Chapter 382: The Quidditch Final (Edited)

Lupin left Hogwarts, and no matter how anxious Harry and the others were, it wouldn't help. Besides, all the third-year students had at least two extra elective assignments and were too busy to cope with Christmas homework, so they had no time to think about Lupin's affairs.

Worst of all was Hermione, who, with five electives, spent almost the entire Easter break buried in her books, not to mention Lupin, and wouldn't even speak to Fish.

However, Hermione herself seems to be aware of this, so she is already planning to drop two electives for next term. Of course, before doing so, she would still be doing all the work she had to do.

Harry and Ron had less free time than busy Hermione.

Although they only had two electives, the last quidditch match of the year was scheduled for the first weekend after the Easter break, so Wood would set them up to practice or discuss tactics whenever he could.

The winner of the final match would directly determine the championship, and whether it was Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, no one wanted to lose.

Ravenclaw, who hadn't won a title in over a decade, seemed a bit more desperate than Gryffindor, who had already won in their first year.

Not to mention the team members, the geeks who hadn't liked the Quidditch results too much were motivated by the prospect of winning the championship, and everyone was trying to help the team. The usual indifferent or friendly attitude of the Ravenclaws had turned to hostility when they met other Gryffindors.

Even the twins, Parvati Patil and Padma Patil, started sniping at each other.

Fish, of course, was the exception.

The vacations ended in such a tense atmosphere that, although Lupin returned to school, Harry didn't think too much of him, instead continuing to prepare for Quidditch.

But Harry still made other preparations....

The night before the match started, he gave Fish the Marauder's Map.

"You will watch Lupin while we play!"

Harry solemnly placed the map in front of Fish.

"Leave it to Fish!"

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

The kitten took the map with the same solemn look.

The next day, Harry and the others got up early and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.

When Fish heard the commotion, he opened his right eye just enough to see that it was only Harry and the others who had gone to breakfast, then promptly closed it and went back to sleep with his head cocked to one side.

At Wood's insistence, Harry and the others did their best to stuff food into their mouths, but Wood himself ate nothing. He then urged them to go to the stadium to familiarize themselves with the situation before the others finished eating.

So Harry and the others ran off towards the Quidditch pitch, gobbling down the food as they went. The rest of the Gryffindors also hurried to finish their breakfast and ran with them.

Ravenclaw, on the other hand, was much calmer. Even though they wanted to win, they acted calm, chewed their breakfast slowly and then walked at a normal pace, surrounded by their teammates, towards the Quidditch pitch.

Harry and his teammates changed out of their uniforms in the changing rooms and were greeted by Wood as they entered the pitch.

The two teams walked out onto the center of the pitch to loud cheers, and Harry, already nervous, was even more so when he saw Ravenclaw's seeker, Cho Chang, smiling at him from across the pitch.

Ever since he had played against Ravenclaw last term, Harry had had a soft spot for the girl named Cho Chang, which is kind of...

It was a different affection from that of Aunt Kora and Madam Rosmerta.

But, unfortunately, Cho Chang was a grade above Harry and they didn't have much contact during the school day, limiting themselves to nodding at each other from time to time.

They had spent a lot of time together at Quidditch matches, but at this point they were rivals and couldn't talk to each other....

"Get on the flying broom!"

As Harry's thoughts wandered, Madam Hooch's voice brought him back to his senses and he slapped his cheek hard, refocusing on the game.

With a whistle, fourteen brooms rose into the sky. Harry felt the hair on his forehead flip back, and the feeling of nervousness evaporated in the thrill of flying.

He quickly scattered with his teammates, following the tactics and looking around for the Golden Snitch. Cho Chang, meanwhile, seemed to have given up looking for the Golden Snitch altogether, rushing instead to cover the rest of the team.

The Ravenclaw had defeated Gryffindor in last year's match, but the tactics employed then were largely due to surprise, and now the Gryffindor were definitely prepared, so the wily eagles quickly changed tactics.

There was no use catching the Golden Snitch if Gryffindor wanted to win the championship, they had to win by a wide margin, so the wily Ravenclaw simply abandoned the search for the Golden Snitch and let the Seeker help the team score, so that even if Harry caught the Golden Snitch, victory would be his alone.

This counter-tactic had once again caught Gryffindor by surprise, and by the time Wood had reacted, Ravenclaw was already forty points ahead of them.

"Harry! Stop looking for the Snitch! Come and help!"

Wood was quick to call Harry back, covering his team like Cho Chang, but since Gryffindor hadn't trained for that kind of tactic before, they were still being cornered by Ravenclaw, even with Harry's addition.

...

"Nya!"

∑(?ΦωΦ?)

While the game was in full swing, Fish, who had been sleeping in his bed, opened his eyes startled.

The sleepy kitten sat up from the bed, ran his hands through his disheveled hair, and yawned profusely.

(? ′Д`?)

(?Φω??)

"Nya..."

Fish rubbed his eyes, slapped his dry mouth instinctively, took out a bottle from his magic bag and stretched his neck to drink the contents.

After swallowing and gulping the drink, Fish changed to cat form and earnestly licked himself.

After licking his fur, rubbing his face and stretching his back, Fish jumped off the bed, returned to his human form and rubbed his belly.

"I'm hungry nya..."

The little cat muttered and left the room.

The common room was deserted, as the match was so important that even Hermione had left her schoolwork to cheer for Gryffindor on the quidditch pitch.

Fish climbed out through the hole in the wall, waved to the security guards patrolling outside, and quietly made his way downstairs.

After a leisurely breakfast in the Great Hall, Fish headed to the Black Lake, looked for a tree to sharpen his claws and, when he had done so, jumped to the top of the tree, found a sunny spot and relaxed in the sun.

Am I forgetting something?

Lying in the treetop, Fish wagged the tip of his tail and flicked his ears a couple of times, feeling as if he had left something undone....

Never mind, it's not important.

After thinking about it for a while and still not having a clue, the kitten gave up decisively.

If you can't remember it, then it's no big deal.

So Fish continued to lie comfortably in the treetops, squinting in the sun, and began to sleep.

(=?ω?=)