Chapter 36: The Only Way to Win
Thursday dawned bright and clear again, which meant the entire day would be taken up by flying lessons, though few young witches and wizards would complain about that.
The yearning for the sky lives in everyone's heart, even the worst acrophobes would likely be cured once they mastered flight.
Just imagine: soaring through the blue sky with a sword in hand, riding toward the dazzling sunlight, accompanied by the wind, dancing with the clouds, what pure joy!, ahem, wrong scene, swap out the flying sword for a broomstick.
However, just as Allen and his fellow Hufflepuffs were preparing for their flying lesson, they received a new notice, due to "venue reasons," Gryffindor and Slytherin would have morning lessons together, while Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would take their lessons in the afternoon.
Venue reasons? How could that be? Hogwarts Castle is massive, what kind of venue issue could there be? Allen noticed his friends shooting him glances, haha, it's probably just a reshuffling hassle. Let's trust the school's notice.
Though the morning lesson no longer mixed the two houses, it didn't mean a day off. Actually, Allen would rather be in class than doing chores! Both pairs of houses were sent to cheer on their respective house Quidditch teams, in Madam Hooch's words: "You can watch how the best kids in your house fly!"
This thrilled the young witches and wizards; whether it was the internal training gossip or the star players of their own teams, everyone was excited, though they might have been a bit over-optimistic.
Hufflepuff's Quidditch team was the worst, no exceptions. Their only victories came against the unlucky Gryffindor, and only when Harry was in trouble.
As for now, Allen had zero faith in his house's Quidditch team.
Quidditch was truly a game for experienced wizards; those unfamiliar with it from childhood found it hard to excel, though geniuses like Harry did exist.
But Quidditch was a team of seven against seven, fourteen players battling. Everyone knew that in playoff matches, many lost due to bad luck or teammates failing, this was only ten players in a game like LoL!
So, you can imagine how bad the conditions were for Hufflepuff, a house full of mostly Muggle-borns…
Even if there were one or two talents, they couldn't carry the team. How could six bronze-level teammates take on seven gold-level opponents? It was urgent and frustrating.
Even a master-level boost wouldn't guarantee victory, and who could be sure the other side wasn't boosted?
It's worth noting that bloodline gave major advantages in this game, for example, Harry's talent came from his father, and Gryffindor's Quidditch team was practically a Weasley family affair: Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny.
Oh, and sitting next to Allen was none other than Hufflepuff's star: Cedric.
Cedric, the perfect "other family's kid," excelling in nearly everything, Hufflepuff's future prefect (though Allen doubted he'd actually get the role), the team's best Seeker, a fact even Gryffindor's strongest Quidditch lineup acknowledged. An excellent captain, fair opponent, and, annoyingly, handsome too, according to Gryffindor, who had their own crushes, including Fred's rumored girlfriend Angelina. Most importantly, Cedric was named the strongest student in the school in sixth year, the "Hogwarts Champion" chosen by the Goblet of Fire.
So Cedric met his end in sixth year, proving that even "perfect kids" have to go down sometime. Though Allen thought Cedric was a good guy and a great friend, he still wondered where that strange resentment came from.
At this moment, Cedric hadn't yet shown the full power of his star status. He watched his teammates train with envy, unfortunately, the position that suited him best, Seeker, was already taken. Just as Ron couldn't replace Wood, Hufflepuff wouldn't find their best Seeker for another five years.
"Allen, do you think we'll win this year?" Cedric asked, a bit clueless.
"Win?" Allen wasn't reading minds, how was he supposed to know what Cedric meant?
"I mean, will we win the Quidditch Cup, even the House Cup?" Cedric's voice grew louder, catching the attention of many young Hufflepuffs.
They all looked to Allen, their de facto leader after all this time.
It was a tough question. Though Hufflepuff's hourglass held more diamonds than other houses, Allen dared not say they'd win.
A single Golden Snitch was worth a whopping 150 points, not counting the Bludgers' ongoing 10-point hits and the extra 100 for the Cup.
All these combined would wipe out Hufflepuff's lead.
Besides, the house scoring fastest wasn't Hufflepuff, it was Ravenclaw, fighting across all seven years. The lead of just one year meant little, especially early in the semester.
Silence was the best answer. After a moment, the young badgers dispersed, even the Quidditch players training overhead came down. Losing is easy to say, but the bitter taste no one wants to try.
"Well, I have one way we can win," Allen said, unable to bear the sadness. Why should school life be so gloomy?
Allen's words grabbed everyone's attention, but he signaled the others to leave, keeping only a few Hufflepuff Quidditch players behind.
The others scattered in confusion, if it was a secret weapon, they couldn't know.
Allen's suggestion made the team's faces turn pale.
"Train a new team," Allen said.
The players thought Allen was crazy, they were practically Hufflepuff's best. What use was a new team?
"Then, when it's game time, take out the Slytherins! They'll probably be our final opponents! Knock them off their brooms, even if it means falling too! Remember, our chance is only that one match!" Allen's cold voice shocked them all.
"When all the skilled players have to go to the hospital, our second team will crush those untrained substitutes!"
"Then control the Golden Snitch so it isn't caught, foul whoever gets near it, and score points with the Bludgers! That's our only chance to win the House Cup this year!"
The sun hung high overhead, but the team members felt cold sweat soaking their backs.
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