Today is the weekend. Harry originally planned to go see Hagrid with Hermione and Ron, but he had already been shaken awake by Gryffindor Quidditch team captain Oliver Wood. He had wanted to sleep in for a few more hours, but now he had to go to training.
He got out of bed very reluctantly, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and squinted out the window. The pinkish-gold sky was shrouded in a thin mist. The birds outside were chirping so loudly that he wondered why he had not been woken up by them earlier.
He hurriedly left a note for Ron and rushed to the common room, carrying his Nimbus 2000, but he ran into his admirer, Colin Creevey. He was pestered for quite a long time before he could get away.
After a long while, he finally arrived at the Gryffindor changing room. After stalling for a bit more, they reached the Quidditch pitch, and the sun was already high in the sky.
Then he stood at the back of the team and heard Wood roar angrily: "I booked the pitch for today!"
Harry squeezed to the front and discovered that the pitch was already occupied. Students wearing green robes had already started training on the field.
"Flint!" Wood roared at the Slytherin team captain. "This is our training time! We made a special effort to get up early! Please get out!"
"Oh," Flint said with a smirk. "But I have a note signed by Professor Snape. 'I, Professor Severus Snape, allow the Slytherin team to train on the Quidditch pitch today, to train their new Seeker.'"
"You added a new Seeker?" Wood's attention was diverted. "Where?"
Harry felt a jolt in his heart. He saw a tuft of platinum blonde hair at the very back of the Slytherin team. He thought of Draco's skilled spellcasting and excellent grades, which made him feel that even in Quidditch, Draco would be very strong and a formidable opponent, and he could not help but feel nervous.
"Miss Pansy Parkinson," Flint said. The team slowly parted, and Harry finally saw that there was someone else hidden behind Draco. For some reason, he actually breathed a sigh of relief.
"You actually let a second-year girl be the Seeker? Also, isn't that Draco? Plus him, you have one extra person. What is the meaning of this?" Wood asked angrily.
"Draco used his summer holiday to work a job at Gringotts. He gave the goblins huge help, so the goblins gave him a generous reward. Then, we want to thank him for his generosity; he used a portion of that money to buy seven brooms and gifted them to our team." After finishing, the Slytherin team members raised their brooms, the beautiful gold-lettered "Nimbus 2001" shining in the morning sun, dazzling the eyes of the Gryffindor team members.
"Sigh, people are just different," Flint said, looking at Fred and George with ill intent. "Perhaps some people's fathers can't even earn this much money in a year. You lot can only use those old Cleansweep Fives to sweep your rooms."
The Gryffindor team members were speechless for a moment, and the Weasley twins could only glare at them angrily.
"However, Draco doesn't seem very willing to join the team, so he gave this opportunity to Pansy, but he still agreed to serve as our team's technical consultant," Flint continued to explain, or rather, continued to show off.
"Sigh, if he were really willing to come, I think we might be guaranteed a win this year," Flint said, shaking his head and sighing.
"Let's go," Wood said. He did not want to have a conflict with them. Even if unwilling, the Slytherins at least had a point on their side.
"Harry, why are you lot back?" Harry and the other players returned to the stands somewhat dejectedly, and Ron and Hermione could not help but ask him what had happened.
Harry explained it to them, and Ron's face quickly turned sour.
"This guy actually used these kinds of methods?" Ron said frantically. Hermione seemed to hear a hint of jealousy in his tone.
"Harry, look on the bright side. That's their team's freedom; we can't control it. Besides, they have a Head of House who favours them. You just need to do your best," Hermione encouraged him.
"Yeah." Harry nodded and gripped his broom tightly, but he was still a bit depressed. It wasn't just about the pitch; the opponent's equipment had also been upgraded. Future matches would definitely be very difficult.
Returning to the pitch.
Although it certainly was not Pansy's first time on a flying broom, it was indeed her first time as a Quidditch player. She was very excited, her little face filled with an excited flush, just like a World Cup fan who, if one day they could get on the field for a few minutes, would probably be so excited they would faint. Even if it was just a school match team, it was enough to make her excited for a while.
"Everyone, pay attention." Draco was holding a microphone off the pitch. All the players who were warming up stopped in mid-air, waiting for his instructions. Pansy also hurriedly stopped her broom.
"Underestimating your opponent is underestimating yourself. No matter what their equipment is, Gryffindor has always been a formidable team." Draco scanned every player. Each player had a headset on their head; this was for efficiency during training. The sound of the wind during training was enough to make people unable to hear words clearly, so Muggle radios were very necessary. Of course, Hogwarts seemed to be surrounded by strong magnetic fields, so he had slightly modified them.
Draco might have been able to invent a similar spell, but saving effort where possible was the most reasonable behaviour. Isn't one-and-done better?
He continued solemnly: "Today we have brand new equipment, but this is by no means the deciding factor in a match. Not to mention that Harry Potter's broom is only one generation behind ours, even the two old antiques the Weasley twins have are equipment they have been familiar with for a long time. We have switched to new brooms; while enjoying faster speeds, we may also have to take greater risks."
The team members nodded in agreement. Although Draco was only in his second year, he already naturally exuded a leader's aura. His own grades and some rumours, true or false, were already enough to convince the team members. Moreover, he was the sponsor of the brooms. Of course, most importantly, what he said made a lot of sense. After feeling the breakneck speed, they did indeed feel a bit of discord; at certain moments, controlling the broom always felt awkward.
"Actually, I didn't agree to come here to train today. If we avoided crossing paths with them and used the new brooms as a secret weapon, we could definitely catch them off guard. But after today, they will definitely be on guard." Draco continued.
Then he saw the whole team showing expressions of regret, so he immediately continued: "But I suddenly feel that this is nothing. You saw the Gryffindor captain's expression just now. They are mentally prepared, but the pressure is also greater." He paused. "We must despise the enemy strategically and respect the enemy tactically. Do you have confidence?"
"Yes!" The seven voices roared thunderously.
"Pre-war mobilisation complete." Draco quietly wiped away sweat. Then he began to arrange tactics.
The core was very simple: drag it out.
Pansy's familiarity with the broom was inferior to the others. Both the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams could be said to be the least skilled. Moreover, Harry himself was naturally very talented and had trained for an extra year. Basically, one could not count on Pansy to catch the Golden Snitch.
Although the gap between the Seekers was huge, relying on the latest model of flying broom, they could still compete in terms of speed. Draco only gave Pansy one task: to drag Harry out, and then the other team members would rely on equipment to crush and score with the Quaffle, until it was completely useless for the opponent,t even if they caught the Snitch. This was the core idea; details still needed to be perfected.
The Slytherin players were relatively tall and sturdy. Once dragged into a war of attrition, their abundant physical strength would give them a greater advantage.
"You don't trust me at all, hmm" Pansy complained to him while doing normal flight training.
Draco could only shake his head helplessly at this.
"Don't forget our agreement." He lowered his voice to remind her when Pansy dived to his side.
"I know, are you annoying?" Pansy waved her hand impatiently at him.
"Spread out the formation, you're all bunched up!"
"Too loose, too loose, are you preparing to let others walk right in?"
It seemed that Draco had adapted to his role as a consultant quite quickly.
The green robes on the Slytherin team members puffed up with the wind, making a rustling sound. Although the sun was bright, the strong wind still made their faces sting with cold. However, they didn't care. They also held their breath inside, losing to Gryffindor last time made them brood over it. They decided to take revenge this year, and having the latest brooms filled them with motivation.
"Alright, that's it for today." After a long time, Draco gave the order to finish training. Steady progress was the most correct way; excessive training would only overdraw potential and do more harm than good.
Back on the ground, Pansy was clearly not yet out of the excited state, clutching the broom tightly in her hand, unwilling to let go. It looked like she had not had enough.
"Don't be so excited, there will be plenty of opportunities later. How about it, being on the field yourself is much happier than just cheering, right?" Draco supported Pansy's shoulders with both hands to calm her down.
"Mm." Pansy nodded, her face flushed, not knowing whether it was from excitement or the lingering effects of the exercise just now.
"So you also have to remember to keep our agreement," Draco emphasised this matter again.
"Mm." Pansy responded in a voice as soft as a mosquito, nodded, and then said shyly in a low voice: "Whatever you want tonight is fine."
The entire Slytherin team seemed to be petrified, and then a burst of lewd laughter erupted on the pitch, attracting everyone in the stands. All the players looked at Draco with winks, making those expressions that only men understand.
Draco felt that if he could, he would definitely spit out a mouthful of old blood right now.
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