Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 97 96. Harry joins the club and reports on Rita Skeeter
Just like all the games he had played this year, Harry ended his last Quidditch game at Hogwarts with a near-crushing victory, leading the Gryffindor team to win the Quidditch Cup in an unstoppable manner.

When the two teams shook hands again to indicate the end of the game, the seven members of the Gryffindor team came to the top of the commentary desk - this was no longer a commentary desk, but was extended into a wide platform by magic, large enough for many people to stand on.

After Dumbledore finished his speech announcing that this year's Quidditch Cup belonged to Gryffindor, Harry stepped forward as a representative and directly held up the Quidditch Cup.

As he moved, all the Gryffindor students cheered loudly, and waves of cheering were set off in the entire stadium - not only Gryffindor students, but students from other colleges were also cheering.

Perhaps they were still feeling stressed after their college team was defeated in the beginning, anxious about how their college team would beat Gryffindor. However, as one game after another went on, everyone surprisingly came to the same realization.

That is, Harry's strength has far exceeded the scope of what a student should have. Instead of feeling anxious about defeating him, it is better to cheer for him as a member of Hogwarts - after all, Harry is about to go out to play in the Quidditch League Cup as a student of Hogwarts.

All it takes is a slight change of thinking and things will suddenly become different. It is already a certainty that Harry Potter will soon withdraw from the Gryffindor team, so what's wrong with cheering for him?
The honor he will receive next will be the honor of the entire Hogwarts, and he will even have more topics to talk about when he goes out to chat and brag to others in the future.

They are all good things.

It seemed as if all the students at Hogwarts had erupted in amazing enthusiasm, especially when the news that Darren O'Hare was also coming to watch the game today spread among the students. Everyone who loved Quidditch was scrambling to see clearly what the man standing next to Professor McGonagall looked like.

Harry knew that he would have to hide from people for the next few days, otherwise he would be surrounded no matter where he went... Thanks to the existence of convenient spells such as the Disillusionment Charm and the suitcase given to him by Newt.

Harry sat in the locker room for more than half an hour, and only came out when he heard the cheers and noise outside subside. He didn't expect that as soon as he went out, he saw Professor McGonagall and Neville O'Hare standing on the grass not far away, looking like they were waiting for someone.

Who else can I wait for?
"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall," Harry said quickly as he walked over, "I didn't expect you to - you could have just called me."

"Oh, it's okay, Harry."

Maybe it was because of the Quidditch Cup she had just won? Or maybe it was because of the upcoming House Cup? Or maybe it was because she met her favorite team player? In short, Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a very good mood and her face was very rosy.

"We all understand that you may need some time to calm down, child." Professor McGonagall smiled faintly. She beckoned Harry to stand closer, then pressed his shoulder, "Come here, let me introduce him to you. He is Harry Potter, O'Hare."

"And he is the coach of the Kenmare Red Kestrel, Darren O'Hare. Yes, Harry, I'm sure you have guessed it. The Kenmare Red Kestrel is the Quidditch team I contacted for you."

Darren O'Hare has a tall and sturdy figure, blond hair, and some freckles on his face, but at first glance he gives people the impression of being very reliable and having a sunny temperament.

Professor McGonagall gave the two of them a brief introduction.

"Hello, Mr. O'Hare," Harry said, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you. Many of my friends are fans of your team."

"Me too. Nice to meet you, Harry—can I call you that?" O'Hare's attitude was much more enthusiastic than Harry had imagined. "Congratulations! You've set a new Quidditch record. No one can remember a time when the Golden Snitch was caught so quickly. You're going to be a legend! I have to say that even Viktor Krum can't compare to you!!"

"Oh, that's too much, O'Hare," Professor McGonagall said, trying not to laugh. "It's just an intramural match, and Harry's opponents are just some students."

"Of course, Professor McGonagall, of course," O'Hare said repeatedly, "but you have to admit that the professional level of Quidditch games in Hogwarts is much higher than that of many Quidditch enthusiasts."

Professor McGonagall did not comment on this compliment, but judging from her expression, she probably agreed.

"As you like, Mr. O'Hare." Harry nodded to O'Hare, and then said seriously to Professor McGonagall: "I have fulfilled my promise to you, Professor - a hearty victory for Gryffindor."

Professor McGonagall was visibly stunned for a moment, then she smiled softly and said, "...Thank you."

"But I also have something very important to inform you, Harry," Professor McGonagall said in a fake serious tone, "In view of your superior strength, which has greatly undermined the enthusiasm of the students in the other three colleges for Quidditch, I have to inform you with regret that from next year onwards, you can no longer participate in school competitions - except for friendly matches."

"I know this is unfair to you, but fortunately I have found another place for you to fully display your talents." Professor McGonagall laughed, "Believe me, Harry, Kenmare Red Falcons is definitely the best club team at the moment. I firmly believe that they will be able to lift the League Cup trophy again this year."

Professor McGonagall had already regarded herself as Harry's guide on the road to becoming a Quidditch star, and even as a career guide four years in advance. She diligently selected and contacted the Quidditch club that she currently believed to be the most powerful for Harry.

She didn't want to send Harry to some crappy club because of her own reasons, and then he wouldn't be able to achieve any results for many years, and his great talent would be buried.

"Oh, you're exaggerating, Professor McGonagall. The other teams are also very strong," O'Hare said modestly, "But Harry, we are indeed very confident that we can cooperate with you to make the team stronger as a whole."

"Although it's a bit absurd to say this to a first-year student, well, to be honest, Harry, your physique and height don't look like a first-year student." O'Hare joked, "If I didn't know, I would have thought you were already in the third or fourth year - anyway, I think you have already felt it, right?"

"That kind of loneliness without an opponent." O'Hare showed a serious expression. "Although I only watched your game for more than two minutes (Professor McGonagall couldn't help laughing when she heard this), I have discovered what you are proud of - your reaction speed, right?"

"You enjoy the feeling of walking on the edge of danger, so you will do some actions that are very dangerous in the eyes of others, but in fact only you know that everything is under your control." O'Hare continued to analyze: "Your reaction speed is faster than others, and the most important thing is that your body has the agility to keep up with this reaction speed - you are born to be a Quidditch star, Harry!"

As the captain of a team, and even served as the captain of the Irish national team three times, O'Hare's attitude when speaking was surprisingly humble - because he knew that the young man in front of him deserved such treatment. No matter which team he was in, he could shine with his own strength, and even force a weak team to a position that did not belong to him.

Professor McGonagall would not interrupt at this time. Now it was time for O'Hare to persuade Harry. Professor McGonagall would not require Harry to join a certain team. Everything had to be decided by Harry himself.

"Stars are a bit too far-fetched for me, Mr. O'Hare." Harry shook his head slightly and said, "The reason why I want to join the Quidditch Club is because I want some more intense competition, a sport that can exercise the body. I believe Professor McGonagall has told you about my requirements?"

"Of course, no problem at all!" O'Hare said cheerfully, "And I've also heard from those enthusiastic students about your performance in other games this year. To be honest, Harry, I don't want to say these arrogant words, but the fact is that if you go to other teams, you will be disappointed to find that those people can't keep up with your movements, let alone cooperate with you - only the Kenmare Red Falcons can meet your requirements! All aspects of your requirements!" "I promised you, Mr. O'Hare," Harry stretched out his hand and said, "When is the tryout? I guess I have to convince your players first."

"That won't be difficult for you, Harry." Holding Harry's hand, O'Hare smiled brightly.

The matter was settled in just a few words.

After all, Harry was no longer the newcomer to the wizarding world who knew nothing about Quidditch. In fact, while Professor McGonagall was contacting the club, Harry himself had also studied several of the more famous teams. Among the many teams, the Kenmare Kestrel was one of the best and was one of his options.

So when Professor McGonagall came with the captain of the Kenmare Red Falcons and O'Hare had a good attitude, Harry stopped hesitating and decided the matter directly.

And that means - new headlines.

[Harry Potter joins the Kenmare Kestrel Team! Britain's own Viktor Krum! ]

The report focused on the Kenmare Red Kestrels Club's special offer of a legendary celebrity, Harry Potter, into the team, as well as some interviews with Darren O'Hare, most of which were O'Hare's words of affirmation and praise for Harry's talent.

To be honest, when a bunch of owls flew into the restaurant at breakfast time the next day and delivered the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, many students were surprised to find that they were no longer surprised that the name Harry Potter appeared in the Daily Prophet.

If you think about it carefully, this guy had already been on the headlines of the Daily Prophet with Dumbledore before the school even started this year, and he had appeared on the headlines intermittently since then, always maintaining his presence.

As for the students who witnessed Darren O'Hare's arrival at the Quidditch field yesterday, they were not surprised at all that Harry joined the Kenmare Kestrel team - especially Seamus, who was the most excited one last night. He was so excited that he hugged Harry and sang and danced, and even asked Harry to sign for him in advance.

Well, it wasn't just Seamus. At the celebratory dinner in the Gryffindor common room last night, Harry gave out too many autographs. Seamus was just the beginning, and it didn't take long before almost everyone rushed to Harry, holding what they thought were the most precious things, and asked him to leave their names.

Some came with a shirt, some came with an amulet, Fred and George even showed half of their buttocks to Harry and wanted him to sign on them, saying that they would preserve them forever with magic - and then Harry kicked them aside one by one.

The plan to take a souvenir photo with the buttocks failed miserably, and Fred and George could only let Harry sign on their hats with regret.

Although he hadn't played any professional games yet, Harry had already been treated like a Quidditch star in Hogwarts - fortunately he had anticipated this and didn't go for breakfast the next morning, otherwise he would have found it difficult to get out of the restaurant.

By the evening of that day, Harry received piles of letters brought by owls. Most of them were from fans of the Kenmare Kestrels, and the rest were from fans of Harry...well, although they had never even met, Harry also had some fans because of what happened eleven years ago.

In view of what Dumbledore had warned Harry about, Harry was very careful when opening the letters from the outside world, because no one knew if there would be anything bad inside.

"...Congratulations...I believe..." Hermione took a quick look and put the letter in her hand into the pile on the right side in front of her, "Another letter from Harry's admirer."

"That's pretty good," Ron muttered, throwing the letter in his hand into the trash can. "It's nothing like the one I just read, which kept saying that Harry's joining the Kenmare Red Kestle team lowered the team's strength and told Harry to get out of the way - ha! What a bunch of short-sighted guys!"

Ron became indignant.

"There's nothing we can do. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Harry is too young." Hermione was much more rational. She sighed and said, "I really hope Harry's first official game can come soon. He only needs one game to prove himself."

"Uh, mine too." Neville threw the letter into the trash can with a troubled look on his face. "Obviously, they haven't even met Harry, so how could they say such vicious words... Even Headmaster Dumbledore was scolded."

Some people believe that Dumbledore used his influence to deliberately promote Harry Potter, and that the Boy Who Lived was just a pawn in Dumbledore's hands. The words in the letter were very bad.

Owls kept delivering letters to Harry, and the letters they brought could be roughly divided into the following categories. The reporters from the Daily Prophet seemed to have taken some magic potion, and they kept reporting on the matter for almost a week, even shifting the focus of the matter from the Kenmare Kestrel Team to Harry without him noticing.

[As we all know, whenever the Quidditch season at Hogwarts begins, these matches are also open to the villagers of Hogsmeade. The author was fortunate enough to interview a villager who watched all the games in which Harry Potter appeared...]

[…From the words of the villagers, we can see his admiration for the boy who lived, but the author has a question mark in his heart about everything he said. Is what he said true? We all know that Harry Potter is just a first-year student. Why can he violate the rule that Hogwarts has always adhered to for so many years and only accepts second-year students to join the house team? What is hidden behind this? ]

[Of course, we can use talent to explain all this. We can tell ourselves that he is the boy who lived, the child who defeated the mysterious man at birth, but is that true? Are those exquisite Quidditch moves and the dominance across the field really true? A boy who has never entered the magical world or touched the sport of Quidditch in the past eleven years, but is so skilled in Quidditch after entering school... Please forgive me for being frank, I would rather suspect that there is an invisible big hand behind this that is pushing our boy who lived forward...]

"What the hell is she talking about!" Hermione slammed the newspaper on the table and said angrily, "This Rita Skeeter! She obviously knows nothing!!"

"Oh, this person, I know her," Ron tried hard to recall, "Many people say that she is a journalist who dares to speak the truth. Well, my mother actually likes to read her articles."

"Then it's very clear, what she said was not true at all, but nonsense!" Hermione folded her arms and sat back in her chair angrily, scaring Neville so much that he trembled.

"...Well, my grandmother also talked about her," Neville whispered, "but she doesn't like this Rita. She said many times that this person is just making up nonsense."

"Now me too" Hermione snorted.

But within two days, Hermione's hostility towards Rita Skeeter doubled.

Because what was said in the newspaper was getting more and more outrageous, to the point that if Rita Skeeter dared to appear in front of Hermione now, she would throw an Earth Elemental at him without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)