Chapter 61: The Match
Harry’s crisis was temporarily resolved, though the few people around him were so busy maneuvering that he couldn’t get away to check on the Golden Snitch.
Ron finally stopped holding his telescope and fixating on Harry.
However, while watching the Quaffle battle on the other side, he happened to see Snape also on the Slytherin stands.
“Merlin, why is that old bat here too?”
Hagrid asked curiously, “Old bat? Who?”
“Professor Snape!”
Hagrid let out a sound and quickly reacted, saying with a stern face, “Ron, you mustn’t speak about the Professor like that, even though he is indeed… In short, Dumbledore trusts him!”
“I don’t trust him. Look at the way he’s glaring at Harry; if I had the chance, I wouldn’t doubt for a second that he’d cast an Evil Curse on Harry!”
In mid-air, the restrictions on Harry continued, and they became even more chaotic!
Fred alone clearly couldn’t fight two Slytherins. George had to rush over to help him, but Flint and Pucey seemed determined. No matter how the twins provoked them, they wouldn’t leave Harry.
The entanglement of the four people made Harry’s vision a mess.
Even worse, he suddenly felt his broom seemed to lose control. It swayed left and right, as if it no longer wanted to carry a person.
Harry’s face turned pale, and he tightly gripped the handle with his knees and hands.
From a distance, Vaughn, with the Bludger, disrupted Gryffindor’s attack again. He glanced at Harry, his eyes showing a hint of surprise:
“Did Socket Man make a move? How much does he hate Harry…”
As he sped along, his gaze swept over the stands, and he saw Quirrell, and also Snape.
His blurry vision couldn’t see them casting spells, but he knew that the two were clashing at this moment.
Vaughn wasn’t sure if Hermione could still detect the abnormality, or if she could accidentally break Quirrell’s Evil Curse.
He wouldn’t leave it to chance.
“It’s time to end this match!” He quickly weaved through the fierce battle in front of the Slytherin goal, subtly made a few gestures, and his teammates, who had been watching him, began to increase their small infringements during the struggle.
The Gryffindor players were all held back by them.
Vaughn, on the other hand, quickly broke away from the formation, ascended a distance to improve his view, and scanned downwards.
At the same time, Hermione and Ron also noticed something was wrong with Harry. Remembering Ron’s earlier complaint, Hermione saw Snape staring at Harry through her telescope, muttering to himself.
“Is it really Snape?”
Hermione, too shocked to care, hurried towards the Slytherin stands. Ron, worried about Harry, had a crestfallen expression and didn’t even notice she was gone.
Before long, the Slytherin stands caught fire, and the crowd began to push and shove in panic.
Snape frantically shook his robe; they were Blue Magical Flames, and he could only extinguish them by casting a spell.
The cessation of the counter-spell completely plunged Harry into a dire situation.
Noticing Harry’s broom still jumping erratically, Hermione, who had just set the fire, was stunned.
“It wasn’t Snape? Then who was it?”
She scanned the stands, but before she could get a clear look, the situation on the Pitch had already changed.
In front of the Slytherin goal, Slytherin, lacking Vaughn, was clearly no longer able to resist Gryffindor’s attack. The Quaffle broke through Miles Bletchley’s defense and was scored by Angelina.
The beautiful woman, who had been incredibly frustrated by Vaughn’s interference the entire time, let out a roar after scoring.
But no one in Slytherin cared, and Gryffindor didn’t have time to care either!
Vaughn had spotted the Golden Snitch!
He dipped his broom and began an extremely fast dive.
The silver patterns on his dark green cloak trailed far behind him; he was like a bolt of lightning.
“My goodness! Vaughn spotted the Golden Snitch and he’s diving! How fast he is! At this moment, he’s a predatory eagle, an arrow in descent. What about Harry? Harry… what’s happened to Harry?”
Amidst Lee Jordan’s exclamations, Fred and George, who had been entangled by Flint and Pucey, no longer cared about fouling. The twins shoved the two away forcefully.
Fred yelled, “Harry, what’s wrong with you?”
Harry said in a panic, “My broom is out of control!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the broom suddenly flipped over.
Under the immense inertia, Harry could no longer hold on and screamed as he fell.
Fred desperately tried to catch him, but Flint got tangled up with him again. The ugly fellow didn’t care at all whether Harry would fall to his death.
Fred swung his bat hard, sending the Bludger towards Flint.
The troll-like figure didn’t have time to dodge and was immediately hit on the head, slumping onto his broom.
In that moment of falling, Harry’s mind went blank.
The wind howled in his ears, and he heard Lee Jordan speak at an extremely fast pace:
“Professor, quickly save Harry… wait, Vaughn Weasley isn’t diving for the Golden Snitch, what is he doing?”
His blank mind couldn’t process it in time. In just two or three seconds, time was fleeting.
Harry’s peripheral vision caught sight of the stands, and he heard gasps from all around.
“Am I about to hit the ground? I hope it’s not too bad.”
Thinking this, Harry heard the sound of wind.
A bolt of dark green lightning with silver patterns flashed past him, then turned, and abruptly pulled him in.
The immense force cutting across him caused sharp pain all over his body, but Harry was happy.
It was Vaughn!
He faced the wind, his red hair pulled back by the wind, like dancing flames.
He asked Harry loudly, “Harry, are you alright? Can you stand on your own?”
Harry couldn’t speak and could only nod repeatedly.
Vaughn’s flight speed quickly slowed down. He put Harry on the ground, paused for a moment, and then flew back into the sky.
Lee Jordan shouted with passion, “Merlin! Vaughn saved Harry! He didn’t go for the Golden Snitch first, he saved Harry! That damned Sorting Hat must have made a mistake, I knew it, how could the Weasley family produce an evil S… *cough* I mean, Slytherins have good people too… I’m sorry, Professor!”
“Look, Slytherin’s lightning is back in the sky! So fast, so fast, it’s astonishing! In a high-speed flight, he made a 180° turn, and the agile Golden Snitch couldn’t escape his grasp—”
“Applaud, my friends! Vaughn Weasley caught the Golden Snitch, the match is over, Slytherin wins!”
Standing on the Pitch ground, Harry looked up at Vaughn in the air, raising his hand high, the Golden Snitch gleaming in his hand.
Looking at that scene, the tension of the past few days suddenly relaxed.
Harry, who wanted to win, suddenly felt that losing was not so bad…
The match was over. Vaughn caught the Golden Snitch, earning an extra 150 points, and Slytherin won with an overwhelming victory.
The entire stands erupted in cheers. Even the dejected Gryffindors did not withhold their applause; they had all seen Vaughn save Harry at the end.
The Slytherin players swarmed Vaughn, heading towards the cheering crowd.
