After the Halloween troll incident.
Security at Hogwarts became unusually tight. So much so that one might wonder if it was an excessive level of security for a mere troll escape.
Hearing my complaint, Harry looked at me, puzzled, and asked.
"Master, you didn't know?"
"Know what?"
"This is because of you."
"...Because of me?"
What did I do?
"The trap formulas you laid in the corridor gave the professors quite a hard time. So they're treating it as an incident on par with an attack by another wizard."
Only then did my thoughts turn to the traps I had laid.
But I was even more clueless and tilted my head.
"But why? It was just some spatial separation fog, a cold spell, a heat spell, and some poisonous plants at most. Isn't that the kind of prank mischievous students would play?"
"Well, from what Percy was saying, it took the professors almost two hours to get through those traps."
After thinking for a moment, I recalled the faculty and then understood.
Either Quirrell had interfered with the professors to make the troll incident bigger, or Albus, who had understood my intentions, had interfered.
Otherwise, how could it have taken so long to disable spells that could be removed in thirty minutes at most?
In any case, the increased security resulting from this made it annoying for me to go on my nightly strolls to the Room of Requirement.
It was no problem not getting caught while I was out, but the prefects started conducting surprise inspections in the dormitory.
I managed to get by by creating a dummy with an illusion spell, but it was a fact that things had become more difficult.
I sighed and shook my head.
"My, my, how did the wizarding society become such a stuffy place."
"But it doesn't really matter today, does it?"
"That's true... though personally, I think this sport is the one that needs some regulation."
That's right. Today was the day of Harry's debut match in the inter-house Quidditch league.
And his opponent was none other than Slytherin. From what I had seen so far, the Slytherins of the 20th century were extremely ill-mannered.
And they were the arch-rivals of Gryffindor, to say the least.
Naturally, the houses were burning with animosity for each other.
You could tell just by looking at the scene right next to us.
"Harry! Go kill them all!"
"Ron, I'm a Seeker, so I can't kill them. How about leaving the killing to your brothers?"
"Ah, right. That's true. But you can still kill the other Seeker!"
There was Ron, making and waving a banner, and next to him, Finnigan, drawing a picture.
Even Percy, who loved to act prim and proper, couldn't hide his excitement.
In a word, the entire Gryffindor house was on fire. Without a doubt, the Slytherin house would have a similar atmosphere.
Though their side was probably steeling their resolve in a more gloomy atmosphere.
In the midst of all this, Harry, who had been selected as the youngest Seeker thanks to his genius talent, was a star who was receiving the attention of all the students.
Harry, who was already used to being the center of attention, grinned and said to me.
"Aisen, please cheer me on from the stands."
"You got it."
And, finally, the moment came.
Harry, his heart pounding, held the Nimbus 2000 that had been delivered from Sirius a week ago tightly in both hands and headed for the Quidditch pitch.
The team captain, Oliver, grinned and shouted.
"Alright! The time has come! Let's go out there and win!"
Harry looked at his dependable teammates—the Keeper, the Beaters, the Chasers—and declared confidently.
"Just don't complain that you had nothing to do because I caught the Snitch too quickly."
At Harry's words, the team members burst out laughing. Among them, the Beaters, Fred and George, said in turn.
"Oh, our Harry has said something cool."
"But we won't be able to stop ourselves from blasting the Slytherins, it'll be too fast!"
The Slytherin team looked at the laughing Gryffindor team members with displeasure.
But that was brief.
At Madam Hooch's signal, all the players got on their brooms and rose into the air.
Harry also gently stroked his Nimbus 2000 and rose into the air in a streamlined spiral.
And with the sound of the whistle, the match began.
Harry took a deep breath and rose high into the sky.
So high that he couldn't hear the shouts of the Weasley twins as they hit the Bludgers, or the cheers of Wood as he blocked the Quaffle.
Only the roar of the enthusiastic crowd could be heard faintly from the high altitude.
At that height, the entire Quidditch pitch came into view at a glance.
There, Harry held his breath and scanned the entire pitch in search of a golden glint.
The Seeker is a position that is detached from the sport of Quidditch, where players clash.
While the other players roamed the entire pitch, the Seeker had to suppress their own power as much as possible.
They had to cool even their boiling blood and look down on the entire pitch with cold eyes.
Even if they felt isolated from the rest of the game, there was nothing a Seeker could do.
And yet, for that one moment, the Seeker is the most important position in Quidditch.
For that one single moment, the moment the Snitch comes into view.
They had to wait for that one time to pour all their energy into it.
With the eyes of a hawk hunting its prey, Harry scanned every inch of the pitch.
He paid no attention to the game itself, searching only for the Snitch.
Of course, if he caught the Snitch while the score was severely behind, they would lose, but his team was not that weak.
How much time had passed like that?
Flash. And finally, a certain sparkle caught Harry's eye.
Not the glint of metal, nor the sunlight reflected off glass, but a brilliant, golden ray of light.
The flash was visible in the very center of the pitch, right next to the Slytherin captain.
And, without hesitation, Harry fell.
The Nimbus 2000, true to its name, accelerated in an instant. The Nimbus 2000, which had surpassed 100 kilometers per hour in less than five seconds, let out a whooshing sound and plummeted vertically into the middle of the pitch.
The closer he got to the pitch, the louder the cheers from the Quidditch stadium became in Harry's ears.
—Potter is still falling! Potter is looking at only one spot! Has he found the Snitch!
The voice of the commentator, Jordan, was echoing through the amplifying charm.
Regardless, Harry only looked at the golden, flying Snitch and fell faster and faster.
The distance of fifty meters was shrinking in a single second, but Harry did not reduce his speed at all.
Of course, the Slytherin players threw Bludgers to interfere with Harry, but the Beaters, Fred and George, defended him brilliantly.
And, finally, Harry was within arm's reach of the Snitch.
Though it was changing direction in an instant as if it had no inertia, the Nimbus 2000 Harry was riding was not called a masterpiece for nothing.
Harry also smoothly controlled the high-speed broom, changed direction, and cornered the Snitch.
And, finally, the Snitch was within reach. Harry reached out his hand, listening to the pounding of his heart.
"Ugh!"
Just then, the Nimbus 2000 Harry was riding began to shake violently.
The Quidditch stadium, the stands.
I was watching the match with Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid, who had somehow joined us.
As I watched the match, I had to admit it.
This Quidditch is more fun the faster the speed.
Even for me, who had experienced all the pleasures of the Muggle world, it was this fun. How crazy must the wizards, who had nothing but this to enjoy, be for it?
For the first time, I was able to fully admire the marvel of civilization that the wizarding world had developed over a hundred years as I enjoyed the match.
Just then, Harry, who had been in the air, closer to the clouds than the ground, suddenly plummeted vertically.
Hagrid shouted in surprise.
"Goodness! To fall vertically like that, what if he gets hurt!"
But Ron, seeing it, stood up abruptly and shouted.
"The Snitch! Hagrid, Harry must have found the Snitch!"
Hermione covered her mouth with both hands as if she couldn't watch and looked on nervously.
Indeed, the Quidditch fanatic Ron's judgment was correct.
The commentator Jordan, who had caught sight of the golden ball in Harry's path of descent, shouted.
"Potter, has he found the Snitch!"
Harry truly had a talent for the broom that even I had to admire.
He handled the fast speed without any problem and smoothly changed direction.
Finally, the situation where he could catch the Snitch just by reaching out his hand. Everyone was focused on Harry.
Just then, the broom Harry was riding began to shake madly.
The spectators who saw it stood up abruptly.
He was going at a speed faster than a car on the motorway, so it would be a big problem if he were to fall off the broom in this situation.
Fortunately, with his natural talent, he was able to instantly reduce his speed and avoid a dangerous situation, but the problem with Harry's broom continued.
The Nimbus 2000, which was shaking convulsively, as if to assert that it was a Bludger, not a broom. Harry eventually had one leg slip off the broom.
Seeing this, Ron shouted as if screaming.
"What's wrong with it? Don't tell me the broom broke while he was falling so fast?"
Hagrid answered his question in a trembling voice.
"No, that can't be. A broom with all sorts of magic on it isn't affected by just any spell. There's no way a Nimbus 2000 would break just from acceleration. This can't be happening..."
As if she had remembered something after hearing Hagrid's words, Hermione grabbed my robe and whispered in my ear.
"Aisen, the professors! Check the professors' side! If it's because of magic, there's no way the students could do something like that!"
Indeed, you couldn't interfere with a broom unless you had considerable skill. Believing that there was a point to Hermione's opinion, I used my 'Eyes' to look at the faculty.
And then, what came into my view was the sight of Snape and Quirrell, both wielding a wriggling magical power.
I let out a hollow laugh. No, look at those two Dark Wizards, doing that together.
At least the spell Snape was muttering was a counter-jinx, but Quirrell was, without a doubt, shaking Harry's broom.
In the meantime, Hermione had taken Hagrid's binoculars and was looking in that direction as she shouted.
"It's Snape! Snape is muttering something!"
And I grabbed the shoulder of Hermione, who looked like she was about to run over to them at any moment.
"Hermione, you've got the wrong person."
"What do you mean, Aisen! If we don't interfere with Snape right now, Harry could die!"
"Hermione. The culprit isn't Snape. And, most importantly, you don't need to do anything. What do you take Harry for?"
With those words, I gestured with my chin towards Harry. I didn't raise Harry to be that weak.
Hermione, who looked at Harry at my gesture, was surprised.
Harry was already controlling the broom and getting back on.
When the broom had suddenly started to shake, the first emotion Harry felt was not fear or dread.
Compared to the situations he had been through during his training, this was hardly a crisis.
Besides, the protection spell he had cast thanks to Aisen's reminder would end any injuries from a fall with just a broken bone.
The emotion Harry felt was, rather, anger. The Snitch was right in front of him!
Harry instinctively knew that the problem with the broom was someone's doing.
The Nimbus 2000 was a gift from Sirius. There was no way Sirius wouldn't have checked the safety of a present he was giving to Harry.
If so, then this was indeed someone's doing. And he quickly came to the conclusion that the ones who could do such a thing were not at a student's level.
Having noticed that fact, Harry quickly narrowed down the suspects among the professors.
First, he excluded Professor McGonagall and Snape. Since his master, Aisen, had decided to take special lessons from them, there was no need to suspect them.
And, excluding those two, there was only one professor his master was particularly interested in. And that was Quirrell.
Harry, who had confirmed Quirrell's appearance with the same senses he used to find the Snitch, was certain. Because for some reason, Quirrell was staring directly at him.
Harry, who was gripping the broom tightly with one hand, managed to take out his wand with the other and thought.
In this situation, no matter how I think about it, I can't concentrate on a spell.
He needed something, a very shocking blow, something that could inflict damage on the opponent even if the spell was incomplete.
And Harry knew a spell that fit that condition.
And yet, Harry took a moment to think more deeply.
If he had been riding the broom without a protection spell, and if he had fallen during the acceleration a moment ago.
In the worst-case scenario, he would have surely died.
And Harry clearly remembered the teachings Aisen had given him.
There was no need to forgive those who tried to kill you.
Having finally come to a conclusion, Harry thought.
It didn't have to be a complete spell. Even a small, intense shock would surely break the spell that was shaking this broom.
And so, in order to not draw the attention of those around him, Harry closed his mouth and shouted in his mind.
'Crucio.'
Fzzt.
As Harry's wand reacted so slightly that only a very observant person could have seen it, Quirrell was momentarily startled and shot up from his seat.
Success!
Seeing him, Snape said with a very unpleasant smile.
"Oh, Professor Quirrell. Is something the matter? You suddenly stood up so abruptly."
Quirrell seemed to look at Snape with an angry expression for a moment, then he closed his eyes and sat back down.
In the meantime, Harry, who was back on his broom, was soon able to find the Snitch again.
Harry, who had once again displayed his natural talent and snatched the Snitch, grinned and thought.
Not only did I catch the Snitch, but I even partially succeeded in using a non-verbal spell for the first time. It couldn't be a better day!