Mysterious Journey
Chapter 662: Dogfight
Near Bournemouth, the training base for the British National Quidditch Team. Inside the Jurassic Quidditch Stadium.
Tina Scamander and Brandon Dunne, the head coach of the national team, looked up at the figures darting across the Quidditch pitch, the sound of thunderous roars, painful and panicked wails, and the silvery, clear, and delightful laughter unique to eleven or twelve-year-old girls, drifting into their ears.
Lexai, the star chaser from the Potterly Prides, had already fallen directly during the first attack. Although under the care of the stadium's emergency medical team, there was no immediate danger to his life, it was clear that he would not be able to take to the skies again in the short term.
Unlike the naive students at Hogwarts, with Lexai's demise, the other two top stars from other British Quidditch League teams reacted quickly. Before Ellena, who had regained possession of the Quaffle, could rise to the optimal attack height, they steered their brooms swiftly through the air, preventing their own coordinates from being quickly locked.
In official Quidditch matches, although it is not very common for some players to use their exceptional arm strength to directly throw the Quaffle or hit Bludgers to defeat opposing players, it is not unprecedented.
Simply put, using the ball to knock someone off their broom is one of the permitted aspects of Quidditch rules.
Therefore, as official players in the professional Quidditch league, although they were extremely shocked, they were not about to collapse and surrender. Strength can indeed have a certain advantage in Quidditch matches, but what truly determines victory or defeat is flying skill.
After a brief moment of shock, Planck and Dreven quickly composed themselves, adjusted their broom positions, and flew towards Ellena, circling her like wild wolves, constantly seeking an angle to intercept the Quaffle, while using their flight trajectories to continuously compress Ellena's flying space. Since head coach Brandon Dunne had not announced the end, it meant that the "scrimmage" should continue.
Moreover…
Five minutes, just hold on for five minutes, and they would be considered to have won!
Although it had only been less than a minute since the start of the match and the Quaffle had been launched.
"This child…"
On the edge of the field, Tina Scamander looked up, her face filled with bewilderment.
Admittedly, Ellena's previous performance had been too deceptive, to the point that she still couldn't quite connect the soft, adorable sweetheart in her mind with the silver-white Quidditch queen in the sky.
"Coach Dunne, isn't this…cheating? Or should we…"
"Cheating? This is Quidditch, Madam. Throwing the Quaffle to this extent with bare hands is indeed astonishing, but as far as I know, there are at least ten top players on the world stage today who can achieve the same effect with a bat and Bludger."
Brandon Dunne shook his head, his gaze fixed on the figures constantly darting through the sky.
So that was it, the amazing talent that Albus Dumbledore himself wrote a letter about, forcefully recommending her to the British National Quidditch Team training base for summer training?
Compared to the surface appearance that Tina and others were focused on, after a brief moment of surprise, he quickly noticed something else. Quidditch matches are not team competitions where whoever has the faster broom or more strength wins.
After countless attempts by Quidditch enthusiasts, the magical world has gradually formed a consensus:
When facing this aerial sport, the experience of most Muggle sports cannot be applied, because Muggle ball sports thinking is always limited to the narrow and flat ground, unable to accommodate the complex and vast aerial competition.
The skills and techniques contained in Quidditch are so profound that even today, no Quidditch team dares to claim that they have reached the limit.
And avoiding the opponent's Bludger interference during offense and defense is a flying skill that all Quidditch players must master.
Whether the opponent's Bludger attack is strong enough to break an arm or directly put someone in a near-death state, it doesn't make much of a difference in the tense and fast-paced Quidditch arena.
On the international stage, any player who has been hit once usually does not last until the end of the match, and will withdraw early due to the opponent's continuous encirclement.
According to the current Quidditch match rules, once the starting lineup is determined, substitutions are not allowed during the match unless the Seeker "dies suddenly," even if a major accident occurs.
What truly shocked Brandon Dunne was that a minute had passed, and his players were still darting around in the sky, not breaking free from Ellena's "lock" as cleanly as he had imagined, and starting to try to counterattack.
Keep in mind that Ellena was facing not ordinary Quidditch enthusiasts, but all top stars from various Quidditch clubs in Britain, including Lexai, who "died suddenly" at the beginning.
Just from the performance of the flying brooms used by both sides, there was a huge difference.
Ellena's Cleansweep Seven was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the Cleansweep series, and for a long time it was the standard configuration of British Quidditch teams.
But since a few years ago, European professional Quidditch teams have begun to switch to the Nimbus series.
And what Planck and Dreven were using at this time was the Nimbus 2001 series flying broom, which had not yet been fully launched on the market.
Compared to the easy-to-maneuver Cleansweep Seven, the Nimbus series has a revolutionary dominance in terms of absolute speed and altitude climb.
In today's Quidditch theory, altitude and speed are the two fatal elements that dominate the arena.
This not only means a wider field of vision, but also represents unparalleled advantages in pursuit and defense. As long as you fly higher and faster, you can have the initiative on the field – this is the iron law of Quidditch theory and flying broom manufacturing.
However, on this day, Brandon Dunne suddenly discovered that this iron law seemed to have a crack in it.
"No! That rolling deceleration is a trap! Damn it! Dreven is too fast, he will be directly locked!"
Before Tina could ask a second question, Brandon Dunne's exclamation suddenly came to her ears.
Immediately afterward, a beam of scarlet light streaked across the sky again.
Boom!
Accompanied by a muffled impact, Dreven, the chaser from the Wasps, also fell to the ground.
"Unbelievable, what exactly happened just now!? What exactly was that flight method to escape pursuit?"
“Dogfight, close-range aerial combat skills.”
Ellena floated down slowly, unhurriedly dug the Quaffle out of Dreven's unconscious body, casually gave the young man a healing rune to stabilize his injuries, and explained casually.
"In a defensive state, instantaneous stall maneuvers can complete the conversion of offensive and defensive energy levels. This is a very basic scientific theory in the non-magical world."
"Dog…dogfight? What is a stall maneuver?"
Brandon Dunne repeated in confusion.
For some reason, he felt that a magical door he had never seen before was slowly opening.
"Just like two dogs fighting, chasing each other's tails, finding each other's blind spots and movement patterns, so as to complete a fatal attack. Very vivid, right?"
Ellena shrugged, tossed the Quaffle dripping with blood in her hand, and revealed a sweet and lovely smile.
"As for stall maneuvers, it's a bit complicated. If you're interested, I can give you a detailed explanation of air superiority theory later. However, please wait for me for another minute now, I'll go and complete the last knockdown mission first…"
"Wait! Stop!"
Before Ellena could take off again, Planck, who looked burly and strong, quickly descended from the sky, waving his hands in a panic.
"I give up, forfeit! You win."
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