By eleven o'clock, it seemed the entire school had gathered in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. The seats were practically raised into the air, but even then, the game was sometimes difficult to see clearly. Many students had brought Omnioculars.
Kevin Goldsmith cast the Mage Armor on Harry as promised.
"Thank you very much," Harry said reluctantly, though he would have preferred a spell to help with his weak knees.
Hermione quickly ran over and directed Kevin to use the Levitation Charm to set up banners in the stands. The banner depicted a large Gryffindor Lion stepping on a green Serpent, the paint shimmering with different lights.
Madam Hooch was the referee. She stood in the centre of the field, holding her broomstick, waiting for the players from both sides.
"Listen, I want everyone to play fairly and honestly," she said as the team members gathered around her. But her words seemed to be directed at Marcus Flint, the sixth-year Captain of the Slytherin team.
Then, Madam Hooch blew her silver whistle loudly. Fifteen broomsticks rose from the ground and soared high into the sky. The competition began.
"The Quaffle was immediately caught by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. What an excellent Chaser that girl is! She's lovely and talented. And, allow me to say, her nimble legs—"
"No way! Jordan!"
"I'm sorry, Professor."
Lee Jordan is a friend of the Weasley twins. He is currently working as a commentator for the games under the close supervision of Professor McGonagall.
"She was sprinting all the way up there, a beautiful pass to Alicia Spinnett, the talent Oliver Wood discovered, who was just a substitute last year—the ball went to Johnson, well, Angelina—Goalkeeper Bletch dived over—and missed—Gryffindor scored!"
The cheers of the Gryffindors echoed in the cold sky, mixed with the roars and groans of the Slytherins.
Angelina quickly orchestrated several attacks, scoring three of them successfully. Slytherin's goal was like a high school student picked up by a shaved man—it seemed like it could go in whenever it wanted.
This made Lee Jordan extremely excited.
"Steal! Attack! Score! Angelina has done it! Angelina has done it! Don't give Slytherin any chance."
"The great Gryffindor Chaser! She carries on Gryffindor's glorious tradition. Angelina represents Gryffindor's long history and tradition; at this moment, she is not fighting alone, she is not alone! This goal was an absolute, theoretically winning goal, perfectly positioned in the corner. Victory belongs to Gryffindor."
Bang! An angry roar came from the Gryffindors below as Marcus Flint deliberately rammed into Angelina.
She nearly slipped off the broom, but quickly regained her balance. The grimacing at the corner of her mouth suggested it must have hurt terribly.
"Foul!" the Gryffindors shouted.
Madam Hooch angrily reprimanded Flint, then ordered Gryffindor to take a free kick at the goalpost.
"After that premeditated murder—"
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall hissed.
"I mean, after those two public and offensive fouls—"
"Jordan, let me remind you—"
"Okay, okay. Flint almost killed the Gryffindor Chaser, I'm sure anyone can do that."
From the stands, Dean Thomas yelled, "Send him off! Referee! Red card!" "This isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him. "You can't send someone off in Quidditch—and what's a red card?"
"There's something wrong with this rule," Hermione said indignantly. "If you can't punish malicious behaviour, you're condoning it."
"Perhaps it's about indulgence, which makes the competition more competitive and intense," Kevin Goldsmith pointed out.
"This is simply not a civilised sport," Hermione said, bewildered.
"Quidditch is clearly uncivilised, and it may not have been a sport at first."
"That's not what Quidditch Origins says," Hermione retorted.
"What comes to mind when you think of a rear commander (Goalkeeper), a scout (Seeker), two escorts (Beaters), and three bombers (Chasers)?"
"What I admire most about you is that you can maintain a serious demeanour even when you're talking nonsense." Hermione couldn't help but smile.
"I didn't mean to interrupt you, but have you noticed that Harry's broom looks a little off?" Hannah's hand, holding the Omnioculars, reached between them and pointed at Harry.
"Look, when Flint bumped into him just now, wasn't there something wrong with the broom handle?"
The situation was indeed strange; his broom twitched and twisted erratically, slowly and higher, carrying Harry away from the arena.
"Flying broomsticks can be used to smoke marijuana? I mean, there must be a safety team to ensure the safety of students in formal competitions on campus," Kevin complained.
"As far as I know, no. The book says that very few people die in Quidditch matches; instead, the referee often disappears without a trace and reappears in the Sahara Desert months later."
"Very few, meaning there are deaths. And the most recent one is about to happen."
Harry's broomstick began to tumble and twist wildly, and he could barely keep from falling. Suddenly, the broomstick twisted wildly again, and Harry was thrown off. He was now hanging in the air with only one hand holding onto the broomstick handle.
Ron exclaimed in surprise, his face ashen.
Kevin released Tan Sen's Levitation Disc, intending to use an invisible force field to catch Harry, who was about to drop his broom. But to be honest, keeping up with an object moving at Brownian speed was a bit difficult.
Hermione took Hannah's Omnioculars. Instead of looking up at Harry, she anxiously peered into the crowd through the binoculars.
"What are you doing? Looking for a suitable landing spot?" Hannah pouted.
"I knew it all along," Hermione said breathlessly. "It was Snape—look."
Snape stood in the middle of the stands opposite them. His eyes were fixed on Harry, and he muttered something silently to himself.
"He's up to no good—he's casting a curse on the broomstick. I have to stop him." Hermione drew her wand.
"Wait, you're planning to sneak past without being detected? This isn't a novel, it's impossible. I'll help you," Kevin cast Invisibility on Hermione.
The spell worked, but not completely. Hermione herself and her only magical item—her wand—were indeed invisible. But her other non-magical items, namely her clothes, remained visible. Now they could see an empty robe floating in the air.