It was the weekend. Harry had planned to visit Hagrid with Hermione and Ron, but he had been shaken awake by the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, Oliver Wood. He had wanted to sleep for a few more hours. However, he had no choice but to train now.
He got up reluctantly and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He squinted and looked out of the window. The pink and pale gold sky was shrouded in a thin layer of fog. The birds outside were so loud that he wondered why he had not been woken up just now.
He hurriedly left a note to Ron and rushed to the lounge, still carrying his Nimbus 2000. However, he met his admirer, Colin Creevey. He was pestered for half a day before he could get rid of him.
After half a day, he finally arrived at the Gryffindor locker room. After dawdling for a while, they arrived at the stadium. The sun was already high up in the sky.
Then he stood at the back of the team and heard Wood roar angrily, "I've booked the entire stadium today!"
Harry squeezed to the front and found that the stadium was already occupied. The students in green robes had already started training on the field.
"Flint!" Wood shouted at the captain of the Slytherin team. "This is our training time! We woke up especially early! Please get out! "
"Oh," Flint said with a half-smile. "But I have a note signed by Professor Snape. I, Professor Si Snape, allow the Slytherin team to train in the Quidditch stadium today to train their new ball seeker. "
"You have a new ball seeker?" Wood's attention was diverted. "Where is she?"
Harry was shocked. He saw a tuft of platinum hair at the back of the Slytherin team. He thought of Malfoy's skillful casting skills and excellent results. These made him feel that Malfoy would be strong even in Quidditch. He would be a strong opponent. He could not help but feel nervous.
"Miss Pansy Parkinson," Flint said. The team slowly separated. Only then did Harry see that there was someone hiding behind Malfoy. He did not know why, but he actually heaved a sigh of relief.
"You actually let a second-year girl be a ball seeker? Also, isn't that Draco? With him, you have one more person. What is the meaning of this? "Wood asked angrily.
"Draco used his summer vacation to work at Gringotts. He helped the sprites a lot, so they gave him a generous reward. Then, we want to thank him for his generosity. He used a portion of the money to buy seven brooms and gave them to our team." After that, the members of Slytherin raised their brooms, the beautiful Golden Wheel 200l, which dazzled the eyes of the Gryffindor members in the morning sun.
"Sigh, people are really different." Flint looked at Fred and George maliciously and said, "Maybe some people's fathers don't even make that much money in a year. You guys can only sweep through Seven Star 5 to clean the room."
The Gryffindor team members were speechless for a moment. The Weasley brothers could only look at them angrily.
"But Draco seemed unwilling to join the team, so he gave the opportunity to Pansy. But he still agreed to be our team's technical consultant," Flint continued to explain. Rather than explaining, it was better to say that he was continuing to show off.
"Sigh, if he was really willing to come, I think we might have won this year," Flint said, shaking his head and sighing.
"Let's go." Wood did not want to have a conflict with them. Even if he was unwilling, at least Slytherin had a firm foothold.
"Harry, why are you guys back?" Harry and the other players returned to the stands a little depressed. Ron and Hermione could not help but ask him what happened.
Harry explained to them, but Ron's face quickly turned ugly.
"This guy actually used such methods?" Ron said in exasperation. Hermione seemed to hear a trace of jealousy from his tone.
"Harry, take it easy. That is their team's freedom. We can't do anything about it. Besides, there is a dean who is biased towards them. You just have to be yourself," Hermione encouraged him.
"Yes." Harry nodded and gripped his broom tightly. But he was still a little depressed. Because it was not only the problem of the field, but also the opponent's equipment. The future matches would definitely be difficult.
He turned his gaze back to the field.
Although it was definitely not the first time Pansy sat on a flying broom, it was indeed the first time as a Quidditch player. She was very excited, and her little face was flushed with excitement. For example, if a World Cup fan could play for a few minutes one day, anyone would be so excited that they would faint. Even if it was just a school team now, it was enough to make her excited for a while.
"Attention, everyone." Malfoy held a microphone below the field. All the players who were warming up stopped in the air, waiting for his instructions. Pansy also hurriedly stopped the broom.
"Underestimating your opponent is underestimating yourself. No matter what equipment Gryffindor's team has, they are still a powerful team." Malfoy's gaze swept across every player. Every player had a headset on their head for the sake of efficiency during training. During training, the sound of the wind was enough to make people unable to hear clearly. Muggles' radio was very necessary. Of course, Hogwarts seemed to be surrounded by a strong magnetic field, so he had slightly modified it.
Malfoy might be able to invent a similar spell, but it was the most reasonable thing to do. Wouldn't it be better to do it once and for all?
He continued in a serious tone, "Today, we have brand new equipment, but this definitely isn't the deciding factor for the outcome of this competition. Not to mention that Harry Potter's products are only a generation away from ours, even the Weasley brothers' two antiques are equipment that they've been familiar with for a long time. Now that we've switched to new brooms, while enjoying the increased speed, we may also have to take on greater risks."
All the players nodded in agreement. Although Malfoy was only a second-year student, he had already naturally exuded the aura of a leader. His own results and some rumors were enough to convince the players. Moreover, he was also the sponsor of the brooms. Of course, the most important thing was that what he said made sense. After experiencing the speed of the broom, they did feel a little uncoordinated. Sometimes, it felt awkward to control the broom.
"Actually, I didn't agree to come here for training today. If we avoid interacting with them and use the new brooms as our secret weapon, we will definitely be able to catch them off guard. However, after today, they will definitely be prepared," Malfoy continued.
"But now, I suddenly feel that it's nothing. You've seen Captain Gryffindor's expression just now. They're mentally prepared, but the pressure is even greater now," he said immediately after seeing the look of regret on the faces of the team members. He paused for a moment. "We have to look down on the enemy strategically and pay attention to the enemy tactically. Do you have the confidence?"
"Yes!" The seven of them roared loudly.
"The pre-battle mobilization is complete." Malfoy secretly wiped his sweat. Then, he began to arrange the tactics.
The core was very simple, and that was to stall.
Pan Xi's familiarity with the brooms was inferior to the others. Regardless of whether it was Gryffindor or Slythrin's team, they could be said to be the least familiar with the brooms. Moreover, Harry himself was extremely talented, and with an extra year of training, it was basically impossible to rely on Pan Xi to catch the golden snitch.
Although there was a huge gap between the ball hunters, they could still compete with the speed of the latest flying brooms. Malfoy only gave Pan Xi one mission, and that was to stall Harry. Then, the other team members relied on their equipment to crush Harry and use the Ghost Fly ball to score points until the other team members were completely useless even if they caught the snitch. This was the core idea, and the details had yet to be perfected.
The Slythrin's players were bigger in size. Once it was dragged into a protracted battle, they would have a greater advantage with their abundant stamina.
"You don't trust me at all, hmph," Pan Xi complained to him as she carried out her normal flying training.
In response, Malfoy could only shake his head helplessly.
"Don't forget our agreement." When Pan Xi swooped down beside him, he lowered his voice and reminded her.
"I know, you're so annoying." Pan Xi waved at him impatiently.
"Spread out the formation, you're all squeezed into a pile!"
"Too spread out, too spread out. Are you all prepared to let others break through?"
It seemed that Malfoy had adapted to his role as a consultant very quickly.
The green robes of the Slythrin's team members fluttered in the wind, making a swishing sound. Although the sun was shining brightly, the strong wind still made their faces hurt and felt cold. However, they did not care. They were also holding a breath in their hearts. They were still brooding over their loss to Gryffindor the last time. They had decided to take revenge in this year's competition. With the latest brooms, their hearts were also filled with motivation.
"Alright, that's all for today." After a long time, Malfoy gave the order to withdraw. A small stream flowed slowly was the best way. Excessive training would only overdraft one's potential, and the gains would not make up for the losses.
Pan Xi, who had returned to the ground, was clearly still in a state of excitement. She held the broom tightly in her hand and was unwilling to let go. It seemed that she was not satisfied yet.
"Don't be so excited, there will be plenty of chances in the future. How about it? You'll be happier if you play in person than if you cheer for them." Malfoy placed his hands on Pan Xi's shoulders to calm her down.
"Yes." Pan Xi nodded. Her face was flushed, and it was unknown whether it was due to excitement or the remnants of the exercise just now.
"That's why you have to remember to abide by our agreement." Malfoy emphasized this matter again.
"Yes." Pan Xi's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzzing. She nodded and then said shyly in a low voice, "I can do whatever you want tonight."
The entire Slythrin's team seemed to be petrified. Then, there was a burst of vulgar laughter on the field, attracting the attention of the people in the stands. All the players winked at Malfoy, making
an expression that all men understood.
Malfoy felt that if he could, he would definitely vomit blood.