Chapter 423: Ravenclaw's Plan Fails
Chapter 423: Ravenclaw's Plan Fails
Even after class, Michael couldn't find anyone who met the requirements, and for the next few days, he remained preoccupied.
Kyle thought that the "disheveled-haired person" Professor Trelawney mentioned could very likely be Harry.
She probably remembered the match order incorrectly, thinking that Hufflepuff's next opponent was Gryffindor, which was why she said that.
Moreover, Harry's hair was always messy, and he was too lazy to spend time grooming it.
This idea was also confirmed a few days later.
Fred told Kyle that he, too, had been singled out by Professor Trelawney.
"She called my name wrong, thinking I was George," Fred laughed, gasping for breath. "She also told me to be careful of a handsome dark-haired man. I dare say that person is either you or Cedric..."
"Oh, wow!" George exclaimed dramatically. "I think we should stay away from Kyle; Professor Trelawney warned us about him."
"Yeah," Fred said, laughing. "He might turn into a fire-breathing dragon and swallow us whole..."
"Or knock us off our brooms during the Quidditch match..."
"Too bad our match is already over..."
"He'll have to wait until next year to knock us off..."
"So, Kyle, can you turn into a fire-breathing dragon?"
The two bantered back and forth, as if they found this to be a hilarious joke.
Kyle became even more convinced that Professor Trelawney had indeed mixed up the match order.
However, this wasn't surprising. Ever since the Dementors appeared on the pitch, Professor Trelawney seemed to have stopped watching the matches... At least, Kyle had never seen her in the teacher's box.
...
On the last weekend before Easter, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw match began.
Ravenclaw seemed to want to replicate Hufflepuff's strategy from the previous match by shifting the team's focus from the Seeker to the Chasers and narrowing the score gap through aggressive scoring.
But Oliver Wood had also anticipated this, and before the match, he had the team undergo targeted training.
Most importantly, Ravenclaw didn't have a Chaser good enough to consistently break through Wood's defenses.
As a result, Ravenclaw was left dazed.
From the start of the match, their offensive rhythm was disrupted.
Angelina Johnson caught the Bludger Wood threw at her and darted forward like an arrow, quickly throwing the ball into Ravenclaw's goal.
Twenty minutes later, the score was 20:80.
The Ravenclaw stands were silent, and they had the illusion that they had returned to the dark days of two years ago.
Back then, their team's strategy was to focus on participation, with almost no hope of winning.
Another twenty minutes passed, and Gryffindor had taken a 150-point lead. Unless Autumn caught the Golden Snitch immediately, Ravenclaw had no chance of winning.
However, in reality, Harry caught the Golden Snitch and won the match.
"You should have waited a bit longer, Harry, at least until we scored more points before making your move..."
After the match, Wood frowned in the changing room. "Now we're only 200 points ahead of Hufflepuff. This is too risky. They might overtake us in the final match."
"Hmm..." Harry scratched his hair. "But Autumn had already seen the Golden Snitch and almost caught it..."
"Then hold her back or get rid of the Snitch!" Wood blurted out. "This is about whether we can win the Quidditch Cup, not about being gentlemen..."
Harry remained silent, as speaking would leave a bad impression on Autumn, which he didn't want to do... Moreover, it was already excessive to wait until forty minutes had passed before ending the match.
"It's fine, Oliver..." Fred and George stepped in to defuse the situation, "Hufflepuff might not win that many points either."
"And the Slytherin team is... well... not bad..." George reluctantly added, "They might even win the match."
"But we're only leading by two hundred and fifty points." Wood stated.
"Then let's pray they catch the Golden Snitch within five minutes." Fred said, "The Slytherin Seeker isn't the brightest, and when he sees the Snitch, he'll definitely rush towards it without a second thought."
"Exactly." George agreed, "Once Malfoy makes a move, Cedric will have no choice but to follow, just like Harry did earlier."
"Let's hope so." Wood sighed, leading everyone out of the changing room.
Just then, the Ravenclaw team emerged from across the way.
Wood attempted to greet them, but they acted as if they hadn't seen him, walking straight past the pitch.
Harry watched as Autumn, without turning back, hesitated, wondering if she should find an opportunity to approach her and try to smooth things over.
But soon, he forgot about this thought.
(End of Chapter)
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