"Now, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to—the Irish national Quidditch team!"
Bagman's booming voice rang throughout the stadium.
"Coming onto the field are—Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! King! And finally—Lynch!"
Seven blurry green figures flew into the stadium.
With Omnioculars, if you slowed down their movements, you could clearly see that the word "Firebolt" was printed on every one of their brooms. Their names were also embroidered in silver thread across their backs.
"Now, please welcome—the England national Quidditch team! Let me introduce—Avery Hawksworth!"
Avery quickly flew into the sky and waved to the crowd, earning a thunderous round of cheers.
"Shirella Raylen!"
A red-and-white figure shot out like a streak of lightning.
She flew so quickly that she was almost impossible to see clearly, earning cheers from the young wizards.
"Look, it's Shirella!"
"She's our Ravenclaw senior!"
The young Eagles shouted excitedly.
Shirella swept over the spectator stands of each House, waving at them in a carefree manner and triggering another wave of cheers.
"Next is Lewis Green—"
The moment Lewis's name was mentioned, the stadium erupted.
But the figure that shot out of the locker room was not a wizard riding a broom.
Instead, a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a winged beast, and a serpentine tail flew majestically into the sky above the pitch.
As Lewis grew older, the lion head of his transformed form had developed a magnificent mane, making him look even more imposing.
The entire stadium erupted into even louder cheers.
"It's Lewis!"
"Lewis's Animagus form is a Chimera!"
"That's the Chimera that combines the symbols of the four Houses! Lewis is the pride of Hogwarts!"
The young wizards shouted at the top of their lungs, releasing all the excitement surging through their hearts.
When the Chimera reached the highest point in the sky, it let out a soaring roar, sending the entire stadium into a frenzy.
The young wizards' cheers infected everyone.
His roar, which seemed to summon courage itself, successfully stirred the passionate emotions of everyone present.
Even the supporters of Ireland could not help shouting along.
For a moment, the atmosphere inside the stadium reached its peak.
Even the Irish team was stunned by the sight.
They simply could not understand how a young wizard who had only just emerged onto the international stage could receive such an enormous welcome.
The pressure of playing away from home settled heavily over their hearts.
High in the sky, the Chimera returned to human form.
Lewis then dropped straight toward the ground.
The entire stadium collectively sucked in a breath.
It was as though someone had pressed a pause button.
The stadium became frighteningly silent.
Just then, a gleaming Firebolt flew through the entrance, summoned by Lewis's spell.
Lewis caught it one-handed in midair and performed a clean flip before landing on the broom.
In an instant, another wave of cheers swept through the stadium.
Lewis received the loudest applause and most enthusiastic cheers of all.
"Lewis! Lewis! Lewis!"
The young wizards of Hogwarts screamed his name again and again, using every ounce of their strength to release the shock and pride surging through them.
"Dawn Weasley! Indira Choudhury! Dennis Frisbee! And finally, Bryce Parkin—"
Bryce Parkin entered the stadium riding her signature silver Nimbus 2000, receiving the second-loudest cheers after Lewis.
"Performing acrobatics well doesn't mean you can win the match!"
Ron looked toward Harry, who was nearby, his face flushed with excitement as he applauded and shouted Lewis's name.
Ron muttered unhappily, "Ireland's offense and defense are arguably the best in the world. Mullet, Troy, and Moran are all top-tier Chasers. Lynch may not be as good as Krum, but he's probably about on par with Parkin. I don't think Lewis and the others can win."
Not only were the spectators discussing the players.
Even the Irish team hovering high above the pitch was talking about Lewis.
"This Lewis Green is very skilled. Judging from that move just now, his 'Human-Broom Passing' technique is probably the real thing. But it doesn't matter. Quidditch is a game of seven players. Individual skill cannot overcome teamwork. As long as we work together, score aggressively, defend well, and trust one another, victory will ultimately belong to us."
Ireland's captain and Chaser, Troy, encouraged his teammates in time.
His teammates nodded in understanding.
"We should also thank today's referee, Arthur Louth!"
A strong, capable-looking wizard strode onto the pitch, a silver whistle hanging around his neck.
Arthur blew the whistle.
The match officially began.
"They're off! They're off! They're off!" Bagman screamed excitedly. "Avery! Shirella! Green!"
The young wizards of Hogwarts had hardly ever witnessed such an exciting Quidditch match.
The month of national-team training had not merely been a process of Lewis and Shirella adapting to their new team.
It had also been the process of the team gradually adapting to Lewis's tactics.
Hamish had already admired the tactics Ravenclaw used during their matches.
After discussing them with Lewis, he had been even more astonished by how brilliant the entire tactical system was.
Thus, these tactics borrowed from Muggle sports were smoothly incorporated into the national team's system.
Against one of the world's strongest teams, Lewis unleashed the run-and-gun strategy to its fullest.
The speed of the three Chasers was simply unbelievable.
They flew constantly, repeatedly passing the Quaffle between one another at such incredible speeds that even Bagman struggled to call out what was happening.
The match became intense from the very beginning.
Neither side showed the slightest mercy in their contests for possession.
The roar of the crowd shook Lewis's eardrums.
But compared with the feverish excitement of the spectators, Lewis himself was extraordinarily calm.
He could feel how seriously the Irish team was taking him.
Almost every moment, one of their Beaters was watching his movements.
Whenever he possessed the Quaffle, two Irish Chasers would immediately move in to double-team him, while a Bludger would simultaneously come flying toward him.
But they had overlooked Shirella.
She was Lewis's best partner.
He also noticed that the three Irish Chasers were flying almost shoulder to shoulder.
Troy was in the middle, while Mullet and Moran were slightly ahead on either side.
The three of them charged toward him together.
When Lewis received the Quaffle once again—
"It's the Hawkshead Attacking Formation!" Bagman shouted.
But Lewis did not slow down.
He charged straight toward them, apparently intending to collide head-on with the three Chasers.
"Does he really intend to fight them head-on right from the beginning? That isn't a wise choice!" Bagman exclaimed regretfully.
To outsiders, underage Lewis was smaller than the tall Irish players.
And he was facing three opponents at once.
If they collided directly, he would certainly suffer.
In reality, however, despite Lewis's smaller frame, his enhanced physical abilities from his various buffs meant that the ones who would suffer in a direct collision were his opponents.
But he had no intention of using such a crude tactic.
A split second before the two sides collided, Lewis tossed the Quaffle upward.
At the same time, he instantly canceled the broom's lift and dropped like a free-falling object.
In the blink of an eye, both Lewis and the Quaffle disappeared from the Irish players' field of vision.
By the time the Irish players realized what had happened, the Quaffle had somehow appeared in Shirella's hands.
The Hawkshead Attacking Formation had been rendered completely ineffective.
"Beautiful!" Ludo punched the air excitedly.
Flying side by side could indeed effectively block an opponent.
But it also meant that the other Chasers would be left completely unguarded.
Connolly's smile froze.
He hurried after Shirella and viciously swung his bat at the Bludger, sending it straight toward her.
Shirella completely ignored the incoming Bludger and continued flying toward the Irish goal with the Quaffle.
Irish Beater Quigley came in diagonally from below.
With a fierce swing of his bat, he struck the Bludger that his teammate had missed and sent it flying toward Shirella again.
The Irish Quidditch players quickly fell back to defend.
Irish Chaser Lynch successfully positioned himself directly in front of Shirella, glaring at her menacingly.
Shirella immediately threw the Quaffle.
Lewis shot out from directly beneath her and caught it perfectly.
"Score!"
"England scores! It's Lewis Green!"
Bagman's booming voice rang out.
The entire stadium erupted in cheers, so loud that the stands seemed to tremble.
"10–0! England takes the lead!"
Everyone was stunned by England's performance.
Ireland was supposed to be one of the teams most skilled at conventional scoring.
Yet they had fallen behind right from the opening play.
After scoring, Lewis flew around the stadium once.
He spun his right hand beside his ear, then waved toward the spectators.
The gesture seemed to say:
Let me hear your cheers!
Let me hear your applause!
Cho Chang, Hermione, and Penelope screamed excitedly, waving their arms nonstop.
Even Luna raised a flag supporting Lewis high above her head.
The three dragons rose into the sky once again.
At the same time, they breathed flames upward.
Under the influence of magic, the red dragon's flames were no longer orange-red, but a beautiful magenta.
The flames breathed by the two white dragons became pure white.
Three streams of dragonfire lined up together, forming the pattern of the England team.
The Irish players finally got to witness the abilities of the two new members of the England team.
They had no choice but to admit that each of them was a first-rate Chaser.
And their coordination was even more terrifying.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as though they could see through each other's minds.
They had finally met worthy opponents.
The match became even more intense.
And even more brutal.
Although the Irish players gave everything they had, the gap between the two teams' scores continued to widen.
After all, who could expect them to deal with two players who were practically cheating?
While the players battled fiercely, both Seekers continued circling the pitch, searching for the Golden Snitch.
Just then, the corner of Bryce Parkin's eye caught a special hand signal from Lewis.
She knew that signal very well.
It meant he had spotted the Golden Snitch.
During the month of training, she had completely understood the abilities of these two newcomers.
As Chasers, their flying and dodging skills were actually better than hers, despite her being the Seeker.
But the most outrageous thing was Lewis's ability to search for the Golden Snitch.
Whenever the Golden Snitch entered his field of vision, he would find it within three minutes.
Without exception.
That efficiency far surpassed that of any ordinary Seeker.
Hamish had even considered having Lewis and Bryce switch positions for a time.
But after seeing that Lewis could contribute even more from the Chaser position, he abandoned the idea.
After that, Lewis had done what he had done at Ravenclaw and taken on the responsibility of helping the Seeker locate the Golden Snitch.
Following Lewis's signal, Parkin quickly flew toward the Golden Snitch.
The spectators clearly noticed this as well.
A synchronized, thunderous cheer immediately swept through the stadium.
Lynch also noticed what was happening.
He immediately flew in Parkin's direction, while Connolly followed closely behind.
A Bludger came screaming through the air, heading straight for Parkin's head.
Parkin had no choice but to slow down and dodge, allowing Lynch to gain the advantage.
However, just as Lynch tried to seize the Golden Snitch, Lewis appeared in front of him.
Lynch was forced to slow down.
In that brief instant, the Golden Snitch disappeared without a trace once again.
"Ireland scores!"
Just as the Irish supporters sighed in relief, Bagman shouted the announcement.
Although the fans were still somewhat disappointed, it provided them with at least a little consolation.
Lynch had at least drawn the Beater's attention, helping his other teammates break through and score.
But their expressions changed immediately afterward.
After Keeper Dennis caught the Quaffle, he did not hesitate to launch a long pass, sending it straight toward the Irish half of the pitch.
The Irish players had no time to fall back and defend.
Shirella and Lewis—who had just been blocking Lynch—both appeared in the Irish half of the pitch.
It was Lewis's signature long-pass fast break.
Irish Keeper Barry Ryan suddenly found himself facing two Chasers charging toward the goal with no defenders between them.
He had absolutely no chance to resist.
The goal was broken through once again.
The ten points Ireland had just recovered were immediately wiped away, and the gap between the two teams widened once more.
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