"You scared me to death!" Alfrina playfully punched Gary. "Good thing the spell worked, or I wouldn't be done with you."
"See, isn't it much better when it comes to dueling?" Ever since the battle at the Shrieking Shack, Gary knew that combat was the best way to improve one's fighting ability.
"To be fair, it really is." Alfrina nodded seriously. "So, from now on, we'll practice dueling in this classroom?"
"That works too." Gary was noncommittal.
"Then I'll call Lily and the others. Anyway, we've already formed an organization, so applying for the use of a classroom on weekends isn't difficult."
Two weeks before the Christmas holiday, Lily and the others finally found several Hogwarts Quidditch players. With Dumbledore's speech at the start-of-term feast this year, Hogwarts students all knew about an organization with a funny name that undertook a social/school reform project every year.
Therefore, most of these Quidditch players did not refuse when they were approached.
"You're saying you want to weaken the Seeker's position? That's fantastic!" As a Chaser, James hated nothing more than a Seeker accidentally nullifying a team's hundred-point lead.
Those who participated in the opinion solicitation included Gryffindor Seeker Shan Ni Lin Qi and Chaser James Potter, Ravenclaw Seeker Nance Gro, Hufflepuff Beater brothers Wilson House and Jensen House, and Slytherin Keeper Schmidt Parkinson.
Players from all four houses and four positions were invited, sitting below the stage listening to Alfrina's speech.
"...The Seeker completely disrupts the balance of the game. One person can get one hundred and fifty points and end the game. This scoring ability makes most Quidditch teams center their strategies around the Seeker."
"If we look at it from this perspective alone, there's certainly no problem," Alfrina wrote and drew on the blackboard, "but now 78% of professional Quidditch matches last over forty-five minutes, and 57% last over an hour. The problem lies here."
"What's the problem with that?" Parkinson from Slytherin had a benevolent face, neatly trimmed black hair, and his robes were adorned with some dark gold patterns, making him stand out from the others in the classroom.
"The problem is that the game time is too long, and the audience's attention is basically on the other six players of each team. For most of the game, the Chasers cannot get attention," Alfrina spoke eloquently.
"Does an outsider on the field ultimately deciding the outcome of the game disrupt the balance of the match?"
The Quidditch players below fell into thought.
Recalling their previous matches, the Seeker's role was indeed too significant. Several of them had experienced the despair of leading by hundreds of points only to be overturned, and this situation was mostly uncontrollable. Keepers and Chasers could only watch helplessly as the opposing Seeker triumphantly caught the Golden Snitch and cheered.
"Also, in 69% of matches, Chasers only manage to score fewer than twenty goals," Alfrina said. "With this comparison, you yourselves should be clear about the imbalance in player status, right?"
The players below began to whisper. "All data statistics are from major continental Quidditch leagues, absolutely true and reliable," Alfrina guaranteed.
"You're right, the Seeker's position should be weakened," Parkinson admitted.
"Makes sense..." The others huddled together, muttering. "What's your plan?" James stepped forward after they discussed.
Gary, who had been quietly shrinking in the corner, suddenly spoke, "The five of us certainly don't understand Quidditch as deeply as you do. This is the new rule we've drafted. Take a look, and feel free to offer any opinions."
He held a stack of documents in his hand and distributed them to everyone.
"Beaters can participate in scoring, each time a Bludger hits an opposing player, it's ten points..." The House brothers laughed happily, revealing their well-maintained white teeth.
"The points for catching the Golden Snitch are reduced to one hundred, and it no longer has the mechanism to end the game. After each Golden Snitch is caught, the referee collects all the balls, and players return to their starting positions for a restart..."
"Game time is changed to a fixed ninety minutes..."
Everyone finished reading the first draft of the rules and remained silent.
"How about it, do you all think it's feasible?" Lily smiled, livening the atmosphere.
"Our plan is to pilot it in the Hogwarts League. Everyone can offer suggestions based on game performance, and we will accept all reasonable ones," Alfrina said loudly. "Madam Hooch, the referee, has already been informed."
"I think it's worth a try," Parkinson said. He found these rules very interesting. If the Chaser's status wasn't high, then his role as a Keeper on the field would certainly be more awkward.
"Our next match is against Hufflepuff, let's start with this one," Nance also agreed. "Quidditch shouldn't be about individual heroism; the spirit we want to express is teamwork."
"Exactly, teamwork is the core spirit this sport should convey to everyone," the House brothers said with a smile. Shan Ni and James also had no objections.
"The captains of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams are both here. Once you agree, next Saturday's match will use the new rules." Kona handed two forms to Wilson House and Nance. The two quickly scanned them, picked up their quills, and signed at the bottom.
"The Gryffindor captain isn't here. After next Saturday's match, we'll refine the rules and then give them to him to sign." Kona took the forms back.
That evening, these trial Quidditch rules were posted on the notice boards of all four house common rooms, drawing a crowd.
Sirius Black, with his arm around Peter's shoulder, looked at the parchment posted on the notice board. In the bottom right corner of the parchment was a peculiar mark, indicating that this parchment belonged to "A Maverick Pig."
This emblem was decided in their second year. At that time, they came from three of the four major houses excluding Hufflepuff, so they decided to combine the emblems of each house's representative animal as their organization's icon.
Alfrina felt it wasn't quite right to exclude Hufflepuff, and besides, there might be Hufflepuff members in the future.
After much discussion, the icon was based on a snake's crawling mark, with a badger's paw print pressed on top, followed by a lion's paw and a raven's claw print.
It was hard to distinguish when mixed together, so they colored it with the main colors of each house, forming a peculiar, multi-colored icon.
"These rules are too chaotic. A fixed duration of ninety minutes? I've never played Quidditch like this." This greatly differed from the Quidditch rules Sirius had grown up with.
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