Mysterious Journey

Chapter 898 Assignments on Game Day

A rare sight indeed, today, Aileen did not choose to sit at the Hufflepuff table to enjoy her breakfast.

After separating from Hannah, Luna, and others at the entrance of the Great Hall, Aileen, clad in a vibrant Gryffindor robe of scarlet and gold, joined Hermione at the Gryffindor table. They began to eat breakfast and discuss the two matches scheduled for the day.

"Hufflepuff won't be so easy to deal with, Hermione," Aileen murmured, savoring the potato puree and the starch blooming on her tongue.

"Don't worry, we're the most agile team in the school, and besides..."

Hermione glanced at Aileen, confidently stating, "We have Luna on our side; luck is with us."

After more than two months of training, the Freshman team had long moved beyond being a hastily assembled, bottom-tier novice squad in terms of teamwork and skill. Judging from the simulation results of the training matches, Hermione was at least thirty percent confident they could defeat the House team.

"Luck? In the face of absolute power, luck might not be so useful..."

Aileen shrugged noncommittally. She knew what Hermione's confidence was based on.

But the fact remained that Luna's luck was not omnipotent. It was more accurate to say that she was more sensitive in terms of insight and perception than other wizards. However, just as she had been directly countered by Charlie before, Luna would be completely restricted.

However, after two months of training, the Freshman team should have strengthened some of their weaknesses.

"Stop worrying about us; you should think about Gryffindor first—"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, glaring at the white-haired bundle beside her with some concern.

"Are you really not going to play in the match later? That's the All-Star team made up of Hogwarts champions from throughout the years, you saw their strength that day. Without you..."

"I can only play once, Hermione."

Aileen picked up a slightly burnt piece of toast and took a bite, replying quite seriously.

"If any team wants to win the championship this year, they need to be able to beat the 'All-Star team' at least once. The Gryffindor House team is no exception. If they can't defeat them on their own, it means they don't deserve to compete for the Quidditch Cup... and on the other hand, the 'All-Star team' isn't as invincible as you think..."

She turned her head and looked at Wood, who was sitting not far away, smiling as she spoke.

"Right, Wood, Captain? I suggest you eat a bit more; the match later will be quite intense."

"The opposing team has Charlie Weasley..." Wood said, too nervous to eat anything.

"Don't worry, Oliver," Fred patted him on the shoulder, comforting him. "In the Weasley Cup at the Burrow, George and I have blown past Charlie's team more than once, right, George—huh?"

Fred paused for a moment, perplexed as he didn't receive a response from his twin brother. He turned his head in confusion.

He saw George Weasley's gaze fixed on the entrance, his eyes glazed over as if he had seen a beautiful woman.

"Hey, mate, what's—"

Fred turned around, and his gaze inadvertently swept across the entrance of the Great Hall. He suddenly froze.

"Wait, my god—no way? Is that the national team?! The one behind is a member of the Irish national team! I've seen them in posters, my god, and the captains of the Tornadoes and Wasps... wow..."

In fact, there were many people who were suddenly stunned like George. Many young wizards were staring blankly at the entrance.

Dozens of burly, tall wizards wearing various Quidditch robes were walking into the Great Hall, chatting and laughing.

Dimitrov, Quigley, Mallett... at least half of the Quidditch Professional League's star players had arrived.

As they appeared at the entrance of the Hogwarts Great Hall, the conversations inside quieted down for two or three seconds, then rebounded even more fiercely, with excited, curious, and incredulous discussions echoing through the air.

"So I told you, Dervan, you should come back to school more often..."

Madam Hooch smiled as she looked at the Wasp's main Chaser beside her, pointing to the excited students in the Great Hall.

"At least come back occasionally to teach the kids how to play Quidditch. Compared to me, a retired ordinary player, they obviously prefer and admire star players like you—but don't teach them any dangerous techniques, or don't blame me for kicking you out."

"It might not work recently. The Quidditch World Cup qualifiers are about to start, and Coach Doon's training intensity is very high..."

Dervan sighed with a grimace. Ever since that tactical coach arrived at the Jurassic Stadium, training had become hell.

Of course, compared to when that tactical coach was around, Coach Brendan Doon had been much more merciful during this period and was even able to miraculously obtain tickets to the Hogwarts Quidditch match, which surprised many players.

Due to the closed teaching environment, graduates were usually not allowed to return to Hogwarts Castle.

Even invitations like Madam Hooch's public classes had to be approved by the Ministry of Magic and the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Therefore, in the face of so many cumbersome regulations, most wizards chose to politely decline to save themselves trouble.

Of course, invitation to watch matches like this was a different matter.

If they could go to the school to watch a Quidditch match every week, it would be a real treat for them, as Quidditch enthusiasts.

Not to mention that since last year, Hogwarts kitchen’s dishes had been recognized as the best in the magical world…

“M-Mr. Dervan, can you sign an autograph for me?”

Just then, an incredibly nervous voice interrupted Dervan's thoughts.

A red-haired wizard stood in front of him holding a pencil and notebook, his eyes full of anticipation.

"An autograph? Of course, what's your name..."

"R-Ron, Ron Weasley, I'm the substitute Keeper for Gryffindor."

"Alright, Mr. Weasley, I hope to see you on the field someday."

Dervan smiled, took the paper and pen, and wrote his signature somewhat awkwardly in the notebook.

Unlike celebrities in the non-magical world, Quidditch stars were mostly unpretentious.

Although the magical world had a professional system like the Quidditch League, due to the lack of fixed commercial venues and corresponding commercial activities such as match broadcasts and fan meet-and-greets, even a star player like Dervan, the Wasp's star Chaser and the main Chaser for the England national team, didn't have much experience with live autographs. This was a pleasant surprise for him.

However, Dervan quickly realized the pressure that came after this surprise.

As Ron successfully got an autograph, the students in the Great Hall seemed to have turned on a switch, flocking to the Quidditch stars they liked to ask for autographs. The sudden surge of people almost overwhelmed them in an instant.

Fortunately, since it was Quidditch match day, most students had not brought their schoolbags into the Great Hall.

Therefore, under Madam Hooch's scolding, Dervan and the others stood at the entrance and signed dozens of autographs before finally crossing the crowd and heading towards the dining area specified on their "spectator tickets"—Hogwarts did not set up guest seats this time. All the guests visiting Hogwarts today had their meals arranged in the various Houses.

"Spectator seating, Gryffindor—"

Dervan looked at the instructions on his "ticket," his expression somewhat subtle.

As a graduate of Slytherin, Dervan never expected that his first time back at school would be to dine with his old rivals, the Gryffindors. But those were just minor conflicts from the past, and besides...

Dervan's gaze fell on the table not far away, feeling some emotion and regret.

The red-haired wizard was now waving excitedly at him. The news that outside guests would be seated at the House tables had already spread among the students, and everyone was excitedly looking at the guests, hoping they would sit on their side.

Ron Weasley, he didn't expect the first person to ask him for an autograph to be a member of Gryffindor.

Dervan smiled, nodded at Ron, and strode over.

"The first match today is your House team, right? How is it, are you confident?"

The Wasp's main Chaser sat casually in the empty seat next to Ron, skillfully grabbed a piece of toast, spread butter on it, and curiously looked at the young wizards around him, asking casually.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're all House team members, right? I heard your first opponents are very strong?"

Unlike other places at the Gryffindor table, this area had brooms placed under the students' chairs.

Obviously, this was likely the dining area for this year's Gryffindor House team.

The reason Dervan came here instead of the side with more girls was this—Quidditch was more interesting than talkative and noisy girls, and it was best not to provoke the girls of Gryffindor.

"The All-Star team, I didn't expect Hogwarts to actually have such a team..."

Dervan looked back and forth at the "Match Guide" in his hand, marveling.

Compared to when he was in school, Hogwarts was much more exciting and fun now. The Quidditch champions from the four Houses formed a team, the freshmen mixed and matched to form a team, Ravenclaw withdrew from the competition... These things, let alone happening together, even if any one of them appeared, it would be enough to become the focus of discussion at Hogwarts for several years to come.

"It's okay, we've trained very hard to defeat the All-Star team—"

Oliver Wood took a deep breath, trying to overcome his nervousness, and replied in a deep voice.

"Training? Still the six-one formation? I remember Gryffindor always played this way when I was in school. Not that this formation is bad, after all, the Bulgarian national team plays like this, but it's too dependent on the Seeker..."

Dervan grinned, shook his head, and looked at Wood, directly stopping him from saying what he wanted to say.

"The Seeker is indeed a very important part, but if the tactics are too fixed, once it's impossible to gain a crushing advantage in this position, it will cause the entire team to collapse... You know, if any of you want to make a career out of Quidditch in the future, you need to be flexible in your thinking. Of course, you'll have coaches to teach you these things."

"We have a coach too, Mr. Dervan, she—"

Fred's gaze passed over the England national team's main Chaser and glanced to the side, saying quickly.

"A coach? Is it a student too? Hey, schools are good for accumulating experience, but if someone told me how to fly when I was in school, I definitely wouldn't listen. Everyone who can fly at Hogwarts is already in the sky..."

Dervan waved his hand dismissively, picked up a glass of iced milk, took a big gulp, and said mysteriously.

"Of course, there are exceptions. For example, we have two coaches, but that's a secret weapon that only our national team has."

"Two coaches? Besides Mr. Brendan Doon, there's another one?!"

Ron leaned over curiously, looking at Dervan in surprise.

As a Quidditch fanatic, he could say that he knew the members of his country's national team like the back of his hand, but in his impression, the England national team should only have Brendan Doon, the former champion, as the head coach.

"Oh, that's for sure, but she's a tactical coach—and..."

Dervan raised his eyebrows, shook his body uncomfortably, lowered his voice, and said softly.

"Have you guys heard of flying devils? That kind of thing really exists. If you're lucky enough to get into the national team, or if we have the chance to get into the global finals through the qualifiers this year, you might have the chance to see her—but honestly, she's the real tactical coach. I don't recognize any so-called coach except for her."

"Actually, our coach is also very scary..." George's lips moved, making a mosquito-like sound.

"Ha, what scary devil coach can there be in school? You guys haven't seen enough scenes."

Dervan chuckled, shook his head, and waved his fingers dismissively.

*Tap.*

*Tap tap.*

Before Dervan could finish speaking, he felt as if someone had gently tapped his arm with a notebook.

Looking to the side, it seemed to be a stack of white, brand new notebooks.

"Oh, kid, only one autograph per person—"

Dervan said with a smile, reaching for the pen Ron had placed on the table and preparing to take the notebook and start signing. After the large-scale autograph practice at the entrance, he was gradually getting the hang of it.

"Um, after writing your name in your own notebook, can you give the rest to the other members?"

Just then, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly sounded in Dervan's ear.

Give it to... the other members?

Are kids these days so impolite?

Dervan was slightly stunned, frowned, turned his head, and was about to say something, his expression suddenly freezing.

"Uh, uh... Coach Casselana?!"

"Good morning, Dervan. It's been almost two months, hasn't it?"

Aileen greeted casually, tapping Dervan's angular arm muscles again with the stack of notebooks in her hand.

"These are tactical notebooks. You guys aren't here for a vacation. Tell everyone to carefully study and record the two matches later, including the movements, tactics, and points for improvement. Write it all down in the notebooks as much as possible..."

"Alright, everyone, if you've eaten, let's get ready to leave."

Aileen stood up, looking around at the Gryffindor members who were still in shock.

"It's almost time to go to the locker room to prepare. I'll go over the tactics one last time then..."

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Yay!