From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

What? No playing field? Just find an empty spot, use magic to conjure three circles to use as hoops!

What? No friends? Honestly, are you really a Hogwarts student? Don't they prefer to travel in groups? You'll surely find friends by categorizing them into the four houses!

What? No flying broomstick? Are you really a wizard? A cheap flying broomstick can be used to play Quidditch, you know? You're not a Muggle, are you? Don't be ridiculous, then all that talk I just gave you was a waste of time.

Ivy closed "Quidditch Quick Start Guide" and silently sighed to herself.

The rules are really quite rudimentary.

Aside from the basic introduction, this quick start guide doesn't even list any fouls. Compared to all other Muggle sports, Quidditch, the sport beloved by wizards, is far too "free."

The records of the Department of Magical Sports and Physical Education list seven hundred Quidditch fouls. However, the details of these fouls have never been made public to the wizarding world (the Department of Sports and Physical Education believed that wizards who saw the list "might get inspiration").

In other words, the referee is extremely important in a Quidditch game; he can almost single-handedly influence the course of the game, since no one clearly knows what constitutes a real foul. This applies even to the players on the field.

Furthermore, there's only one rule regarding magic in Quidditch: no wands are allowed. More precisely, "no wands may be used against the opposing team." In other words, if you wanted, you could even cast a levitation charm on everyone to reduce weight and hopefully give your broomsticks more power; or cast a protective charm on players to defend against the opposing team's running ball attacks.

For Ivy, this rule practically didn't restrict his spellcasting abilities. After all, in most cases, he could cast spells without relying on his wand. And now, with the ability to "gaze," he could pre-cast the second-level spell "Human Freeze" in his eyes, making opposing players freeze and fall off their brooms with just a glance. Or the first-level "Suggestion" would be good too, instantly turning two opposing players against him; if they were goalkeepers, that would be equivalent to countless open-goal opportunities.

Even without using any magic, Ivy still has countless tactics that can easily lead to victory. Compared to popular sports like football and basketball in the Muggle world, the wizards' Quidditch is simply too rudimentary.

One of the most important points is ball control.

As the primary objective for scoring, Quidditch surprisingly doesn't specify the duration of possession for the chaser. Basketballs require bouncing the ball every three steps, and soccer balls can't even run without kicking them first.

Quidditch, where players use broomsticks to move through the air, doesn't specify how long the chaser can hold the ball. This means that if your broomstick is good enough, you can fly around the field with the Quaffle forever!

Indeed, this was the case. In the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, the Irish team, equipped with all their Firebolts, achieved a complete victory thanks to the advantage of their flying brooms. Even when Viktor Krum finally caught the Golden Snitch, he couldn't reverse the tide, because before he discovered the Golden Snitch, the Irish team already had a lead of over 150 points.

Chapter 54 Ivy's Training Plan

Due to the maritime climate of the Scottish Highlands, Quidditch pitches are covered in thick snow in November.

Fortunately, Quidditch is a sport played in the air, so all that's needed is an unobstructed sky, and Ivy's training of the Slytherin Quidditch team could begin smoothly.

Like all teams, the Slytherin Quidditch team has seven players. However, unlike other teams, this team seems to place more emphasis on physical attributes when selecting players. The captain and Chaser is Marcus Flint, a fifth-year student whom Ivy calls Troll Number One.

Then came the same fifth-grader, Chaser Derian Puse, Troll Number Two.

C. Warrington, a fourth-year student a year younger than them but no less physically imposing, is also a Chaser, the Troll Number Three.

Next up are Derek and Bool, who are batters. They appear to be half-brothers, both third-year students. Unlike the previous third troll, they have more abundant hair, so they can be classified as trolls in the forest. They are also known as trolls number four and five in Ivy's mind.

Miles Blatch, also a third-year student, served as goalkeeper. Although he was two years younger than Troll One, he was a size bigger and almost able to cover three goalposts with his body. Troll Six.

Finally, there's sixth-year student Terence Higgs. He's the only one on the team who looks normal, so he's chosen as the Seeker. However, since the previous six are all trolls, Ivy nicknamed him Troll Seven to avoid making him feel excluded.

To avoid confusion, let's review: Trolls 1 through 3 are the Seekers, responsible for scoring with Quakes; Trolls 4 and 5 are the Beaters, responsible for acting as tanks and creating opportunities for opponents; Troll 6 is the Goalkeeper; and Troll 7 is the Seeker. It's clear and straightforward.

As for Ivy's position on this team?

He is the coach.

Looking at the seven giants before him, who appeared as if facing a formidable enemy, Ivy spoke up: "Very well, gentlemen giants..."

Ivy paused deliberately, hoping someone would step forward and act as a troublemaker so he could test the power of his gaze spell on humans. However, these fools clearly didn't have the guts to defy him, so Ivy had no choice but to continue: "Although I didn't make it clear beforehand, the fact that you all brought your flying brooms on your own initiative proves that you all have some brains."

"But if you want to change my impression of you, you'll have to put in a lot of effort."

“In the days to come, I will take over the training of the Slytherin Quidditch team and guarantee you victory.”

"Training will take place five days a week, from Monday to Friday after dinner."

Quidditch team training wasn't usually intensive, only two or three times a week. So, upon hearing about Ivy's training schedule, Troll One couldn't help but interject, "But... how are we going to coordinate the venue? We can't keep occupying the Quidditch pitch forever..."

Ivy didn't answer, but smiled slightly as he stared into Troll One's eyes. The latter immediately collapsed into the snow like a block of wood. Ivy had finally found an opportunity to cast a human immobilization spell, and the effect was quite excellent; he was very satisfied.

“Mr. Trolls, next time, don’t speak without my permission. If you really have something to say, please raise your hand.” Ivy politely raised one finger and announced his Quidditch training rules to the other six terrified trolls.

"Do you understand?"

The six giants that were still able to move immediately started shaking their heads vigorously.

“Very good,” Ivy continued to explain his training plan with satisfaction. “Although the training will last for five days, the Quidditch pitch will only be used for tactical drills on Fridays. At other times, any open space will suffice.”

"It's Monday today, so our training will start with the simplest thing," Ivy shouted, pointing to their flying broomsticks. "Come on, trolls! Hop on your broomsticks, no need to get too far off the ground, just ten feet off the ground!"

The trolls exchanged glances, then each slung a broom handle over their shoulder and floated steadily in the air. Of course, except for Troll Number One, who was still awkwardly lying on the snow.

Ivy snapped her fingers, and Troll One's body, which had been as stiff as a board, immediately went limp. Although the human immobilization spell had frozen his entire body, it hadn't shut down his five senses, so he could clearly hear Ivy's commands.

Troll One awkwardly swung its limbs and struggled to its feet from the snow, joining the troll team riding on broomsticks.

"Very good!" Ivy materialized the Grimoire of Destruction in her hand, then used it as an arcane artifact, and with a few simple gestures, created a sudden gust of wind.

A sudden gust of wind appeared in the air, whipping up the thick snow on the ground and instantly smearing it onto the faces of the seven giants.

The giants were startled, and to avoid having their vision obscured by the flying snow, they all pulled up their brooms and climbed to higher places.

Strangely enough, the trolls' actions were all subconscious, but the broom only carried them up less than ten feet before the gale stopped.

"Did I ask you to ascend, gentlemen of trolls?" Ivy's voice came at the right time, and the trolls, still confused, fell down as if in response, and re-entered the wind field.

"This wind is your training exercise for today. If you can keep your balance and not fall off your broom, you've succeeded!" Ivy announced the first training exercise. After the initial panic, the trolls no longer took this wind seriously. Even the least experienced among them had been playing Quidditch for a year and had encountered extreme weather a few times.

So after exchanging a glance, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

“You all seem to be handling this with ease? Very good!” Ivy raised her hand slightly, instantly increasing the wind speed. The November low temperature made the cold wind cut like knives across the faces of the Trolls, making their Quidditch burqas flutter loudly.

This is the second-circle spell Windstorm, which, thanks to Ivy's Supermagic Mentor specialization, can last for a full ten minutes.

To avoid being blown away, they had to try to control the direction of their brooms while crouching down to reduce their surface area exposed to the wind, but given their monstrous size, it was hard to say how effective this was.

"They're all stable? Very good, now it's time for the second phase of training!" Once the trolls had gradually gotten used to swaying in the cold wind, Ivy immediately took out her wand and pointed it at the snow on the ground.

Countless snowballs flew up from the ground and rained down on the giants.

"Dodge! Avoid the snowball's attack with minimal movement!"

However, the trolls seemed unmoved, only burying their heads even lower, because none of them wanted to fall off the broom.

"Aha~ That's not a good habit, since you don't want to hide." Ivy pointed her wand and used a freezing spell to turn the snowball into an ice block. Now the trolls could no longer ignore the damage caused by the snowball and began to howl in pain.

Ivy's strategy was so effective that the Trolls, covered in bruises, left the Quidditch pitch much faster than ever before when they got off their brooms!

Chapter 55 Stellar Literary Garden Portrait

Ivy has been training with the Slytherin Quidditch team for a full week.

In addition to wind-making and hail-avoidance training during this week, he also used various magic to create a variety of other training programs.

The training included goalkeeper saves using an automatic ball-launching spell, resilience drills involving continuous ball-hitting, and the trolls' favorite physical contact drills. However, because Ivy brought in metal armor from the castle as helpers for these drills, the trolls quickly grew to hate and fear this training as much as they did for any other exercise.

In addition, Ivy used weather charms to create extreme weather, thereby training the Trolls' mental resilience and tenacity.

Ivy created extreme weather using weather spells, including thunderstorms, blizzards, and extreme winds. For a time, he even tried to simulate a meteor shower, and there just happened to be a third-circle spell in D&D that could produce a similar effect.

The spell is called Mayofe Micrometeor. It allows the caster to create six miniature meteors in space. They will float in the air and orbit the caster for the duration of the spell. Each meteor can be individually controlled and launched by the caster, and will explode once it lands at its destination or impacts a solid surface. The blast radius is a circle of five feet, and all units within the blast radius will receive fire damage.

With the spell twins provided by the super magic mentor, Ivy can summon 12 meteors at once! That's more than enough for a small meteor shower.

However, this idea was stopped by the terrified Mrs. Hooch.

Yes, because the training environment Ivy created through magic had such a wide-ranging influence, all the professors agreed that Ivy's training activities should be restricted to prevent any irreversible damage.

Today's shift is Mrs. Hooch, who teaches the young wizards flying lessons. She has already stopped Ivy's unreliable ideas three times. So much so that the trolls look at her as if she's a savior.

“Mr. Doom!” Mrs. Hodge tried to remain calm. In her decades of life, she had never seen a wizard who could create flying meteors. What was even more terrifying was that the little wizard in front of her was only a first-year student.

“I can’t allow you to continue torturing these trolls… I mean, the students.” Madam Hooch almost joined Ivy in calling the Slytherin Quidditch players trolls, and it must be said that Ivy’s description was quite apt. “If I remember correctly, Slytherin’s Quidditch pitch usage request today was for tactical training. But now, I can’t see a trace of tactical training.”

"Oh." Ivy suddenly realized, and turned to another page of the training plan in her hand. "I was wondering what was missing. It turns out I misread the training plan."

It must be said that it is indeed amusing to build one's own happiness on the suffering of others, especially when there is a legitimate reason for doing so.

“Since tomorrow is Saturday,” Ivy said magnanimously, glancing up at the battered trolls, “you should all go back and rest. Don’t forget to see Mrs. Pomfrey to treat your injuries! She’ll understand.”

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Hodge and the trolls breathed a sigh of relief and left as if they had been granted a pardon.

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Ivy had previously resolved not to use first-circle spells to find magical companions, especially not to use them to summon cats, because he knew that the charm of such evil creatures would be irresistible to every two-legged being.

Ivy, who possesses the lofty ideal of "pushing magic to its limits," absolutely cannot waste her energy on taking care of cats.

Despite his unwavering conviction, every time he checked his character panel and saw the "Find My Familiar" spell lying on the first-circle spell list, he would feel a sudden, inexplicable flutter in his heart.

To avoid impulsively summoning a cat one day, Ivy decided to replace the cat's spot with another small animal.

Ideally, it should be a hairless, clean animal that doesn't poop or fart, which could help with magical experiments, and preferably doesn't produce any slime or cause any physiological aversion.

After searching high and low, two things finally caught Ivy's eye.

First, there are the necromancers.

If there were a ghost cat...

Ivy didn't continue thinking about it. The ghost cat would have all the advantages of a cat, but would be exempt from all the defects of a living being. This would amplify its evil charm many times over. Perhaps in the end, it wouldn't be Ivy herself who would be in charge, but that evil ghost cat.

Moreover, this is Hogwarts, where using necromancy is clearly not a suitable option.

That leaves only the second option: construct creatures.

With the proper arrangement of springs, gears, and levers, a golem or puppet made of brass is also a perfect choice.