After November, snowflakes began to fall from the gray sky, and the weather became unusually cold.
When Albert awoke from his dream, he found that the woods around the castle were covered in snow and the Black Lake was frozen solid.
Everyone says that winter came exceptionally early this year. Albert himself doesn't seem to care much about the weather. Before the temperature dropped, he had already wrapped himself up tightly in a wool sweater and scarf, and even went to Professor Flitwick to learn how to use the Drying Charm. He was fully prepared for the winter.
More important than the cold weather is the start of Hogwarts' Quidditch season.
Every morning, Albert would see Hagrid with a broom, braving the wind and snow to clear the roads leading to the Quidditch stadium, preventing the snow from completely covering the roads.
Charlie, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, also entered a period of high spirits at this time, and would take every opportunity during training to explain tactical combinations to everyone.
George and Fred escaped unscathed because they weren't official players, and they told Albert that Charlie, once he got into character, was as ruthless as if possessed by a demon.
Fortunately, in recent training sessions, non-official players have not been required to participate.
The first match is between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Charlie announces the draw results to everyone at the dinner table, and the match will be held this weekend.
All the Gryffindor students hoped to defeat Slytherin and win the Quidditch match. Professor McGonagall even exempted everyone from pre-match homework, clearly demonstrating the Headmistress's desire for victory and her love for Quidditch.
Actually, there's another important reason why everyone is eager for a victory: Gryffindor is currently at the bottom of the House Cup standings and desperately needs a Quidditch victory to gain points and salvage their embarrassing bottom position.
If Gryffindor wins, they will surpass Hufflepuff in the House standings, move into third place, and close in on second-place Ravenclaw.
However, the strangest thing is that Hufflepuff students also hope that Gryffindor can defeat Slytherin, and Ravenclaw students also support Gryffindor, which shows how unpopular Slytherin is at Hogwarts.
The weather was unusually cold over the weekend, with rain and snow falling from the sky.
Albert lingered in his warm bed, refusing to get up. Finally, Fred and George, their faces beaming with excitement, pulled the covers off him and dragged him out of his cozy bed.
"It's so cold! I don't want to go outside to watch the game in this weather!" Albert quickly wrapped himself in thick clothes and hurriedly used a drying spell on himself, making his originally cold clothes dry and warm, as if they had just been dried in front of a roaring fire.
"Don't talk nonsense, this is a rare opportunity, let's go cheer for Gryffindor together!" Fred jumped up and down a couple of times, trying to warm himself up.
"Stop jumping, you're making my eyes blurry." Albert raised his wand and poked Fred in the body, casting a drying spell on him.
"Hey, what did you do just now? You're not cold anymore all of a sudden." Fred looked at Albert in surprise.
"Young man, magic is power. It's never a bad thing to learn more spells," Albert said earnestly, patting Fred on the shoulder.
Fred was stunned for a moment, not quite getting used to Albert's style.
"Give me one too."
Li Jordan, who had just finished dressing and put on his winter cloak, quickly came over and asked Albert to ward off the chill from his body.
"And me too."
It's really cold today; the temperature in the room has dropped to eight degrees Celsius, even though there's a fireplace.
If you take the thermometer from the cabinet outside, the temperature will probably drop below zero.
It was quite amusing to see Fred and his friends' surprised and excited reactions when they first saw the thermometer.
Albert pondered what Christmas gifts the three of them would receive this year and decided to give each of them an indoor thermometer.
With a folding umbrella in hand, binoculars in his pocket, a thick towel woven by Daisy around his neck, and hot water in a small, flat, silver-plated bottle placed in his robe pocket as a thermos, Albert and his roommates headed to the Great Hall.
As soon as you enter the restaurant, you can smell the enticing aroma of grilled sausages in the air.
The people at the table were excitedly talking about the match, and everyone was looking forward to seeing a great Quidditch game.
However, there was a palpable tension between Slytherin and Gryffindor.
The two sides' tables were right next to each other, so a verbal altercation was inevitable. The fact that they didn't actually fight shows that everyone was restraining themselves and intended to save the real showdown for the Quidditch pitch.
"Good luck, Charlie." Albert and his friends gathered around Charlie to offer their blessings to their familiar group of friends.
"By the way, Charlie, have you found a replacement yet?" Mark suddenly asked.
"Substitutes?" Albert asked doubtfully. "Does this match mean it will last a long time?"
"There are always exceptions. We have a history with Slytherin, and even though some players graduated last year, the relationship between the two sides is still very bad, so some conflicts on the field are inevitable." Jack glanced at the Slytherin table and explained to Albert, "So, we need some substitutes. Of course, they need them too."
Albert sensed something was off about that statement; he remembered that substitutions were not allowed during a Quidditch match.
"We've found her." Charlie patted Mark on the shoulder, reassuring everyone. "Don't worry, Mrs. Pomfrey will be watching the game too. If she's injured, she'll definitely be healed quickly."
Upon hearing this, Albert's lips twitched involuntarily. Why did this sound like he was about to go to war?
Could the two teams end up fighting on the field?
At eleven o'clock, all the teachers and students, with umbrellas in hand, braved the waning sleet and headed to the Quidditch stadium stands.
The audience wasn't just Hogwarts students and teachers; even some wizards who loved Quidditch braved the bad weather to come to Hogwarts to watch the Quidditch match.
That's right, Hogwarts sells tickets for Quidditch matches.
When Albert arrived at the Quidditch pitch, he saw some wizards from outside the school, all wearing thick cloaks, holding umbrellas in one hand and binoculars in the other, sitting in their respective college seats waiting for the game to begin.
It's fair to say that there aren't many forms of entertainment in the wizarding world, but there are quite a few people who enjoy Quidditch. Apparently, tickets for every match sell very well.
Of course, the activities of these outsiders were limited to the Quidditch pitch, and the distance from the Quidditch pitch to Hogsmeade was not too far.
Fred and George chose seats not far from the Gryffindor locker room. Albert was a little puzzled; if you wanted a clear view of the game, the top floor would undoubtedly have the best view.
However, the Weasley brothers simply replied, "Perhaps we can be of some use."
Did Albert interpret this statement directly as meaning that during a match, it might be necessary to switch batters?
However, he believes this possibility is low.
Although the weather was a bit unpleasant, watching the game with everyone still created a great atmosphere. It felt like watching a movie or game on my computer, which is completely different from going to the cinema or the stadium.
Amidst cheers, the Gryffindor team, dressed in red Quidditch uniforms, entered the field, immediately eliciting enthusiastic cheers and applause. When the Slytherin team, dressed in green Quidditch uniforms, entered, they were met with boos and applause.
"Looks like our Slytherin team isn't very popular!" the Ravenclaw commentator quipped loudly into the microphone.
The next moment, he was met with boos from the Slytherin audience.
Albert had no doubt that if the school hadn't separated the seating for the four colleges, the competition might have turned into a chaotic brawl.
Mrs. Hooch, the flight instructor, will be the referee. She is standing in the center of the field, holding her flying broom, waiting for both teams to enter.
"Listen, I want everyone to compete fairly and honestly," Mrs. Hooch said loudly after the players from both teams gathered around her.
These words were amplified by magic, making them audible to all the spectators in the arena.
In fact, Mrs. Hooch's words were specifically directed at certain people on both teams.
"I feel like both captains are trying to crush each other's hands." Albert moved his monocular binoculars, focusing his gaze on Charlie, who was shaking hands with the other, and felt a little like laughing.
There are always people who like to play this trick of probing too hard when shaking hands, no matter where they are.
"Charlie even asked me for advice on how to apply force when shaking hands." A familiar voice sounded beside them. Hagrid, who was holding a large umbrella and binoculars, sat down next to them.
Before the match even started, Albert could sense the tension was palpable and that the game might not be as simple as he had imagined.
Fifteen flying brooms rose into the sky after the whistle blew.
The competition has officially begun.
A few minutes later, a stunned Albert could swear on his chest that this was absolutely the dirtiest football game he had ever seen, bar none.
Jack was the first to grab the Ghostball, and this acrobatic pursuer, with the help of his teammates, cleverly used a back pass tactic to score ten points for Gryffindor.
However, in an attempt to prevent the Gryffindor Chaser from scoring, the Slytherin Beater chose to charge at Jack, causing both of their brooms to veer several meters off course.
"Foul! Foul!" A wave of angry shouts erupted from the stands, drowning out the sleet overhead.
"Slytherin committed a deliberate foul!" the commentator roared. "Unfortunately, their scheme failed, and Gryffindor has scored ten points first. Now, the Ghoul Ball has been awarded to Gryffindor by Madam Hooch."
The game continues...
"Is this normal?" Albert asked Hagrid loudly beside him, ignoring his roommates who were shouting.
"That's not normal," Hagrid said, turning to Albert. "However, in recent years, the matches between Gryffindor and Slytherin have been quite intense."
After the commentator announced that Gryffindor had scored, Hagrid clapped enthusiastically.
"The smell of gunpowder?" Albert turned his gaze back to the court. He felt that it wasn't the smell of gunpowder, but rather the smell of explosives, as if an explosion could occur at any moment.
"Gryffindor scores again, taking a 20-point lead." The commentator was clearly not very competent, but Albert liked that guy's bias towards Gryffindor.
Gryffindor took a 20-point lead in a short time, which infuriated Slytherin, who began to resort to any means to steal the ball.
As Mario was about to pass the ball, his broom was kicked and suddenly began to shake violently. He had to grab the broom with both hands to avoid falling, and the Ghostball he was holding was thus snatched away by Slytherin's Chaser.
However, as revenge against Slytherin, Mark, passing by Slytherin's Seeker Marcus Flint, suddenly made a mistake with a feint and punched the unfortunate Seeker squarely in the nose, causing the unfortunate Seeker's head to tilt back and begin to bleed.
Both Gryffindor and Slytherin were each given a penalty by Mrs. Hooch.
The game continued amidst this chaos, with Mrs. Hodge blowing her whistle almost every few minutes to announce who had committed a foul.
This almost drove the referee crazy.
Albert took out his water bottle, took a swig, and began to join everyone in denouncing the Slytherin students.
Helpless, Slytherin's Locke hit Erin on the back of the head with a stick, and even argued that he thought her head was a ball.
Mrs. Hodge blew her whistle again, and the ghost ball landed back in Jack's hands. The chaser skillfully dodged the interception and spun sharply towards Locke. The ghost ball struck the still bewildered batter in the face with tremendous speed, bounced back, and was caught by a teammate flying in from below.
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"Ah, sorry, my vision wasn't very good, I mistook you for someone else, I'm really sorry." Jack apologized to Locke insincerely, and then flew away on his broomstick before Locke could react.
Despite the Slytherin students below shouting a foul, Madam Hooch did not blow her whistle, treating it as a normal pass.
However, the ball was passed to the Slytherin batter. It could only be argued that the Gryffindor chaser voluntarily relinquished their advantage, which doesn't seem like a foul.
As for hitting the opponent in the face with the ghost ball, that was because Locke himself didn't dodge.
Even Professor McGonagall, the Gryffindor headmaster, was too busy to stop the commentator's extreme remarks, as she was angrily waving her fist at the sky.
Just moments before, as Charlie was about to catch the Golden Snitch, Monta, the Chaser of Slytherin, suddenly rammed into him, nearly causing Charlie to fall off his broom and lose his chance to catch the Golden Snitch.
Although Gryffindor received another ten points as a result, this outcome did not quell the anger of Gryffindor supporters, and some began throwing things onto the field in protest.
Gryffindor retaliated, with Monta bringing the ghost ball into Gryffindor's scoring zone, only to be slapped across the face by Wood, leaving him dizzy and nearly falling off his broom.
"Free throw!" Mrs. Hodge was furious and shouted at Wood, "I don't recall any rule that allows attacking a chasing player."
"Sorry, I got too excited and made a mistake." Wood looked apologetic, as if what had just happened was just an accident.
In the stands, Albert felt there was something wrong with the game; it was definitely the most rude football match he had ever seen.
Could this be the legendary, action-packed Quidditch?