Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 59. Harry's First Quidditch Match
"Well, Harry, I thought we could give you a surprise," George said with a shrug.

No longer covering up, Fred handed the broom behind him to Harry.

"Hurry up and open it," Wood said with a smile, "You will definitely like it."

There was nothing much to say. Harry quickly unwrapped the brown paper, revealing the broom itself. The wood grain was yellowish-brown and it felt very smooth to the touch. Compared to the brooms provided in the flying class, it was incredibly light.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Wood said excitedly, "This is the latest model of the Nimbus 2000, with a mahogany handle. It has the fastest speed of all the flying brooms currently available. It's simply incomparable to the Sideswipe series!"

Then Wood seemed to suddenly remember something, and whispered in Harry's ear, "I don't want to take credit for anything, Harry. This broom was actually given to you by Professor McGonagall. Remember not to tell anyone. This may be the first broom that Professor McGonagall has given to her students in all these years."

Professor McGonagall?

Harry was stunned for a moment. He really didn't expect that the old professor who always showed a serious, old-fashioned and fair image would actually give him a broom. Was it because of his reputation in the wizarding world, or was it because the old professor's desire for the Quidditch Cup had really accumulated to an unbearable point?

In any case, it was indeed a gift - one that could even be said to have caused Professor McGonagall to go against her own principles.

Hmm... maybe her principle had been broken since she arranged for Harry to join the team as a first-year student. After all, ordinary students can only register in their second year.

Everything is just to help Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup this year.

As expected of a Gryffindor, an old Gryffindor is still a Gryffindor.

"Don't worry, Wood," Harry said very seriously, "I will give Professor McGonagall a decisive victory. This year's Quidditch Cup will definitely be in our pocket."

In Harry's opinion, he had received a well-paid task and had even received the payment in advance.

Niu Niu will not default on his debts.

"That's great," Wood said with a genuine smile.

"Yes, Harry, that's great - but Wood, why did you only give Harry a broom and not us? That's not fair!" Angelina shouted jokingly from the other side.

"If you can knock Flint's head off with the Quaffle, I'll give you one without you telling me!" Wood shouted over his shoulder. Then he turned to Harry and said, "Go ahead, Harry, fly around - show them what you can do."

Just see it.

It is still impossible to say what the Gryffindor Quidditch team members witnessed that day, but from captain Wood to every member of the team, when they finished training in the evening and went to the restaurant for dinner, everyone had an attitude that we were sure to win.

It has to be said that their performance did arouse the curiosity of many people. However, when others really asked them, they refused to reveal a single word and only said that we had already won, which was really annoying.

No one likes to be kept in suspense, but everyone likes to keep others in suspense, that's the fun of it.

The Quidditch season began in the first week of November, and the weather began to get colder. For most of the time, the mountains surrounding the school looked gray and covered with ice and snow, and even the water in the Black Lake became freezing cold.

When Harry went to find Hagrid for a drink, Hagrid had even put on a long moleskin coat, rabbit fur gloves, and huge beaver fur boots. In short, he looked like he was ready for winter.

——This has become a kind of relaxing and leisure activity for Harry and Hagrid now. When they are bored, they sit together and drink and chat.

Sometimes he would drink Hagrid's wine, and sometimes he would drink the wine Harry brought over... With a warehouse full of gold Galleons, it was not difficult for Harry to stock up on some wine, not to mention that he now had a territory of his own.

It's a pity for Jaina, as she has to fly around holding the packaged wine bottles.

This is indeed a bit difficult for an owl.

Maybe it was because of Harry's skilled drinking posture? Or maybe it was because of the previous trip to the Forbidden Forest? In short, Hagrid basically no longer regarded Harry as a young and ignorant child who needed his protection.

As the two of them chatted by the fireplace, Hagrid would talk about the interesting things he had encountered over the years, sometimes things that happened in the castle, and sometimes jokes that happened in the wizarding world.

Harry would also choose some adventure stories from his past to tell, although logically these experiences did not match his age at all, but Hagrid was certain of the stories Harry had told, even if there were many strange races and place names in the stories - he was particularly interested in the strange beasts in them, and was always pestering Harry to tell more.

In Hagrid's opinion, Harry had probably had a fantastic experience that no one else could imagine. After all, whether it was Harry's self-proclaimed shaman or the various abilities he possessed, they were all things that wizards had never had in the past.

Hagrid was not surprised at all. In his opinion, Harry was probably the next Dumbledore. For such wizards who could lead an era, nothing that happened to them was surprising.

"Honestly, Harry, I didn't expect you to choose to be a Beater," Hagrid said drunkenly, "James was a Chaser for Gryffindor... I mean, if you were a Beater, what would happen to the Weasley twins?"

"I've never seen hitters so coordinated before. To be honest, they are like two Bludgers."

"George went to be the seeker because he lost the game of rock-paper-scissors with Fred." Harry took a sip of mead and said, "Fred and I tried to cooperate with each other during training, and found that we have a good understanding between us. At least it's not worse than before."

"Really? That's good." Hagrid patted his belly and said, "Honestly, Harry, this weekend is the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match. You have to be careful."

"There are so many ways to commit fouls in Quidditch. Those Slytherin students never care about the rules when they play. Rather than playing, they are more likely to knock their opponents off their brooms." Hagrid said angrily, "That's not all, Harry. You'd better not eat anything handed to you before the game, and don't be alone in the corridor - oh, you don't seem to have to worry about that."

"If there really are Slytherin students who want to sneak attack you and prevent you from competing, they will be the only ones who will be in trouble. Hahahaha!" Hagrid burst into laughter as he spoke, and he kept clapping his legs.

"I didn't expect you to nag me even though I'm hiding here," Harry couldn't help but complain, "You don't know how nervous Ron and the others are right now. Hermione even borrowed a book called 'The Origins of Quidditch' from the library and reads out all the rules of fouls to me every day - my god, I feel like my head is about to explode."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Hagrid laughed even louder.

Even though Harry had protested against his friends' overly nervous behavior, Ron and the other two had their own ideas, especially Hermione, who was always afraid that Harry would break the rules too many times and be punished.

But to be honest, Harry felt that Hermione's worries were unnecessary, because in Quidditch, the most serious punishment for a foul was a free throw, and even if a player was injured, no substitutes were allowed to replace him. Once the players in the game were confirmed, they could not be changed until the end of the game.

Only when the Seekers are unable to catch the Snitch and the match has been going on for days will substitutes be allowed to come on, allowing the players to take a nap.

To be honest, Harry felt that the sport of Quidditch was somewhat primitive.

Perhaps it was because the wizards had too few entertainment activities, but when the official competition began, the castle was filled with a heated atmosphere from breakfast time, and almost everyone was discussing who would win and who would lose in today's competition, even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, who had no competition today.

Harry listened roughly and found that some of the points of argument were still about himself. Some people firmly believed that this was just another victory for the great Harry Potter, while others... let's just say it bluntly, the Slytherins mocked that Gryffindor would need to send someone to hold a cushion and run below to prevent Harry from falling.

Frankly speaking, although he had no intention of holding back today, Harry was now more determined to do so. The Taureans were only kind and peaceful most of the time, but they never claimed to be saints. They were just ordinary Taureans. Harry had also seen many Taureans who went out to sea as pirates, or who simply surrendered to the devil.

By eleven o'clock, almost all the teachers and students of Hogwarts came to the stands of the Quidditch field. Many students brought binoculars and their seats were raised to mid-air, but even so it was sometimes difficult to see the game clearly.

In the locker room, Harry and his friends had already changed into bright red Quidditch uniforms.

"How can we lose?" Looking at his players with a serious face, Wood said loudly, "We can't lose! How can Harry lose when he plays?!"

"Hey, wait, Wood," Fred raised his hands in protest, "Did you miss something?"

"Ah, that's right," Wood nodded, "Even with Harry as our secret weapon, the existence of each of us is crucial."

"No, no, no, it's not that," George shook his head repeatedly, "It's your words - at this important moment."

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for," Fred replied with a smile, and then explained to Harry, "We have memorized Oliver's speech by heart. We were on the team last year."

"Shut up, both of you," Wood said angrily, "I should apologize for thinking you two were about to say something sensible."

"In short, this year's team is definitely the best team Gryffindor has had in all these years," Wood said loudly, "We will win! This year's Quidditch Cup will definitely belong to Gryffindor!!"

"Oh!!"

"For the tribe!!!"

It was hard to imagine that Fred and George would be the ones to utter such a war cry. To be honest, Harry couldn't help but clench his fists when he heard these two people around him shouting such words when everyone else was shouting in response to Wood.

To this day, Fred and George both have a pair of bull horns on their heads. Not only them, but also other team members have put on bull horns and the head ring under their persuasion.

"You're really not coming with us, Oliver?" Fred held out his hand, "Are you really that cruel?"

"Oh God, shut up - give it to me." Wood sighed deeply, then took the horns and put them on his head.

"Must win!!"

The gate opened, and Wood, as the captain, led the way and entered the stadium. The Slytherin team also entered from the other side at the same time.

The seats surrounding the entire Quidditch field had been raised up to form a circle around the field, and were filled with people. Harry could hear people cheering and many people shouting his name.

To be honest, he was quite familiar with this feeling, but in the past when he was in this kind of situation, he did not compete with his opponent in a friendly manner, but knocked down or killed his opponent.

Well, maybe not friendly.

After all, they are orthodox Gryffindor and Slytherin. The smell of gunpowder emerged just by standing face to face. When Wood shook hands with the captain of Slytherin, it was as if they wanted to strangle each other to death. They tried their best to use all their strength, and both of them put in so much effort that their faces turned red.

Finally, it took Madam Hooch's tapping of their welded hands to get them to let go.

Madam Hooch specifically warned the two teams, hoping that both sides could compete in a fair, just, open, friendly, harmonious and honest manner, but Harry felt that there was little hope.

Gryffindor and Slytherin have their own house feelings.

When the whistle sounded, fifteen brooms rose straight into the sky, and Harry was the fastest one. This was the excellent performance of the Light Theory 2000.

There was a sudden burst of enthusiastic cheers from the audience. The students waved their flags desperately and shouted "Go Harry" as he flew past them - and there were continuous cow calls.

To be honest, Harry almost fell off his broom.

With just a cursory glance, Harry discovered that most of the Gryffindor students wore bull horns on their heads, and some even wore matching headbands. When he rode past quickly on his broom, these people would excitedly press the headbands to make sounds and wave flags and cheer at him.

Even when passing by the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff stands, the sound did not stop, and people could be heard speaking in support from time to time.

"Hello everyone, I'm the commentator Lee Jordan," came the commentator's voice from the highest point of the stands. Harry also knew this man. He was a friend of Fred and George. They were birds of a feather. Er, Harry meant that they were birds of a feather. No - in short, they were indeed the same kind of people.

"The Quaffle was immediately snatched up by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor, who is such a great Chaser and very attractive—"

"Jordan!!"

"I'm sorry, Professor."

As a friend of Fred and George, Lee Jordan was closely monitored by Professor McGonagall during his commentary.

Should we say that she is worthy of being the most favorite Quidditch professor? Professor McGonagall sat on the commentary desk with the best view of the entire stadium, and even Headmaster Dumbledore had to sit nearby.

"Angelina is sprinting towards the goal with the Quaffle, and she passes the ball! A beautiful pass! The one who gets the ball is Alina Spinnet, who was just a substitute last year, oh? The ball is passed to Johnson again, wait, two Slytherins are approaching her, she - Oh my God!!!"

Lee Jordan even stood up excitedly, slamming the table and shouting: "Harry Potter! It's Harry Potter!! Merlin's tights!! He knocked Graham Montagu off his broom!!"

In full view of everyone, a student in a Slytherin green robe fell from a height of more than ten meters like a kite with a broken string, and landed on the ground like a piece of bird droppings. Madam Hooch rushed to his side to check on him.

The atmosphere in the stadium became unprecedentedly intense. Not only did the audience's enthusiasm not decrease because someone fell from the sky, but the cheers even became more enthusiastic. Some people were shouting Harry's name, and soon the shouting became clearer and clearer, and finally it became a unanimous shout from many people.

"I really hope Montague is okay - sorry, I mean I hope he is okay, but before he is okay I must announce to you that this is definitely not a foul! Even Madam Hooch didn't blow the whistle! Because Montague was knocked off his broom by the Bludger!" Lee Jordan shouted excitedly: "Beautiful shot! Harry!! So beautiful!!"

"Counter the Bludger! I have to explain to those friends who don't know much about Quidditch, this move is to swing the short stick backhand to hit the Bludger, so that you can hit the ball behind you - it's very difficult! Very difficult! Because when you are flying in front, it's difficult for you to aim at the opponent behind you, but Harry did it! Well done!"

"Although Slytherin lost a beater, the game still went on. We can see that Gryffindor took advantage of this opportunity to score two goals, both of which were valid scores!" Lee Jordan said excitedly: "Poor Montagu, he followed behind Harry just to knock Harry off the broom, but he didn't expect that he would disturb the sleeping lion - sorry, it should be the Minotaur King!"

"Oh? Madam Hooch made a signal after the inspection. Let me see - great! Montagu is seriously injured and can't continue the game!" Lee Jordan laughed, "I am very happy to announce to you that the Slytherin team will only be able to play with six people in the next game!!"

"Jordan!!"

(End of this chapter)