Chapter 21: The Quidditch Match

On Saturday morning, the weather was clear, but the cold still enveloped the Hogwarts castle. Eisen, who had woken up early, heard the young wizards around him constantly discussing the Quidditch match while eating in the Great Hall.

Everyone was discussing whether Gryffindor or Slytherin would win. At that moment, Eisen suddenly realized that the Quidditch match was about to begin.

At eleven o'clock, all the teachers and students had already gathered in the stands around the Quidditch pitch, and Eisen had also taken a seat in the highest row.

Looking around, Eisen saw the lively scene on the field. Many students seated in the elevated mid-air stands seemed to have brought telescopes to better watch the match.

"Professor Eisen, do you like Quidditch too?" A voice suddenly came from beside him. Eisen turned his head to see that Hermione had also come to the highest row.

Behind her were Ron, Neville, and others. Unexpectedly, they had brought a banner made from a bedsheet, which not only had the words "Potter Must Win" written on it but also depicted a Gryffindor lion beneath. The paint on the banner had been enchanted with a simple spell, causing it to shimmer in various colors.

Seeing this, the corners of Eisen's mouth twitched involuntarily. 'Tch, just a bunch of kids being childish!' However, despite thinking that, Eisen answered, "No, I prefer table tennis."

"Table tennis? What's that?" Before Hermione could speak, Ron cut in and asked.

"Oh, I know, it's a Muggle sport that's very popular in the Muggle world," Hermione said, looking disdainfully at Ron, not knowing whether she was annoyed that he had interrupted her conversation with Professor Eisen or that he didn't even know about table tennis.

On the other side, Wood was still going over some preparations with Harry, who was about to take the field. Behind them were the Weasley twins and Angelina Johnson.

From a distance, one could see that both the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were already soaring and circling on their broomsticks above the pitch.

To be honest, this scene immediately caught Eisen's attention. Although he wasn't particularly interested in a sport like Quidditch, the sight of multiple people flying together in the sky was quite enviable.

For a moment, even Hermione and the others had their attention completely drawn to the scene.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch match of the season, today it's Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" Accompanying the figures flying around the pitch, a very distinctive voice echoed throughout the stadium. Correct, the commentator was none other than Lee Jordan.

Subsequently, cheers erupted from the entire stadium. What Eisen found amusing was that the thing Lee Jordan was holding really did look like a microphone.

In that instant, Eisen had a great idea. It was to create a similar magical artifact, storing the shrill scream of the Mandrake within it, to obtain the deadly properties of the Mandrake's scream. Of course, this was just an idea, and whether it could be realized or not would have to be tested in the future.

After the players from both teams had gathered in the center of the pitch and landed, Lee Jordan's voice rang out again at the perfect moment: "Players, take your positions, Madam Hooch is about to release the balls!"

Clearly, as the Flying instructor, Madam Hooch was serving as the referee for the Quidditch match.

"Listen, I hope everyone will participate in the match fairly and honestly!" Hooch said sternly as the players gathered around her.

After speaking, Madam Hooch looked pointedly towards the Slytherin team, as if hinting at something. Then, she blew the silver whistle in her hand.

The Gryffindor and Slytherin players rose into the air on their broomsticks, and the restrained Bludgers and Golden Snitch were released, flying wildly across the pitch like unbridled horses.

"The Quaffle is taken by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor, what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and she's so attractive too—" Lee Jordan's commentary came through, but his digression caused Professor McGonagall to scold him.

"Jordan!"

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall!"

Lee Jordan was a good friend of the Weasley twins, so Eisen had reason to believe that Lee's carefree demeanor was influenced by Fred and George.

From the start, the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin entered a very intense state.

The scene was first broken by Gryffindor Chaser Angelina Johnson, scoring ten points for Gryffindor. But Slytherin didn't back down either, seizing the Quaffle and launching a fierce offensive.

"Excuse me, let me through—" A tall figure walked by from the side.

"Hagrid!" Hermione and Ron shuffled over towards Eisen, making room for Hagrid to sit down.

"Professor Eisen! Harry hasn't found the Snitch yet, has he?" As he sat down, Hagrid nodded at Eisen and then raised his telescope to look at Harry in the air.

"No, Harry is just hovering there, not doing much!" Ron shrugged, seemingly unsatisfied with Harry's performance so far.

"It's alright, as long as he's not in trouble, that's good!" Hagrid reached out and patted Ron's shoulder, making him grimace.

Indeed, in Eisen's view, finding the Golden Snitch required exceptional eyesight from the Seeker. Of course, after spotting it, they would also have to find a way to catch it.

It was known that the Golden Snitch was extremely fast, usually requiring the Seeker to fly at full speed on their broomstick to catch it.

Moreover, the Golden Snitch was not only fast but also highly agile. Just like the Bludgers, which aggressively attacked wizards, the Golden Snitch would dart and change directions nimbly, making it very difficult to capture. Thinking of this, Eisen felt that aside from broomsticks providing the ability to fly, the Golden Snitch and Bludgers could also be decent choices.

"Wait—is that—the Snitch?" Accompanied by Lee Jordan's surprised voice, Harry started a dive on his broomstick.

Indeed, focusing on Harry, one could see him chasing a golden streak. Gryffindor's Seeker, Harry, had spotted the Golden Snitch and was pursuing it.

Seeing Harry's actions, Slytherin's Seeker Terence Higgs immediately noticed as well and followed Harry in pursuit of the Snitch.

However, unfortunately for Harry, he encountered the mischievous Slytherins and was knocked off course by Marcus, allowing the Snitch to disappear.

Although Gryffindor was awarded a penalty shot, Harry's mood was quite sour. However, before he could continue his pursuit in the air, his broomstick gave him a huge fright.

Harry's broomstick started bucking and jerking erratically, as if trying to throw him off directly to the ground.

"What's wrong with Harry's broomstick?" Hagrid, who was always keeping an eye on Harry, immediately noticed the problem.

"It's Snape, he's jinxing Harry's broomstick!" Hermione snatched Hagrid's telescope and scanned the stands, noticing Snape's mouth moving continuously. She then told Eisen and Ron about her discovery.

However, for Eisen, who knew the plot in advance, he knew that the one actually cursing Harry's broomstick was Professor Quirrell behind Snape. Snape was muttering counter-curses to help Harry break the jinx on his broomstick.

"Huh? What should we do?" Before Eisen could say anything, Ron, who was shocked by this revelation, immediately showed concern. After all, during the brief conversation, Harry was clinging to his broomstick like a sloth, tumbling back and forth in the air, looking very dangerous.

Eisen's brow furrowed slightly as he pondered whether to reveal the truth to the two young wizards. After all, spoiling the plot was a natural occurrence for a time-traveler.

However, before Eisen could decide, Hermione was quite decisive.

"I have a plan!" With a nod to Eisen and Ron, Hermione swiftly left.

(end of chapter)