My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 353, Section 350: On and Off the Field

The last Friday of September.

The first annual Sunshine Sports Week, which Hogwarts had been preparing for for more than half a month, finally began.

Just as the astronomy professor had predicted, the weather that day was clear and sunny, a rare treat. Perhaps because we weren't in China, it didn't rain during the sports meet.

At eight o'clock that morning, almost all the young wizards gathered in the stands, and Dumbledore and other professors also appeared in the main stands of the Quidditch stadium.

"Player tags! Keep all your player tags safe! Do not take them off during the competition. You will need them to score your rankings. Remember your numbers as well. When the competition starts, we will only call out your numbers, not your names! If you are late for the competition, you will be considered to have forfeited."

Hidden in a corner below the stands, an officer from the sports and cultural department was patiently reminding the athletes to wear their name tags properly, over and over again.

It was noisy here, but it was clearly divided into four groups. They were wearing the uniforms of their respective colleges, and you could easily tell which college they belonged to by the color of their robes.

"I'm number G302. What number did you get, Harry?" Ron looked excitedly at the player card he had just received, then gently pressed it in front of him. The number on it was imprinted on his robe and even glowed slightly.

Harry pressed his player card onto his robe in the same way: "I'm G306. I saw that they were handing out the cards in order. Hermione was the first one there, and she got the first player card for the third year of Gryffindor—G301."

Hermione wasn't with them; because of her height, she was placed in the first row of the Gryffindor formation, and Ron looked at her with envy.

"I wonder if I could switch with her? I feel that the number 1 is more auspicious."

Harry shrugged. "Probably not. When I was getting the name tags, I saw the people from the Arts and Sports Department write down the names and numbers one by one. It's probably not possible to change them privately."

"Hey guys! I wish you all the best today, and don't forget our secret weapon!" George and Fred walked over with their arms around each other, winking and making faces at them.

Ron curled his lip: "We can only use it in the first game at most. If other academies see it in the later games, they'll definitely steal it."

"You think that's all we're capable of?" George said with a grin.

Fred continued, "We've tried hundreds of combinations and methods recently, and what we've taught you is just one of the more effective ones. If other schools learn from us, they can naturally pull out even more powerful ones in later competitions!"

Ron curled his lip in disbelief.

"I hope you're not just bragging."

In the Slytherin formation, Umaru, wearing her S106 player badge, stood proudly with her hands on her hips, talking about her discovery.

"Remember this: the baton exchange distance in a relay race is 20 meters. That means if each of the four runners throws the baton at the 20-meter limit, and the next runner uses a summoning spell to catch it, we can save 100 meters! The championship is definitely ours!"

The first-year wizards around her looked at Umaru with admiration.

"Sister Basak is so smart!"

"First place is definitely ours!"

"It is our inescapable duty to restore Slytherin's glory!"

"."

However, a shy Slytherin boy whispered, "But we've only been in school for less than a month, and we're not very good at using the Levitation Charm. None of us know the Bring Towards Charm, and 4 by 20 is 80 meters, not 100 meters."

The air around us seemed to freeze.

Umaru said angrily.

"Of course I know it's 80 meters. My math was taught by Lynn himself, how could I be wrong! This is just a test of your math skills. As wizards, you can't be bad at math. And since none of you know the Summoning Charm, it means that the first-year wizards from other houses don't know it either, but I do! That creates a 20-meter difference!"

Immediately, the group of followers that Xiaomai had gathered through her personality and charm looked at her with starry eyes.

"Sister Basak is amazing!"

"We've got this in the bag!"

"Winning the championship is a success!"

"."

Just as the young wizards in each college's formation were tense and excited, the vice minister of the Department of Arts and Sports, who was also in charge of the formation project, raised his wand, which had been blessed with an amplification spell, and shouted to all the athletes.

"Alright! Alright! Leaders of each college's contingent, come here and get ready for the final check. Time's almost up; we have 10 minutes left before we go on stage. Line up neatly, just like we did during our rehearsals! And please, this time, make sure no one steps on the shoes of the person in front of them. The professors and students on stage are watching; no one will use magic to put your shoes back on this time!"

A burst of laughter erupted from all the young wizards in the Gryffindor formation. They all looked at Neville, whose face was flushed red. It was he who had stepped on Seamus's shoe during rehearsals.

At the same time, a cheerful male voice rang out throughout the Quidditch pitch.

"Good morning, everyone! I'm Lee Jordan, the famous Quidditch commentator from Gryffindor! I'll be providing professional and passionate commentary for this year's games as always. I spent a long time researching and reading many books on Muggle Olympic Games before discovering that track and field has a long history."

Before he could finish speaking, a calm female voice interrupted him.

"Hello everyone, I am Hannah Flint, the Slytherin Head of Broadcasting, and also the commentator for this Games."

"Hey~ you interrupted me, Flint!" Lee Jordan said, covering the tip of his wand in annoyance, but his voice still echoed throughout the Quidditch arena.

"You talk too much nonsense. I've felt that way ever since I listened to you commentating on Quidditch from the audience." Hannah Flint rolled her eyes and said bluntly. She didn't even cover the "microphone" and openly expressed her dislike, which made the audience laugh.

Jordan was still dissatisfied and wanted to argue with Flint, but Professor McGonagall, who was sitting not far away and in charge of supervising the order of the entire arena, turned around and glared at him, so he could only suppress what he wanted to say.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's officially begin the first Hogwarts Magical Track and Field Meet!"

(End of this chapter)