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Chapter 162: The Bludgers' March
Chapter 162: The Bludgers' March
The next day was a weekend, with no classes to attend.
As Kyle opened the door to his dormitory, he was greeted by the sight of Cedric, who had his arms outstretched.
"What's with the pose?" Kyle asked, puzzled. "Are you imitating a beckoning cat?"
"Never mind about that, it's not important," Cedric replied, lowering his arms. "I'm here to get you. Have you forgotten that today is the Quidditch tryouts? It's already half-past nine."
"I didn't forget, I just woke up," Kyle said matter-of-factly, rubbing his eyes.
It was a rare occasion to have a weekend with pleasant weather, so sleeping in a bit was a must.
Cedric rubbed his forehead. "The tryouts start at ten, and it's already half-past nine... How could you sleep through this?"
"We still have half an hour, we're not late," Kyle said, picking up his Nimbus 2000. He followed Cedric out of the common room, with Connor joining them. She had been waiting outside while Cedric went to get Kyle.
The trio made their way across the grounds to the Quidditch pitch.
The tryouts hadn't officially started yet, but the area around the pitch was already bustling. Even Professor Sprout, who rarely left the greenhouses, was there, standing in the middle of the pitch talking to Madam Hooch.
The stands were filled with spectators from Hufflepuff and other houses.
From their anxious expressions, it was clear that at least half of them were there to gather information.
However, Harris, as the team captain, didn't seem to mind and showed no signs of wanting to shoo them away.
When Kyle and the others arrived, Harris was even enthusiastically explaining the basics of Quidditch to some first-year students.
"Quidditch is quite simple," Harris was saying to a boy with glasses. "Chasers throw the Quaffle to score points, Beaters use bats to protect players from Bludgers and hit them towards the opposing team's players.
"But you don't need to worry about any of that as a Seeker. Your job, Potter, is to catch the Golden Snitch in the shortest time possible."
"What's the Golden Snitch?" Harry asked, intrigued.
"It's a tricky little creature," Harris said. "But if you catch it, the game ends, and your team gets an additional one hundred and fifty points."
"Golden... Snitch..." Harry muttered to himself.
But then he seemed to realize something, and he stared at Harris in confusion. "Wait... How did you know I'm a Seeker?"
"It's quite obvious," Harris shook his head. "Wood has been grinning from ear to ear these past few days, he's been taking extra helpings at meals. We knew something was up.
The only thing that could make him that happy is the Seeker position."
"So Wood told you?" Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "At least it wasn't leaked from our side."
"It has nothing to do with him," Harris shook his head. "Wood wanted to keep it a secret from me, saying his owl was having a second nest or something. So I went straight to Professor McGonagall, and she confirmed that you are indeed Gryffindor's new Seeker."
"Professor... McGonagall?" Harry sat there dumbfounded. For some reason, he felt a twinge of sympathy for Wood.
Wood had intended to keep him a secret weapon, taking the opposing teams by surprise, but it seemed that within a day, the news had reached the opposing team's captain through Professor McGonagall.
With that, he left the stands and made his way towards the middle of the pitch, greeting Kyle and the others as he passed by.
"Looks like it's about to start," Kyle said, holding his Nimbus 2000 and taking a seat near the front of the stands.
"How many players are they choosing today?" Connor asked, looking towards the pitch.
"Two," Cedric replied. "One Beater and one Chaser. Kyle's trying out for the Chaser position."
"Mhm." Kyle nodded.
He preferred the thrill of scoring goals to constantly dodging Bludgers or seeking the Snitch. While each goal was only worth ten points, scoring many could still earn you a hundred and fifty points... or even more.
Precisely at ten o'clock, the selection process began.
First up was the Beater tryout, with three participants.
Under Harris's arrangement, the three of them mounted their brooms and flew to the middle of the pitch.
For Beaters, the selection focused on accuracy and the power of their swings, and Harris had already prepared a box containing Bludgers.
Their task was to stay on their brooms for as long as possible, and the last one standing would earn a spot on the team.
As Harris opened the box, two Bludgers shot out like cannonballs, zipping around wildly in mid-air.
The three students brandished their bats, knocking away the Bludgers that came their way.
Being past the initial selection, they definitely had some skill, and none of them were knocked off their brooms right away. But as time passed, things changed.
Everyone watched in silence.
After five minutes, the first casualty occurred.
It was a second-year student, the youngest of the three.
Perhaps feeling the pressure of the stalemate, he started aiming for the other two instead.
However, he overestimated his strength and ended up losing his grip, sending his bat flying.
The next second, he was knocked off his broom by another Bludger.
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Harry exclaimed involuntarily, reaching for his own shoulder as if he felt the impact himself.
"That's what happens to Beaters," Ron explained. "George told me that in his first year on the team, his arm was broken three times by Bludgers.
Fred was about the same, except he broke his leg."
Hearing Ron's words, Kyle, who was sitting not far away, looked at Cedric in confusion. "Fred and George got their arms broken by Bludgers?"
"No, never!" Cedric denied emphatically. "Most Beaters sustain some injuries, but not Fred and George. As far as I know, in an entire year of matches, the Bludgers never even touched their clothes.
In fact, they're like Bludgers themselves."
(End of Chapter)
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