Chapter 880: Quidditch Match
October ended in strong winds and torrential rains, and November arrived, cold as frozen iron plates, with heavy frost every morning, and cold currents blowing on people's exposed hands and faces.
The sky and the ceiling in the Great Hall turned a dull, pearly gray, and the mountains around Hogwarts were covered in snow. The temperature in the castle had become so low that many students wore their thick dragon skin gloves to keep warm when they went to the hallway between classes.
This is not good news, this year's cold wind is much colder than last year's.
It was bright and cold on the morning of the race.
When Van Lin woke up, Harry had just opened his eyes, and as soon as Van Lin sat up, he saw Ron sitting straight on the bed, his hands on his knees, staring intently at the sky.
It's a miracle, you know, it's Ron's favorite sleeper.
"Are you alright?" asked Van Lin, a little embarrassed.
Ron nodded, but didn't speak. It made Harry feel a little like what Van Lynn had encouraged him to do in the first place, and then Harry couldn't help but think of the time when Ron accidentally cast a vomit spell on him, and he looked as pale as he had then, let alone how he seemed to be unable to speak.
"You just need to have some breakfast," Harry said spiritually, "come on." ”
When they arrived, the hall was almost full, and everyone was talking loudly, and the atmosphere was more lively than usual. As they walked past the Slytherin table, the drum noise increased.
Van Lin was keenly seen, and could not be said to be keen, those Slytherins were too prominent. In addition to the green and silver scarves and hats they usually wear, each of them wears a silver badge shaped like a crown.
For some reason, a lot of people laughed and waved to Ron. Harry tried to see what was written on their badges as he walked by, but instead of bothering to look at this, he wanted to get Ron to walk past their table as quickly as possible.
At Gryffindor they were warmly welcomed, each dressed in red and gold, but instead of emboldening Ron, the welcome seemed to give him one last breath, and he sat down on the nearest bench with a look as if he were facing his last meal.
"I must be crazy to do this," he said hoarsely. "Nervous confusion. ”
"Don't be stupid," Harry said firmly, handing him the oatmeal, "you'll be fine." It's normal to feel nervous. ”
"I'm trash," Ron said gloomily. "I'm useless, I can't do it anymore. What was I thinking?"
"Control yourself," Van Lin said solemnly. "Never look down on yourself, I remember the ball you saved with your foot that day, even Fred and George said sorry. ”
Ron turned to Van Lin with some pain.
"It was accidental," he muttered weakly, "I didn't mean to—you and Hermione were so far away that you didn't even notice that I had slipped off the broomstick, and I happened to kick the ball when I wanted to sit down." ”
"Well," said Harry, quickly recovering from his surprise, "more surprises like this, and victory is in our pocket, isn't it?"
Ginny and Hermione sat across from them, Hermione wearing a red and gold scarf, gloves, and roses, while Ginny wore her own golden Gryffindor uniform.
She's Gryffindor's substitute chaser, or batsman, and Angelina was going to use her as a secret weapon anyway, and Ginny flies great, and in some ways, she's even better than Harry.
"How do you feel?" asked Ginny, who was staring at the leftover milk at the bottom of his empty oatmeal bowl, as if he was really trying to play himself dead.
"He's just nervous," Harry said.
"Well, that's a good sign, I've never seen you do well on an exam without being nervous. Hermione said as she took it for granted.
"Hey," a dazed, dreamy voice sounded behind them, and Van Lin barely needed to look up, no doubt Luna floated from the Ravenclaw table, many people staring at her, some openly pointing and teasing her. She managed to get a hat, shaped like an old lion's head, that dangled over her head.
"I'm Gryffindor," Luna said, gesturing to her hat. "Look what this is......" she pulled out her wand and touched her hat. The lion opened its mouth wide and let out a very realistic roar that startled everyone nearby. "Isn't it?" said Luna. "I want it to chew up the big Slytherin viper, you know, but now is not the time. Anyway...... Good luck and come on!"
Luna came, and Luna drifted away.
As Colin and Arya hurried up to them, they had not yet recovered from the shock of the hat, and Arya's eyebrows had reverted to their original shape under Lady Moses' treatment.
"If you're all right," said Arya, "we'll go straight to the venue, check the environment and change our clothes." ”
"We'll be there soon," Harry assured. "Ron wants to have some more breakfast. ”
However, after ten minutes he understood that Ron clearly couldn't swallow anything, and Harry thought it would be best to take him to the locker room quickly. When they stood up, Hermione also stood up, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him aside.
"Don't let Ron see what's written on the Slytherin badge," she whispered anxiously. Harry looked at her suspiciously, but she shook her head warningly, and Ron was coming towards them, looking confused and desperate.
"Good luck, Ron," Hermione tugged at Ron's clothes with her hand, "and you, Harry......"
As they made their way through the back of the hall, Ron looked sober.
He looked too distracted to pay attention to his surroundings, but as they walked past the Slytherin table, Harry glanced curiously at the crown-shaped badge, and this time he could read the inscription on it: Weasley is our King!
Harry had an ominous premonition that this would not be a good thing, so he urged Ron to hurry through the gate, down the stone steps, and into the cold air. As they hurried across the lawn on the slope to the gymnasium, the frosty weeds rattled as they stepped on.
There is not a hint of wind today and the sky is pure pearl white, which indicates that there is no problem with dazzling sunlight today, and visibility is high. Harry pointed out their advantages to Ron as he walked, but he wasn't sure if Ron was listening.
By the time they arrived, Fred had already changed his clothes and was walking towards the rest of the team.
Harry and Ron put on their robes (Ron spent several minutes trying to get them back and forth until Fred couldn't stand it anymore and came to help him) and sat down to listen to the speeches before each game, as the noise grew louder as the crowd poured from the castle to the stadium.
"Well, I just learned about the final Slytherin lineup," Angelina said, referencing a piece of parchment.
"Last year's batsmen, Dale and Bock, are gone, but look to have replaced them with Nelson's usual big guys, or rather, whoever knows how to fly. They were two guys named Goyle and Carat and I didn't know them very well......"
"We know each other!" Harry said with Ron.
"Well, they don't seem smart enough to tell the two ends of a broomstick," Angelina said, putting the parchment in her pocket, "but I'm often surprised that Dale and Bock can find their way to the venue without a road signpost." ”
"Goyle and Carat are carved out of the same mold as them," Harry affirmed.
They could hear hundreds of footsteps stepping onto the benches in the auditorium. Some were singing, even though Harry couldn't hear the words. He was starting to feel nervous, but he knew that his nausea was nowhere near as strong as Ron's, who was holding his stomach and staring straight ahead, his jaw open and his face pale.
"It's time," Angelina said calmly, looking at her watch, "come on, guys...... Good luck. ”
Everyone stood up, carried brooms, and lined up out of the locker room into the dazzling sunlight. They were greeted by a loud cheer, and Harry could still hear the singing, though it was drowned out by cheers and whistles. The Slytherins stood there waiting for them.
They also wear silver crown-like coats of arms. Their new captain, Nelson, has built a Dudley Dursley-esque team, all with hairy thigh-like forearms. Behind him stood Carat and Goyle squinting stupidly in the sun, shaking their new bats for them.
Malfoy stood to the side, the sun shining on his blonde hair. He smirked at Harry's gaze and poked the crown badge on his chest.
"Captain, shake hands," Angelina and Nelson commanded as the referee, Mrs. Hodge, who dared to say that Nelson almost wanted to crush Angelina's fingers, and that Angelina didn't back down despite being a girl.
"Ride the broomstick ......"
Mrs. Hodge put the whistle in her mouth and blew it. The ball was released, and all four players rushed forward.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught Ron and headed towards goal. He surged upward, dodged a Bludger, and flew in a large circle over the field, searching for the golden light.
......
"It's not too bad, is it?" Hermione said with some concern outside the arena, but as long as Ron plays normally, there is no problem, but the crux of the matter is whether Ron can play normally, which is a question mark.
"Don't worry, there's Harry here, I don't think Harry will lose to Malfoy, it's just that I hope Rodon can make a few stops now so that he can be a little proud. ”
......
On the other side of the stadium, Malfoy was doing the same.
"That's Arya, Arya and Quaffle, what a great team member that girl is, I've been talking about it for years, and she still won't go out with me-"
"Jordan!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall.
"Just kidding, spice things up – she dodged her past Fergus, and she—oh no—she got hit by a Bludger from Peters...... Nelson caught the Quaffle and Nelson turned back to the field – George Wesley hit a beautiful Bludger. It was aimed at Nelson's head, he dropped the Quaffle, he was caught, and Isabella of Gryffindor passed it back to Angelina to—"
Lee Jordan's commentary echoed through the room, and Harry listened as hard as he could through the sound of the wind in his ears, the noise of the crowd, and all the shouting, boos, and singing.
"—dodging Nelson, dodging a ball—a one-shot ,——-wait, the audience likes this? Listen, what are they singing?"
When Lee stopped to listen, the singing from the sea of silver and green in the Slytherin stands became loud and clear.
"Weasley can't save a ball, he can't even stop it, that's why we Slytherins always say that Weasleys are our kings. ”
"Weasley was born in the dumpster, he always let the Quaffle slip in, Weasley would make sure we won, Weasley was our trump card. ”
"—Arya passed behind Goyle!" Lee exclaimed quickly, apparently having made a bad decision.
When Harry turned, he was so angry at the song he had just heard, he knew Lee wanted to drown it out.
"Come on, Alya- looks like she just knocked the goalkeeper—— she shot - she- hahahaha...... Unfortunately, the Slytherin goalkeeper rescued the ball, and he threw the Quaffle to Nelson and quickly slid it away, flying in a zigzag between Arya and Angelina......
Just as Jordan tried to cover up the song with his commentary, Nelson also quickly ran to Ron.
It was terrible, and Van Lin wasn't at all sure if Ron would be able to save the ball.
As Nelson drew closer to Ron, the song below grew louder and louder.
"Weasley is our king, Weasley is our king, he always lets the Quaffle leak in, Weasley is our king......"
At this moment, almost everyone stopped, even Harry and Malfoy.
They didn't bother to look for the Golden Snitch and turned to look at Ron, everyone looking there.
At the other end of the pitch, Ron's lonely figure was standing in front of the three goal rings as a burly Nelson sped towards him.
Nelson got the Quaffle, Warrington rushed towards the goal, the Bludger couldn't catch up with him, there was only the goalkeeper in front of him. Jordan shouted, speaking extremely fast, "No one cooperates, it won't work, but he seems to be desperate, this is their only chance, Slytherin can't even grab a Bludger now!"
The singing in the Slytherin stands grew louder and louder: Weasley was born in a dumpster, and he couldn't stop a ball.
"Now is the first test for Gryffindor's new goalkeeper Weasley, the legendary captain of Gryffindor Charlie Weasley and the younger brother of batsman Fred and George Weasley, the team's rising star, he has a fine Quidditch tradition, inherits Wood's will, come on, Ron, stop him!"