Hogwarts: I'm Really a Model Wizard

On the field, as the first person was eliminated, the pressure on the remaining two players intensified.

They focused completely, dodging the two Bludgers while seeking opportunities to outmaneuver their opponent.

The deadlock between them lasted about ten minutes before a winner emerged.

To everyone's surprise, the underdog — a third-year student — was the last one standing. With agile positioning, he defeated his larger fifth-year opponent at the crucial moment.

In the stands, applause and cheers erupted.

Harris stepped forward with a smile and extended his hand, "Willard, welcome to the team."

"My honor, Captain." The third-year replied, shaking Harris's hand.

Another round of applause swept through the crowd.

Next came the Chaser selection. Kyle stood up and carried his broomstick onto the field.

"Go, Kyle!" Cedric shouted while lighting a firework.

The firework burst above the stands, forming a huge banner with a running badger and the sparkling words "Go Kyle, Victory!"

No one knew where he got the firework from, but it shone brightly even in daylight.

Isn't this a bit over the top...

Amid this elaborate encouragement, Kyle made his way to the center of the field. Two fifth-year students also competed for the Chaser position.

"For a Chaser, throwing accuracy is extremely important." Harris said, holding the Quaffle, "I'll be the Keeper, and you'll be responsible for scoring. Whoever scores the most points within the time limit joins the team. So... who wants to go first?"

"I'll go..." Kyle stepped forward.

Going first was disadvantageous since he didn't know Harris's goalkeeping style, but his superior broomstick gave him an edge that balanced things out.

"Then it's settled. Remember, don't get nervous, just play your normal game." After these few words of advice, Harris headed to the goalposts.

Kyle mounted his broomstick and gently kicked off from the ground.

"Ready to start?" Harris asked.

"No problem."

As soon as Kyle finished speaking, someone from below tossed up the Quaffle.

He dove to catch it and quickly flew toward the goal.

Before Harris could even react, Kyle was already there. Facing an empty goal, he casually tossed the Quaffle in.

"Ten points!"

Someone below called out teasingly, "Captain, what were you standing there for? You weren't letting him score on purpose, were you?"

"Get out of here!" Harris's face reddened.

He certainly wasn't letting Kyle score; he simply hadn't reacted in time.

He knew the Nimbus 2000 would be fast, but he hadn't expected it to be so much faster than the Nimbus 1700. Though only two years apart, they were completely different classes of broomsticks!

How strange... was this the same Nimbus company he knew that only made incremental improvements?

"Again!" Harris collected himself and became more serious — he didn't want people thinking he was letting someone score.

Soon, another Quaffle was thrown up.

Like before, Kyle caught the ball and flew toward the goalposts.

With the previous experience in mind, Harris was ready this time and positioned himself directly in front of Kyle.

Kyle's right hand gently tossed the Quaffle...

'He's going for the right hoop!' Harris thought, instantly flying to the right.

But to his surprise, the Quaffle didn't fly right at all — it just spun in the air a few times before returning to Kyle's hand.

By then, Harris had flown too far away and couldn't possibly get back in time.

Kyle scored again.

"Twenty points!"

"Look, Harry, that's the Reverse Pass." Ron said excitedly from the stands, tugging at Harry's arm, "Merlin's beard, I never thought I'd see one of the classic Chaser feints here."

"Is that move difficult?" Harry asked curiously.

Still new to Quidditch, he didn't understand much about these techniques.

Speaking of feints, Harry suddenly remembered something. When Professor McGonagall had taken him to find Oliver, she'd mentioned that his dive to catch the Remembrall resembled a classic Quidditch feint.

Was it called the Strong Feint... or the Wronski Feint? He couldn't quite remember.

But it didn't really matter.

"Executing a Reverse Pass isn't difficult, but the challenge is fooling the Keeper." Ron explained thoughtfully, "That Keeper on the field is the Hufflepuff captain, arguably the most experienced player at Hogwarts. Tricking him isn't easy."

Harry still didn't fully understand, but judging from the thunderous cheers around them, Kyle's move must have been impressive. So he joined in the cheering too.

If he didn't understand, that was fine — he could pretend he did. It was all about fitting in.

Meanwhile, Harris's face grew redder as he heard the teasing from below.

Of course he knew the Reverse Pass — he'd used it more than once himself. In fact, he'd scored the final goal with that very move in the Quidditch Cup two years ago, when Hufflepuff had won by a mere ten points.

But he never imagined he'd one day be fooled by a Reverse Pass himself. No wonder that Keeper had looked at him so unkindly back then — this feeling of being outplayed was truly unpleasant.

"I should never have volunteered for this." Harris lamented inwardly.

He had stepped in temporarily, worried that using the regular Keeper might damage the candidates' confidence.

Now that decision seemed completely unnecessary, but changing Keepers wasn't an option, so he had to tough it out.

Kyle had scored two goals in just about a minute, with nine minutes still remaining. In the time that followed, he demonstrated exactly what the Nimbus 2000's speed could do.

No matter where the Quaffle came from, he caught it instantly, flew to the goalposts, and scored.

Each time he scored differently — sometimes using feints, sometimes simply relying on his broomstick's speed to deliver the Quaffle straight into the goal.

Gradually, Harris stopped trying so hard. He sat on his broomstick, watching Kyle with gleaming eyes.

This was a genius Chaser!

Last year Cedric... this year Kyle...

Harris couldn't help but smile, finally understanding why Oliver had grinned so broadly before.

Anyone would have the same reaction.

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