From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Oh, right, I think I've seen a similar scene in a movie before—but I didn't understand it back then."

Feeling embarrassed to ask Adams and the others about things that seemed like everyone knew, William observed the students out of the corner of his eye while also trying to figure out what the competition was all about.

'It doesn't seem that complicated—'

Following the explanation of the student who was acting as the commentator, William roughly figured out what was going on after watching for more than ten minutes—there were players responsible for passing the ball into the goal to score, players guarding the goal to intercept the ball, and players like the Weasley brothers, carrying sticks to hit the ball that was hitting people all over the field.

"The biggest change is that there's a ball that wants to kill people—no, there are two balls that want to kill people, and they're not just aiming at one side. If they hit someone, there's a high chance they'll knock them off the broom."

'The Weasley brothers are the players who are responsible for forcing the ball to hit the other side with the stick,' William silently categorized the players on the field. 'They probably wouldn't allow hitting someone directly with the stick—otherwise, the other side would probably be getting hit with the stick right now.'

'Maybe it also serves to protect their own team from being hit? I'm not sure, and I don't know if it's due to good teamwork or something else, but the twins are quite aggressive, and the players are pretty good at dodging the ball that's thrown at them.'

'Considering that there will definitely be tests during training, I guess these twins have beaten up their own people quite a bit—' William speculated maliciously, though he was just joking.

"This competition is quite interesting, with enough competition and a good amount of randomness, but it's a bit dangerous. A ball that attacks without permission can be easily knocked out by a Confusion spell, even by the referee. If I ever play ball, I'll definitely choose the stick-wielding profession like those two brothers."

As William watched, he began to understand what was going on. Although he couldn't concentrate on watching because he was busy supervising the students, he could roughly figure out what those people were doing.

Once he understood, he immediately realized that the situation on the field was not very favorable for Gryffindor—even though he was not very familiar with flying brooms, he could tell that Slytherin's brooms were much better.

"The college team competitions are still not standardized enough; even the brooms aren't uniform—but the swimsuits for the sports meet all have some kind of cutting-edge technology, so who can say anything?"

He shook his head—Gryffindor was doomed to lose.

"Now there's just one question—what's that guy across the street doing up there in the air, checking his WeChat steps?"

Although calling the students that was a bit disrespectful to the game, William really couldn't understand what the kids were doing—they weren't playing, they weren't goalkeeping, and they weren't even hitting people with the ball.

What's worse, it seems their brooms are the best.

"Are you two the referees accompanying the team, the straight men in the stand-up comedy routine—running to the stadium to watch the game?"

Although he knew that Quidditch was so popular that it shouldn't have mascots, William really couldn't figure out what those two youngest students in the sky were doing.

'That's Harry Potter from Gryffindor, and the one from Slytherin isn't very old either. Could he really just be a mascot?'

'Hey, maybe he's the commander?'

William quickly deduced—this was a genuine 3D game, an aerial competition, so it was only natural to have a commander who could oversee the entire situation, observe the dynamics of the entire field, assign tactics to the other team members, and, incidentally, direct the team members to adapt to changing circumstances as quickly as possible.

'Just a support role? Because you have less work, but you're in charge of overall command?'

Thinking about it this way, William suddenly understood—but reality quickly proved him wrong.

The two men started fighting in the sky, their brooms clashing together. Then, the two men, whom William had predicted would assist, began to wrestle in mid-air, neither willing to give up.

"They've found it!"

The commentator's voice suddenly became excited.

"They're fighting over something, God, isn't that against the rules? No, Potter, Potter!"

'Struggle, struggle for what?'

William was starting to get confused again…

The struggle on the field was quickly resolved. The two fell from the air, almost embracing each other, their clothes and hair in disarray. Even from a distance, the bloodstains from their fingernails on each other's faces and necks could be seen.

"Potter, Potter! We won!"

The commentator's bias is off the charts—he's definitely from Gryffindor.

But how did they win when they were so far behind in the score?

Chapter 164 'Generations of Loyal Warriors' - General Yu

Although filled with doubt, William didn't intend to ask Adams and the others about things that should be common sense—it wasn't worth getting ridiculed for something that could be easily found out by looking up the rules.

'Take a little time to look up the basic rules. You can ask if you don't understand the tactics, but you still need to understand these basics. Quidditch is more popular than you might imagine among wizards—'

As William pondered this, he simply picked up the wand—he had never watched Quidditch, but he was well aware of the common knowledge that riots were likely to break out after major sporting events.

"Will it be alright if we don't keep an eye on Slytherin?"

William quickly surveyed the students around him, while not forgetting to ask Adams a question.

"There shouldn't be any problem. The Board of Governors is usually there, so there's no need to worry about them. Besides, Professor Snape is there too, so even if we lose, it shouldn't be a big deal."

Adams glanced quickly toward Slytherin to make sure everything was alright before replying to William.

“Wait, the minister has left the stands—” Adams raised his voice slightly, but quickly calmed down. “It should be fine. He’s just giving Harry Potter his blessing. After all, getting the Snitch to turn the game around is the Seeker’s greatest honor.”

Adams' string of technical terms left William bewildered—but he quickly interpreted it in his own way as Harry having received great honor, and the Minister of Magic having gone to offer his congratulations and incidentally take a photo…

'There shouldn't be any problem—the school doesn't sell bottled water, so they wouldn't throw a water bottle at us… Holy crap!'

"sky!"

"Oh!"

"hiss"

Various sounds arose around William—even Adams and the others couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The scene was now in complete chaos. The Minister of Magic had fallen heavily to the ground, curled up like a shrimp, looking as if he were under some kind of curse. But William could guarantee that if he were the Minister, he would rather be under a curse.

-

"I caught him!"

Harry struggled to break free from the hand holding his robe, stood up, and tried to show everyone the Golden Snitch that was struggling and trying to escape.

So what if it's Nimbus 2001?

He defeated Malfoy again, this time in his best game, Quidditch. The heavy pressure he felt from missing the game last year due to injury had dissipated most of it, making him want to celebrate by running the Snitch around the field.

The mischievous thief had been defiantly flitting back and forth on their clothes, and Harry's neck and face were burning from trying to snatch it, but it was all worth it; he finally caught it behind Malfoy's neck.

But the sharp pain in his knee pulled him from his celebratory mood—

"Potter, how dare you!"

Malfoy, lying on the ground, was furious. Harry then noticed that in order to break free from Malfoy and stand up to show the squid, he had firmly stepped on Malfoy's robe, right up to his chest, making it impossible for him to stand up.

As he subconsciously loosened his grip, Malfoy stood up and lunged at him, his eyes bloodshot.

"You dare! You actually dare!"

A heavy punch came straight for his nose. Harry instinctively dodged, but was hit in the shoulder. The intense pain made him punch back without thinking.

Malfoy grunted, but without pausing, he lunged at Harry again—

Harry nimbly dodged to the side, revealing a smiling wizard approaching.

"Child, the allure of competitive sports doesn't include—"

Unable to stop, Malfoy was driven by fists and rage, concentrating his rather soft presence—the height of a twelve-year-old boy became the most powerful guarantee of a critical blow to vital points.

Although the Minister of Magic tried his best to remain silent, the impact of the blow caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground, his body instinctively curling up.

-

"My God," William stared at the wand in his hand, momentarily at a loss for what to do or say.

Judging from the force and height of the impact, he was a little scared—it was too accurate!

This shouldn't be considered a premeditated act by the students; it was probably an accident, right?

William was a little unsure, but fortunately he wasn't alone in handling the emergency; Adams and Singed were also there.

When he looked at the two with a consultative gaze, he found that his two teammates had completely failed to fulfill their role—Adams stood there with his mouth wide open, completely stunned, while Singed had dropped the lighter he had been playing with and didn't even bother to pick it up.

"Surely you guys aren't that serious?"

Fortunately, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore were at the front of the field, so the unexpected situation didn't require their intervention. Professor McGonagall had already rushed over with the Ministry of Magic staff.

“Adams, Adams…”

William gently nudged him. "Come back to reality. The students are watching. Don't look so naive."

Before Adams could respond, he composed himself, glanced around out of the corner of his eye, and then lowered his voice, "This is none of our business. The funding is secured."

Before William could understand Adams's intention, Adams started pushing Singed next to him.

"Singed—what are you thinking? You always brag about how worldly you've seen it all, and you're stunned by something this small?"

...

After a barrage of sarcastic remarks, Adams turned around with an undisguised smile on his face. "I almost forgot, you probably don't know that kid, Decora Malfoy. His dad is a school board member."

School board member?

William suddenly understood why Adams and the others were in this state.

The school board chairman's son sent a message to the Minister of Magic. What does that have to do with Hogwarts?

"I was wondering why the Slytherin brooms were so nice. The school board chairman's son is in the brooms, so it's only natural he'd sponsor them—plus, there's the added bonus of exposure at major events. It's a win-win situation."

'It's not fair to say they were bought; the two of them were fighting so fiercely and neither of them fell off the broom, so they must be quite capable.'

William, disregarding the fact that he himself occasionally falls into the lake while flying, shamelessly commented on the students' flying skills. The tension that had been taut since morning relaxed—no one would be thinking of showing off anymore. Today, all the focus of conversation at Hogwarts was on the boy named Decora.

However, this matter is unlikely to cause too much of a stir. The Daily Prophet probably wouldn't dare to sensationalize such gossip—after all, the Ministry of Magic isn't governed by a multi-party system, and compared to those tabloids that rely on rumors, this newspaper is quite committed to its near-official status.

It's hard to say about the other tabloids. There's precedent for a Minister of Magic being ousted during his term, and the attack on the Ministry of Magic by students is a sensational story that can bring in money and boost sales, so it's unlikely to be easy to cover up.

'If you calculate it this way, the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic are losing money hand over fist.'

William was thinking about the gossip surrounding the board of trustees while watching Professor McGonagall handle the problem.

Anyway, he has no experience in handling such a major sudden event, so he might as well learn from him—although the Minister of Magic is unlikely to have such an accident, there is still the Deputy Minister, right?

But Professor McGonagall's approach was to do nothing—she went to the center of the field, quickly separated the two students who were fighting to the death, then instructed the Ministry of Magic staff who had come with her to help the Minister of Magic up before leaving the situation to him.

The Minister of Magic, known as Minister Fudge, smiled slightly awkwardly behind him and then, as if nothing had happened, placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, striking a very gentlemanly pose for the Daily Prophet's reporters to take photos.

"I've learned it, I've learned it..."

William muttered to himself. At that moment, the minister had finished posing and cast a spell on himself. His voice began to echo throughout the stadium.

“A young and energetic strike—” The Minister of Magic spread his hands, looking completely at ease, as if he hadn’t just been lying on the ground. “Honestly, I love Hogwarts. The air here reminds me of the years I spent studying here.”

"Here, I must thank the wonderful lads and splendid girls from Gryffindor and Slytherin..."

The Minister of Magic began his long-winded speech, but William had already started pulling out a small notebook from his bag.