Chapter 161 The only thing left is luck
"What?"
Wood was stunned for a moment, then reacted.
Although he was anxious, his expression remained calm, though a flicker of fire seemed to pass through his eyes.
He looked at Malfoy, who was following Harry, and involuntarily gripped the broomstick he was riding.
Slytherin's tactic was simple but extremely effective, yet the way to counter it was also simple: find a way to get the opposing Seeker out of the game to turn the tide.
But as he hesitated whether to make a move, Marcusappeared behind Draco.
"Hey, Wood, Gryffindor's situation doesn't look too good!"
"I already understand your tactics," Wood said coldly, "They're despicable."
"Despicable?" Marcus said dismissively, "This is called prudence, and it seems we haven't fouled, have we?
Compared to two years ago, we Slytherin have made considerable concessions, otherwise the Gryffindor team would have been down players long ago."
Wood gritted his teeth and said with disdain, "What kind of skill is it to rely on equipment?"
"Easy for you to say." Draco glanced at Harry meaningfully. "Last year, didn't Gryffindor also equip its Seeker with the then-latest Nimbus 2000?
Why are you unhappy now that Slytherin has switched to the Nimbus 2001?"
"What's going on here?" George flew over. "Wood, need help?
Three against two, we won't be at a disadvantage."
"That's not necessarily true," Marcus said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Adrian flew next to Draco. "Fair enough, three against three."
At this moment, commentator Lee Jordan's voice came through: "Slytherin is leading, one hundred and ten to twenty. Such a massive difference is rarely seen in previous seasons."
Wood frowned, his face grim, and looked at Marcus. "Flint, I suppose you wouldn't mind a ten-minute halftime break, would you?"
"Sorry, I do mind.
If you come up with a way to break the deadlock in those ten minutes, then we would have thrown away a victory in a match for nothing. I won't give you that chance."
"Flint, why don't we give them a chance? Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't be convinced!"
"Draco, do you know what you're saying?
We have an absolute advantage now. If we score another sixty points, this game is secure. We cannot take risks."
"Are you scared?" Wood taunted, "Can I take that to mean Slytherin is afraid of Gryffindor?"
Adrian couldn't hold back and was about to rush over to give Wood a piece of his mind, but Marcus held him back with an outstretched arm.
"Yes, we're scared," Marcus said indifferently, "Reverse psychology won't work today."
The three Gryffindors exchanged glances. Had the Slytherinteam changed their ways? This tactic used to work wonders.
"Surprised?
To be honest, we can't afford to lose." Marcus patted his Nimbus 2001. "This broom is good, but if we, with the latest broom, lose to a bunch of Gryffindors with old junk, how will we ever show our faces again?"
Wood's mouth twitched, then he turned his gaze to Draco. "Do you think I have no other options?"
Marcus and Adrian instinctively shielded Draco behind them. "What you've thought of, we've naturally thought of too.
Even if we lose a Seeker, the other team members will fill his position. It's just about holding back Potter. With the Nimbus 2001, how hard can that be?
We have the latest equipment, so even four against five, the disadvantage isn't that great."
"Flint, I think I need to remind you," Adrian said with a smile, "Although we haven't fouled on the field for a long time, that doesn't mean we're out of practice."
Upon hearing this, Marcus's lips also curved into a sinister grin.
"Alright! As long as they dare to make the first move, we'll just defend ourselves legitimately."
Wood immediately understood that getting Draco out of the game was impossible. When it came to cheating and fouling, the Slytherin team was leagues ahead of them.
"George, go do what you need to do."
"But here…"
"Go quickly."
"Understood." George glared at the three Slytherins opposite him, accelerated towards one end of the field, and hit a bludger away.
Flint gave a meaningful look to Adrian on one side, who nodded and also flew away from his spot.
"I truly didn't expect that you Slytherins would also have a time when you play by the rules."
"Don't misunderstand, I'm just worried that the players below will suffer."
"Harry." Wood leaned close to Harry Potter and whispered, "I'm out of ideas this time; it's all up to you. Your flying ability is stronger than Malfoy's, so you might be able to turn the tide."
Harry's eyes widened slightly, looking at him with utter astonishment, feeling incredibly frustrated inside.
At least look at the scoreboard before you say that!
One hundred and ten to twenty. No, it's one hundred and twenty to twenty now. Slytherin is leading by a hundred points.
To turn the tide, he needed to find and catch the Snitch within five goals. Wasn't that a bit too difficult?
If it were before, he wouldn't have felt so much pressure, but this time, Slytherin's Seeker wasn't playing by the usual rules at all.
Malfoy wasn't trying to catch the Golden Snitch; he was just preventing him from catching it. They were completely unprepared for this tactic; it was impossible to play.
"I know this might be a bit much to ask of you, but you're the Seeker. All we can do for you is try our best to stop the other team from scoring.
It's only fifty points, isn't it? Believe in yourself, you can do it."
"Slytherin has scored another goal, leading by one hundred and ten points." Jordan's commentary sounded again, "You may not have noticed, but I have.
All of Slytherin's players have switched to new broomsticks, the Nimbus 2001, giving them an immense advantage against Gryffindor."
Both Wood and Flint's expressions were not very good.
The former felt the commentator was doing it on purpose, adding pressure to them for no reason.
The latter felt that this time they not only had to win, but had to win beautifully, otherwise they wouldn't live up to the "immense advantage" mentioned.
"Wood, it's forty points now," Harry said with some reluctance.
"I heard, Harry.
Gryffindor's situation is more severe than imagined." Woodsighed deeply, forcing a smile that was uglier than a cry. "Perhaps, all we have left to rely on is luck."
Harry nodded, turned his broom, and flew in the opposite direction.
"Malfoy," Marcus said sternly, "I don't care how you do it, but you absolutely cannot let him catch the Golden Snitchbefore we score four more goals."
"Understood."
Draco immediately chased after Harry Potter, and with the speed of the Nimbus 2001, he was soon flying alongside Harry.
"How about we just rest here for a bit?" Draco said temptingly, "Anyway, the outcome of this match is already clear, so why bother wasting your effort?"
"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said with a resentful expression. He only had one thought in his mind now: for a bludger to come and knock this annoying nuisance down.
Perhaps Merlin heard his prayer, for a ten-inch black iron ball flew from the front, but its target was not Malfoy.
Harry turned left to avoid it, but the bludger, as if it had eyes, abandoned Draco, who was closer, changed direction, and hurtled towards Harry's head.
He immediately accelerated, trying to get as far away from the bludger as possible.
But no matter if he spun and turned, rose and fell, or spiraled in a Z-pattern, that bludger relentlessly pursued him, and its speed was much faster than usual, almost catching up to the Nimbus 2000.
The only comfort was that under these circumstances, Draco still hadn't abandoned him, though his face had become particularly grim.
"You Slytherins must have tampered with the bludger," Harry said angrily.
"Don't make baseless accusations. We have an absolute advantage; there's no need for us to do that.
I strongly suspect Gryffindor is crying wolf. Now, catching up to you is infinitely harder than it was before.
Oliver truly lives up to his captaincy, resorting to such underhanded tricks. He clearly doesn't care about you at all."
"Impossible, I know what kind of person Wood is."
"Hmph, you're really confident, Potter, but do you know what he's thinking?"
At this moment, the people in the stands also noticed the anomaly, as the two wildly dodging Seekers were simply too conspicuous, and the bludger behind them was moving incredibly fast, almost leaving afterimages.
The Gryffindor and Slytherin players also tacitly stopped their actions, looking at each other's captains with suspicion.
"Wood, what should we do?" Alicia asked, "Let's ask Madam Hooch for a timeout!"
"But the bludger was fine before."
"Is this the time to discuss that?" Katie said anxiously, "If we drag this out any longer, Harry will be in danger."
"Understood, I'll go find Madam Hooch right away."
"Wait, Wood.
No need for a timeout, the game continues." Harry said, flying over while dodging the frantic bludger, "Although it's dangerous, this might be our chance."
"Don't be foolish, getting hit by that ball is no joke," Georgesaid, "We should still request an investigation!"
"No, I'm certain this isn't Slytherin's doing.
And the danger isn't just mine; I've got someone to take the fall with me." Harry said meaningfully, "This rogue bludgeris our only advantage."
Only then did the others notice Draco Malfoy, whose face was ashen, following closely behind him. Their expressions couldn't help but become somewhat complex.
"Be careful yourself." Wood turned around with a heavy heart. "Everyone, do your part. That bludger is Harry's problem. What we need to do is not let Slytherin score."
"Flint, we…" Montague, a Slytherin Chaser, asked.
"Trust Malfoy. You all participated in his training, and this kind of accident was anticipated. Otherwise, he wouldn't be sticking so closely to Harry Potter." Flint said thoughtfully, "Oliver has confidence in their Seeker, and we should also have confidence in our own Seeker.
If you want to help him, just score a few more goals quickly."