"Oh no!"
Harry's heart cried out. He hastily used a Shield Charm to block Ryan's spell, but then he himself was tripped by Michael's Leg-Locker Curse.
"He's down!"
Michael shouted, running over panting, his wand pointed at Harry, his arm trembling slightly.
The actual time was very short, and they hadn't run far, but he inexplicably felt hot all over, his breathing rapid, and his heart pounding fast.
Harry's wand had flown out of his hand when he fell; he was defenseless. Michael was confident of victory.
But Harry, lying on the ground, showed no sign of dejection. Instead, he looked in surprise at something next to Michael.
Next to him?
Why wasn't Ryan speaking?
In a flash, this thought darted through Michael's mind. He yelled, "Stup—"
His back was suddenly hit by a spell, and Michael fell like a statue.
He saw Ryan's rigid, wooden-like body next to him.
"Beep!"
Hagrid blew his whistle, its booming sound like distant, low thunder...
"White Team wiped out! Black Team wins!"
Michael blinked hard, then saw a person suddenly "grow" out from beside a pumpkin.
Wade, as if squeezed out of the air, smiled at Michael, then dispelled everyone's spells.
"That was awesome, Wade!" Harry jumped up, exclaiming happily, "I thought we were done for sure!"
Michael shrieked in disbelief, "Disillusionment Charm?"
"Just learned it," Wade said.
"No... I wasn't asking when you learned it..."
Michael mumbled, his eyes appearing unfocused.
Ryan silently stared at Wade, his gaze full of reproach—how was this any different from a dimension-level attack?
Though Ryan didn't know what a "dimension-level attack" was, he felt the same way.
Theo pulled Neville up, and they dusted themselves off, taking their defeat quite well.
Then they went to pick up the others.
"Disillusionment Charm?" Padma, after her spell was lifted, exclaimed in shock, "Is that like a spell that makes you invisible, like an Invisibility Cloak?"
Wade explained, "The Disillusionment Charm isn't an external object... and you can't expect there to be no invisible enemies, right?"
"But we haven't even mastered the Stunning Spell yet..."
Padma said, feeling wronged.
She always felt like her side was being bullied.
George sighed, while Fred smugly winked at him.
"But we had more people, and a minute's head start, which gave us the first-strike advantage," Michael said, sitting on the ground, dejectedly.
After the teams were split, he realized the reason for such grouping.
The Black Team and White Team were supposed to be balanced, but the two sides had unequal numbers and unequal preparation time. Their head start also made it easier for them to ambush and set traps.
Clearly, in Wade's view, the three members of the Black Team were stronger than all seven of them combined.
Fred and George should be roughly equal, but Wade and Harry were stronger than all six of the others.
Wade was one thing; Michael had some psychological preparation for that.
But Harry had joined the SSC later than all of them. Although he learned spells quickly, his academic performance seemed average to Michael.
Unexpectedly, in a real confrontation, Harry, while surrounded, managed to take down two of them consecutively.
Checking the time, only half of the allotted thirty minutes had passed.
The seven members of the White Team gathered to discuss tactics.
"We shouldn't have thought about hiding at first," Hermione said, annoyed. "Padma and I separated from you and were easily found and defeated."
Padma nodded beside her.
"Since we outnumber them, we should leverage our numerical advantage."
"We should also know the surrounding terrain," Michael suggested. "It's best if everyone runs around once to understand the environment."
Watching the White Team members scatter in all directions, Harry asked curiously, "What are they doing?"
"Trying to find good places for an ambush, maybe?" Fred guessed, then asked Wade, "They seem to have a new plan. Should we also familiarize ourselves with the terrain?"
"It's no use."
Wade pointed to the tall Hagrid, who was moving a giant pumpkin to another spot.
Wade said, "See? After each round, Hagrid adjusts the position of the pumpkins. He'll also put his chickens and pigs into the pumpkin patch to create distractions."
"How do we play the next round? The same as this one?" Harry asked enthusiastically.
"I don't think so," Fred said. "All seven of them might move together. If we split up, we're easily ambushed."
The two whispered, discussing rough tactics and continuously adjusting their plan.
Wade didn't interfere much. He was also silently absorbing and learning from everyone's experiences, feeling their growth.
The second round of the match soon began.
This time, the White Team lost even faster.
They united and successfully took down Harry and Fred, with only George "sacrificing" himself from their side.
But immediately after, Wade used Transfiguration on the numerous vines covering the ground. Dozens of snakes attacked them, making the young wizards shriek in fear. All their formations were completely ruined, and then they were all taken down by the Full Body-Bind Curse.
Third round.
"Wade, your magic is too much like cheating! We can't possibly fight like this!"
Michael started to whine, subtly hinting at Padma to pretend to cry, attempting to use emotional manipulation.
Wade rolled his eyes heavenward and asked, "How about Harry and Fred join your team then?"
"Alright!" Michael said readily, and Padma immediately stopped crying.
Fred seemed a bit disappointed, but Harry thought it was a good idea.
He also wanted to see what it felt like to be Wade's enemy.
Nine heads huddled together, discussing for a full twenty minutes.
The Weasley twins even mimicked their Quidditch captain, Wood, drawing complex tactical diagrams with triangles and lines.
Wade and Hagrid sat on pumpkins, sipping tea, waiting for them to get ready.
"Nine against one, are you confident?" Hagrid asked him worriedly.
Wade poked a small ant crawling on the pumpkin with his finger and smirked, "They think I'm the one with fewer people, but what if it's the opposite?"
The game began. The nine players scattered: some stood guard, some ambushed, some set traps, and some even disguised themselves as pumpkins to launch surprise attacks.
Wade yawned lazily, not even getting off the pumpkin.
The Engorgement Charm proved immensely successful.
Everyone screamed as they were chased by a swarm of enlarged ants and spiders. Forget getting close to Wade; not crying from fright was a victory in itself.
Hagrid laughed heartily, tumbling off his high stool.
"Forbidden! Forbidden!"
After the round ended, even Hermione shrieked in frustration, "Wade, you're not allowed to use the Engorgement Charm anymore!"
Wade looked helpless: "Why don't you use it then?"
Hermione glared at him expressionlessly.
As if they didn't want to!
The ants they enlarged would immediately attack them!