Almost the moment the referee blew his whistle, both teams gave it everything they had to fight for possession.
Lewis exploded with an unexpected burst of speed right from the start, snatching the Quaffle away from Bulgarian Chaser Dimitrov.
One of Bulgaria's Beaters, Volkov, swung his bat with all his strength and sent a Bludger flying toward Lewis from behind.
However, Lewis didn't even turn his head. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he suddenly ducked down, avoiding the Bludger, then threw the Quaffle.
It happened to be caught by Shirella, who was flying up from below.
"Beautiful wall pass! Lewis scores the first goal of the match!" Bagman's booming voice roared out. The entire stadium erupted into cheers, the noise shaking the stands themselves. "10–0! England takes the lead!"
Lewis and Shirella once again demonstrated their skill and chemistry.
The two worked together flawlessly, their movements perfectly coordinated, as though they could see straight through each other's thoughts.
As the match continued, they built upon their momentum, repeatedly using these exquisite combinations to push the score higher and higher.
Within ten minutes, England scored two more goals, changing the score to 30–0 and drawing a deafening wave of cheers from their supporters.
The match became increasingly intense—and increasingly brutal.
Bulgaria's Beaters, Volkov and Vokanov, swung their bats with everything they had, repeatedly sending Bludgers toward England's Chasers, particularly Lewis and Shirella, trying to prevent them from executing some of their most effective attacks.
However, the difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great.
After all, Bulgaria's veteran players had either reached retirement age or were unable to play because of injuries.
This new generation of players still had a long way to go.
They didn't have super rookies like Lewis and Shirella.
Aside from Krum, if their Seeker hadn't repeatedly saved the team from disaster, they might have suffered several humiliating shutouts already. There was no way they would have made it this far into the final.
After stopping one of Bulgaria's attacks, England successfully launched a long-pass counterattack.
Shirella went one-on-one against Bulgarian Keeper Zograf and successfully scored again, widening the gap even further.
Zograf angrily clenched his fist. He felt completely powerless.
From the Bulgarian supporters' section came a loud, synchronized chant.
They had grown accustomed to it.
Whenever the score fell behind, Krum would save the team and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
"Krum is widely recognized as the world's number-one Seeker. England's best Chaser duo, Lewis and Shirella, will have to widen the gap before he catches the Golden Snitch if they want to defeat him."
Bagman spoke in his booming voice.
"Oh, my goodness! Krum has spotted the Golden Snitch! Parkin is giving chase!"
Suddenly, Bagman screamed in excitement.
"And it's Lewis Green! He's chasing Krum as well!"
One hundred thousand wizards held their breath as they watched the three players—two Seekers and one Chaser—plunge rapidly downward among the other players.
Krum, Parkin, and Lewis.
They were moving incredibly fast, almost as though they had jumped out of an airplane without parachutes.
The Golden Snitch skimmed just above the green grass, its wings beating rapidly.
At the final second, Lewis surged ahead of Krum and blocked him off from the Golden Snitch, preventing him from ending the match in an instant.
Krum nearly crashed straight into Lewis.
Fortunately, he managed to stop his dive in time, pulling upward and circling away.
However, the Golden Snitch had disappeared as well.
"It's Lewis again! He's playing two roles at once! Not only has he scored the most goals, he's also protecting his team's Seeker... This isn't the first time he's made such a crucial save!" Bagman began praising him enthusiastically. "With that skill alone, he could achieve just as much if he played Seeker!"
Throughout the Quidditch World Cup, Krum had practically been carrying his entire team single-handedly. Every match had been difficult.
But he had never suffered as much as he did today.
Because he had discovered that among his opponents were actually two people with flying abilities on the same level as his own—or so he believed.
And these two people had absurdly chosen not to become Seekers. Instead, they had partnered together as Chasers.
Yet merely dominating the Chaser position wasn't enough for these two.
They had to cross over into his territory and deal with him, the Seeker, as well.
More than once, after spotting the Golden Snitch, he had been stopped by Lewis or Shirella...
Sometimes, both of them had stopped him together.
As long as those two were present, he couldn't even get within ten meters of the Golden Snitch.
Yet even with England's Chasers constantly occupied with him, his teammates were still being crushed by their opponents.
50–0...
70–10...
100–20...
140–30...
170–40...
The score gap continued to widen.
When Bagman announced that the score had reached 200–50, Krum was filled with despair.
He knew that there was no way his teammates could reduce the deficit to less than 140 points.
And now, even if he caught the Golden Snitch immediately, there was absolutely no way he could turn the match around.
Bulgaria had lost.
"Merlin's beard! What am I looking at?"
At that moment, Bagman suddenly screamed.
Lewis and Shirella had simply given up chasing the Quaffle.
Instead, they had joined Parkin in chasing the Golden Snitch.
Because of the rules of Quidditch, they couldn't actually catch the Golden Snitch themselves.
But the two of them positioned themselves on either side of it, constantly maneuvering around it.
No matter which direction the Golden Snitch flew, one of them would block its path with their body.
Seeing this, the Bulgarian players practically gave up resisting.
Only Krum gently nudged his broom and continued chasing after Lewis and Shirella.
Even if he was going to lose, he would at least lose with dignity.
In the top-level box of the stadium, the Bulgarian Minister could no longer bear watching this one-sided massacre.
He stood up, walked over to Fudge, and pleaded in English for the match to be brought to an end.
In another corner of the box, Ron was also complaining under his breath.
"What a hypocritical show-off!"
Ron stared at Lewis, who had become the center of attention throughout the stadium, unable to suppress the jealousy in his heart.
"If he's really that skilled, then he should be a little more humble instead of humiliating Krum like this."
His blunt accusation caused the people around him to glance over repeatedly.
Malfoy suddenly retorted, "This is how a true strong person should behave."
Just then, a wave of startled cries erupted.
Faced with Krum's attack, Lewis and Shirella easily dodged even while maintaining their difficult aerial maneuvers.
Krum was moving far too quickly.
He couldn't stop in time and slammed straight toward the box, crashing into an unlucky person.
It was none other than his devoted little fan, Ron.
He collided with Ron in an extremely awkward position.
There was a soft "pop."
Their lips happened to meet.
Ron, who had been knocked backward, instantly twisted his face into an expression of horror.
He had never imagined that he would have such close contact with his idol in this manner.
What embarrassed Ron the most was that Malfoy and Harry had witnessed the entire thing.
Seeing Malfoy's gleefully mocking expression and Harry's look of utter disbelief, Ron desperately wished he could dig a hole and bury himself in it.
Meanwhile, Krum's momentum hadn't completely dissipated.
He slid face-first across the floor until he reached Hermione's feet, his face covered in blood and one of his front teeth knocked out.
During the slide, his foot accidentally struck the back of the Bulgarian Minister's knee.
The Bulgarian Minister immediately dropped to his knees in front of Fudge.
Fudge's face twitched awkwardly several times as he struggled to suppress his laughter.
"Click. Click. Click."
The sound of camera shutters continued to ring out.
It was Luna.
As the daughter of the editor-in-chief of The Quibbler, she was also working as a field reporter for the newspaper during the event.
By the time Krum finally wiped the blood from his face and walked out of the box, the referee's whistle had already blown.
By then, England's Seeker, Bryce Parkin, had already arrived beside the two Chasers and effortlessly taken the Golden Snitch that they had "caught" by another method.
Krum's expression grew even darker.
His teammates gathered around him, shaking their heads with dejected expressions.
Not far away, the England players were celebrating wildly.
Their mascot soared freely through the sky, roaring as it breathed streams of red and white dragonfire.
Flags waved everywhere throughout the stadium, while the English national anthem rang out from every direction.
"Now, the England team, accompanied by their mascot, will make a lap around the stadium! The Quidditch World Cup trophy is being brought to the top box!"
Bagman's booming voice rang throughout the stadium.
Beneath a gigantic iron-gray statue of an eagle spreading its wings at the very top of the stadium, Penelope Clearwater stood there, having watched the entire match from beginning to end.
Because of the grand occasion of the World Cup, these Auror trainees had also been called into service.
To take care of her, Tonks had specifically arranged for Penelope to guard this area, allowing her to watch the entire match.
The new-style Auror uniform was wrapped around her body, fluttering noisily in the high-altitude wind.
She looked at Lewis and Shirella, both brimming with confidence after their victory, and happily revealed a beautiful smile.
Suddenly, a dazzling flash of light streaked across the sky.
The top box was magically illuminated, allowing spectators throughout the stadium to see what was happening inside.
At the entrance, two panting wizards carried a huge golden cup into the box and handed it to Cornelius Fudge.
Fudge's grin stretched from ear to ear.
He could finally stop suppressing his joy and burst into laughter.
"Let's give a warm round of applause to the brave, determined, and tenacious Bulgarian players as they come up to the podium!"
Bagman shouted.
The seven defeated Bulgarian players climbed into the box.
The spectators below applauded one after another, expressing their appreciation for them.
The Bulgarian players walked one by one between the two rows of seats.
As each of them took turns shaking hands with their Minister and Fudge, Bagman loudly announced their names.
Krum was last.
His face was gloomy, and the dark circles beneath his eyes were especially noticeable.
Once he was back on the ground, his movements no longer looked quite as coordinated. His legs were slightly bowlegged, and his shoulders noticeably hunched forward.
Even so, when Bagman announced Krum's name, the entire stadium gave him polite applause.
But Krum's expression grew even gloomier.
He didn't need anyone's pity.
Next came the England players.
Every one of them was beaming with joy.
When Bagman loudly called out the names "Lewis Green" and "Shirella Raylen," the entire stadium erupted into deafening cheers.
When Lewis and Shirella accepted the Quidditch World Cup trophy from Fudge and kissed each other right there amid the crowd's enthusiastic teasing, the entire stadium transformed into a sea of celebration.
Everyone was happy for them—for their victory, and for the beautiful relationship between these two perfectly synchronized partners.
The England players mounted their brooms once again and took turns patting the affectionate young couple on the shoulders.
Lewis and Shirella mounted their brooms as well, holding the Quidditch World Cup trophy between them as they once again flew around the stadium.
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