Mysterious Journey

Chapter 900: Erina's New Tactics

"Unbelievable! Gryffindor, having just conceded a goal, quickly launches an attack, another all-out, full-court press!"

"The Quaffle is being passed around among the Gryffindor team members - Spinnet - Bell - Wood - this is incredible - Weasley forcibly changes the trajectory of the Bludger, and the ball is back in Johnson's hands..."

"The Gryffindor team is advancing rapidly down the field. The opposition is simply unable to resist this coordinated attack. I dare say they've never seen this kind of play in their day – Yes! Another extremely simple pass, Spinnet now faces an empty goal - Score! 70 to 30, Gryffindor is extending their lead -"

Lee Jordan's voice echoed around the Quidditch pitch, but it still couldn't drown out Wood's terrifying roar from above.

"Defense! Defense! Fall back to our half - Cut off their routes!"

Spinnet, having just completed the attack, quickly pulled up his broom, fiercely sticking to the former Ravenclaw champion Chaser who had been spouting trash talk, surrounding him like a flame, blocking all of his comfortable receiving angles.

On the other side, Wood had retreated to the rear of midfield, beginning to organize a defensive counterattack.

The young wizards of Hogwarts had never seen such an exciting Quidditch match. The Quaffle seemed never to stop moving.

Whether it was the Quaffle changing hands, or multiple players tackling opposing players... From the beginning of the match, Gryffindor's overall offense and defense were like a never-ending tide, tirelessly attacking the "All-Star Team's" defense at top speed.

Many times, Lee Jordan only had time to call out the names of the Gryffindor players before the situation had already changed.

"Pass! Gerald! Get the ball out of there - Damn it! You idiot!"

Charlie circled in the air, keeping an eye on Harry Potter's position while shouting angrily.

Obviously, the Gryffindor team had come prepared. They seemed certain that the "All-Star Team" wouldn't choose to pass and spread the field immediately. Every time someone held the ball, they had to face at least two or three people trying to tackle and intercept.

Under such high-intensity pressure, the success rate of the "All-Stars" when forced to pass was usually less than thirty percent.

And on the offensive end, the Quaffle was like a hot potato, never staying in any one player's hands for too long.

Unlike any Quidditch match before, the Gryffindor team wasn't pursuing complex passing combinations or individual skills to create offensive openings, but instead, kept the ball in motion as much as possible, using speed to break through the defense before the opposing defense could settle in, never missing a single opportunity to attack the three hoops on the opposite side.

In less than five minutes, this dizzying, frenzied attack completely ignited the passion of the audience in the stands.

Compared to the unprepared "star players," the Gryffindor players, with their fast and clean attacks, grim and cold expressions, and flames under the ice, looked more like the true kings of the sky, and most importantly...

"Their stamina is starting to decline, the score gap will only widen further..."

From the Gryffindor stands, Dravein put down his binoculars, making this assessment with absolute certainty.

As a top professional Quidditch League player, Dravein was much more sensitive to changes in speed on the field than the young wizards. He could clearly perceive the direction in which the balance of the game was shifting in such a high-intensity process.

"Yes, the Gryffindor players have probably the most intense physical training."

Aylin nodded slightly, looking up at the sky, and said with satisfaction.

"The core of this tactic is flying, flying tirelessly, breaking through, attacking, exhausting and tiring out the opponent. This can only be achieved through high-frequency movement and passing. My time requirement for each round of attack is - 4 seconds. If their broom performance were better, perhaps this time could be compressed to around 2 seconds."

"In a regular Quidditch match, the stamina of the Keeper and Beaters is mostly overflowing. If they were to take on part of the offensive duties, forming a 6v3 pattern, it would instantly break the balance of the game..."

[flyandgun] - This was Aylin's name for this tactic.

In essence, it was derived from the "run and gun offense" that hadn't yet taken off in the NBA.

This philosophy, which emphasizes the speed of offensive and defensive transitions with high-speed and smooth rotation movement as the main tactical feature, while sacrificing some half-court offensive and defensive capabilities, was first unveiled on the Quidditch field and perfectly validated Aylin's speculation.

Compared to basketball, where movement speed is limited, aerial offense and defense can maximize the charm of this tactic.

"But this tactic has two fatal flaws..."

Dravein said thoughtfully while taking notes in his notebook.

"First of all, the attacking side must not be at a disadvantage in terms of broom configuration - otherwise, the opponent can spend less energy to defend faster. This would result in a long, drawn-out battle. Secondly..."

His eyes passed over those fiery red figures flying in the field and turned to the higher sky.

"The difference in the Seeker's match-up cannot be too great."

...

"Oh, Roger lost the ball again under the interception of Gryffindor's three girls... the ball is back to Gryffindor, Bell – Spinnet – Bell – It’s been less than a minute, and Gryffindor has attacked six times already!"

"Gerald is getting anxious, he's asking for the ball, but no one is paying attention to him -"

Charlie Weasley flashed past Gerald and looked around for a glimpse of gold, Harry Potter was chasing him closely, he was undoubtedly an excellent Seeker – Harry kept cutting in front of him, constantly forcing Charlie to change direction and shift his focus, making it hard for Charlie to concentrate on searching for the Snitch.

Ten minutes into the game, Charlie had given up hope on the other players.

Under the pressure of the Gryffindor team, the score gap would only grow larger.

As the Seeker for the "Magic Master's in Progress" team, their only way to win was to find the Golden Snitch before the score difference widened to over 150 points, and complete the final reversal with the 150-point bonus.

"Well done, keep a close eye on Charlie, Harry!"

Wood shouted, as he quickly swept past Charlie, blocking Gerald’s receiving position.

"Gryffindor is now leading 130 to 50, no one anticipated such a result before the game! Charlie has to hurry, they don't have much time left - but first he has to find a way to shake off Potter. The ‘All-Star Team’ formation has been completely messed up, all he can rely on now is himself..."

Charlie urged his broom to accelerate, trying to ignore the annoying commentary below.

Everyone on the Gryffindor team had become incredibly unfamiliar. Charlie could clearly see the suppressed anger in the eyes of those familiar little guys. The emotions seemed to be feeding back to their brooms, making them fly faster.

Gerald's cursing echoed across the field. After losing the ball repeatedly, the team was starting to bicker.

However, as the captain, Charlie was in no mood to appease and coordinate the atmosphere. He just wanted to end this game quickly, then return to the Gryffindor rest room and ask everyone what had happened and why...

Wood's stubborn, terrifying gaze, like that of a wounded beast, reappeared in Charlie's mind.

Just then, Charlie saw it – the Golden Snitch was close to the ground, quickly flashing past a barrier.

He dived down quickly. Harry would chase over no matter what he was doing. Charlie accelerated, calmly watching the ground getting bigger and bigger: a rapid dive was his specialty. He planned to finish off Potter at the rear first.

During his time on the Gryffindor team, he used this move to win too many games for Gryffindor.

Bang!

A Bludger suddenly appeared, forcing Charlie to swerve his broom.

But Fred appeared to Charlie's right, blocking the angle he was trying to change direction. Charlie had to make an even greater roll and stretch to barely avoid the speeding, whooshing Bludger.

"Get out of the way! George! Don't force me to knock you off your broom -"

Charlie roared, looking at his brother, who was changing angles like a leech.

This was insane. If they continued to fly at their current angle, he might be able to pull up before crashing, but knowing his brother, "George" would most likely crash into the ground, even if he didn't, he'd be hit by the Bludger.

As Beaters, they mostly had to let go of their brooms when hitting high-speed Bludgers, but this made it impossible to turn.

"Oh, really? Too bad I'm not George..."

Fred turned his head to look at Charlie, grinning coldly.

Then, he released his hands from the broom, pulled out his bat, and actively greeted the Bludger that was trailing them, hitting it hard at Charlie Weasley, who was flying alongside him, then gritted his teeth and crashed into the ground.

Bang!

Accompanied by a muffled sound.

Fred crashed heavily on the Quidditch pitch's grass.

Unfortunately, his final "suicidal" Bludger attack didn't work. At the last moment, Charlie agilely ducked down, pulled up his broom with both hands, and rolled over once, narrowly avoiding the oncoming Bludger.

Before Charlie could restabilize his broom, Madam Hooch's whistle blew.

Harry, who was right behind him, turned around roughly half an inch from the ground, a pair of tiny golden wings struggled in the gap of Harry's raised fist – the game was over, the Gryffindor team had caught the Golden Snitch.

The cheers of the Gryffindor students instantly drowned out Lee Jordan's microphone.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, enthusiastic applause rang out from most of the stands at Hogwarts.

This Quidditch match was too exciting. The Gryffindor team's high-frequency, incredibly smooth, frenzied attacks indiscriminately captivated all the spectators. Even from the Slytherin stands, there were quite a few applause and cheers at this moment.

Of course, part of the reason might also be because of the legendary Charlie's defeat.

However, Charlie Weasley was in no mood to pay attention to anything else.

Before the final whistle blew, Charlie had already jumped off his broom, rushing towards Fred, who was curled up in a ball on the ground, his face full of worry and anger.

"Fred, are you okay... you idiot, how could you be so -"

Charlie looked at Fred, and the words of blame turned into a panicked shout.

"Professor! Oh, my god, someone come and help me, Fred's arm -"

"Aha -" Fred grinned, mumbling, "We won, Charlie, don't worry... this little injury is nothing compared to Miss Aylin's Quaffle, I suggest you better apologize to Wood first..."

Fred tried to sit up, but his arm hurt so much, his shoulder felt like it was burning.

"Apologize, I don't understand, what are you talking about?"

Charlie frowned and said confusedly, waving his wand nervously left and right.

As a magizoology enthusiast and a dragon researcher, most of the spells and potions that Charlie mastered were for magical animals. As for healing magic and injury treatment, this was completely outside the realm of magic he was familiar with.

"Sorry, please make way..."

A polite, crisp, and lovely voice came from behind Charlie.

He turned around and saw Aylin jumping off her broom. Unlike the common, plain brooms, the broom she was riding was decorated with many shiny silver stars, which couldn't help but remind Charlie of Ginny's bedroom ceiling.

"Fred's arm might be broken, we need to send him to the school infirmary -"

"Don't worry, it's just a minor injury."

Aylin said with a smile, reaching out her hand and gently pressing Fred's somewhat twisted arm.

"Wyrd (Heal) -"

"As for the apology, that's not necessary... The person who should apologize, should be me..."

Aylin explained casually while checking the recovery of Fred's arm.

"In order to motivate the Gryffindor team, I collected some small materials before the game, but considering your personality, Charlie, you might not help with trash talk, so I slightly artistically processed and created some content... But don't worry, the problem is not too big..."

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Yay!