paranoianovel Chapter 161 Gryffindor was completely defeated
Chapter 161 Gryffindor was completely defeated
Chapter 161 Gryffindor's Utter Defeat
However, Harry hesitated.
The image of Lin Qi's face, always bearing a warm smile yet seemingly able to see through everything, flashed through his mind. Should he tell his uncle? He then looked around at his classmates, who were bustling about as usual. Sunlight streamed into the corridor through the tall windows, warm and peaceful.
"Tell the professor? Tell him what?" He shook his head, rejecting Hermione's suggestion. "They, especially Headmaster Dumbledore and Uncle Lynch, are very busy. Hermione, look, nothing's happened. Everything's fine at the whole school. Maybe I'm just too tired and misheard, or maybe it really is just some particularly grumpy ghost muttering to itself. There's no need to make a fuss and bother them."
Although Ron also found the voice disturbing, he also felt that it was making a mountain out of a molehill to bother the principal or the imposing Professor Lynch over a voice he had overheard by chance.
"Yeah, Hermione, Harry's probably just hallucinating from Lockhart's boring letters. Filch's been asking me to unclog the drains lately, and the noises from there are really weird!"
Ultimately, with Harry's "everything is fine" attitude and Ron's agreement, Hermione was barely convinced, though she still seemed somewhat worried.
Ultimately, they put the strange matter to themselves for the time being and walked toward the hall as usual.
After that, the strange sound never appeared again, and Harry completely forgot about the malicious and eerie sound.
During this time, despite Professor McGonagall's ironclad order—forbidding Harry from participating in any formal Quidditch matches or team training—Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor team, made tireless efforts.
He successfully secured Harry's place in the tactics briefing meeting.
Therefore, before each training session, Harry and his teammates would gather around the blackboard in the locker room and listen to Wood passionately explain the carefully designed tactics for the season, such as new variations on the baiting tactic or defensive strategies against Slytherin's new brooms.
However, the real ordeal only began after the explanation ended.
While the players grabbed brooms and rushed onto the field, putting these tactics into practice and seamlessly weaving through the air, Harry could only hug his Nimbus 2000 and silently walk to the sidelines.
As a Seeker, the core of the tactic is of course to catch the Golden Snitch, but the tacit cooperation and mutual cover with other Chaser and Beater during high-speed flight are equally important, and these are things he cannot participate in now.
Before Harry's return, Wood had Angelina Jensen temporarily take over as Seeker.
Angelina's flying skills were decent, but she lacked Harry's keen intuition and agile handling, so she could only be considered barely qualified.
Whenever Harry saw Angelina miss a feint or fail to dodge the ball in time, while he could only stand helplessly on the cold, damp field, a strong sense of despair mixed with longing and powerlessness would overwhelm him.
October arrived quietly, quickly enveloping the castle and grounds in a damp chill.
The grass is always covered with a layer of white frost in the early morning, and the corridor becomes chilly.
This kind of weather undoubtedly gave rise to Hogwarts' seasonal epidemic—the common cold.
Sniffling and coughing could be heard all over the castle.
Mrs. Pomfrey's stimulant was enough to deal with this minor ailment; it would raise body temperature and refresh the mind within half an hour of drinking it.
But the process of the potion taking effect was quite spectacular, or rather, embarrassing—everyone who drank the potion would have thick white steam billowing out of their ears like a steam locomotive for the next few hours.
As a result, in the corridors and classrooms, you could see students with messy hair and white steam billowing from their ears, looking both comical and pitiful.
This became a unique sight at Hogwarts in October, at least diluting some of the gloom brought by the weather and Harry's frustration at not being able to fly—it was indeed difficult to remain serious while watching Ron review the history of magic while puffing out billowing steam from his ears—although soon the same steam also began to puff out from Harry's own ears.
The end of October was marked by a cold, rainy day that ushered in the eve of Halloween.
While the other students were enjoying the lavish feast, jack-o'-lanterns, and ribbons in the castle, Harry had to keep his promise to Sir Nicholas—who was also known as Nick the Nearly Headless—to attend the 500th anniversary celebration he was hosting in the underground classroom.
It was an incredibly eerie night. The air was icy cold, and countless thin black candles burned in the room, which was draped with black curtains. The flames were a ghostly blue and provided barely any warmth. The long table was piled high with rotting food, and ghosts moved among them, enjoying this horrifying "feast." The most "spectacular" performance was the headless hunters' horseback head-scratching act.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione only stayed for a short while before they were frozen stiff and starving. They eventually slipped back to the Great Hall and luckily made it in time for the dessert portion of the Halloween feast.
Compared to the funeral banquet, even Lockhart's magnificent vampire costume seemed much more approachable in the auditorium.
With the arrival of November, the Quidditch season at Hogwarts officially kicked off.
However, for Gryffindor, the start of the season was bitter.
In their first match of November, they faced Slytherin.
The outcome of this match was almost disastrous.
Despite the Gryffindor Chaser's best efforts to gain an advantage in scoring, the entire tactical system seemed to have lost its soul without Harry, the Seeker who could end the game.
Although Malfoy's flying skills and decisiveness were far inferior to Harry's, he used the absolute speed advantage of Nimbus 2001 to defeat Angelina and capture the Golden Snitch after a long search—at that time, Gryffindor even maintained a slight lead in points.
A deafening cheer erupted from the Slytherin stands, while the Gryffindors could only silently accept their humiliating defeat.
The second match in December will be against Hedgehog.
The course of this match was even more heartbreaking.
This time, the Gryffindor Chasers were in superb form, establishing a considerable points lead.
Gryffindor captain Oliver Wood made a series of spectacular saves, effectively shutting down all the goals, and victory seemed within reach.
All hopes rest on Angelina, who is temporarily acting as the Seeker, if she can catch the Snitch before the score is caught up, or at least disrupt the opposing Seeker, Cedric Diggory.
However, Cedric displayed a powerful dominance on the field that contrasted sharply with his humble character.