Professor McGonagall walked beneath the hovering broom, adjusted her glasses, and shouted to Cedric, "Hold on tight, Mr. Diggory!"
"Accio Broom!"
A flash of spell light hit the broom, but it only shook slightly and remained stubbornly in place.
Professor McGonagall was clearly stunned for a moment.
It was evident that the anti-theft measures were quite thorough.
Refusing to give up, Professor McGonagall tried several more counter-spells and summoning charms in succession.
The light from her wand tip forced the broom to move short distances several times, but it always seemed to be tethered by an invisible elastic cord, returning to its original position with a "whoosh."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, staring at the magnificent broom and thinking:
I really want to blast this broom to pieces right now.
In the stands, Edgar nudged Lynn with his elbow, a look of amusement on his face:
"Lynn, why don't you go down there and save the day?"
Lynn looked down at Professor McGonagall and rubbed his nose helplessly. "Um... looking at the situation, it seems I have to go."
If he let Professor McGonagall keep trying, Lynn was worried his broom would truly be "physically persuaded"... Lynn jogged to the Hufflepuff team's rest area and gave a harmless smile to a bewildered senior Beater.
"Senior, can I borrow your broom? I'll return it right away."
Though the senior was confused, he still handed over the broom.
Under the curious gaze of the entire school, Lynn rode the ordinary broom and flew to the side of the frazzled Cedric.
"Lynn? I'm sorry, I think I broke your broom..."
Seeing Lynn, Cedric's face was full of shame; he had promised to return it intact after the match.
"It's fine, that... actually, it's a security setting on my broom," Lynn explained with a relaxed wave of his hand, pointing to the broom he had brought.
"So, you ride this one back first. Let's swap."
Hearing this, although Cedric was still puzzled, he followed the instructions and carefully moved onto the broom Lynn had borrowed.
Lynn flipped over nimbly and sat on the "out-of-control" broom.
Once in position, Lynn quickly tapped twice on a tiny radar icon disguised as wood grain on the broom handle.
With a very faint "beep," the broom became functional again.
Then Lynn tapped on a clothes icon, and the broom's overly flashy, shimmering skin quickly faded away, returning to its previous plain and even somewhat old appearance.
Lynn rode the restored broom and landed steadily in front of Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall looked at Lynn and the broom beneath his feet, which now seemed incredibly docile, her gaze behind her lenses full of scrutiny.
"So... this broom with such... unique performance—you made it yourself?" Her tone carried a hint of disbelief.
Lynn nodded honestly.
"First-year students are not allowed to bring their own flying brooms to school; that is a school rule, Mr. Lynn."
Professor McGonagall's tone returned to its usual sternness.
"As long as I don't get caught..." Lynn muttered under his breath, head down, in a voice only he could hear. "Today was just bad luck, running into you."
Professor McGonagall clearly heard his muttering, and the corner of her mouth seemed to twitch, but she didn't pursue the matter, continuing:
"Considering you made this broom out of a passion for learning and exploring Alchemy, I'll only deduct points; detention is waived."
She raised her voice so the surrounding students could hear:
"For unauthorized modification and possession of a flying broom—Hufflepuff! Twenty points will be deducted!"
She gave her final judgment.
Walking back to the Castle, Lynn could clearly feel countless gazes glued to his back, with whispers filling his ears; clearly, his "performance" just now had caused a sensation.
Suddenly, a student wearing Slytherin robes blocked his path.
"Hello, Lynn," he said in a deliberately affected tone. "I am Cassius Caro, a descendant of the Caro Family."
Lynn was somewhat baffled. What was this? Looking for trouble?
"So, do you have some business?"
"That broom of yours—is it for sale? I'll offer 200 Galleons." Caro went straight to the point.
???
Lynn was almost amused by this offer.
200 Galleons? Never mind a Nimbus 2000—that wouldn't even cover the cost of the materials, would it?
The technical sophistication of his broom was on a completely different level from the mass-produced goods on the market.
It felt like someone bringing the money for an old feature phone and trying to buy the latest iPhone, while thinking they were being generous.
Looking at Caro's "I'm being very generous" face, Lynn silently complained: "The technical level isn't even the same thing; is your offer a joke?"
"I'm sorry, I think I know the value of my broom."
Lynn's tone was calm, even polite, but the refusal was unambiguous.
Having said that, he intended to walk around them and continue forward.
The Slytherin named Caro was clearly extremely dissatisfied with Lynn's "unappreciative" reaction, his pale face flushing red.
"Who do you think you are?" he sneered sharply, raising his voice. "Just a piece of trash seeking attention with cheap tricks! You're not even fit to be a dog guarding the gates of the Caro Family! You lowly 'mudblood'!"
Lynn, who was walking forward, suddenly came to a halt.
"Mudblood"?
The word had a strange pronunciation and carried blatant malice, but Lynn didn't quite understand what it meant.
It didn't sound like a compliment, but where exactly was the insult? He instinctively wanted to turn and ask Edgar.
Before Lynn could speak, he saw that Edgar's reaction was much more intense than his own.
The boy, who usually had a smile on his face, was now red with rage, his fists clenched tight, his body trembling slightly with anger.
"Shut up! You ill-bred piece of trash!"
Edgar's voice was slightly distorted with emotion as he almost roared.
"Who do you think you are? Acting all high and mighty based on that shady Dark Wizard bloodline of your ancestors!"
The word "mudblood," for Edgar, who grew up in the Wizarding world, was the ultimate line—the most vicious and intolerable insult.
Having his sore spot poked by Edgar like this, Caro instantly flew into a rage, the string of his reason snapping with a "pop."
"You're dead!"
"You're the one who's dead!"
Almost simultaneously, both of them whipped out their wands.
"Densaugeo!" Caro grinned maliciously, waving his wand.
"Rictusempra!" Edgar was not to be outdone.
A tooth-gritting spell and a laughter-inducing spell collided in mid-air, exploding into a small shower of stinging sparks, neither gaining the upper hand.
Although Lynn still didn't fully understand the meaning of "mudblood," seeing his friend take action to defend him—and the opponent using a clearly offensive spell first—what was there to hesitate about?
It was time to back his friend up.
Almost without thinking, his wand was in his hand, pointing unhesitatingly at Caro.
"Oppugno!"
"Rictusempra! Rictusempra!"
He opened with a combo—one spell summoned nearby pebbles and fallen leaves, which swarmed toward Caro like an angry hive of bees.
Immediately after, he fired two consecutive Tickling Charms, precisely mixed among the pebbles to block Caro's evasion routes.
Caro hadn't expected Lynn to move so fast, or so... unconventionally.
Caro waved his wand frantically, trying to block the flying stones and spells, but several pebbles still hit his arm, and one "Rictusempra" grazed the hem of his robes.
He couldn't help but let out a short, strange "giggle." Although he suppressed it immediately, his entire face was contorted.
The Slytherin students who had been standing aside with folded arms, enjoying the show, saw one of their own take a loss, and their expressions instantly changed.
"Hufflepuff bastards!"
"Outnumbering us, are you?"
"Teach them a lesson!"
Amid several shouts, five or six Slytherin students pulled out their wands, the lights of various spells beginning to shine as they shot toward Lynn and Edgar.
---
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