Harry climbed out of the oak boat that had fallen into the muddy pit with a thud. A water arrow had grazed his eye corner, leaving a painful swollen bump that made him almost unable to see anything with that eye. As he glared at the four Slytherins who also stood up panting, his eyes seemed to spit fire. His anger almost burst his stomach when he saw their smug looks.
"You don't have to look at us like that, Potter," Blaise said, wiping the water droplets splashed on his face. He smiled smugly, showing his white teeth.
"Isn't the meaning of the game to win by any means?" He shrugged, as if he had done nothing wrong.
"Ha!" Harry sneered. "That's true for Slytherin, just like your Quidditch team, cowardly wimps, who try every way to avoid playing against Gryffindor for a little trivial advantage!" He clenched his fists, feeling the anger rising in his chest.
"You can rant here as much as you want, Potter!"
Millicent, who was much stronger than Harry, looked down at Harry with contempt, and said indifferently. She had short brown hair and a broad nose, and she towered over Harry like a giant.
"Anyway, you have lost this contest, and when this school year ends, you will see Slytherin lift the Quidditch Cup for the seventh consecutive time. Potter, I look forward to seeing what your face will look like then." She snorted, as if she had already seen the future.
Harry wanted to retort immediately, but Neville's words made the people stranded in the track stunned.
"We didn't lose."
Neville's round face showed determination. Harry was stunned, because he seemed to see Neville facing the arrogant eyes of the Slytherin purebloods without flinching for the first time. Neville had always been timid and clumsy, but now he looked brave and confident.
"We didn't lose, Harry," Neville repeated, his hair that was wet by the water clumped on his forehead. He looked very funny, but now no one could ignore the firmness in his eyes. He had a small scar on his cheek, a souvenir from the last time he had faced the silverback-fish.
"Are you crazy, Longbottom?" Daphne curled her lip. "Or did you suffer too much shock and lose your mind? Can't you see the current situation? We are all stuck in the mud vortex and can't get out, but Slytherin still has Draco and Pansy. You-"
She pointed at the two figures who were still racing towards the finish line, unaware of the chaos behind them.
Neville didn't wait for Daphne's cold words to finish. He turned around and pounced on the half-sphere at the stern of the boat. It was a magical device that controlled the speed and direction of the boat. After a low roar, he slapped the half-sphere with all his strength.
The boat shook violently as if it wanted to rush forward, but then it stopped again under the astonished eyes of the Slytherin students, and remained motionless. They thought Neville had failed, and they laughed at his futile attempt.
"If you want to amuse us," Daphne said with a sneer, patting her chest and pretending to be frightened. "You succeeded, Longbottom, we were scared by you!" She rolled her eyes, and the other Slytherins joined her in mocking Neville.
In the cheerful laughter of the remaining three Slytherins, Daphne glared at the 'foolish' Neville. Her tone was full of disgust.
"Look at your stupid appearance, Longbottom, you are a disgrace to your bloodline. I know something interesting. I heard that your stupid parents–"
"Don't you dare insult my dad and mom!"
Just as the Slytherins began to mock Neville, Harry's hand holding the wand naturally lifted up. He had been hesitating whether to disobey the rules set by Professor Watson's, but when Daphne mentioned Neville's parents, his wand had already raised over his head. The flame burning in his eyes had extinguished the worry about the punishment he would receive. Anyway, he was ready to teach these stinky-snakes a lesson.
But Neville roared. The piercing scream and the suddenly moving boat cabin made Harry forget to punish the rude Slytherins. He looked at the stern in astonishment. Neville's wet head was steaming with white smoke, his forehead veins bulging. He let out a lion-like roar, the sharpness in his eyes for a moment even made Harry think he had mistaken the person.
It moved, the boat really moved!
Neville had broken free from the magic fixation of the Ramora fish lurking in the mud pit with his explosive magic!
Bang! After the heavy impact, there were several splashes of water that caught them off guard. Looking at Harry and Neville who were galloping away, the Slytherins who stood up from the water in embarrassment were stunned, speechless for a long time. They had underestimated Neville, and they had paid the price.
"Yay-!" "Awesome!!!"
The cheers of the Gryffindor wizards burst out like fireworks and shook the roof with their thunder. They waved their scarlet and gold flags, and hugged each other in excitement. Especially when they saw the pale faces of the Slytherins next to them, the joy in their hearts was about to burst out. They had witnessed a miracle, and they couldn't believe their eyes.
"But how did they do it!" one of them exclaimed, pointing at Harry and Neville speeding away from the mud pit. They had been stuck there for a long time, and it seemed that they had no hope of catching up with Draco.
Some of the Gryffindor wizards had tried something similar when they fell into the mud pit, but let alone breaking free from the bondage, they couldn't even shake a few times. The mud was thick and sticky, and the Ramora fish was too powerful.
"This is called 'Exploding Seed–" Bryan leaned back on the chair again, and answered the question with a smile.
Harry was also confused by Neville's shocking performance. He didn't know how Neville did it, but now it was obviously not the time to worry about this. Since Gryffindor had another chance to win the game, Harry's eyes sparkled and made up his mind. He had to seize the opportunity no matter what! He gripped the rudder and steered the boat towards the track.
When Harry and Neville finally got rid of Blaise and his gang, and rushed to the halfway point of the race, Draco and Pansy were about to reach the fork of the 'Y' shaped track, which meant that as long as they made one correct choice, they could easily win the race.
"What's wrong with Longbottom?" Draco muttered, his eyes narrowing.
Only by winning could he better humiliate Potter, Draco understood this simple truth. He and Pansy had been rushing all the way, trying to strangle Gryffindor as soon as possible, but they couldn't ignore the big movement in the first half of the track.
When Millicent and Daphne hijacked Potter's boat and rushed into the mud pit, Malfoy and Parkinson, who were relying on the oak boat's inertia to drive, were trying to recover some physical strength. Seeing this scene, the two relaxed their minds, thinking that the situation was settled, but then what happened made them feel the urgency again.
Even if they were still half a mile away, Draco could feel that the boat that made the waves roll and came rushing was carrying an unstoppable determination. He could sense Potter's anger and defiance, and he knew that he wouldn't give up easily. He felt a cold sweat on his forehead, and he cursed under his breath.
"Speed up, Pansy!" Draco shouted at Pansy, urging her to use up the little magic they had left. He pushed the half-sphere to the maximum, and he felt the boat accelerate. He hoped that it would be enough to outrun Potter and his sidekick.
"But Draco–" Pansy Parkinson's sharp and mean face was gentle enough to be called 'My-Lady' when facing Draco. She shook off the bangs that were wet by the sweat and covered her eyes. Her two hands were slightly twitching, but she bit her lip to stifle a cry of pain. She had used a lot of magic, and she was feeling exhausted. She turned her head and looked at the fork.
"Which way should we go?" She asked, hoping that Draco would make the right decision.
The two forks were covered by a faint mist. There were about five or six flickering orange lights in the mist on the left, and only one on the right.
This was obviously unreasonable. Clear-minded people should immediately recognize that there was something wrong. The left fork had too many lights, and the right fork had too few.
But when his eyes fell on the orange light in the mist on the right, which was a bit brighter, Draco's breath stopped for a moment. He felt a strange attraction to the light, as if it was calling him.
The world turned into a blur of light and shadow in his eyes. Draco felt his head dizzy. He realized something was wrong. He instinctively wanted to turn the rudder to the left, but it seemed that there was a mysterious force controlling his body and replacing his choice. He tried to resist, but it was too late. After making a silent whimper, Draco's face was dull. His eyes were glazed, and his mouth was slack. His body shook violently, and he hit the rudder to the right. And then, he rushed into the cloud wall without a sound.
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