The Quidditch match was fast approaching. Although the little badgers of the Hufflepuff team were still training relentlessly, signs of pre-match jitters had begun to appear. This was a huge change from Hufflepuff's usual mindset—this time, they were genuinely thinking about how to win.
One afternoon, the weather was quite pleasant.
Bright sunlight shone down, warming everyone. The enchanted turf was as neat as if each blade of grass had been measured, rippling in layers as the gentle breeze blew past.
On top of each spectator tower, a colored flag was flying. Red and gold for Gryffindor, silver and green for Slytherin, and blue and bronze for Ravenclaw. Only Hufflepuff's flag was an inconspicuous black and yellow. To be honest, it looked a little plain.
When Marcel flew out of the team entrance tunnel on his Nimbus 2000, waving his hand as he circled the pitch, the entire stadium erupted.
It was probably because the Hufflepuff team's secrecy had been too good. The vast majority of the students had never expected that their team would have a new member, and a first-year at that.
At Hogwarts, Marcel's reputation was quite good. His outstanding performance and low-key attitude had actually won him the favor of many students. Thus, the cheers at this moment were particularly enthusiastic.
"We received this exciting news just before the match! With the approval of Headmaster Professor Dumbledore, Marcel Maclean has passed the tryouts and officially joined the Hufflepuff house team. He has become our Hogwarts' youngest Quidditch player in a century!"
"Let's hear it for Marcel Maclean!"
The two commentators announced in excited tones, and the atmosphere in the stadium became even more fervent.
"Alright, everyone to your positions!" Captain Darren waved his hand. "David, Mark, hold on to your bats. Stick to the plan, and everyone, relax!"
The three Chasers, including Marcel, came to a steady hover in the center of the pitch. The three Slytherin Chasers also flew over. They all hovered around Madam Hooch on the ground, waiting for the match to begin to make the first move for the Quaffle.
Madam Hooch kicked the ball crate open. With the lid flying off, the three balls, excluding the Quaffle, rose into the air one by one.
"The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch! Remember, the Golden Snitch is worth 150 points. The match ends when the Seeker catches it!" the commentator enthusiastically began the official commentary for the match.
"Ready! The Quaffle is up, and the match begins!"
Marcel's eyes were fixed on Madam Hooch as she threw the Quaffle to its highest point. Then, he moved!
The Nimbus series truly lived up to its reputation for superior performance. Under Marcel's control, it accelerated with exceptional speed. In a near-straight line of acceleration, he was the first to grab the Quaffle.
But Marcel didn't hold the ball for long. As he dived forward at high speed, he subtly dropped the Quaffle underneath him. The short-haired girl, Christine, caught it.
By the time the two Slytherin Chasers had caught up to the now-slowing Marcel, they found his arms were empty.
"We've been tricked!"
The Slytherin players were furious. Just as they were about to turn back, Marcel shot up into the sky ahead of them.
A Bludger was hit over by a Slytherin Beater, but Marcel dodged it beautifully.
"Here!"
Charles, the only Hufflepuff who could physically compete with the tall Slytherin players, had already broken through the opponent's Beater defense and had arrived in front of Slytherin's left goal hoop.
Christine, still flying low, threw the ball upward with all her might.
"Oh—she didn't get the ball to him!" the commentator shouted.
That was right. Christine had thrown the Quaffle to an empty spot.
"No, wait, that's Maclean! Maclean is diving from high above, Maclean dodges two Bludgers in a row! Maclean has the Quaffle! Maclean shoots!"
"—The Slytherin Keeper is at the left hoop, can he make it? He can't! It's a goal! Ten points to Hufflepuff!"
The Quaffle grazed the fingertips of the opposing Keeper and flew into the center hoop. This series of coordinated plays sent the crowd into another frenzy.
"Good heavens! Look at that! Everyone, look at that! Maclean is the youngest house team member in a century! A century!"
Next, it was Slytherin's ball. Their Chasers looked quite strong. They worked together, forcefully pushing aside Charles who had come to interfere, and attempted a straight shot at the goal.
Marcel quickly flew to a position two body-lengths ahead of them and glanced at his Beater, David.
David immediately understood. He flew high into the air and, with one swing of his bat, sent a Bludger flying towards Marcel. Marcel dodged it, and the Bludger sailed right into the face of the Slytherin player holding the Quaffle.
Thump!
Marcel reached out and caught the Quaffle as it flew from the player's grasp, landing it perfectly in his hand.
He dived forward again, his movements almost identical to the last time. The Slytherin Chasers were a bit stunned, but they still sent one person after him according to basic strategy.
But the attention of the others was now necessarily divided due to Hufflepuff's first tactical play.
Slytherin's reaction was exactly as Marcel had predicted. With two consecutive spins, he pushed the Nimbus 2000's agility to its limit. The Slytherin Chaser was thrown off by his feint, leaving him a full five body-lengths behind.
"Oh! Maclean is at the goal again! This time it's the left hoop. Is he going to shoot?"
Naturally, Marcel wasn't going to shoot so simply. The probability of the opposing Keeper blocking it was too high.
As the Slytherin Keeper was on high alert, Marcel suddenly did a flip. The Keeper immediately moved toward the center hoop. But Marcel abruptly stopped, feigning a throw, as if he intended to shoot for the left hoop again.
"—Is it the left hoop? Is it the left hoop? Oh—it's not!"
The Keeper dived for the left hoop, but Marcel had already backhanded the Quaffle to Christine, who had just arrived in front of the center hoop.
"Another goal! Twenty points to Hufflepuff!"
For the rest of the match, Marcel virtually dominated the entire field.
He baited the opposing Beaters into attacking him, creating another opportunity for Christine. He dodged the interference of two opposing Chasers, allowing Charles and Christine's coordination to succeed perfectly. He used a dazzling display of flying maneuvers that made the opposing Keeper crash into a goalpost. He even used Charles's large frame as cover, almost making the opposing players lose track of him.
The score climbed steadily. The enthusiasm of the crowd had reached its peak for this year's Quidditch Cup.
"The Golden Snitch!"
Hufflepuff's Seeker, Charlotte, was the first to spot it.
Marcel, while moving quickly, observed the entire field. He saw the opposing Seeker flying towards Charlotte. This was the Seeker's tailing tactic.
When a Seeker hasn't found the Golden Snitch themselves, but their opponent has, closely following the opponent is much better than searching blindly. It's one of the most basic but also most effective Seeker tactics.
The current score was one hundred to thirty. Although the Quidditch Cup, like the World Cup, was based on total points and a single match didn't decide everything, 150 points still held undeniable value.
Moreover, Hufflepuff had already lost one match so far. Marcel wanted to use these 150 points to make up the score.
Charlotte's flying skills were quite good, even in Marcel's opinion. But the Slytherin Seeker was a despicable character who played dirty.
He was constantly interfering with Charlotte, even forcefully ramming the tail of her broom, trying to make her fall. The other players were doing their best to chase each other, preventing the other team from affecting their own Seeker.
"Hmph!" Marcel snorted coldly and charged straight in their direction.
Other than the Seeker, any other player touching the Golden Snitch was a foul. But even without touching the Snitch, did he really have no other way?
Marcel once again easily shook off the Chaser following him, pinpointed the location of the Golden Snitch, and then aimed his shoulder squarely at Charlotte's back and gave her a hard shove.
"Oof!" Charlotte was almost knocked breathless by the impact.
But it proved just how precise Marcel's shove had been. Charlotte's outstretched right hand closed around the Golden Snitch flying in front of her.
"She's caught the Golden Snitch! Charlotte Witt has caught the Golden Snitch! She's done it! The match is over, 250 to 30, the match is over! Hufflepuff wins!"
With a loud whistle, amidst the commentator's excited shouts, Madam Hooch waved her hand, signaling the end of the match.
Marcel flew a victory lap around the pitch, thanking everyone for their support. He saw Dumbledore smiling so hard that his great white beard was shaking. It seemed he really did love the sport of Quidditch.
"Well done, Marcel!" Captain Darren patted Marcel's shoulder excitedly.
He had let in three goals this match, and Slytherin had only had four scoring opportunities in total. To put it bluntly, he had been a background character during the game.
But no one cared about that. They had all seen how hard Darren had worked in training. Everyone has things they aren't good at. As a captain, Darren's encouragement of his teammates and his summary of their tactics were very effective, and that was the most important ability of a captain.
After reviewing the match's successes and failures with the team, Marcel left the changing room.
Outside, many Hufflepuff students were crowded around the entrance, with a few Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students mixed in. Among the four Hogwarts houses, besides Slytherin, which was generally disliked, the other houses were relatively friendly with each other.
Looking at the lively scene before him, Marcel suddenly felt it was time to pay a visit to Ravenclaw. He had heard that there were some unique books in the Ravenclaw Tower, distributed on bookshelves throughout the common room.