As November arrived, the Quidditch season at Hogwarts officially kicked off.
The opening match of this year's Quidditch season featured last year's third-place finishers, Hufflepuff House, against last year's fourth-place finishers, Ravenclaw House.
Normally, matches between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Teams received relatively low attention because neither house was particularly strong, and they were basically out of the running for the quidditch cup. In past matches, their showdowns often lacked sufficient highlights, resulting in relatively small crowds.
The school scheduling this match as the season opener was undoubtedly a clever strategy to balance attendance. After all, as the first game of the new year, almost every student with free time would head to the stands to join the excitement.
Due to Adelaide's previous outstanding performance, everyone had already begun discussing the match enthusiastically a week in advance.
However, despite Ravenclaw House having the exceptionally talented Adelaide, most people still believed Hufflepuff House would win given the gap between the Seekers—Cedric and the newcomer Cho Chang. They were certain Hufflepuff would adopt a quick-strike tactic.
The tactical intelligence Adelaide had obtained from Jessica regarding the Hufflepuff team also confirmed this. The Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain planned to use a classic tactic in this match known as'Sealing the Opponent's Ace Beater'.
The core of the tactic was to have the Seeker catch the Golden Snitch quickly, not giving the opponent's Beater enough time or space to exert their influence, thereby ensuring victory.
The specific execution involved their side giving up on scoring with the Quaffle. At the start of the match, they would engage in a fierce struggle with the opponent, doing their best to ensure the opposing chasers did not score more than 150 points, while everyone collectively searched for the Golden Snitch.
Once the Golden Snitch was spotted, team members would use pre-arranged hand signals to alert Cedric, allowing him to catch the Snitch quickly, end the match, and secure the win.
Adelaide finished reading the intelligence expressionlessly, a disdainful sneer appearing on her face.
She casually handed the intel to Natasha beside her, secretly calculating how to give the Hufflepuff team a wake-up call in tomorrow's match, letting them understand that in the face of absolute strength, any tactic was merely futile.
The morning of the match was overcast, the weather dry and cold, but this didn't dampen the students' enthusiasm at all. During breakfast, the Great Hall was packed with no empty seats, a quite rare sight for a typical Saturday.
Students from every house were excitedly talking about the upcoming match, looking forward to seeing a thrilling Quidditch showdown.
Adelaide knew the importance of physical stamina for the match. To maintain her peak condition, she suppressed her stomach's early-morning resistance to food and forced herself to eat half a pizza.
Beside her, Cho Chang seemed somewhat nervous; she hurriedly swallowed three sausages and couldn't eat anything else.
Time ticked by, and it was finally nine-thirty.
Almost the entire school's staff and students flooded toward the stands near the Quidditch Pitch like a tide, no one wanting to miss this brilliant match; many had even brought binoculars specifically to see every detail of the game more clearly.
With feelings of excitement and anticipation, Adelaide and Cho Chang closely followed Natasha into the Ravenclaw locker room.
The few of them quickly changed into their team robes, gripped their flying broomsticks, and waited in the locker room with the other team members for the captain's pre-match pep talk.
Captain William Smith cleared his throat and said in his clear, powerful voice, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has finally arrived!'
The captain's words echoed in the locker room. The team members' eyes were all fixed on him, shining with a hunger for the match and confidence in victory.
'There's no need for more words; I only hope everyone remembers: our Ravenclaw Quidditch Team is the smartest team in Hogwarts!'
The captain's voice grew more impassioned. 'Compared to those gorillas with well-developed limbs and simple minds who only know how to crash through things, we are better at winning through wisdom and tactics!'
The team members nodded one after another; they knew the tradition of Ravenclaw House—wisdom and strategy were the keys to victory.
The captain continued, 'In today's match, we will use our brains to analyze the opponent's weaknesses. We must be as sharp as eagles and as cunning as ravens!'
'Time is almost up, so I'll wish you all good luck here—show them the power of wisdom!'
The captain's speech was like a bolt of lightning cutting through the tension in the locker room. The team members cheered in unison, encouraging one another.
Adelaide followed Natasha out of the locker room, with Cho Chang behind her—Adelaide's heart beat faster and faster, excitement and nervousness intertwining.
They walked with the other team members toward the roaring pitch, the crowd's shouts as deafening as thunder.
Madam Hooch, acting as the referee, stood in the center of the pitch, the silver whistle in her hand gleaming in the sunlight.
Madam Hooch signaled for the two captains to shake hands, a traditional pre-match ritual.
Captain William Smith and the Hufflepuff captain walked up to Madam Hooch and shook hands, both their gazes revealing a hunger for victory.
Players from both sides mounted their flying broomsticks, preparing for the start of the intense match.
Madam Hooch raised the silver whistle, took a deep breath, and blew it hard—fifteen flying broomsticks soared into the air; the match had begun.
As soon as they rose into the sky, a Hufflepuff player holding a bat steered their flying broomstick to quickly close in on Adelaide, attempting to tie her up.
At the same time, the Hufflepuff keeper surprisingly didn't stay in front of the hoops but instead nimbly harassed Cho Chang, preventing her from settling down to search for the Golden Snitch.
Not only that, but every other member of the Ravenclaw Team except for the keeper faced the same treatment—being tightly marked one-on-one by Hufflepuff players, making it difficult for them to display their skills.
In this chaos, the Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric quickly ascended on his flying broomstick to overlook the entire pitch, taking advantage of the opportunity his teammates created for him to carefully observe every corner, searching for a trace of the Golden Snitch.
Adelaide gave a cold snort and directly released all restrictions on the Nimbus 2000. The Nimbus 2000 was like a wild horse breaking its tether, hurtling forward at an astonishing speed.
This move startled the Hufflepuff Beater responsible for marking Adelaide. Although he desperately urged the flying broomstick beneath him to catch up and continue interfering with her, trying to catch Adelaide's full-throttle Nimbus 2000 with his Cleansweep Six was simply a pipe dream.
Heh, is that all?
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