Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 123 122. Harry's First Club Match
How do you say that word?

Oh, the crowds - even sitting in the Kenmare Kestrels dugout, Harry could hear the constant shouting of the enthusiastic spectators outside, and their contempt and abuse for the other team.

This can be considered a common practice on the field... After all, wizards' Quidditch is much more brutal than Muggle football games, and has far fewer restrictions.

"I hope you're not too nervous, Harry." Sitting down next to Harry, Calant O'Hare put his arm around his shoulders and said with a smile, "After all, this is different from the Hogwarts house team match. There are thousands of people sitting outside right now, not just British wizards, but also many fans from other countries."

"Don't worry, Captain. I'm fine." Harry laughed. "Today we have two strong teams competing against each other. It's normal that they won't miss such a wonderful game. It's really convenient for wizards to travel."

Darren O'Hare, who introduced himself to the Kenmare Red Kestrels, is both the manager and coach of the Kenmare Red Kestrels, and this Garant O'Hare is his nephew and the current captain of the Kenmare Red Kestrels.

Well, the O'Hare family seems to be all about Quidditch. Darren O'Hare retired from the Kenmare Kestrels in 1960 and became a coach, and then trained his nephew.

"To be exact, there should be more than 9,300 people," said Kate McCarthy, the team's batsman, with a shrug. "I heard that from the ticket seller, but I don't remember the exact number."

"They are all coming for you, Harry." Aidan Lynch listened to the noise outside and turned around and said, "There are two people arguing about you right above our heads. To be honest, I think they are about to fight."

He is the Seeker for the Kenmare Kestrels.

"That's not the case," Harry shook his head and said, "Ballycastle Bats is a strong team. They have won the League Cup 27 times. Plus, our team is not bad either. A game like this is very eye-catching."

"I'm glad you can keep your composure, Harry," Darren O'Hare said with a smile as he pushed the door open and walked in. "It only takes one game for you to shut up all those who have doubted you."

"And by the way, let those idiots who bet on the Ballycastle Bats lose all their money!" Batsman Quigley Kelly said gruffly, "Those short-sighted guys, this year's League Cup is definitely ours!"

"That's right, it's time to let them know the power of a genius boy - I swear that even Krum is not as strong as Harry," Ronan Caesar said excitedly.

Even among all the current Quidditch club players, Harry is the most special one.

Yes, it was not a rare thing for school students to become official Quidditch players. In front of Harry was Viktor Krum.

As the first student to join the Quidditch team, Viktor Krum endured too much doubt and criticism, but fortunately he finally proved himself with his strength, which made the matter reasonable. At least he was no longer accused of someone abusing his power.

But even so, Viktor Krum did not join the club team, but joined the Bulgarian national team. This is what makes Harry different from him...well, he is younger.

The national team only participates in the World Cup every four years, but the UEFA Cup is an annual competition.

"Thank you, guys. I have to say thank you for your trust." Harry looked at his teammates and smiled. "To be honest, I'm not a competent teammate. At least I can't train with you every day to develop tacit understanding. Thank you for your tolerance."

Harry's journey to the Quidditch club was naturally accompanied by doubts, not only from the outside world, but also from within the Kenmare Kestrel team.

It's not just because he only comes to training one day a week, but also because Darren O'Hare made it very clear to others on the first day that in future games, the Kenmare Falcons will make tactical adjustments with Harry as the core.

With a twelve-year-old boy as the core of the team - this was undoubtedly an unacceptable adjustment for the original members of the Kenmare Kestrel team.

But fortunately, Harry is strong enough.

Competitive sports are like this, unless there is some external interference, the strongest person should go on stage. After Harry showed his strength, if anyone in the Kenmare Kestrel team had any objections, it would not be Harry who should leave, but that person - but unless there was some deep hatred, who would do that?
Wouldn’t it be great to lift the League Cup with Harry?
"Don't say that, Harry." Tegyi Ryan patted Harry's shoulder and said, "Since you have the ability, you should be the priority. Anyway, it's all about winning the game... As long as this game is over, those annoying guys won't say anything nonsense anymore. Well, they are really brainless and believe whatever the Daily Prophet says."

Before Harry's arrival, Tegyi Ryan was the main Chaser for the Kenmare Kestrels, but when Harry arrived, he retreated to the position of facilitator - one Chaser unfortunately retreated to the bench.

"Speaking of the Daily Prophet, you seem to be in trouble recently?" The last Chaser, Ronan Caesar, interrupted, "Those good-for-nothings in the Ministry of Magic are really useless. A first-year wizard can Apparate? Ha!"

As soon as this matter was mentioned, the Kenmare Red Falcons' lounge was filled with complaints about the Ministry of Magic's inaction. Everyone could name a few examples of the Ministry of Magic violating regulations or getting into trouble, and they all happened to people they were familiar with.

The entire lounge suddenly turned into a meeting to criticize the Ministry of Magic, and looking at the indignant looks on his teammates' faces as they described those examples, Harry felt that the British Ministry of Magic was a little too... unpopular among ordinary wizards.

"Alright, boys." Finally, when Darren O'Hare pushed the door open again, he clapped his hands to interrupt everyone's condemnation of the Ministry of Magic, and said with a smile: "I feel relieved to see that you are all so energetic."

"Want to get started, Coach?" Kate McCarthy said, raising her hand. "A few words of encouragement?"

“Oh, not this time,” Darren O’Hare smiled and waved his hand, “I even think you have more confidence than me now - just do it like we usually do in training, go ahead and give our fans a perfect victory!”

"oh!!!"

There was a mixed shout from the Kenmare Kestrel dugout.

Ever since the day the news of Harry joining the Kenmare Kestrel team came out, the team has been subject to constant criticism, with the Daily Prophet frequently publishing unfavorable remarks and adding fuel to the fire. Even the Kenmare Kestrel team's former fans generally held a pessimistic attitude, simply because Harry was still a student, and no matter how talented he was, it was just talent, a talent that was only shown in the Hogwarts school team.

For tactical reasons, Darren O'Hare had previously issued a gag order to several members of his team, just to allow Harry to play the role of a dark horse and catch the Ballycastle Bats off guard - for this reason, he even rejected several training match invitations from other teams.

The doubts from all sides and the pain of knowing Harry's strength but being unable to publicize it have been suppressed in the hearts of the members of the Kenmare Kestrel team for some time. Now, they can finally vent this pain.

——He even couldn't wait to let those people outside see Harry's strength, and see the shocked looks of those bastards from the Ballycastle Bats!

Judging from the sounds outside, the game is about to begin.

Well, the few people in the lounge who were ready to go have heard the commentator's extremely fast and excited voice. The Quidditch Cup League matches usually have two commentators.

"Hello everyone, I am an old acquaintance of yours, Ludo Bagman - oh, thank you all for giving such cheers to a retired old man like me. Today I am here as a representative of the Department of Sports and Physical Education of the Ministry of Magic, and the person next to me is my commentary partner."

"Hello everyone, my name is Ruel Knight, and I am honored to be able to commentate on this extremely special game for you."

"Yes, yes, we all know what is special about this game," Ludo said happily, "and this is why this game today has attracted so many spectators—"

"And it attracted you," Ruhl continued.

"Yeah, that's right." Ludo laughed twice. "Anyway - let's give a warm welcome to our home team, the Kenmare Red Falcons from Ireland!!"

boom! ! !
It was just like thunder exploding near the ground. When Ludo's voice fell, the cheers of the audience mixed together, and it was almost impossible to hear what they were shouting.

No matter what you say, no matter how much you laugh or how much you doubt, don't joke about the fans' support. Even the fans who were against Harry joining the Kenmare Kestrel team shouted desperately at this moment to make their voices of support.

Then, crash! !

The baffle of the lounge dome suddenly opened, and the cheers of more than 27,000 people rushed in with the wind from the Irish Sea. With a roar from Calanthe, seven people who had already been riding on flying brooms rushed out of the lounge one after another, and Harry was in second place, following behind the team captain.

The noise outside suddenly became louder. Harry controlled the broom and followed behind Calanthe to circle the field. Above the emerald field, six fifty-foot-high gold-plated goals sparkled brightly in the sun.

As Harry and his seven companions flew over the Kenmare Kestrel mascot, the leprechaun, the little creatures holding harps happily plucked the strings, and bursts of gold coins rained down from the sky.

"...Merlin's red trouser pocket! They actually let a first-year student be a chaser?!!" Ludo Bagman's shocked voice even drowned out the cheers of the audience, "Look at his position! That's where the main attacker should be!!"

"I'm afraid I have to correct you a little, Ludo. In fact, Harry is already a sophomore this year," Ruel said to his partner, "He flew very calmly, which is a good thing. I'm glad that the things that happened during this period of time don't seem to have affected his condition."

"It sounds like you are Harry's supporter?" Ludo also called out Harry's name.

"Of course," Ruhl answered without hesitation, "This boy saved my family's lives twelve years ago, and what happened during this period was not his fault no matter how you look at it. Poor child, the Ministry of Magic is really-"

As Ruhr said this, a large number of spectators in the stands immediately shouted in agreement. They were shouting something, even though they knew that others could not hear clearly at this time.

"Oh, oh, oh! Stop, Ruel, stop." Before the Ministry of Magic was once again attacked and there was a high possibility of a wave of mass attack, Ludo quickly stopped the topic, "Don't forget that I'm working at the Ministry of Magic now, man, leave me a way out."

This time the audience burst into knowing laughter, and when the laughter came together, it was really too obvious.

"Very popular, huh?" Calanthe winked at Harry and said, "I forgot to tell you that I am actually your supporter as well. I wish you victory in the lawsuit against the Ministry of Magic in advance. Harry, don't be too nervous."

"Thank you, I feel fine now" Harry said with a shrug.

It is obvious that for the vast majority of wizards in the magical world, the Ministry of Magic clearly lacks a certain kind of... credibility and deterrence.

At least in such a large-scale event with nearly ten thousand wizards gathered together, the people commentating the game could easily point out the mistakes and omissions of the Ministry of Magic - well, Harry thought it was actually a good thing.

It's better than the Ministry of Magic covering the wizards' mouths tightly, so that ordinary wizards can't say anything. If you make a mistake, you must admit it, and if you get beaten, you must stand at attention.

As for being nervous, it was even less likely. Compared to those dense swarms of Qiraji insects and mantids or various arenas in Azeroth, the scene now was much more relaxed - at least the audience in the stands would not roar for the players to die.

Um...really?

Quickly recalling the history of Quidditch, Harry discovered that the more brutal the matches were, the more casualties among players and even referees, the more famous, classic and popular they were... Well, let's just treat them as true for now.

What a bloodthirsty audience...

Harry shook his head with some emotion, and looked across - while he was stunned just now, the Ballycastle Bats Team had already entered the field.

The Kenmare Kestrels wore bright green robes with two yellow 'K's printed back to back on the chest, while the Ballycastle Bats wore black robes with a large scarlet bat tattooed on the chest.

They made the customary circuit and stopped opposite the Kenmare Kestrels, with captain Liam McKean raising his wand first, and the rest of the team following suit.

The next moment, a giant bat phantom swooped down towards a blood moon that had appeared in the sky out of nowhere, completely enveloping it, and then suddenly spread its wings - in the shadow of its wings, twenty-seven championship medals suddenly appeared.

Well, this is a display of past historical achievements. It can be said that it is very aggressive and very morale-boosting.

As a result, when they saw the twenty-seven championship medals, the fans of the Ballycastle Bats team began to howl desperately. Their voices formed a wave, hitting the fans of the Kenmare Red Falcons wave after wave, and the fans of the Kenmare Red Falcons team naturally shouted back not to be outdone.

It can be said that if there were no security guards present, the fans of both sides might have already started fighting.

After both teams had come out to play, the referee rode his broom in front of the two teams. Under his witness, the captains of the two teams shook hands with each other as a sign of friendship - well, Harry guessed that all Quidditch captains in the world looked like this, as if they wanted to break their opponents' hand bones.

Hmm... maybe every Quidditch captain does some grip training in private.

"...It looks like both our teams are ready. O'Hare and McKeon are shaking hands - God, that must be painful." As a commentator, Ludo is really good at livening up the atmosphere. "Let's take a look at the kid. I have to say, uh, in fact, compared to other players, he does have a bit..."

"Small and thin?" Ruel continued, "I think compared to an ordinary second-year wizard, he is already tall and strong."

"But it's obvious that his opponent is not a second-year student at Hogwarts," Ludo said regretfully, and as he spoke, the audience of the Ballycastle Bats team booed.

Although there were no big screens or anything like that in the stadium, every fan who came to watch the game had a telescope in his hand, which, with the help of magic, was enough for them to clearly see the wonderful details of the game.

Because of this, all the fans can clearly see the fourteen figures riding on brooms. If you look from left to right, you can see a very abrupt and unsociable short figure among a group of players with strong builds and amazing physiques.

It's like a straight line with a part of it sunken in the middle, which is very conspicuous.

"Are you sure this isn't a friendly match for the Hogwarts team?" Liam McKean, the captain of the Ballycastle Bats, squeezed Calant's hand hard and raised his chin provocatively at Harry beside Calant. "You're going to lose miserably, O'Hare."

"Haha." Not being affected by such words at all, Calant O'Hare pulled the corner of his mouth with a forced smile, "Harry will beat you to pieces."

The referee on the side acted as if he heard nothing. This was the usual harsh talk segment.

"Are you ready? I'm going to throw the ball." The referee said expressionlessly, fiddling with the direction of his broom.

"three."

"two."

"One—go!"

(End of this chapter)