The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

The life of students in the school is very monotonous, and the magical world and the non-magical world remain surprisingly consistent in this regard. What's even more tragic is that students at Hogwarts are not allowed to use electronic products - this is not the kind of inability to use in a battle of wits with the head teacher and dean, but a true "shielding". All electronic products are in Hogwarts. Watts will all fail.

This means that in the 21st century, Muggle students will bring Walkmans, game consoles, and smartphones to school for entertainment, while young wizards can only play Quidditch, wizard chess, and go shopping like the students a hundred years ago. Hogsmeade.

It's okay for little wizards who come from a wizarding family, but how can those wizards of this kind endure a life without electronic products?

There is demand, and when there is demand there is a market. If little wizards want to play Mario, GTA, and Genshin Impact at Hogwarts, then wizard businessmen will find ways to make magic game consoles and magic consoles.

At that time, the magic world may usher in a wave of great developments in magic. The entertainment options for the little wizards will also be much richer.

But it's still the 1990s, so the entertainment options for little wizards are still quite scarce. Because entertainment was scarce, Quidditch was still a first-class event.

The most recent match was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw.

This game can be said to be highly anticipated, and the reason is very simple. Both sides are equipped with the most advanced broomsticks: Firebolts.

The appeal of this broomstick to those who love Quidditch is nothing short of fatal. This can be seen from Mrs. Huo Qi's performance. She made an excuse to participate in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw team's pre-match training.

"Look at its balance ability!" Mrs. Huo Qi was full of praise for the Firebolt. "The tail of the Nimbus series is slightly tilted, which will cause the broom to become a bit 'sloppy' after being used for a few years. You see, the Firebolt The Crossbow Arrow has improved here, and is more coordinated overall. The broom itself is slimmer than the Sweep series, which is very similar to the discontinued 'Silver Arrow' - what a pity, I learned to fly on the Silver Arrow back then, so It's a very fine old broom..."

Mrs. Hooch talked about flying broomsticks just like Professor Scamander talked about magical beasts. She often went off topic and could easily ramble on for a long time. It wasn't until Wood reluctantly said that they needed training that Mrs. Hooch stopped talking.

However, she did not leave the game, but sat in the stands with Ron. The reason Ron was here was because Harry had agreed to let him try out riding a Firebolt after training. This made Ron overjoyed, and he completely came out of Scabbers' psychological shadow.

The mouse he had slept with for several years was a man. It would be very uncomfortable for anyone to have this kind of thing happen to him, and it also caused Ron a very serious psychological trauma. Harry had secretly thought that if Scabbers was a witch, Ron might feel better.

Banban was arrested before the holidays. After one Christmas, Ron's mood eased a lot, but he was still a little depressed. As Ron's best friend, Harry felt compelled to cheer Ron up.

What better way to cheer yourself up than to try out a Firebolt?

So after the training, Ron took the broom with a look of ecstasy and swooped into the sky. He rode his broom and flew around the court until nightfall.

Harry carried the Firebolt, happily discussing the performance of the Firebolt with Ron, and walked all the way to the brightly lit castle foyer. Ron seemed to have forgotten Scabbers.

Ravenclaw's training was about the next day, and exactly the same thing happened. The only difference was that this time Mrs. Hooch focused on complaining about the devastating impact of the assembly line on the broom industry.

"In my opinion, if the Silver Arrow series can continue to be produced, for example, we can produce a broom that is not inferior to the Firebolt, it's just a pity..." Mrs. Huo Qi shook her head and sighed, and handed the broom to Qiu Zhang, indicating that they could start. Trained.

In the stands not far away, Tom and Hermione were sitting on it watching them train. The effect of Hermione's treatment yesterday was very remarkable. Tom's tongue recovered completely without any sequelae. The progress of the project today was much faster.

They will appear here, naturally it is Tom's suggestion. He feels that study should maintain a balance between work and rest. So after completing the paper "Asking Why Muggles Need Electricity", he pulled Hermione out and watched the Ravenclaw team's training together.

Training is naturally very boring. It's nothing more than watching the players fly up and down and make various tactical moves. But it was comfortable, and this peaceful time was very precious to both Tom and Hermione.

"Why don't you participate in the competition?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Why should I compete?" Tom asked, "No need, there are more interesting things than competing..."

"What's the matter..." Hermione was about to ask when she saw Tom's black eyes and felt a claw seem to climb up her shoulder.

Mrs. Huo Qi, who was not far away, rolled her eyes and moved a little further away calmly.

Fortunately, Tom's movements were not large and he did not push too far. He hugged Hermione and leaned on the seat, saying in Hermione's ear: "You can also learn to ride a broom. I will teach you when I have time."

Hermione wanted to refuse, because after so many flying lessons, she had long known that she had no talent for riding a broomstick, but when the words came to her lips, she accidentally turned into "Okay, it's a deal - don't take it too seriously." Sentences like "I'm stupid".

The two of them were chatting with each other, and suddenly Hermione's eyes narrowed, and her black eyes were fixed on a beautiful figure in the sky.

"I usually don't notice that Senior Qiu Zhang is quite beautiful," Hermione faintly praised Qiu Zhang, "She's an oriental beauty."

Tom felt the hair on the back of his neck suddenly rise, and the word "danger" seemed to appear on the top of his head.

"Oh, really?" He looked belatedly, "I just heard that she is a very good seeker, but I didn't expect that she is quite good-looking?"

Hermione glanced at him but said nothing.

"I'm face-blind, and everyone looks the same. Only you are different. I remember your smell very clearly." Tom tilted his head.

Well! Hermione couldn't keep her cool look. Mrs. Huo Qi in the distance stood up and left the court.

After a while, the two of them could enjoy this comfortable time with peace of mind. Tom was leaning on the seat, looking at the little black dots in the sky with a calm expression, and gently stroking Hermione's hair with his hands, while Hermione was lying on Tom's lap, her face was red, and her breathing could not calm down for a long time. .

The Ravenclaw team members are training hard. The experience of using the Firebolt was better than they expected. With just a light touch, the broom would react and fly across the field. When riding on it, the colors of the surrounding stands would become blurry.

When Richie released the Snitch, Cho Chang easily dodged the flying Bludger and threw it behind him. After about ten seconds, she caught the newly freed snitch.

The Ravenclaws cheered.

Richie let go of the snitch again and again, and then Qiu Zhang easily caught it back. The Firebolt greatly boosted the morale of the Ravenclaw team, allowing everyone to perform at their highest level.

"Victory will belong to Ravenclaw!" Richie shouted excitedly after everyone returned to the ground. Other people also shouted happily, and their voices carried far away along the wind.

"Thank you." Richie announced that after the training was over, Qiu Zhang did not return to the castle to wash up immediately. Instead, he ran to the stands.

Seeing someone coming, Hermione hurriedly climbed up from Tom and quickly packed her clothes. Fortunately, the sun had set and the light was dim and she couldn't see any details.

"It's nothing, just giving things to people in need," Tom waved his hand, "Are you still used to it?"

Qiu Zhang nodded excitedly: "It's a great broom. I feel like there's nothing I can't do while riding it."

"Don't underestimate the enemy, Potter also has a Firebolt." Tom was not as optimistic as Qiu Zhang. He felt that even with the blessing of Firebolt, Qiu Zhang would not be Harry's opponent. Because Harry also has a Firebolt.

Just like the classic saying "All money is given out, it means no money is given out." All Firebolts means no Firebolts. Qiu Zhang's situation has not changed.

"You don't know if you don't ride. After riding, you will realize the gap between Firebolt and Sweep." Qiu Zhang shook his head, still full of confidence in himself.

Only then did Tom remember that Qiu Zhang had used the ordinary Sweeping Eleven Star before. Not to mention the Firebolt, this broom is even inferior to the Nimbus 2000. To her, the most important meaning of the Firebolt was that it allowed her and Harry to fight on the same starting line.

It is better to all pay than to not pay at all, because people's incomes are different. It is better to all have Firebolts than to all ride the original broom, because the quality of everyone's brooms is also different.

"Would you like to go back for dinner? It's getting dark." Qiu Zhang extended the invitation.

"Of course." Tom followed suit and naturally had no reason to refuse - he was also a little hungry.

The three of them walked towards the castle together.

Through chatting along the way, Tom learned that Qiu Zhang was a British native born in the United Kingdom. Her mother worked in the Ministry of Magic and did not give her much pocket money, nor did she support her in playing Quidditch.

"This is a game between men, you are a girl, why are you getting involved!" Qiu Zhang vividly imitated her mother's tone, "But I still like Quidditch because it allows me to fly in the sky. "

By this time, the three of them had already walked to the auditorium.

"Anyway, thank you, Yodel, I finally have a chance..." After Qiu Zhang said these words, he said goodbye to Tom and Hermione. She walked to the end of the long table and sat with some of her best friends.

"Her mother is right. Girls suffer a little more in terms of physical strength, so I have always been curious about why Quidditch is not divided into men's and women's teams." Hermione raised her eyebrows and pulled Tom to find an empty seat. sit down.

"Perhaps it's because there are so few people in the wizarding world? It's not easy to hold a Quidditch match, but you actually want to divide it into two groups, men and women." Tom told the truth.

Generally speaking, various sports competitions are divided into men's and women's groups. Because of the huge physiological differences between men and women, male athletes are almost a dimensionality-reducing blow to female athletes. If the groups are not clearly differentiated, some shameless people will take advantage of the loopholes.

For example, some competitions are divided into groups based on psychological gender and hormone concentration. There will be transgender athletes who "change from male to female" and compete in the women's group to win medals. These people say verbally that they think they are women, and the hormone concentration in their bodies is indeed up to standard, but in fact everyone knows what their condition is.

This is the consequence of unclear grouping.

But there are no groups in the magic world. Wizards and witches compete on the same stage! The fundamental reason is that the population of the wizarding world is too small, and it is impossible to organize the Wizards Quidditch League and the Witches Quidditch League. In fact, a Quidditch league is enough to drain the entire potential of the wizarding world.

Muggles have football, basketball, tennis, ice hockey... wizards only have Quidditch. There is no second popular sport in the wizarding world for this reason - too few people.

But for wizards, there seems to be no need for another popular sport. They really like Quidditch and enjoy it.

…

Early the next morning, the Gryffindor players arrived at the Great Hall. Harry was surrounded by his classmates in the dormitory because they felt that the Firebolt needed an honor guard. Coincidentally, the Ravenclaw students also thought so.

So two teams appeared in the auditorium. They unanimously placed the broom in the center of the table for everyone to watch.

The smell of gunpowder in the air was extremely strong. The clever students started betting on the outcome of the two houses.

Tom saw that even Percy was involved - he made a bet with his girlfriend Penelope Crevat, betting ten galleons on the outcome of the game. As a Gryffindor student, Percy resolutely stood on the opposite side of his girlfriend, took a gamble, took out all his savings (actually not enough ten galleons), and bet on Gryffindor's victory.

His girlfriend Penelo is a prefect of Ravenclaw College and a friend of Qiu Zhang. She naturally supports Ravenclaw.

Watching the bet between the couple, Tom felt that no matter whether he won or lost, Percy would have a hard time.

At a quarter past ten, both teams set off to the locker room. The students in the auditorium also formed a huge crowd, pouring out of the castle and heading to the Quidditch pitch.

Tom glanced at the sky: clear, cool, breezy, a good day for racing.

Harry changed into his uniform and went to the court outside. The Ravenclaw players were already standing in the middle of the court waiting for them.

A figure inside caught Harry's attention.

————

Yesterday, I received a gift package of supplies from the company. It contained a lot of vegetables (lettuce, potatoes, onions, carrots, chrysanthemum, lettuce, celery, and cabbage), a box of eggs, a pork knuckle (emphasis added) and a bag of ribs. , I can finally eat some green leafy vegetables.

The night I received the dish, I immediately made a dish of scrambled eggs with celery leaves, which tasted quite good.

At noon, I used celery and dried tofu prepared at home to make a stir-fried celery dish. I originally planned to make a stir-fried pork dish with chrysanthemum, but my roommate ate all the chrysanthemum~so I changed it to stir-fried beef heart and pork. By the way, chrysanthemum chrysanthemum is quite easy to make. Just wash it and cut it into two sections. Add oil and seasonings and stir-fry.

PS: Beef cabbage is a vegetable from Shanghai. It is actually a very strange-looking kohlrabi/cabbage. It is not as delicious as cabbage because the stem inside is too hard.

PPS: I’ve put the picture in the book review area.