As in previous years, the final Quidditch match of the season was scheduled for the last weekend of May.

The way Hogwarts Quidditch House Cup was contested wasn't particularly complicated. All participating teams first played in a league in a round-robin format, with rankings calculated based on wins, losses, and points. Then, in May, the teams challenged each other in ascending order, with the lower-ranked team challenging the one above.

Because it resembled bubbles rising in water, this type of tournament was commonly known as a "bubbling tournament" in the non-magical world.

In this bubbling tournament stage, the condition for victory was not just calculating the score of a single match. The trailing team had to win by a margin exceeding the point difference between the two teams' league scores in order to successfully challenge – conversely, the defending team only needed to ensure that the overall point difference remained unexceeded at the end of the match to successfully advance or lift the cup.

This was why, in the third book, Wood constantly emphasized that Harry must contain Draco Malfoy to ensure that the match didn't end before Gryffindor led by sixty points, otherwise they would win the match but lose the trophy.

In short, whenever the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup reached the final, it was particularly eye-catching.

In order to recover the lost points, the challenging team would usually launch attacks on the opponent's goal at all costs, in order to quickly pull the score to the "kill line" that would allow them to win. The advantaged side could adjust their tactics accordingly, choosing to attack or defend and counterattack, making the match much more entertaining than usual.

It had to be admitted that Slytherin's brutal physical tactics were quite effective on the defensive end. For several years in a row, they had adhered to an extremely utilitarian and passive tactic. Although it wasn't very pleasing to watch, it always helped them secure the trophy.

However, this year, something slightly changed...

A first-year representative team that rose like a comet swept across Hogwarts. Ravenclaw House suffered the humiliation of two zero-goal defeats in a row. Gryffindor, lacking a Seeker, temporarily remained on par with Hufflepuff House thanks to the advantage of having more "practice" matches. Slytherin House's advantage in physical confrontation allowed them to rank second.

After all, although Harry, Malfoy, and Hannah were quite talented in the Chaser position, they couldn't compare with the fully developed upper-year muscle-bound seniors. Goyle and Crabbe's weaknesses as Beaters were even more significant.

Therefore, the first-year team's lead in the league's cumulative points wasn't that much, only two hundred and twenty points ahead of Slytherin House, mainly from the two hundred and fifty points added for catching the Golden Snitch twice – which meant that if Slytherin House could win the final match by a total score of more than two hundred and twenty points, they still had a chance to win the cup.

Of course, it was only theoretically possible.

In the Slytherin students' impression, never had a Quidditch league been spent in such a despairing atmosphere. Aileenna Caslana had almost single-handedly crushed their team – truly completely crushed, or rather, more accurately… shot down.

In the face of the roaring Bludgers, the physical qualities that the Slytherin Quidditch team had once been proud of couldn't help them resist any more than other little wizards. On that silver-white demon's exclusive sweeping Seven-Star Tail, nearly thirty small stars had been branded, all of which were her illustrious achievements in official matches.

A small half of them came from the still proud Slytherin, and the remaining large half came from the stubborn Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Even when facing Hufflepuff House, Aileenna showed no mercy. Almost every match against Hufflepuff House ended with her clutching the Golden Snitch while treating the unconscious Cedric.

As for off-field means, the Slytherin students hadn't considered them, but when Aileenna blocked the entrance to the Slytherin common room with Fluffy, the three-headed dog, for a day, the shrewd Slytherins stopped this unwise attempt.

After witnessing the whole process of the Slytherin House team from struggling to giving up, the entire Hogwarts defaulted that this year's Quidditch Cup would mostly be taken away by a group of first-year students. As long as Aileenna was still floating in the sky above the Quidditch pitch, the barbarity and danger of this game were not much different from a battlefield.

However, for the other three Houses, as long as the Quidditch House Cup wasn't taken away by Slytherin House again, it was a good choice to let the first-year students win.

After all, starting next semester, the members of the first-year representative team would be going their separate ways, and Aileenna, who had lost her team, would be banned indefinitely – obviously, the Deans would first argue over the ownership of this white-haired dumpling.

Perhaps considering the Slytherin House's low morale, and the little snakes' frequent protests.

The night before the match, accompanied by a "Quidditch version update notification" from Professor Snape's mouth, the Slytherin Quidditch team's morale, which was about to fall into the abyss, finally improved slightly.

—The Silver Demon had finally been nerfed, and it was an epic nerf.

Slytherin common room, a quiet little corner.

"Listen up, Professor Snape has secured the best situation for us. Aileenna will not be the Seeker in the final, which means that we don't need to worry about the ubiquitous Bludger shells in this match."

Marcus Flint sat among the players, slammed a piece of parchment on the table, and said extremely seriously.

"Of course, she will still appear on the pitch – as a Keeper. In this way, her range of activity is strictly limited to the vicinity of the goalposts, and she can no longer rampage in the sky chasing Bludgers as before."

"This is indeed good news, although the pressure on our offense may be greater."

Chaser Adrian Pucey breathed a sigh of relief, licked his lips, "Don't worry, Marcus, the rest of the first-year students are not to be feared at all. The three of us will ruthlessly ravage that arrogant little girl in front of everyone tomorrow."

"Victory is the best means of revenge, don't waste too much unnecessary time."

Marcus Flint shook his head, turned his head to look at their Seeker Terence Higgs, and said with a fierce expression.

"The most crucial part of winning tomorrow is still here with you. You must seize the Golden Snitch before anyone else after we lead by more than seventy points. This time your opponent is no longer Aileenna Caslana. If you can't even beat other ordinary first-year students, there's no need for you to continue staying on the Slytherin team next year."

"Humph, of course... don't forget how we won the Quidditch Cup last year."

Terence Higgs grinned and asked confidently, "So who is the first-year team's new Seeker? That Weasley kid who was beaten into a sieve by us before? Or that rich kid Malfoy?"

"Unfortunately, neither of them is. It's 'the-boy-who-lived' Harry Potter."

"Oh! That malnourished, black-haired little glasses? Don't worry, I'll let him understand how much talent and skill are required for the Seeker position. The only time he sees the Golden Snitch after the match starts will be in my hands."

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Chapter One! My God!!

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