Chapter 35: Crazy Bludger
The Quidditch season has drawn everyone's attention away from the Chamber of Secrets, and Gryffindor vs. Slytherin are the two old rivals again. But here's the difference: this year's Slytherin is a team that sits on gold β Malfoy Sr. paid everyone in Slytherin to equip them with the latest "Flywheel 2001", which was new this year and is faster than Harry's broomstick.
In terms of equipment, Gryffindor is at an absolute disadvantage. After all, the Hogwarts team is not like a professional team, and the broomsticks are constantly updated. Except for Harry, everyone else in Gryffindor is still using the "Shooting Star" series, which is compared to the "Flywheel" broomstick, which is like a classic car vs. F1 car!
At breakfast, the Gryffindor team members gathered around the long, empty table, everyone looking nervous and talking very little. Hermione and Ron hurried over to wish Harry good luck.
The laughter from the Slytherin side was particularly piercing to their ears, as if they had won the victory. "Harry, you're finished." Malfoy tapped the golden cup he had used to drink water, and the tinting sound seemed to be mocking Harry.
"What's the matter, Malfoy, you're just relying on a rich father, otherwise you'd be on the Quidditch team!" Ron stomped on the table, he was standing high, hoping that the spittle would squirt farther, preferably in Malfoy's face, or into his cup, and he would be disgusted with disgust.
"Yo, Harry Potter's henchmen are speaking for him again. Oh, I forgot, how a pig-like family like Weasley could have the money to buy a broom for a broomstick. Even the wands they used were broken. Hey, Weasley, your wand isn't backwatering, let yourself spit out slugs. Malfoy laughed and fought back violently. He remembered that there was a time when Ron had attacked him. But Ron's wand was damaged when the school car landed on the Punching Willow, and although Ron taped it up, it hasn't worked ever since. And when Ron cursed Malfoy, the wand reversed the target of the spell, causing Ron to lose face as a boss.
"Slytherin has a better broom than we do." Team captain Wood began by saying that Ron, who was in the crater, did not erupt, "without any doubt." But we have better players. We train harder than they do, and we fly in all sorts of weatherβ" ("That's right!"). George muttered, "I haven't really done it since August." We will make them regret the moment they smile. Malfoy, who had just been bribed to get him on the Slytherin team. β
He turned to Harry with a wistful turn, "It's all up to you, Harry, to show them that the Seeker must have something else, more than just a rich father." Get the Golden Snitch before Malfoy, Harry, because we're going to win today and we're ready to win. β
"Don't stress too much, Harry." Fred said, winking at him.
When they came out to play, there was a thunderous sound, mainly cheering. Because both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin defeated, because they were too arrogant. But the Slytherins also let out some sighs and cheers from the crowd. Madame Hooch, the Quidditch referee, shakes hands with the captains of both sides. They gave each other a threatening look and clenched hands meaningfully.
"Listen to my whistle," Mrs. Hodge, "three...... Two...... a"
As the roar of the crowd urged them to begin, all the contestants rose into the sloping sky.
Harry flew anxiously high into the air, anxiously searching for the Golden Snitch as the broomstick's speed gap was so great that Gryffindor kept losing points. As Wood said before, he was the only one who could save Gryffindor now.
The rain started to fall, and Harry kept flying, hiding. Of course, he wasn't dodging from the rain, he was dodging a Bludger, and from the beginning of the game, it was like crazy to stare at Harry alone.
A whistling rang out to Harry, who knew that Bludger had just passed him again; He flipped to the left, and flew in the opposite direction with a rapid speed.
"Do you practice ballet, Potter?" Malfoy yelled as Harry was forced to whirl around in the air to dodge the Bludger. When Harry glared at Malfoy in disgust, he saw it, the Golden Snitch perched a few inches above Malfoy's left ear - and Malfoy was too busy laughing at Harry, the sound of the Golden Snitch's wings flapping was drowned out in the rain!
In that nerve-wracking moment, Harry hesitated in the air. He didn't dare to speed up towards Malfoy, lest he look up and see the Golden Snitch.
"But that's the end of the show," Malfoy said suddenly, riding his broomstick in a circle, his left hand up to catch it.
Yes! No! Harry heard his own heart wail, how did Malfoy do it? He shouldn't have known about the existence of the Golden Snitch!
But at this moment, because Harry's stay was too long. Bludger spun around the corner, and as Mrs. Hodge blew the whistle, it finally hit him, crushing his elbow.
Harry felt like his arms were broken. His right arm dangled to the side ineffectively. Bludger scurried for a second attack, this time aimed at his chest. All he had left was to hook his broom with his two feet: as he fell headlong to the ground, struggling to keep from fainting, the crowd screamed.
"Yuga Dim Leviosa!" A levitation spell struck him, and Harry felt his falling body stop in the air for a moment and begin to slowly fall.
With a "bang", he fell to the mud and rolled off the broom. He heard what seemed to be a mixture of whistles and shouts from a distant distance, and then fainted.
The rain fell on him, and he was still lying on the ground, when someone fell down on him, and he woke up. What he saw was a row of shiny teeth. "Oh, no, it's not you." He groaned.
"I don't know what he's talking about." Lockhart said loudly to the nervous Gryffindor players huddled next to him. "Don't be nervous, I'll fix your arm."
"No!" Harry yelled, "I'll just let it do this, thanks......" He tried to sit up, but the pain was unbearable. At that moment, he heard a familiar click.
"I don't want to take pictures like that, Colin." He said loudly. Having lost the game and being seriously injured, Harry has no mind or face to take a picture now.
"Lie back, Harry," Lockhart said reassuringly, "it's a simple spell, and I only need a fraction of the time. β
"Why can't I go to the school doctor's office?" Harry asked, gritting his teeth.
"He's going to have to go, Professor." Covered in mud, Wood said, "This game is really bad, Harry can't have any more accidents." β
Through the legs that surrounded him like bushes, Harry found Fred and George struggling to shove the vicious Bludger into the box, and it was still struggling to make that terrifying flight. If it weren't for it, Harry could have behaved better.
"Lie down." Lockhart said as he rolled up the sleeves of his bright red jersey.
"Noβdon'tβ" Harry said weakly, but Lockhart was spinning his wand, and a second later it was already aimed directly at Harry's arm.
A strange and unpleasant sensation began to creep from Harry's shoulders to his fingertips. It was as if his arms were shrinking. He didn't dare to look at what was happening. He closed his eyes and turned his face away from his hand. But when people gasped and Colin began to press the shutter desperately, his fear was at its core. His arm doesn't hurt anymore β but it doesn't feel like a hand anymore.
"Ah," Lockhart said, "that happens sometimes." But the point is that the bones are no longer broken. People should be aware of this. Alright, let's help Harry to the school infirmary. β
When Harry began to stride, he felt unusually unbalanced. Taking a deep breath, he looked to his right. What he saw almost made him faint again.
Underneath his robe was what looked thick, flesh-colored rubber gloves. He tried to move his fingers, but nothing happened. Lockhart lost his bones!
When Harry knew he was going to spend the night in the school infirmary, he couldn't help but think that it was his bad day.
"Edge, how do you have time? Didn't you say you're busy during this time? Hermione made way for Aitch to get to Harry's bed.
"When things are done, there will naturally be time." Aitch's face was smiling, feeling like he had lost some burden, and his brow was no longer tightly furrowed.
"Then why didn't you just help take out that Bludger?" Ron gathered around Harry's hospital bed and lost his temper at Edge, "Now come and fake kindness, who will you see!" β
"Unreasonable." Aitch tilted his head and ignored him, "Bludger attacking players is in the Quidditch rules, and it's a foul for someone else to interfere." β
"Hindsight," Ron muttered, ......, "if you hadn't taught Malfoy some magic, Gryffindor wouldn't have lost." Harry told Malfoy about Malfoy's anomaly, and Neville knew it was an Aitch magic that could help people see their surroundings without any angles.
"Alright, Ron, let me be quiet for a moment, okay?" Harry didn't want to hear people quarrel in front of him, and he heard that Aitch had rescued him with a levitation charm, so although he was angry, he didn't want his best friend to have a conflict with his life-saving benefactor.
"Okay, it looks like it's okay, it'll be fine in a few days, then I'll go first." Aitch looked closely at Harry's hand and knew that Harry needed to recuperate, but as long as he was there, Ron wouldn't give up. Hermione followed him, and Madame Pomri looked like she was going to chase someone away. Sure enough, not soon, Ron was also driven back to school.