Firebolt against Firebolt.
Malfoy against Potter.
Slytherin against Gryffindor.
Woosh! Woosh!
Two figures wove and tangled together, their shoulders colliding, neither willing to give way.
This scene tugged at everyone's heartstrings.
Diving from high in the air, Malfoy secretly played dirty, almost knocking Harry away with his elbow.
As his old opponent of many years, Harry immediately returned the favour, using a central-axis roll to switch positions to Malfoy's right.
Malfoy's dominant hand was his right hand, and Harry used this position to restrict it.
The person who understood you best was often your opponent.
All the more so when it was an old opponent.
"You've got smarter, Potter!"
Malfoy laughed loudly.
Harry laughed as well.
That streak of gold darted beneath the Slytherin goalposts. Malfoy glanced at Goyle, who was preparing to make contact with a Bludger, and smiled maliciously. "Unfortunately, you forgot that this is a team game."
With that, Malfoy pressed his entire body close to his Firebolt.
Just as Harry was wondering what he was doing, Goyle swung his bat with all his strength, sending the Bludger flying toward Harry's face.
Harry dodged sharply at high speed, and his flight path skewed slightly, letting the Bludger brush past his hair.
Malfoy seized the opportunity, pushing his Firebolt to its maximum speed.
He turned into a green arrow. Just as he was about to catch the Golden Snitch, the golden light suddenly shot upward.
Malfoy urgently changed direction, flying close to the goal hoop as he rushed toward the sky.
Harry recovered and chased after him.
The two of them chased from the sky to the ground, then from the ground back into the sky.
Red and green crossed. Harry had also learned Malfoy's signature move and slammed into Malfoy with force.
Malfoy performed a central-axis roll to switch positions, coming to Harry's right and raising an eyebrow at him provocatively.
"Tense and thrilling!" Ernie's voice had gone hoarse from shouting. He roared, "Harry Potter is chasing closely behind. They've both found the Golden Snitch!"
"The score is now 150 to 140. Ginny Weasley breaks through with force, and the score is 150 to 150!"
"Who will be the one to end the match?"
"Harry Potter cannot let Draco Malfoy catch the Golden Snitch. In terms of total points, they are still behind!"
The heart-stopping scene made everyone stand up. Professor McGonagall clasped her hands together, her face filled with prayer.
Just as Malfoy was about to touch the Golden Snitch, a Bludger flew over and nearly struck his broom.
"It's the Bludger! The Bludger saved Gryffindor's life!"
Ernie excitedly stood on the table, only to be dragged down by Professor McGonagall.
Malfoy dodged, and the Golden Snitch vanished from before his eyes.
From the corner of his eye, Harry saw the Golden Snitch on Malfoy's right, and he made an extremely risky decision.
The Wronski Feint!
He pulled his Firebolt downward and charged headlong in a completely different direction without looking back.
Malfoy was just about to turn right when he saw Harry's movement. Without the slightest hesitation, he followed.
The two of them veered away from the Golden Snitch, and the Golden Snitch quickly disappeared from sight.
By the time Malfoy realised he had been deceived, the Golden Snitch could no longer be found.
Ginny lowered her head to dodge a Bludger and shouted at Dean, "Throw that damn ball through the hoop!"
Dean roared and made a violent straight shot, sending the Quaffle crashing against the hoop and scraping through.
They were leading by ten points, but it was still not enough!
Ginny noticed that the crisis had been resolved. They had to score as many points as possible during this time.
She immediately began organising a new round of attack. Astoria understood what she was thinking and instantly shouted, "Block her movements!"
"Ginny is beginning to move. Oh no! Astoria has gained possession. The two Beaters are covering her movement. She's approaching the goalposts!"
Goyle and Crabbe used the Bludgers to drive away the two Chasers closing in on Astoria.
It was already too late for Ginny to fall back in defence. Astoria was charging in alone.
Ron roared to bolster his courage. "Come on!"
Astoria calmly analysed the situation. The moment she approached the goalposts, she used a feint to trick Ron toward the lower-right hoop.
In reality, she threw the Quaffle toward the centre.
The Quaffle flew toward the goal little by little.
Just as it was about to pass through, Ron Weasley let out a roar, propped himself up on his broom, and threw himself at the Quaffle.
His fingers touched the Quaffle and knocked it out of the hoop.
A smile had just appeared on Ron's face when he suddenly remembered that he had left his broom.
With both legs hanging in the air, his smile froze. The upward lift vanished, and he began to fall.
The entire audience was stunned by his desperate move.
"Oh no, oh no!"
Ron waved his arms wildly as his body fell rapidly.
Just as he was about to have an intimate encounter with the pitch, Dean appeared in time and reached out to grab him.
"Brilliant, Ron!"
Dean could not help praising him loudly. He sent Ron down to the ground and helped him back onto his broom.
Dean's fighting spirit ignited as he said, "You made me see that we have to win this match!"
Not only him, Gryffindor's fighting spirit was set ablaze.
They were shaken by Ron's astonishing save. This was a match that required them to give everything.
Everyone showed their determination to win.
The rekindled Gryffindor erupted with unprecedented aggression.
Seeing that even her brother was fighting so desperately, Ginny, the Gryffindor girl who was in no way inferior to Astoria, burst out with three times her strength.
Controlling her broom, she broke through the goal once again.
The gap widened to twenty points, but that was not enough.
Ginny and Dean worked together, passing the Quaffle to the third Chaser. The Chaser threw and broke through the goal!
Thirty points!
The Gryffindor supporters erupted in cheers.
Astoria understood that she had to reverse the decline.
If the Seeker drew the full stop for the match, then the Chasers were the story between the lines.
Through cooperation, the score continued to chase upward.
Time also passed.
This was a contest of endurance against endurance.
From morning until afternoon.
The sky turned gloomy.
A heavy rain was brewing, causing the match to change once more.
Exhaustion surrounded the players on both sides.
The score reached 150 to 270.
The Weasley siblings had erupted in their own ways.
Slytherin was trailing by eighty points.
This was simply impossible, absurd to the extreme.
That was Slytherin, the kingly team with twelve consecutive victories!
Would the legend that belonged to Slytherin be broken today?
Astoria and Ginny looked at each other from opposite sides, boundless fighting spirit burning in both girls' eyes.
"Pass the Quaffle to me. I'll break through Gryffindor's goal."
This was the first time Astoria had asked for possession, and everyone knew she was about to erupt.
Ron Weasley stood like a guardian at the hoops. At this moment, it was as if he had drunk Felix Felicis, his thoughts perfectly clear.
That astonishing save had brought more than morale. It had also pushed Ron into a state of eruption.
He threw out a harsh declaration. "Not a single one is getting in!"
Astoria understood that, at this moment, Gryffindor was a contest between spear and shield.
In that case, she would abandon the shield and use the sharpest spear as her defence!
The match continued.
Both sides brought out their sharpest spears, breaking through each other's goals in turn.
The score changed once more.
210 to 300.
Possession kept changing hands.
With a clap of thunder, the heavy rain arrived as expected.
But not a single person left. Everyone watched the match through the rain.
Above that fierce battlefield, an even fiercer contest began again as the Golden Snitch appeared beneath the lightning.
Malfoy and Harry collided again and again in the air.
The two of them had already staked everything. Their speed would have been top-level even in a professional Quidditch match.
Malfoy sent an elbow over, and Harry returned it with a collision.
They were evenly matched.
The two flew all the way into the sky, until the audience could no longer see them.
The Golden Snitch darted through the clouds, appearing from time to time with flashes of lightning.
"I'll get it!"
"No! You won't get it!"
Neither of them would yield to the other.
The contest on the Quidditch pitch also continued, spear clashing against spear.
Ginny and Dean's cooperation kept washing away the point gap.
Astoria turned the tide with all her strength, continuing to chase after them.
250 to 390, a gap of 140 points.
If Gryffindor wanted to win, they needed to build a lead of 210 points.
What a familiar scene.
Only this time, the roles had been reversed.
Both sides rushed out of the clouds, but the Golden Snitch had disappeared.
Their eyes searched rapidly.
Suddenly, the Golden Snitch darted out of the clouds and flew downward.
The heavy rain struck their faces, painful as stones bouncing off them.
The score changed again, 260 to 410, a gap of 150 points.
Lightning streaked across the sky, and Malfoy barely dodged it.
Continue. They had to continue!
Harry chased after that figure.
He needed to end the match as quickly as possible when the point gap reached 210.
This was a struggle of stamina, and even more so, the hope of everyone.
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