The commotion caused by the attack didn't linger long at Hogwarts. Especially after the victims returned to school, the students quickly put the incident behind them.
After all, children tend to have short memories, even something as terrifying as an attack by a Basilisk, which had lasted nearly half a school year, didn't seem to leave a lasting impression.
Within a week of the incident, the fear and panic had completely faded. The young Slytherins resumed their usual antics, namely, harassing Allen.
After casually knocking out one particularly annoying brat who had tried to hex him, Allen smoothly kicked the unconscious boy into the corner of the hallway. Some areas of the castle had poor lighting, after all, it wouldn't do to let someone trip over him.
Today was another bright and sunny day, and Allen had been specially invited to observe an event, the Hogwarts Quidditch tryouts.
Why was a Hufflepuff like him allowed to attend, you ask? Well… let's just say the Gryffindor prefect and team captain was a good friend of his. Not that Allen would go around broadcasting that.
As for why the tryouts were held so late into the term? That was thanks to several weekends of nonstop rain, and a certain Dark Lord's meddling. But at least there was still enough time left in the season for the new team to train and gel together.
Hufflepuff, for their part, didn't hold tryouts this year at all. They had already selected a full second-string team last year, and none of their senior players had graduated yet. From what Allen had seen, they were engaged in intense internal training matches, clearly aiming to win the House Cup before their time at Hogwarts ended.
Not that Allen had said a word about this to the three Weasleys, come on, even if they were all familiar with one another, they were still from rival Houses. It would've been foolish to leak something that sensitive, especially since he was the one who proposed the training plan in the first place!
The tryouts were held on one of Hogwarts' expansive grassy fields, now lush and well-tended thanks to the hard work of the house-elves. And thankfully, there were no ridiculous warning signs threatening "fail one class if you step on the grass."
Allen's main reason for being invited was because the Weasley twins were trying out. With many veteran players having graduated last year, the team desperately needed new blood.
Half of Gryffindor seemed to have shown up for the tryouts. Quidditch, being the primary source of entertainment for wizards, was immensely popular, especially since it was closely tied to House Points. Honestly, this just highlighted how lacking in recreational spirit wizards were. While Muggles had moved on to television, wizards were still clinging to radio and relying almost entirely on Quidditch for amusement.
Thanks to the overwhelming crowd, Allen's ears were suffering, especially because the twins, who had been confident at first, were starting to doubt themselves in the face of so many competitors.
The sheer number of spectators and hopefuls clearly added pressure. The twins might've been confident pranksters in private, but being the center of attention was a whole different story.
"Come on, relax! It's not that scary, trust me, most of these people can barely fly straight," Allen tried to cheer them up, hoping to put an end to their nervous whining.
"No way, Allen. Look over there, and that guy too. And the one with the brand-new broom, I've got a bad feeling they're going to make the cut easily," George pointed toward several students he believed were top contenders.
"Don't joke around. I bet a few of them barely scraped by in Flying class. They'll be lucky to stay in the air, let alone play well," Allen retorted, half based on observation and half on pure guesswork.
"How would you know? Allen, we all agree you're great at flying, but flying and playing Quidditch are two very different things," Fred argued, siding with George. "As far as I know, you've never even tried out for the Hufflepuff team. And Charlie's told us loads of stories about people who fly brilliantly but can't play Quidditch to save their lives."
Brats. Allen wasn't about to tell them he knew the outcome from future events.
He had never doubted Charlie's dedication to Quidditch. Charlie always prioritized skill over personal ties, if the twins didn't perform well, they wouldn't even get a spot. In fact, Charlie might be more demanding with them than with others.
So here's the real question: If even the twins were leagues above most of the candidates, then where were these so-called "top players"?
Those two might've lacked humility, but they weren't wrong.
Just look at Angelina, standing quietly to the side. She wasn't babbling nervously like the twins, though her expression betrayed a hint of anxiety.
Wait a second. Wasn't it during this very tryout that she beat out all the competition and earned her place as Gryffindor's Chaser, right through to graduation?
And didn't she even become team captain one year, dominating the entire squad and intimidating Harry himself?
Terrifying.
Maybe the real boss fights are the ones that stay silent?
What happened to the shy girl on the boat during the first-year sorting?
...Hold on, when did it become so natural for her to be hanging around Allen and the twins all the time? At some point, the once-shy girl had become a friend of all three of them, and Allen hadn't even realized it.
Fred, you poor fool, run while you still can. You're no match for her.
Unfortunately, Fred remained blissfully unaware, still going on about how Allen lacked proper Quidditch experience and didn't understand that strong game sense was more important than flying skills alone.
Just then, a Gryffindor standing nearby chimed in. Allen vaguely recognized him but couldn't remember his name.
"Alright, enough nonsense, Fred."
"You might think Allen's an outsider, but I've seen him play. That match was incredible! If you'd witnessed it for yourself, you wouldn't be saying such silly, adorable things."
The boy straightened up and spoke as if delivering some profound truth.
"I'm telling you, Allen is one of the best Chasers Hogwarts has ever seen!"
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