LRAB Chapter 168 The Lion and the Snake
Chapter 168 The Lion and the Snake
Chapter 168 The Lion and the Snake
The first Saturday of November was bitterly cold, but it did nothing to dampen the fervent atmosphere at Hogwarts Quidditch Stadium. The first official match of the school year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was about to begin. The stands were packed, flags waving, and cheers and chants roared like a deafening tide. The red of Gryffindor and the green of Slytherin clashed fiercely in the stands.
Cullen, Wesley, Fabian, and Ernesto sat in the higher stands of Ravenclaw, offering a panoramic view of the entire stadium. Wesley and Ernesto, both carrying panoramic binoculars, excitedly adjusted them. Fabian, bundled up in his coat, seemed a bit chilly. Cullen, on the other hand, appeared calm, his grey-blue eyes scanning the pitch and stands; his purpose went beyond simply watching the game.
"Look! Gryffindor is coming in!" Wesley exclaimed excitedly, pointing down into the tunnel. Led by Wood, the Gryffindor team soared into the sky on broomsticks amidst deafening cheers, their bright red uniforms like burning flags. Seeker Harry's small figure stood out prominently among them.
"Slytherin!" Ernesto's tone was clearly contemptuous. Slytherin looked menacing; their captain, Marcus Flint, was a burly man with a malicious smile on his face, and the Chaser behind him also looked aggressive.
Karen's gaze swept across the Gryffindor stands. Ron was waving his arms excitedly, cheering loudly for Harry. Harry was seated not far from Ron, but Hermione sat alone a little further back, clutching a few books, her face expressionless, her gaze seemingly fixed on the pitch, yet also unfocused. She deliberately kept her distance from Harry and Ron; the post-Halloween cold war was clearly still ongoing.
With a sharp whistle from Mrs. Hooch, the competition began!
The Quaffle was instantly launched into the air, and the three chasers from both sides pounced on it like predators. The Runaway was fiercely struck by Wolf, producing a dull whistling sound as it cut through the air. The Golden Snitch, however, had already vanished without a trace.
"Beautiful! Angelina steals the ball! Passes to Arya—good! Passes back to Katie! Gryffindor's triangle pass!" Lee Jordan's passionate voice, amplified by magic, echoed throughout the stadium as he served as the temporary commentator. Gryffindor's chasers coordinated perfectly, advancing rapidly.
"Watch out for the wandering ball! To the left!" Wesley yelled. Slytherin's batter, Derian Pursey, hurled a wandering ball at Katie Bell, who was carrying it! Katie narrowly dodged it with a dive.
"Dirty!" Fabian angrily pushed up his glasses. "This is just the beginning." Ernesto said coldly, his binoculars following the intense competition on the field.
Cullen's gaze lingered on two main areas: first, Harry. The young Seeker, riding his brand-new Nimbus 2000, soared rapidly through the air, his sharp eyes scanning every corner of the field. His movements were astonishingly agile, narrowly avoiding several Slytherin Seekers who deliberately charged at him; he truly possessed extraordinary flying talent. Second, the Teachers' Stand. Dumbledore was absent, and Professor McGonagall sat in the most prominent position, gripping the railing tightly, leaning forward, her eyes fixed intently on Harry and the game. Quirrell was there too! He was wrapped in a thick scarf, wearing his signature purple turban, huddled in an inconspicuous corner of the stands, tightly rubbing something in his hand, head bowed, seemingly trembling.
Karen's "Eye of Truth" quietly activated. In his vision, the airspace above the stadium was filled with magical turbulence of various colors: the trails left by the players flying at high speed, the shockwaves of Quaffles and Walks, and the magical, surging emotions of the spectators in the stands—a dazzling, chaotic, and intense spectacle.
Meanwhile, in the teachers' stands, Professor McGonagall was enveloped in a tense and focused bright yellow magical aura. At Quirrell's position, the familiar yellow magical flow representing his own weakness and chaos was being fiercely suppressed by the purplish-black magical flow representing Voldemort. The latter, like a venomous snake, coiled around him, radiating intense malice and agitation.
The match became intense. Gryffindor, relying on accurate shots and the efforts of their chasers, took a temporary lead, but the score remained very close.
Slytherin's actions became increasingly violent, and fouls became almost the norm. Madam Hooch's whistle blew frequently, but it was not enough to completely stop them.
Every malicious charge at Harry drew angry roars from the Gryffindor stands and Professor McGonagall's almost fiery glare.
Just then! Karen's pupils suddenly contracted!
In his vision, a highly concealed, dark red stream of magic, carrying a strong sense of interference and chaos, shot out suddenly from Quirrell's location like a viper's hiss! Its target was Harry, who was hovering high in the sky! This stream of magic was extremely insidious; it wasn't a direct attack, but rather a precise strike aimed at the stabilizing branch at the end of Harry's broom, intending to disrupt its magical circulation and cause it to spiral out of control! Quirrell's hand trembled slightly beneath his sleeves, and the purplish-black magic churning violently at the back of his head was clearly Voldemort's doing!
Almost at the same instant that stream of dark red magic was shot out!
Another stream of cold, condensed magic, like black mercury, shot out from the other side of the teachers' stands, from where Snape was! Snape had somehow arrived in the stands; he stood in the shadows, his face horribly grim, his thin lips pressed tightly together, his gaze fixed intently on Quirrell. He had clearly been monitoring Quirrell! The black magic stream, though arriving later, intercepted the path of the dark red magic stream with perfect precision!
puff!
There was no sound, but in Karen's magical vision, the two streams of magic collided in mid-air! The chaotic, dark red magic was instantly shattered and annihilated by the icy, refined black magic! The whole process was as fast as lightning, and no one except Karen noticed it!
Quirrell's body jerked violently, as if struck by an invisible hammer. The dark purple magic flowing from the back of his head erupted in a violent, silent, and furious twist! Quirrell simply lowered his head further, his shoulders shaking even more violently. Snape, however, remained expressionless, his eyes growing even colder, fixed firmly on Quirrell.
The interference was nipped in the bud! Harry, completely unaware of this, remained focused on searching for the Snitch.
Cullen understood immediately: Just as she suspected! Snape had been watching Quirrell the whole time! Although Dumbledore wasn't there, he had clearly made arrangements. Snape's vigilance against Quirrell was even tighter! Compared to the situation in the original story, now, perhaps because of her own interference and the Halloween event, Snape's goals were clearer, and his actions were faster and more precise! Quirrell's interference was instantly neutralized, and Harry and the others, due to the changes brought about by the Halloween event, no longer suspected Snape.
"Look! It's the Golden Snitch!" Ernesto suddenly shouted, pointing his binoculars near the Gryffindor goalposts.
A faint golden light flashed past the feet of Gryffindor goalkeeper Wood!
"He saw it! Harry saw it!" Lee Jordan screamed.
The entire stadium erupted in cheers! Harry, like an arrow released from a bow, spun his broom around and swooped down towards the goalpost! The Slytherin Seeker spotted him and followed closely behind!
The two raced side-by-side, pushing their speed to the limit! The Nimbus 2000's performance advantage became apparent at this moment, and Harry gradually widened the gap to half a body length! They were about to touch that golden light!
"Stop him!" Slytherin Captain Flint roared, charging headlong at Harry like a cannonball!
"Foul!" Professor McGonagall's furious scream almost ripped her throat out.
At the critical moment! Harry pulled off an almost impossible move! He jerked the broom handle upwards, leaping nearly vertically upwards at high speed! Nimbus 2000 narrowly missed Flint's head! In the instant of his leap, Harry's body completely left the broom, gripping the handle tightly with one hand while his other hand desperately reached forward in mid-air!
Time seemed to stand still!
Under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes in the audience, that thin body hung dozens of feet above the ground beside the broom like an acrobat, and then, his hand suddenly tightened and was raised high!
Under the sunlight, a dazzling golden light shone through his fingers!
"He caught it! Harry Potter caught the Golden Snitch! Gryffindor wins!" Lee Jordan's roar, amplified by magic, echoed through the sky, instantly drowned out by the volcanic eruption of cheers and roars from the Gryffindor stands! Ron jumped up excitedly, along with Seamus...
Dean and his wife hugged each other. Hermione, watching from a distance, smiled, but quickly regained her composure and didn't join in the revelry.
"Merlin!" Wesley jumped up excitedly, almost dropping his binoculars.
"That was so close!" Fabian clutched his chest, his face pale.
"Perfect movements, amazing control over the broom. No wonder he's a genius who was promoted to Seeker in his first year." Ernesto couldn't help but admire him and put down his binoculars.
Cullen clapped, her gaze sweeping across the faculty stands. Professor McGonagall was flushed with excitement, embracing the professors around her. Snape turned and left expressionlessly, his black robes billowing, seemingly indifferent to the victory, but Cullen caught the cold glint in his eyes as he turned away, a look of icy caution on his face.
As Quirrell caught the Snitch, Karen clearly saw the purplish-black magic flowing beneath his head erupt in an extremely violent, frustrated, and furious twist, almost bursting out of his body! But Quirrell himself simply lowered his head abruptly, quickly got up, and fled the stands in a panic like a rat in a gutter.
"A dirty opponent, a great victory," Ernesto concluded.
The cheering crowd began to leave. Cullen, however, stood still, gazing thoughtfully at the field. The images of Slytherin's reckless fouls replayed in his mind, especially Flint's final, utterly unsportsmanlike, malicious charge.
An idea took shape in his mind: Quidditch referees are far too prone to making mistakes and omissions, especially in such high-speed competition. If only there were a magical device, like the Video Replay (VAR) system in football matches in his previous life, that could automatically record key movements and trajectories to assist the referees. Football matches have one main referee and two assistant referees, but it's unbelievable that Quidditch, where players are flying all over the place, only has one referee.
He looked at the panoramic telescope in his hand, his eyes lighting up: "Wesley, Fabian, Ernesto, what do you think?" He pointed to the telescope, "If we alchemically modified these panoramic telescopes, adding more sophisticated motion capture runes and magical trajectory recording functions, allowing them to record every moment on the court like an automatic quill pen records sound, then in the event of a controversial call, such as Flint's collision just now, the referee could retrieve the 'magical image' replay from a specific time and angle, clearly seeing the foul, and even analyzing whether the ball's trajectory was intentionally thrown at someone. Wouldn't that make the game fairer and cleaner?"
Or could it go a step further and have the ability to make its own judgments, proactively alerting the referee to fouls when they are not detected in time or when there is a blind spot?
Karen's three roommates were stunned for a moment, drawn in by her sudden idea.
"A magical replay?" Wesley's eyes lit up. "Like a slow-motion replay on TV? Wow! Flint can't deny a lot of his actions just now! Mrs. Hodge can send him off right away!"
"Technically, it's feasible," Fabian adjusted his glasses, considering. "Automatic tracking magic already has a foundation; for example, our telescopes can track players. Video recording isn't too difficult either; Hogwarts portraits and ghosts can do it. The challenge lies in how to do it quickly..."
Accurately replay specific segments and clearly present them to the referee, especially in noisy, open-air environments. Also, regarding your point about independent judgment, I don't know how to solve that either. But you could try a different approach: simply have more people watching during the match. After all, only one referee is needed on the field, and several assistants can be stationed off the field.
"But there's another problem," Ernesto interjected, his tone tinged with practical consideration. "Quidditch is a traditional sport with nearly a thousand years of history, and its rules and refereeing methods are deeply ingrained. Will those old fogies at the International Quidditch Federation accept this kind of technological intervention? They'll feel it undermines the 'purity' of Quidditch and the 'authority' of referees based on sight and experience. Just think about how they even had restrictions on broom speed before; they hate 'excessive' technology."
Karen smiled. "Change is always difficult. But technology itself is not the problem; the key is how it's used and whether it can create a fairer playing environment. Just like in the Muggle world, many technologies were initially resisted but eventually proved their value. At least, it provides us with an interesting direction for alchemy research, doesn't it? Technologies like automatic tracking, magic trajectory recording, and real-time video replay have many applications, not just in Quidditch."
He gazed at the gradually emptying pitch, the idea already etched in his mind. The Quidditch referee assistance system might have a long and arduous road ahead, but the alchemical challenges it contained were undeniably enticing. And today's match, besides witnessing Harry's debut and Slytherin's despicable behavior,
More importantly, he witnessed Quirrell's urgency firsthand; the changes in his magical emotions didn't lie, and Voldemort was clearly somewhat exasperated. Dumbledore's chessboard had moved. What he needed to do was continue to improve himself and fortify his defenses.
Beneath the skies of Hogwarts, undercurrents of passion and fervor never cease.