood.
Wood was focused on Montague, trying to prevent him from scoring, but he failed to notice a Bludger flying towards him. When he heard the sound of the Bludger cutting through the air, he hastily dodged, narrowly avoiding the Bludger's attack.
Before Wood could fully recover from the panic, Montague seized the opportunity and broke through the defense of Gryffindor's Chaser, Danny. He swung the Bludger towards Wood's face.
Apart from the Slytherin area, a wave of "foul" erupted. The heavy rain in the sky was faintly suppressed by the uproar.
In the stands, Albert watched this scene and felt his own face ache. Getting hit in the face with a Bludger must be really unpleasant.
"Being a Quidditch player is a high-risk profession!"
"What? What did you just say? I couldn't hear you clearly." Hagrid, who was beside him, held a pair of binoculars and stared straight ahead at the sky. Upon hearing Albert's murmuring, he loudly asked.
"Nothing." Albert didn't have time to reflect before hearing Fred exclaim, "Oh no, Wood is about to fall off!"
At this moment, most of the people in the stands stood up in shock, watching Wood spiral down. Some screamed in terror, while others closed their eyes, afraid of witnessing Wood's fate.
Wood, with his face covered in Bludger residue, was still in a dazed state. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed his broom, sliding down along the railing of the scoring hoops. He crashed onto the grass of the Quidditch pitch, but his injuries were not too severe.
Madam Hooch immediately blew her whistle, announcing a temporary pause in the match, and landed beside Wood to check his injuries.
With an annoyed expression, Madam Pomfrey walked onto the pitch. She used spells to heal Wood's cheek injury and gave him a bottle of potion to help him regain his composure and continue the match as Gryffindor's Keeper.
However, this violent Quidditch match still annoyed Madam Pomfrey. The matron declared that if anyone got injured, they had better obediently go to the infirmary and lie down for a few days.
"Slitherin's Seeker Monty launched an attack on Gryffindor's Keeper, which is an unprecedented act of cowardice. Slitherin scores another goal, and the current score is 80 to 50, with Gryffindor leading by 30 points... Wait a minute, the referee announces that Slitherin committed a foul, and the goal they just scored is invalid. The current score is 80 to 40 in favor of Gryffindor." The commentator shouted excitedly, his voice booming, "Gryffindor has pulled ahead by 40 points. Who will be the first to catch the Golden Snitch? Which team will win? Let's watch and find out!"
Unfortunately, the terrible weather and poor visibility make it difficult to find the Golden Snitch. The game continues.
Wood recovers and gives a great encouragement to the Gryffindor fans in the stands. The Gryffindor supporters cheer loudly.
"Madam Hooch blows the whistle again, and the game resumes. How will Gryffindor counterattack? Let's wait and see." The Ravenclaw commentator gets caught up in the excitement and forgets he's commentating a Quidditch match.
"Take down Slitherin! Take down Monty! Take down Slitherin! Take down Monty!" Surprisingly, the Gryffindor stands erupt with unprecedented roars.
Albert has a strange feeling as if he's watching a duel rather than a Quidditch match.
A few minutes later, the Gryffindor players fulfill the fans' expectations and launch a new wave of retaliation against the Slitherin team, with their target being the Seeker Monty, who had used the Bludger against Wood.
Mark and Eileen, a couple with exceptional teamwork, exchange a glance in mid-air, and Mark accelerates directly towards Beater Lock. With the help of her boyfriend, Beater Eileen hits the Bludger, aiming for Monty, who is being cornered by the three Weasley brothers.
Monty, cornered by the three players, believes that the other three Chasers are preparing to attack him, but he fails to notice the real fatal blow, a Bludger coming from behind.
"Oh my, it hits! The Bludger hit Monty, courtesy of the Beater Eileen. That must have hurt. I hope he breaks a few ribs... Ahem, I mean, I hope he's okay!" The commentator coughs lightly and quickly changes his words, "The referee didn't blow the whistle, so this retaliation is undoubtedly within the rules."
While Slitherin manages to score ten points, they have lost their Seeker in the process, a loss that outweighs the gain.
"What's going on? Madam Pomfrey hasn't shown up. Could it be..." The commentator's tone is tinged with schadenfreude, "Could it be that our matron doesn't like the Slitherin players either?"
Monty is forced to leave the field because a furious Madam Pomfrey has returned to the infirmary, leaving him unable to continue the match without treatment.
According to the official rules set by the Magical Sports Authority, in the event of an injury, no other player can replace the injured player.
This means that Slitherin is now short of a Seeker.
However, the majority of Gryffindor fans are disappointed, wondering why it wasn't Slitherin's Seeker, Marcus Flint, who left the field?
Nevertheless, this dirty Quidditch match has only just begun.
With one less player, Slitherin is at a disadvantage and starts openly attacking Gryffindor players.
Albert is left dumbfounded by the series of changes on the field. Through his monocular, he sees the four Beaters flying on their brooms in the rain, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with their bludger bats, resembling swordsmen.
Fred and George, by his side, mutter to themselves, "Hit him, yes, aim for his head... Poke his eyes..." and other violent words.
Slitherin's players surround Charlie, intending to send him off the field first, as losing the Seeker essentially means losing the match for Gryffindor.
The players on broomsticks engage in a fierce aerial battle in the sky, and the most powerful attackers are the Beaters from both teams. They are using their bats to strike at the opposing players. Eileen knocks Lock's bat out of his hand, and he receives a blow to the elbow. Before he can recover, Jack kicks him, almost causing him to fall off his broom.
However, Gryffindor also has several players who have suffered minor injuries.
Furious, Madam Hooch orders the four Beaters to leave the field, even though it's not within the rules. After all, they were the ones who played the most aggressively.
In Madam Hooch's words, staying on the field is simply bringing shame to Hogwarts.
With five players gone from the original fifteen, the large stadium suddenly feels empty.
Even though they are missing Beaters, the Gryffindor Chasers still find a way. It's like they are performing a relay race, taking over the bats from the departing Beaters. At least that's what Danny does. The acrobat doubles as a Chaser and also takes up the role of a Beater.
This time, their target is Slitherin's Seeker, Marcus Flint.
Charlie, Jack, and Mario compress Marcus's flying space from three directions, pushing the Seeker to the edge of the field. Then, they all perform fake movements, throwing punches and kicks towards their opponent without reservation.
But hitting the target?
Sorry, it's a tactical mistake.
Penalty? Nobody cares.
As long as they can take out the opposing Seeker, victory in the match will naturally belong to Gryffindor.
"Charlie, didn't you say using fake movements with Mark was prohibited?" Jack teases his captain while elbowing Marcus, "Oops," he accidentally hits Marcus's kidney with his elbow, and his own nose is knocked sideways by a fist swinging towards him.
From behind, Danny, holding the Quaffle and a bat, catches up. He is being chased by two Slitherin Chasers.
Danny tosses the troublesome Quaffle to Jack and wields the bat towards Marcus's back, intending to drive him completely off the field.
However, Danny is unaware that Jack, who just caught the Quaffle, is the first to have some bad luck. One of the Slitherin Chasers directly charges at him, and the other kicks him in the body. Jack is sent tumbling from his broom, luckily managing to grab onto it with one hand, crashing into the spectator stands. It's a nasty fall.
Fortunately, he didn't fall into the Slitherin stands; otherwise, there would likely be a massive brawl, with a crowd of spectators joining in to attack Jack.
"Danny, you betrayed me!" Jack covers his injured waist, unable to help but curse loudly.
On the other side, things aren't going well for Slitherin's Seeker either. Marcus, blocked by the three Gryffindor players, is subjected to a fierce beating.
A sharp whistle pierces through the rain, and a furious Madam Hooch gathers both teams' players and gives them a severe scolding.
"Do you all forget what I said at the beginning?" Madam Hooch vents her anger, spraying saliva on everyone's faces, "Since you can't participate in the match fairly and honestly, then stay off the field and wait for an hour. I'll have your respective reserve players replace you in this match."
"What's going on?" Albert frowned as he watched both teams being scolded by Professor McGonagall. The match didn't continue, and both teams returned to their respective changing rooms. The commentators were also clueless about what had happened.
However, everyone soon received the latest update.
"We have just received breaking news that due to the severe misconduct of both teams during the match, which violated various Quidditch rules, all players have been disqualified," the commentator read the surprising information. "Oh my, honestly, I've never heard of a situation where all teams are disqualified. Both teams have one hour to select a new batch of players to continue this match."
"Let's go to the changing room," a drenched Fred pulled George and Albert toward the locker room, his face full of excitement that couldn't be concealed. "It's our turn!"
Before leaving, Albert glanced at the Slytherin Seeker. The unfortunate guy was being helped into the changing room, and Snape, who followed behind them, had an incredibly gloomy expression.
"What the hell are you all up to?" Professor McGonagall's shout could be heard as soon as Albert and the others stepped into the changing room. The Head of Gryffindor House angrily scanned the players in the room.
"Sorry, Professor, but you saw it too. Slytherin started it. They don't seem to intend to play fair and honest with us," Charlie, as the Quidditch captain, immediately stepped forward to bear the scolding for everyone. He held his ground against Professor McGonagall's furious gaze. "So, I had to resort to other means to ensure the safety of our players. Don't worry, I have made the necessary arrangements. The victory in this match will definitely be ours."
Professor McGonagall was taken aback and heard Charlie say, "Look, our substitute players have already arrived."
"It seems you're planning to let the rest of us take the field?" Fred blinked at Charlie and said, "That swing earlier was fantastic. I saw Marcus being helped away."
Professor McGonagall immediately fixed her gaze on Fred, who promptly shut his mouth.
"Kael, you'll temporarily be the goalkeeper, taking Wood's position. Only you have the experience of being a goalkeeper," Charlie said to the freckled-faced boy. He was a substitute for the Chasers but now there was no other option.
"Both of you will take over as Beaters. Albert, you'll be the Seeker. And where is Angelina? Hasn't she shown up?" Charlie didn't see Angelina and turned to Danny. "Go find her, and also..."
Gryffindor was still able to quickly assemble a complete team of substitutes, although they were far from being as skilled as the regular players. However, everyone had experience playing together, and they believed they wouldn't be worse off than the haphazardly assembled team from Slytherin.
"Good luck, Albert. You are our secret weapon. Don't disappoint me," Charlie patted Albert's shoulder and said, "Our chances of winning this match depend on you. Catch the Golden Snitch."
Albert's mouth twitched. He knew Charlie calling him a secret weapon was just an encouraging phrase and didn't pay too much attention to it.
However, Professor McGonagall beside him furrowed her brow slightly as she looked at the substitute players selected by Charlie. She seemed puzzled by Charlie's arrangements.
"They are substitute players who were supposed to participate in the selection of regular players next year, taking the positions left by the departing regular players. Don't worry, they have received proper training," Charlie quickly explained, seemingly guessing what Professor McGonagall wanted to say.
"Well, since you've already decided!" Professor McGonagall looked at the players on the field again and said, "I don't expect outstanding performances from you, but at least don't get into any trouble."
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