Saturday, the Quidditch match was finally about to begin, with the first match being Slytherin against Ravenclaw.
As soon as the Slytherin team entered the auditorium, a wave of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the table on the far right, as if celebrating their victory in advance.
Even the players had a relaxed look on their faces, showing no signs of pre-match tension.
To them, shutting out Ravenclaw in the last match was just an easy scoring opportunity, and winning the match was merely a matter of time, with no chance of unexpected events.
Marcus had even started rehearsing the post-match celebration dance with others.
He was stiffly swaying his body in the middle of the auditorium, looking like a baboon on Joyful Potion.
"Ignore him, Cho," Cedric comforted the girl beside him, "Trust me, you're not weak."
Cho rolled her eyes at him, saying nothing.
Though she knew Cedric meant well, the words sounded strange coming from him.
It was like a top student who scored full marks telling those who scored zero that it's not because they're not smart, but because the questions were hard.
Even though it's well-intentioned, it still makes you want to punch him.
"To be honest, your Chasers are indeed mediocre."
At this moment, Kael suddenly said, "So the key to this match lies with you; you must catch the Golden Snitch before Ravenclaw falls behind by 150 points."
"I'll try my best," Cho sighed.
Of course, she knew that, but the Golden Snitch is not Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean that you can catch at will.
"Kael is right," Cedric also nodded and said, "And your broom is another issue, it's too old. Even if you spot the Snitch first, it's tough to gain an advantage. If you don't mind, I could lend you my..."
He hadn't finished speaking before a large flock of owls flew in, their noisy arrival interrupting his words.
Kael noticed six long-eared owls carrying a long package landing right in front of Cho.
"Could this be..."
Cho's heart skipped a beat as she reached out with trembling hands to touch the package.
"You're right, it's a broomstick. I remember these owls, they were the ones who delivered Cedric's broom," Kael said with a smile. "Aren't you going to open it?"
"But... I never bought a broom," Cho said nervously, "I wanted to buy a Nimbus 1700, but I'm still short some Galleons."
"What if it's meant for someone else, and the owls made a delivery mistake."
Kael shook his head, "That's impossible, owls don't make such low-level mistakes."
As soon as he finished speaking, another owl flew in and dropped a letter on the package.
Cho nervously tore the letter open.
"Inside is your new Nimbus 2000 broomstick. Compete well. ...Professor Flitwick"
Seeing this, Cho couldn't hide her joy any longer, handing the letter to Kael beside her, she eagerly tore open the package.
Just as the letter said, inside was a brand-new Nimbus 2000.
Cho didn't even eat her meal; she grabbed the broom and dashed towards the Quidditch Pitch, with the other Ravenclaw team members following behind her.
After Cho left, Kael also stood up and returned to the Hufflepuff table with Cedric.
He looked at the letter in his hand, chuckling and shaking his head.
It seemed that Professor Flitwick was greatly disturbed by the last match, and to avoid another shutout, he got Cho a new broomstick.
After returning to Hufflepuff, Kael handed the letter to Cedric and asked, "By the way, what were you going to say earlier?"
"It's nothing," Cedric shook his head.
Previously, he was thinking about lending his broom to Cho, but it was obviously unnecessary now.
He glanced at the contents of the letter, then looked towards Slytherin's direction.
Everyone noticed that Cho received a new broom, and they were no exception.
At this time, the cheers had stopped, and Marcus was no longer dancing, everyone's expressions turned grim.
...
Soon, the match began.
The stands were still packed with people, Kael and Cedric sat in the front row, holding a banner to cheer for Cho.
Slytherin seemed determined to push the score above 150 points, showing a strong offensive play right from the start.
Marcus rode the broomstick recklessly, bumping Ravenclaw's Chaser off their broom just to score.
Madam Hooch blew the whistle, indicating the score was invalid and called a penalty.
Roger Davis got back on the broom and with a powerful long throw, the Quaffle went straight through the goal hoops.
Instead of gaining an advantage, they lost ten points, making Marcus even more agitated.
Throughout the match, though they frequently scored, they never managed to pull too far ahead.
After the last zero score incident, Ravenclaw committed to a long period of intense training, significantly improving their strength.
Plus, Cho's new broom gave them hope.
For a time, Ravenclaw was in high spirits, always finding ways to catch up after every Slytherin goal.
Even though Slytherin had the broom advantage and remained in the lead, it was only by thirty points, far from 150.
Everyone was discussing the match's outcome, but just at this moment, Professor McGonagall suddenly arrived at the pitch, using her wand as a microphone, she shouted loudly:
"The match is suspended, everyone back to the castle immediately!"
Soon, other professors arrived as well.
Many hadn't realized what was happening before being led away from the stands by the prefects and professors.
The Quidditch players hovered mid-air, bewilderedly watching the events below.
"Everyone, do not linger, follow the professors and prefects and leave the Quidditch Pitch immediately!" Professor McGonagall reminded again.
"But we were about to win!" Marcus complained unhappily.
He had just sneaked in a few goals, but the scoreboard didn't change at all.
"If you wish to stay here forever, I have no objections..."
At some point, Snape also appeared behind Professor McGonagall, speaking coldly.
At this point, Marcus had no more objections.
He swiftly dismounted his broom, lowered his head, and quickly left the pitch.
The exit was enchanted, never feeling crowded no matter how many passed through. Led by the professors, it only took a few minutes to clear the pitch.
On the way back to the castle, everyone saw Professor Flitwick, who was holding a wand, gravely inspecting the surroundings.
The grumbling in the crowd gradually faded, replaced by a growing tension that instinctively quickened everyone's steps.