Little wizards, even though it's already winter and the weather outside is freezing, you should still put down your parchment and quills, leave your spellbooks inside your bags, and go outside for a walk. Take a deep breath of that cold, fresh air and you'll discover, staying inside next to a warm fireplace is still much better.
Well, to be fair, sometimes cold can be conquered, such as by the love for Quidditch that runs deep in a wizard's bones.
This broomstick sport is the only officially recognized large-scale athletic event in the wizarding world. It somehow manages to combine teamwork and over-the-top individual heroism, two completely contradictory ideas, which is exactly why it has become so popular.
After all, everyone here is a wizard. Playing football like Muggles? Wouldn't that be too low-brow?
Even if no one says so out loud, the number of people here today says it all, this is the Savior's first Quidditch match. Are you sure you're not going to watch?
Obviously, with final exams still far away, everyone was pretty free. So everyone decided that if they were going to be bored anyway, might as well come see the excitement. Some students even brought binoculars, the expensive kind, ten Galleons each!!!
Clearly, everyone was very interested in the 'Savior'.
If not for Dumbledore's protection, his daily life definitely wouldn't be so easy.
It wasn't hard for Allen to find the crowd, just like mentioned before, practically the entire school was here, including Hufflepuff.
You could tell the Gryffindor Lions were still salty about losing last year, they were already shouting loud enough to completely overwhelm Slytherin's cheering before the match even started. Of course, Allen was absolutely not going to mention that a portion of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students quietly snuck in among Gryffindor to help yell too.
Allen actually felt a little bad for Slytherin, because unless something unexpected happened, this match was going to be Gryffindor's revenge match. And to make things worse, next to him stood someone who was perfectly content to just eat candy and not care who won.
Fine, you win.
Allen snatched a few candies and popped one into his mouth, Yes. Delicious.
Right as he tasted the sweetness, the crowd's cheering surged to its peak, the two teams, wearing newly issued uniforms, walked onto the field.
Madam Hooch was the referee again, standing at the center of the field with her broomstick, waiting for both sides to take position.
No one knew what the teams said to each other, but they quickly mounted their brooms, and with Madam Hooch's whistle, they shot into the air.
It was clear that Gryffindor had trained well this year. And since the new player Harry was the Seeker, he didn't disrupt their formation, their score climbed rapidly, visible even to the naked eye.
At the moment another goal was made, a huge figure moved past Allen's field of vision, Hagrid, rarely seen outside his hut, had actually come to watch. Well, it was the Savior's first match, everyone wanted to witness it!!!
Sure enough, Harry didn't disappoint. Soon, he made a steep dive, and following the path of his movement, even the slowest wizard could spot the golden snitch.
And then, Slytherin did what Slytherin always does.
Their daily routine of self-destruction...
Allen had not expected them to be this bold, fouling deliberately in front of thousands of eyes.
Sure, physical interference in Quidditch was only considered a foul, but they clearly forgot where they were, aside from Slytherin, everyone here was supporting Harry.
What was the point of acting cool here?
Allen could already see a few high-year Gryffindors drawing their wands out of the corner of his eye, post-match brawl seemed guaranteed.
But Allen's attention was soon dragged elsewhere, because suddenly, the entire crowd gasped.
High in the air, Harry's broomstick had stopped responding!
The way it wobbled and jerked, it looked less like a Nimbus 000 and more like Professor McGonagall accidentally bought a cheap knockoff from Wizarding-Taobao.
Allen slapped his forehead, Right.
He remembered what this was.
If his memory was correct, this was Voldemort's doing, Quirrell was the one casting the curse, while Hermione mistakenly thought Snape, who was actually trying to counter the curse, was the culprit. So when Hermione tried to "stop" Snape, she accidentally bumped into Quirrell and broke his concentration, ruining the dark plot.
Wait... was that how it went?
Allen stared at Harry spinning in mid-air in endless loops.
Am I misremembering?
After all, it's been a long time. And why would Voldemort act now? With so many professors watching, a single Levitation Charm could save Harry, as long as they reacted fast enough.
So Allen did not step in, he kept his eyes on Harry.
If Harry fell and the professors didn't react in time, he'd intervene.
Fortunately, Harry didn't need saving.
Looks like Hermione had successfully completed her mission, somehow.
Harry returned to his broom, steadied himself, then dived sharply toward the ground, only to pull out the golden snitch from his mouth.
The scene was... something.
Well, despite the chaos, Harry had perfectly completed his debut.
So the MVP was... Harry's mouth?
Who knows.
But Professor McGonagall looked very pleased.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
After the match, Harry came to find Allen, with Hermione in tow.
After Allen sincerely congratulated him, the two immediately brought up the culprit behind the incident, Professor Snape.
Poor Snape was taking the blame yet again...
"Allen, I know you might not believe a professor would attack a student, but I swear, it had to be Professor Snape. Hermione burned his cloak, and his spell failed because he panicked!" Harry spoke with absolute certainty, clearly, he did not like Snape.
To be fair, almost nobody at school liked Snape, not even some of the professors.
Now, how was Allen supposed to explain that Snape was actually one of the good guys?
But then Allen remembered the points Snape deducted from Hufflepuff yesterday, and he nodded firmly.
Yes.
His conscience did not hurt him at all.
Really!!!