The next afternoon, inside the changing room at the Quidditch pitch.
"Ced." Kyle suddenly called out to Cedric before he left the changing room.
"What is it?" Cedric turned around.
Kyle held out the Nimbus 2000 in his hand. "Use this for the match."
In a Quidditch match, the position that requires a broom with superior performance the most is the Seeker.
Gryffindor's Seeker was Harry, and he also had a Nimbus 2000—the best broomstick currently on the market.
If Cedric continued to use his old Cleansweep Seven, he would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage when competing with Harry for the Golden Snitch.
Cedric understood this reasoning as well, so he didn't decline and accepted Kyle's kind gesture.
"Thanks. I'll definitely catch the Snitch in this match."
Kyle smiled and nodded. "You'll have no problem at all."
Then he turned to his fellow Beater, Davy Jones. "The Weasley twins are definitely going to target me like crazy. Just hit every Bludger you can intercept toward me—don't worry about accidental injuries."
Davy nodded to show he understood.
After Kyle and Cedric finished their tactical planning, Captain Jack let out an excited roar. "Let's go, lads! Let's crush Gryffindor!"
Once the match began, just as Kyle had predicted, George and Fred circled him tightly like two satellites, denying him any opportunity to make contact with a Bludger.
"Is this your tactic? Stall me, and let the rest play five against six?"
After knocking away an approaching Bludger, George grinned. "I have enough confidence in my teammates."
"Even without the protection of the Beaters, I believe they can still win the match," Fred added, finishing George's thought.
Kyle smiled contemptuously. Did they really think that by denying him contact with the Bludgers, he couldn't pull off any other new tricks?
For the rest of the time, Kyle rampaged across the Quidditch pitch, charging aggressively at the opposing Gryffindor players.
However, just as he was about to collide with them, Kyle would pull away by a hair's breadth at the very last second, dangerously brushing past them without making any actual contact.
The Weasley brothers could do absolutely nothing about this. If they tried to play the same way, the more likely outcome would be mutual destruction with the Hufflepuff players.
The Gryffindor spectators watched the perilous match with their hearts in their throats, so tense their nerves were about to snap.
When the twigs of Kyle's broom once again swept past less than five centimeters from Oliver Wood's face, Wood screamed at the top of his lungs in exasperation, "Foul! That's a foul!"
However, Snape, acting as referee, completely ignored him.
Professor McGonagall also shook her head helplessly.
As a fanatical Quidditch enthusiast, she knew the rules of the game inside out.
As long as Kyle made no actual physical contact with the opponent, it could not be considered a foul.
It was chaos—utter chaos.
The Gryffindor defense was smashed to smithereens by Kyle's solitary efforts.
The Hufflepuff players seized this opportunity, taking almost every chance to score and frantically throwing the Quaffle into the Gryffindor hoops.
They had even abandoned any intention of helping Jack defend their own goalposts.
As soon as their Chasers got hold of the Quaffle, they would rush toward the Gryffindor goalposts like madmen on adrenaline.
The Gryffindor players realized with some despair that the Hufflepuff team had improved significantly since their last match against Ravenclaw.
This is impossible!
Wood roared internally. Those Hufflepuffs haven't shown up at the Quidditch pitch even once!
It was a pity Jack couldn't hear his thoughts; otherwise, he would surely have poked at Wood's sore spot and mocked: You wouldn't understand how the rich train.
Amidst the ashen faces of the Gryffindor Quidditch players, Cedric relied on his superior flying skills and the excellent assistance of his teammates to easily catch the Golden Snitch, ending the match.
The final score was frozen at 430 to 50.
It was said that as Professor McGonagall walked down from the stands, she almost perfectly replicated the expression Professor Flitwick had worn after the last match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
When Harry landed on the ground, his face was pale and his lips were pressed tightly together.
Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Dumbledore's smiling face.
"Do not be discouraged. You played very well," Dumbledore said softly, his voice audible only to Harry.
Harry forced a smile at the kindly old man.
Seeing Harry's expression, Dumbledore pondered whether he should ask Kyle to go easy on Harry the next time Gryffindor faced Hufflepuff.
Otherwise, the Savior he was so carefully grooming might not be able to build any self-confidence.
Shifting his gaze away from the celebrating Hufflepuff students in the distance, Dumbledore patted Harry on the shoulder encouragingly.
"A momentary defeat is nothing to fear. When Cedric was your age, he couldn't have done any better than you."
Hearing Dumbledore's words, a spark of confidence reignited in Harry's eyes.
"I am very glad to see that you are not dwelling on that mirror all day, and that you are living a fulfilling life. That is excellent."
After sharing these few words with Harry, Dumbledore turned and left.
Harry suddenly remembered something. He felt it was necessary to report the matter of the Philosopher's Stone to Dumbledore.
But just then, Snape also touched down on his broom, landing not far from him, which made Harry instantly dismiss the thought.
Ever since the last Quidditch match, when Hermione and Ron discovered that his Nimbus 2000 was out of control because Snape was jinxing it, Harry's impression of Snape had instantly reversed.
Due to this bad impression, coupled with the scratch from Fluffy he had seen on Snape's leg in the staff room earlier, and that sentence he had said—
"How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"
Harry instantly pinned the blame for wanting to steal the Philosopher's Stone on Snape.
Snape was just too suspicious.
An hour later, Harry left the changing room alone to return his Nimbus 2000 to the broom shed.
But when he arrived at the broom shed, he saw a hooded figure hurrying down the front steps of the castle. The figure clearly didn't want to be seen and was heading straight for the Forbidden Forest at high speed.
He recognized the stealthy gait of that figure; it was Snape.
Sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest near dinnertime—what was Snape up to?
Harry hopped back onto his broomstick and took off into the air.
He glided silently over the castle. Seeing Snape run into the Forbidden Forest, he followed him.
————
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