Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1437: A Messy Match

If there was a poll for the worst match of the year, Gryffindor’s game would definitely be on the list.

Let’s start with the final result. Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff by a large margin, setting the biggest score difference in recent years; both Harry and McLaggen ended up in the school hospital; and, McLaggen, the culprit of all this, was permanently kicked off the team.

Besides that, Elaine was furious, and it was her doing that McLaggen was in the hospital.

Casting a dark spell on a fellow student was, of course, wrong. For that, Professor McGonagall unusually gave her a detention.

This was already a severe punishment, considering that she had always been very lenient with Elaine. Of course, Elaine’s detention was only for one day, and Professor McGonagall showed mercy because she was also very angry about McLaggen’s performance.

Now, about the game itself. The weather was good; there was little wind; the clouds were patchy; every now and then there were dazzling flashes of bright sunlight.

Early in the morning, Evan and Colin had secured seats in the stands. As mentioned before, the students were very enthusiastic about the game. This year’s Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams were the biggest contenders for the Quidditch Cup. With more than an hour left before the game started, the stands were already full.

Many students wore Hufflepuff emblems and cheered for them. On the Gryffindor side, the support looked comparatively thin.

It was an unusual sight. Typically, in major competitive events like this, Hufflepuff tended to side with Gryffindor — the two Houses had a strong friendship and were natural allies. They weren’t like Slytherin, who were always at odds with Gryffindor, nor like Ravenclaw, who generally stayed neutral.

This time, the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff naturally put the two Houses on opposite sides.

Since Cedric’s departure, Hufflepuff hadn’t had a better chance at the Quidditch Cup than now. Driven by intense desire, the entire House erupted with overwhelming enthusiasm, showing incredible support for their team.

As for Slytherin — no surprises there. The enemy of their enemy was their friend. Most of them didn’t want Gryffindor to win, so they rooted for Hufflepuff instead.

Even many Ravenclaws supported Hufflepuff, probably thinking that Gryffindor had already won too many times.

After all, ever since Wood graduated, the Quidditch Cup had always belonged to Gryffindor.

From a rational point of view, this was not exactly a good thing.

Soon, the stands displayed a sea of yellow and black surrounding a patch of scarlet and gold.

Gryffindor faced heavy pressure to defend their title — this was Harry’s biggest challenge yet as the new Captain.

The game began, and Harry and his team marched out onto the pitch to deafening cheers and boos.

The sunlight was a bit irritating, so he shielded his eyes with a hand. Before he could say anything, he heard McLaggen say to the team, “Tricky conditions! Listen, you’ll want to fly out of the sun, so they don’t see you coming —”

“I’m the Captain, McLaggen, shut up giving them instructions,” said Harry angrily. “Just get up by the goal posts!”

“Of course, of course, I’m just giving you a heads up,” McLaggen muttered.

After he left, Harry said to Ginny and Elaine, “Alright, make sure you do fly out of the sun.”

“I don’t like that guy, why did you make him Keeper?” Ginny asked in a low voice.

“I don’t like him either, but we didn’t have any other options,” Harry replied.

“He’s such a pain — more annoying than Ron,” Elaine commented, making a face at McLaggen. “Seriously, why do you always pick people like that as Keepers? Why not let Evan try?”

“Because Evan says he’s afraid of heights. I rarely see him fly,” said Harry. “Actually, Ron’s not that bad.”

He wanted to say something good about Ron in front of Elaine. Since their last argument, things had been tense between the two of them.

But it was no use, Elaine simply muttered that she didn’t like the smell of Ron, then walked off toward the pitch, dragging her broom behind her.

Smell?! Was she talking about his actual scent… or the smell of blood?

Harry didn’t dwell on it too long. Just moments ago, at the entrance of the Great Hall, he had seen Malfoy sneaking up into the castle with two girls following behind him.

This made Harry very concerned, wondering if he was going to do something bad again!

As he kept thinking about it, he walked over to shake hands with the Hufflepuff Captain.

Then, on Madam Hooch’s whistle, Harry kicked off and rose into the air, higher than the rest of his team, streaking around the pitch in search of the Snitch. If he could catch it good and early, there might be a chance he could get back up to the castle, seize the Marauder’s Map, and find out what Malfoy was doing. …

“And that’s Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle,” said a dreamy voice, echoing over the grounds. “He did the commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked like it. Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor, I expect he regrets that now he’s playing them! I must say here that I do like Ginny, she’s very nice. … Oh, everyone look, a Bludger just came flying in hard — it hit Smith, right on the nose! That was Elaine Slytherin’s doing — brilliant shot. She’s probably getting back at him. Elaine’s quite popular too. It is said she’s a vampire… I’ve hear —”

Evan glanced helplessly toward the commentator’s podium. Who in their right mind would let Luna Lovegood commentate?

That strange little story… and her long, dirty-blonde hair… and the necklace of butterbeer corks…

Beside her, Professor McGonagall was looking slightly uncomfortable, as though she was indeed having second thoughts about this appointment.

In fact, the moment Luna started to go off-topic, drifting into some vampire legend, nearly everyone in the stands turned to look at the commentator’s podium — including the players in the game. Then, with a collective realization, they quickly turned their attention back to the match.

“… but now while Ginny and Elaine were busy dealing with Smith, that big Hufflepuff player’s got the Quaffle, I can’t remember his name, it’s something like Bibble — no, Buggins —”

“It’s Cadwallader!” said Professor McGonagall loudly from beside Luna. The crowd laughed.

“Yes, Cadwallader! Tricky name, but he’s fast. He’s flying toward the Gryffindor goal!” Luna continued her commentary, seemingly unfazed by the interruption. “And — it’s in! Look, the ball’s in! What’s the Gryffindor Keeper doing? Did he seriously not see Cadwallader flying toward him with the Quaffle?”

Down in the stands, Evan could actually explain what McLaggen had been doing — he saw the whole thing.

McLaggen was so busy shouting criticism at Ginny and Elaine for their actions against Smith that he didn’t notice the large red ball soaring past his left ear…

Translating_Wizard

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