On Saturday morning, Kai got up early, ready to watch the upcoming Quidditch match.
This year's tournament schedule wasn't exactly favorable for Gryffindor—they had to be the first to face the freshly-outfitted Slytherin team.
All Nimbus 2001s... That's basically what a professional team would have.
No wonder the team's spirits weren't high—even Fred and George didn't have the heart for jokes.
When Kai arrived at the Great Hall, he saw all the Gryffindor players squeezed together at the empty long table, looking nervous and quiet, hardly saying a word.
Kai didn't know what to say either; he just hurried over and gave both of them an encouraging pat on the shoulder before they headed to the Quidditch Pitch.
"Go for it. If you win, you won't have to do a tap dance around the castle on broomsticks anymore."
Last year, because of a bet involving the Merlin Order Medal, Fred and George had been inventing all kinds of excuses to put it off—they still hadn't done it.
Understandably so—the moves they came up with were a bit too ridiculous. Balancing three trophies or doing a tap dance on a broomstick? Both were basically extreme difficulty level.
One on its own would be a stretch—combined… let's just say, their hearts were willing, but their bodies weren't.
Fred's eyes lit up, "Really?"
"Of course, it's a deal." Kai grinned.
"Honestly, your pep talk is way more effective than Wood's," George chimed in, "He just keeps giving us the same old speech."
He cleared his throat, mimicking Oliver Wood by waving his hand, "'...Slytherin's brooms are better than ours, but our players are better than theirs...'"
"Isn't that just stating the obvious? Do we really need to hear that…?"
"But, hey, he's the captain," Fred shrugged, "All we can do is play along."
The two of them joked around about Oliver Wood from both sides, all traces of earlier gloom gone.
Kai even suspected their previous downcast look was just an act—waiting for him to say exactly that line…
"Hey, Kai, your face is way too obvious. I can totally guess what you're thinking," George arched an eyebrow, "But honestly, it wasn't…"
"We actually were really nervous before…"
"Worried we'd lose the match…"
"Until we put these on…" Fred patted his gold-and-red team robes.
"And we've decided! If we win this time—"
"We'll celebrate the same way…"
"Has nothing to do with the bet, just pure celebration!"
Fred and George walked into the locker room laughing, while Kai headed for the stands—Cedric had already saved him a spot.
"How'd it go?"
"They seem pretty confident," Kai said with a smile.
"Good." Cedric glanced at the player tunnel—Oliver Wood was leading the rest of the team out.
"Actually, I asked Hannah and Susan from second year yesterday…" Conna looked toward the Slytherin team on the other side. "They both said Draco Malfoy's flying grades are a lot worse than Potter's."
"No surprise there," Cedric said. "If he was really good, they wouldn't have needed to buy the whole team brooms… Nimbus 2001s are stupid expensive. Buying seven at once—even for the Malfoys, that's extravagant."
"You've got a point."
Mikel squeezed in from the side, "Because of those brooms, his pocket money's been cut by more than half."
"So Malfoy basically bought his way onto the team, then?" Cedric glanced at him. "But, Mikel… how would you know that?"
"Oh, I heard him say it himself."
Mikel instinctively touched his own pocket, which was crammed full—not clear with what.
As they chatted, the game was just about to start.
"Wait for my whistle," Ms. Hooch said. "Three, two, one…"
The crowd roared as all fourteen players shot up into the leaden sky.
Harry soared straight to the top, scanning for the Golden Snitch right away.
But Malfoy was doing something completely different. He didn't seem to care about the Snitch at all; his eyes were glued to Harry, flying his broom back and forth right next to him, like he was showing off.
He looked exactly like a Fwooper trying to attract a mate.
And he kept it up for a full five minutes.
"What the hell is Malfoy doing!"
Cedric frowned. "He's supposed to be a Seeker... Is he expecting the Golden Snitch to pop out of Potter's shirt pocket?"
Even the Bludger couldn't take it anymore and came barreling toward the two of them.
Harry swerved his broom just in time, dodging the Bludger, which missed and shot straight at Malfoy's face.
Malfoy looked frozen in fear, standing there like a block of wood, face pale with disbelief as the Bludger hurtled closer.
Weren't Seekers only supposed to watch out for Bludgers when they're actually after the Snitch?
But the match had barely started—they hadn't even seen a shadow of the Snitch!
The Bludger grew larger and larger, heading straight for Malfoy, who reflexively squeezed his eyes shut.
But the pain he expected never came—the Bludger swerved at the last second, less than an inch from him, then shot straight toward Harry instead.
Harry dodged again, but the Bludger kept coming for him—like it had picked him out and no one else mattered anymore.
Fred and George noticed too. To stop the Bludger from knocking Harry off his broom, they flew right beside him, sticking close to keep him safe.
Then it started to rain,
"Someone's… messed with… this Bludger!" Fred shouted, smashing the oncoming Bludger away as hard as he could.
Now even the crowd in the stands could tell something was wrong.
"Marcus Flint scores… It's fifty to zero, Slytherin ahead for now…"
Up at the commentator's stand, Lee Jordan shouted, "But what's up with that Bludger? Exactly how many Galleons does Harry Potter owe it…"
Wood signaled Ms. Hooch with a gesture…
"Oh, Oliver Wood's called a time-out! About time, if you ask me… before that mad Bludger bashes in Harry Potter's skull…"
The Gryffindor team huddled up to discuss their emergency strategy.
In the stands, Kai, wearing his waterproof-and-anti-dampness badge, scanned through the rain for something.
Finally, by the Slytherin player tunnel across the way, he saw a vague, small, shadowy figure.
"I'll be right back." Kai left behind a hurried word and squeezed out of the crowd.
But he didn't head for the Slytherin tunnel—instead, he ran toward the castle.
A few minutes later Kai reappeared, a House-elf from the kitchens trotting at his heels.
The match had restarted, and the Bludger was still wildly chasing Harry all over the pitch.
"Kaka, do you know that elf?" Kai pointed toward the tunnel. "It looked like it was tampering with the Bludger."
"Kaka doesn't know it, sir!" the little elf squeaked, "It's not one of the kitchen elves…"
"That elf is bad, BAD! Kaka's going to chase it away!"
Seeing the berserk Bludger in the sky, whatever the reason, Kaka's huge ears turned bright red with anger. With a sharp 'pop,' the elf vanished into thin air.
The next second, a stool rolled out from the tunnel.
At the same time, the Bludger in the air stopped turning and headed straight at Marcus Flint, following its normal trajectory.
After what just happened, the Slytherin captain thought for sure the Bludger would go after Harry again, so he didn't even try to dodge.
"BANG!"
With a dull thump, the Bludger smashed straight into his face.
Marcus Flint blacked out on the spot, wobbling as he slid off his broom.
Up in the stands, Professor McGonagall raised her Wand just in time to keep him from crashing straight into the ground.