"I hate this weather!" Albert took off his winter cloak and took the Quidditch outfit that Charlie handed him and put it on.
Fred and George were ready. They linked arms and circled each other, showing off their outfits in the process.
"This outfit suits you very well," Eileen said to Albert with a smile. "You use Mark's Sweeping Six Stars, which is the fastest flying broom among us."
"I'll temporarily entrust my flying broom to you. You'll have to ride it to catch the Golden Snitch." Mark chuckled and patted Albert on the shoulder, handing him his Six-Star Sweep.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can catch the Golden Thief." When no one was paying attention, Albert glanced at the mission panel and sure enough, a new mission appeared.
A belated victory
This Quidditch match has been going on for a long time; catch the Golden Snitch and win the victory for Gryffindor.
Reward: 500 experience points.
"These are goggles," Charlie began instructing everyone. "Once the match restarts, Albert will ascend directly into the sky to find the Golden Snitch. Ignore everyone else and be careful not to get attacked. Fred, George, you two help protect him so that Albert can find the Golden Snitch as soon as possible and end the match. I don't want the match to drag on until evening."
"You have so much faith in me?" Albert suddenly felt something called pressure, carrying the expectations of others, and it felt a little heavy.
"Of course, what else can we do but have faith in you?" Charlie said matter-of-factly. "Besides, everyone believes you can definitely catch the Golden Thief."
"That sounds reasonable." Albert picked up the wand from his cloak, cast a fire and water immunity spell on his goggles, put them on, and followed the others outside.
Without an umbrella, the cold rain fell on Albert, quickly soaking his clothes.
"It's unbelievable! Half of Gryffindor's substitutes are first-year students. Have they already given up on the game? Or is this actually Gryffindor's secret weapon?" The commentator couldn't help but exclaim after Gryffindor entered the game.
Not only the commentators, but other Gryffindor supporters were also puzzled, because upperclassmen usually fly better than freshmen. Could it really be some kind of secret weapon?
In the eyes of the Slytherin audience, the Gryffindor team clearly had no other substitutes and could only fill in with a bunch of newcomers.
Standing on the court, listening to the cheers around him, Albert didn't feel the nervousness of being the center of attention for the first time. On the contrary, he felt his blood boiling.
This is completely different from the feeling of staying in the stands as a spectator.
Albert didn't listen to what Mrs. Hodge was saying. As soon as the whistle blew, he immediately flew into the air on his broomstick.
Once in mid-air, Albert found his vision to be very blurry, making it difficult to even see his teammates' positions, let alone find the Golden Snitch in the rain.
Slytherin's Seeker was close to Albert, but the opponent didn't pounce on him directly, showing no intention of fighting.
Their eyes met, and they merely nodded slightly, offering no further reaction. It seems that not everyone in the Slytherin team is a violent bunch.
Both sides patiently waited for an opportunity, searching for the whereabouts of the Golden Thief while remaining wary of each other.
Albert looked down, his eyes scanning the blurry red and green figures, while the audience was hidden in a sea of umbrellas.
"Watch out, don't get distracted!" George swung his bat, knocking away a stray ball that was heading straight for Albert. He also raised his bat and swung it defiantly at the Slytherin Seeker not far away, but ultimately did not attack him.
At least this time, Slytherin's Seeker was at least somewhat normal, and George had no experience fighting in games.
Time ticked by, and Albert was nearly frozen stiff in the rain. But as a hunter, Albert knew he needed to be patient, even after searching high in the sky for a long time without finding any trace of the Golden Snitch.
A flash of gold suddenly appeared near Slytherin's scoring ring. Albert caught the glint of light and almost instinctively tilted his broom forward, accelerating as he began his dive.
Is it the Golden Thief?
Albert couldn't be sure if what he saw was the Golden Snitch, but he had to take the gamble. If he won, Gryffindor would win; if he lost, there was really no loss.
Since there's no risk involved, there's no reason not to gamble.
At that moment, Albert lay sprawled on his flying broom, pushing the speed of his sweeping attack to its limit. The Slytherin Seeker behind him immediately spun his broom and chased after him as soon as Albert began his attack.
Below, the commentator suddenly shouted the moment Albert accelerated: "Gryffindor's young Seeker is accelerating! Has he spotted the Golden Snitch? Slytherin's Seeker is far behind. Will Gryffindor win in just ten minutes?"
"Look, everyone! Slytherin's goalkeeper is going to intercept the Seeker, and two more Pursuers are also closing in. Gryffindor's Seeker is in danger! Slytherin's players are actually planning to continue using despicable tactics to prevent Gryffindor from winning."
However, Albert's current situation is far more perilous than the commentator described.
In the instant the two passed each other, Albert's body suddenly tilted to one side, narrowly dodging the Slytherin goalkeeper's punch. At the perfect moment, his elbow rose slightly and struck the passing Slytherin goalkeeper's chin, using the force of the impact to knock out several of his teeth.
The two passed each other in a thrilling exchange. Albert continued flying forward, having already spotted the Golden Snitch ahead, which was bypassing Slytherin's scoring rings and heading towards the outer wall.
"It's the Golden Snitch, Merlin's beard. The young Seeker easily dodged the goalkeeper's attack. It really is Gryffindor's secret weapon."
Just as Albert was about to catch the Golden Snitch, a baseball bat suddenly flew from the side, heading straight for him. Hearing the whooshing sound from behind, Albert immediately made a tactical maneuver, dodging the incoming bat with a sloth-like roll.
The bat missed Albert and flew towards the stands below, perhaps hitting some unfortunate spectator.
"Closer, closer already." Albert stretched out his arm, and the moment his hand grasped the Golden Snitch, he suddenly pulled up his broom, rising ninety degrees to avoid crashing into the audience.
We won!
Albert stared at the golden thief in his hand, a pleased smile appearing on his lips. He had succeeded.
A commotion suddenly arose below.
Originally, the Slytherin player who was following behind and trying to intercept Albert failed to brake in time and crashed into the audience, apparently hitting someone.
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As Albert descended, he saw Snape, his face grim, looking in their direction.
With a broad smile, he raised the Golden Snitch and waved it at Snape—no, he should say at the audience.
"Got it! Gryffindor's youngest Seeker has easily caught the Golden Snitch in just twelve minutes. Congratulations to Gryffindor for winning the final match!" the commentator shouted.
After saying that, he added jokingly, "I really didn't expect that the Slytherin team would ultimately lose to a freshman. I really hope their two players are okay; they looked like they were in a lot of pain from the impact."
However, no one paid attention to the commentator's jokes; everyone was cheering for Gryffindor's victory.
As Albert landed, he felt someone bump into him; it was the Weasley brothers and the rest of the team, who were embracing each other as they descended.
Charlie and the others ran out of the locker room, waving excitedly in their direction.
Before Albert could even react, he was being lifted and tossed into the air by a group of people. To be honest, the feeling of floating wasn't comfortable, but it was a novel experience for Albert.