Chapter 70: Exhausting Players

On Sunday morning, the weather was sunny.

Albert sat in the Great Hall, humming an unknown tune while using his fork to put pieces of sliced black pudding into his mouth.

Hedwig flapped her wings and landed between the salad and sugar bowl, placing a thick envelope within Albert's reach.

"Thank you," Albert said, pushing aside several plates of food and reaching out to stroke Hedwig's back. He took out a owl nut from his pocket and placed it in front of Hedwig. Then, he opened the envelope, which contained letters from Luke, Herbert and Daisy, as well as a letter from Nia. The envelope also included a photo of Nia blowing bubbles with the Super Bubblegum.

"What are you looking at?" Alya walked over and sat opposite Albert, curiously asking.

"Letters from home," Albert folded the letters and put them in his pocket. After finishing the nut, Hedwig flew back to her owlery to rest.

"By the way, Albert, are you going to the training field this morning?" Angelina also approached and sat down next to Alya. She continued, "Charlie said there's Quidditch training this morning. Even if you can't become an official player for now, the team still needs reserve players."

"Oh, it seems I have no reason to refuse," Albert nodded and said, "After I finish eating, I'll go wake up Fred and the others."

"Don't bother... we're already up," Fred stretched his hand and covered a long yawn, greeting everyone, "Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Albert," Charlie followed behind George and greeted Albert with a smile.

"You don't know, Charlie is possessed by a demon. Who starts training so early in the morning?" George made a funny face at Albert.

Charlie sat down next to them and asked, "Are we going together?"

"Sure."

"Charlie, it's only 7 o'clock now," a sturdy young man couldn't help but complain, "Are you sure we're starting training now?"

"Early birds catch the worm."

"Isn't meat good enough?" Lee Jordan sat down on Albert's other side, placed two pieces of fried meat on his plate, took a bite, and muttered, "What's so good about worms?"

Albert quickly covered his mouth to prevent food from spraying out.

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Lee Jordan looked at Albert in confusion, blinked his eyes, and asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing."

"Cough, this is Wood, our goalkeeper." Charlie patted the young man beside him and introduced, "Fred and George, my brothers. And this is Albert, you didn't see him flying on a broomstick last time, he's simply a genius. You won't believe it's his first time riding a broomstick—so light... agile..."

Albert turned his head away. Although it was someone else praising him, he couldn't help but feel awkward, especially when everyone around was looking at him.

Angelina had a smile on her face, her mouth formed the words silently: I didn't expect you to be so amazing!

"Cough." Albert coughed lightly, interrupting Charlie's words, and asked, "What do we do without brooms?"

"I've already explained to Professor Hooch, and she will lend you a few old brooms from the school," Charlie reminded, "But don't expect them to be in great condition."

After finishing breakfast, everyone left the castle in groups, walking across the dewy grass and up the slope towards the Quidditch pitch.

Along the way, Charlie introduced the old Gryffindor Quidditch players to Albert and the other newcomers.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team consisted of six boys and one girl, and everyone got along well. It was said that two of the Beaters were even a couple.

Charlie pointed to the only girl among the official players and said, "This is Erin, the Beater known for her aggression."

"Erin is a lovely girl. She doesn't appear violent like Charlie described," she smiled at everyone and introduced, "Mark and I are the Beaters on the team. This is our last year at Hogwarts. And don't listen to Charlie's nonsense, I'm not violent at all."

"Hehe... I haven't forgotten who was swinging their bat last time and knocked that someone off their broom, resulting in Professor Hooch banning you and us losing the match last semester."

"Oh, come on, that was just an accident. I may have swung a bit too hard and accidentally hit his leg..."

"You nearly broke his bones," Charlie sarcastically remarked, "Otherwise, why would Professor Hooch ban you directly?"

"There's a big difference between breaking bones and almost breaking them," Erin protested, "Besides, he was the one who tried to knock me off my broom first."

"Hmph." Charlie snorted in response, not forgetting the conflict between the two. He continued, "Next to Erin is her boyfriend, cunning Mark."

"Hey, Charlie, when have I been cunning?" Mark coughed lightly and extended his hand to shake Albert's, "Don't listen to him. By the way, the slightly stiff one next to us is Wood, the team's goalkeeper."

"I'm not stiff," Wood couldn't help but protest.

"In the second match against Ravenclaw last semester, you were just standing there, letting several Bludgers slip past you like a piece of wood. You even said you're not stiff," Mark cleverly used Wood to shift everyone's attention.

"Cough, at that time..." Wood coughed lightly, "At that time... I was just watching you elbow someone's cheek, okay?"

"Did that happen? Well, it was just an accident, even Professor Hooch thinks so."

Accident?

The others snorted at this.

"Well, it's because that arrogant guy, Kura, had such an attitude, as if he had us figured out," Mark said with a displeased expression. "And besides, considering the height he fell from, he only suffered a minor injury. I remember the Slytherin Beater in the previous match was even worse. With one swing, he made Hodgepodge's Seeker bleed from the nose. That jerk only received a warning that wasn't too severe."

Albert listened somewhat dazed. Is this the Quidditch I know?

This is actually violent Quidditch!

"Charlie, has anyone ever died in Quidditch?" Albert asked cautiously.

"Hardly ever, at most serious injuries. Usually, they receive prompt treatment," Charlie realized his words were going in the wrong direction and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, these are our three Chasers, Mario, Danny, and Jack."

"The Acrobatic Trio," Erin added.

"Don't call us the Acrobatic Trio," the three of them complained in unison, "And don't think we can't hear what you're saying."

"If you guys didn't mess around, our chances of winning last semester would have increased by at least twenty percent," Charlie felt a bit tired. Just taking over as the Quidditch captain, he really hoped to achieve some results.

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(End of this chapter)