The King of Flags at Hogwarts

Bobby was sitting across from him, devouring a large loaf of bread, with condensed milk and jam smeared all over it.

"So nervous you can't eat? This isn't the Harry I know. How embarrassing! Don't ever tell anyone you're my cousin when we get out."

Bobby finally spoke, but his provocation was completely ineffective. Harry still had a long face: "But Katie Bell can't participate today. Professor McGonagall said we have strong outside help, but we haven't seen any sign of it yet."

What if I suffer a crushing defeat in my first match? How am I supposed to face anyone then?

Bobby said nonchalantly, "So what if we lost? It's just a game."

Harry shook his head: "Everyone has high expectations of me. I can't let them down. I must defeat Slytherin."

Bobby finally understood: this kid had developed an idol image to maintain.

First, he was the savior, the boy who survived a great calamity. He didn't really feel the weight of these titles, so he skipped over them.

But the recent "Troll Slayer" truly showed him what it means to be the center of attention.

Once you become addicted to this kind of vanity, it is extremely difficult to return to your original state of mind.

She shouldn't interfere in her cousin's character development; she wasn't an expert. Dumbledore and Snape would handle it with a mixed doubles approach, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, and they'd always be able to correct him.

But Harry's performance was just too much to bear, so Bobby had no choice but to say, "That mysterious outside helper is me. What, don't you have confidence in me?"

Harry's eyes behind his glasses widened, and his mouth opened as wide as a Quidditch goal.

"Cousin Bobby, you...you're going to represent Gryffindor in the competition?"

“Yes, Mama McGonagall told me to take Katie Bell’s place. If you don’t eat properly, you’re disrespecting your cousin!” Bobby shook her little fist, but her hands were covered in red, white, and breadcrumbs, so they weren’t very intimidating.

"Ah, ah, good!"

Upon hearing that his cousin would be participating, Harry suddenly felt at ease.

As long as my cousin doesn't say things like "Gryffindor is going to win," then Gryffindor is definitely going to win.

Chapter 21 Quidditch Match (Part 1)

The Hogwarts Quidditch Cup of '91-92 is about to begin.

Just before the match began, the Gryffindor waiting room erupted in cheers.

"It's Poppy! Poppy is replacing Katie!"

"This is wonderful!"

Everyone gathered around Bobby, but only Wood noticed Harry's nervousness. He patted Harry on the shoulder and laughed, "With Bobby here, you don't need to be nervous. As long as we make sure the opponent's Seeker can't catch the Golden Snitch for a while, we're guaranteed to win."

Harry didn't know where Wood's confidence came from, but he nodded in agreement and gripped his beloved Nimbus 2000 tightly.

He suddenly thought of something and leaned closer to Bobby, saying, "Cousin, why don't you make a prediction, like Slytherin will definitely win or something?"

Bobby looked at him like he was an idiot. "Use your brain. Is a Slytherin victory a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Of course it's a good thing for Slytherin, so you predicted they would definitely lose."

"you sure?"

Harry was starting to get confused. What did his cousin mean? Did she mean that losing was a good thing for Slytherin?

"First, for our team, Slytherin winning is a bad thing. I predicted that something bad would happen, and something bad will happen."

Secondly, for Slytherin, winning might not be a good thing. Because if they win, I'll be upset, and if I'm upset, the Godfather will teach them a lesson. So, for Slytherin, this could be considered a bad omen, and so…

Therefore, I believe that as long as I make this prediction, we will all lose.

Harry stood there dumbfounded. What was his cousin saying? Her little mouth was chattering away, and he recognized all the words, but he couldn't understand them when they were put together.

Seeing his blank expression, Bobby said helplessly, "I'm not even sure about my own prediction standards, so I wouldn't dare to make any random statements, okay?"

Harry asked doubtfully, "But you clearly succeeded in preventing those pure-blood families from entering Hogwarts and bankrupted them, didn't you?"

Bobby laughed and said, "I'm asking you, if they had successfully arrived at Hogwarts, or hadn't gone bankrupt, what impact would that have had on me?"

Harry pondered seriously, but Bobby answered his own question: "I'm the headmaster's apprentice, so I'm destined never to be kicked out."

So, back then, I was just giving it a try. If it worked, great; if not, there was nothing they could do to me. Since that was the case, why shouldn't I give it a shot?

As he spoke, Wood shouted, "Everyone, listen up, we're about to go on stage."

The match is about to begin.

As the gate opened, the team members filed out on broomsticks.

Poppy's appearance caused an uproar among the audience.

"That's Bobby! Bobby Evans!"

"How did she end up in the Gryffindor group?!"

In the audience, the red Gryffindor camp and the green Slytherin camp were clearly divided, with one side cheering and the other cursing.

Even Professor Snape frowned, looking at Professor McGonagall in the commentary booth.

You, Minerva, actually let Bobby play for Gryffindor!

Commentator Jordan Lee shouted, "Now entering are the Slytherin team and the Gryffindor team!"

Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor student, emphasized and raged when introducing his house team.

"Yesterday, Gryffindor's Chaser Katie Bell was injured and hospitalized, and today, to my goodness' sake, her replacement is the Quidditch prodigy Bobby Evans, hailed as a once-in-a-century talent!!"

"Rumor has it that she can play from goalkeeper to Seeker, she's a true genius! She's proficient in every position on the field, she's the queen of Quidditch! Let's cheer for her, for our Quidditch Queen, Bobby Evans!"

Normally, if Lee Jordan were to give such commentary, Professor McGonagall would have already interrupted him.

But now, he's praising his own daughter, and the upright old professor is turning a blind eye to it.

And he wasn't wrong, Poppy is just that good!

Mrs. Hodge came to the center of the field, carrying the ball box.

She shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen! I want to see a great, clean game!"

She released the Loitering Ball and the Golden Snitch, and a moment later, she tossed the Quaffle high into the air and announced loudly, "The match begins!"

Just as the Quake reached its highest point, a red streak of light flashed past, and before anyone could react, it had already launched an attack on Slytherin's goal.

That red flash was Poppy, of course.

For her, the performance of the broom didn't matter at all; she could fly just as fast as riding an ordinary broom.

Some might argue that flying using magic without relying on a broom is a foul.

But Bobby had something to say:

Quidditch rules require players to perform various actions on broomsticks, not to carry wands, and not to cast any form of magic on any of the game items or their opponents.

So how is it against the rules that Bobby didn't bring a wand, sat on a broom the whole time, and didn't cast any spells on other objects or people?

No sooner said than done, Bobby had already crossed half the field and arrived in front of Slytherin's goal.

Slytherin goalkeeper Miles Blazee was caught off guard by Bobby's sudden attack. When he saw Bobby approaching the right goal, he rushed forward, but Bobby skillfully dodged him and easily put the ball into the left goal.

"Gryffindor scores! 10-0!" Jordan Lee shouted. "That might be the fastest goal in Quidditch history! How many seconds did Bobby take? Less than three seconds!"

"Oh! Poppy got the ball again! She successfully dodged the stalker's attack and is fearless in the face of three Slytherin defenders. Will she choose to use her speed to force her way through?"

"No, she didn't break through! She chose to pass the ball to Angelina Johnson!"

"Johnson has no Slytherin players around her, only Miles Blaze in front of her! Oh, she fooled Blaze! She shot! Gryffindor scores again! 20-0!"

From the outset, led by Bobby, Gryffindor gained an overwhelming advantage. Within five minutes, Gryffindor was already leading 80-0, and Slytherin's Chasers hadn't even caught the ball once!

Marcus Flint's face turned ashen. Their opponent was the headmaster's goddaughter. Given the headmaster's protectiveness, if they were to lay a hand on Poppy, they would likely face the headmaster's "favor."

It was their timidity that allowed Bobby to run rampant on the court.

This won't do. If Gryffindor pulls the score difference to over 150, even if our team's Seeker catches the Golden Snitch, it won't help!

Bobby Evans must be dealt with within the rules!

Flint made up his mind and instructed the two batters, "You two, ignore the other players and just focus on Bobby Evans!"

“But, Flint, the Dean will be angry.”

"We didn't ask you to use dirty tricks! Getting hit by the running ball is a perfectly normal thing in Quidditch, isn't it?"

Once the plan was finalized, Slytherin's formation changed.

Instead of surrounding Bobby, the three chasers split up, with two of them double-teaming Angelina Johnson and the other harassing Arya Spinnet.

This completely emptys Bobby's chest.

Bobby, of course, didn't hold back and launched an attack on the goal.

Compared to when the competition started, her speed had decreased, since she wasn't flying with a broom anymore. Flying purely with magic, five minutes of high-speed movement, interspersed with various difficult maneuvers, would be a huge test of both physical strength and magic power, especially since she also needed to hold the broom tightly to ensure it wouldn't fall off during high-speed flight.

Even so, she is still very fast. If a comparison were to be made, she is still about 30% faster than Harry's Nimbus 2000.

Lee Jordan yelled at the top of his lungs, "Bobby Evans is attacking the Slytherin goal again! She's so fast, three times faster than the average player! Like a red comet!"

Suddenly, the Gryffindor audience started shouting, "Watch out!"

It turned out that Slytherin's batter had finally found an excellent angle, anticipated Bobby's trajectory, and hit the wandering ball hard.

The ball flew at high speed toward Poppy, whistling as it aimed straight for the back of Poppy's head.

Everyone was thinking that if Poppy were hit by that shot, he would probably have to be carried off the court.

The young Slytherin wizards held their breath in tension, silently chanting, "Beat! Beat! Please beat me!"

Meanwhile, the young Gryffindor wizards were doing their utmost to warn Poppy about the attack from behind: "Poppy, watch out! Get out of the way!"

The ball quickly appeared behind Poppy, as if it would hit her head and cause her to fall at any moment.

Just as the ball was about to hit Poppy, Poppy's entire body shifted mysteriously twenty centimeters to the left, and at the same time she raised her right hand, her elbow striking the ball accurately.

With a loud "bang," the ball was struck by a tremendous force, quickly changed direction, and smashed into goalkeeper Miles Blatche's chest with lightning speed!

Blaze fell like a kite with a broken string.

The entire ball was embedded in his chest. Blatche was bleeding profusely, and it was unclear how many ribs he had broken or how much internal organ he had damaged!

Fortunately, the professors and Mrs. Pomfrey were present. This physical injury was not life-threatening, but he would have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks.