Faced with Quirrell's sudden retreat, Rhys felt a bit puzzled. Why didn't he continue the attack? Did he give up because he sensed he would surely lose? Or was he afraid of being discovered and thus stopped? Perhaps he realized it was pointless; even if he threw Harry off the broom, it wouldn't affect the match or Harry's health significantly? But why is he trying to help Slytherin?
He looked towards Quirrell and then burst out laughing. The reason was not as complicated as he thought. Quirrell was knocked down.
The straightforward reason was that Quirrell had been physically defeated by a collision.
The person who knocked Quirrell over was a familiar face—Hermione, a first-year from Ravenclaw. She had also keenly noticed that Harry's broom was having problems and identified the culprit in the crowd... Severus Snape.
Snape stared closely at Harry in the sky, his expression gloomy, and the way he muttered words looked so much like a villain who was doing bad things that Hermione did not hesitate to regard him as an enemy.
Once she spotted her target, Hermione hurriedly headed towards Snape, intending to expose his villainy in public. Fortunately, as she navigated the crowded stands, she accidentally knocked over Professor Quirrell, unexpectedly achieving her goal.
Her method was correct, and her algebra was wrong, but the accident led to the correct answer. This was an accurate description of Hermione's actions.
Snape had no idea he had taken the blame. All he knew was that Harry's crisis had been resolved.
He quickly closed his mouth and pretended he hadn't done anything.
He couldn't be discovered casting a spell on Potter's broom.
If it were known that the Head of Slytherin House had cast a spell on the Gryffindor Seeker's broom during a Quidditch match, especially a Slytherin versus Gryffindor match, it would be an unshakeable scandal. Even though proving his innocence would be easy, but the damage to his reputation would be severe because the students wouldn't believe it.
Meanwhile, Harry found himself in an awkward predicament in the sky.
Rhys and Snape's spells stabilized the broom, but their combined magic had an unexpected effect—Harry's Nimbus 2000 "froze," stuck in the air, and wouldn't move no matter how Harry tried to control it.
The two culprits, Rhys and Snape, soon realized the situation. Snape's face darkened, while Rhys couldn't help but facepalm.
Rhys didn't attempt to restart Harry's broom with another spell. He knew the problem was the three competing spells on a single broomstick, causing it to temporarily fail to receive external signals. The best course of action was to do nothing; in a minute or two, the broom would reset itself.
They had to hope the referee noticed the anomaly and stopped the match.
Where was the referee? Madam Hooch, do something!
At that moment, Madam Hooch's attention was elsewhere, not noticing Harry's predicament.
Then, a golden glint flashed before Harry's eyes, making his breath catch. He was certain—that was the Golden Snitch!
Unfortunately, his broom wouldn't respond, keeping him pinned in place and unable to move.
The next moment, the Slytherin Seeker zoomed past Harry on his broom, grasping the Snitch tightly in his hand. After catching it, he gave Harry a puzzled look, not understanding why Potter was just floating there, watching.
Harry: !!!
Rhys: "..."
Snape: "..."
Both Rhys and Snape were stunned by the unexpected end to the match.
What could they say? Harry's luck was indeed unfortunate, as the mishap occurred during that brief window of a few minutes.
Snape thought: I was helping him. Without me, Potter would have been thrown off his broom. Isn't it normal for there to be a bit of an accident during a rescue?
Rhys thought: The reactions of magic are truly fascinating, haha!
Both of them quickly rationalized the situation and comfortably basked in the victory.
By the time Hermione reached Snape, the match was over, and she naturally had no evidence against him. Snape, while clapping for the Slytherin team, glanced down at her.
"Miss Granger, why are you here? If you want to celebrate the victory with Slytherin, you're welcome to join us."
Hermione stared at Snape for a while, then stormed off in a huff.
Although she didn't have the evidence to expose him now, she silently vowed that she would eventually catch him. She decided to immediately find Rhys and tell him what she had seen.
Harry, surrounded by his teammates, landed back on the ground and handed his Nimbus 2000 to Professor McGonagall, who arrived quickly. She was going to conduct a thorough inspection of the broom.
Thus, the first Quidditch match of the school year came to a rather absurd end.
After the match, Rhys didn't join the celebratory Slytherin crowd. Instead, he planned to take advantage of the professors being occupied with lunch to explore the third-floor corridor and find out exactly what Dumbledore had hidden in the school.
As soon as he stepped out into the corridor, someone blocked Rhys' path.
"Hey Hermione, is there something you need?"
"Hi Rhys, I have something I must tell you." Hermione looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before lowering her voice.
Rhys motioned for her to go ahead.
Hermione recounted everything she had seen during the Quidditch match.
"Rhys, Snape tried to kill Harry!" She looked anxious. "I need your help to gather evidence."
Rhys sighed: Tsk Tsk. Professor Snape, see what happens when you don't manage your image well?
He could understand, if he were in her shoes and didn't know the truth, he would also think of Snape as a villain.
"Hermione, it's not what you think. Professor Snape is innocent."
And so am I, Rhys silently added in his mind.
"Rhys!" Hermione became agitated when she saw that Rhys didn't believe her.
"Snape was helping Harry, not harming him. If you don't believe me, you can ask Professor Flitwick. He can verify the truth for you."
For Professor Flitwick, such an investigation would be a simple matter of casting a spell.
Rhys' suggestion made Hermione's eyes light up, but then they dimmed again.
"But I don't have any evidence..." Reporting a professor without evidence was an extremely dangerous act in Hermione's mind, so she had instinctively sought out Rhys, whom she considered the most reliable classmate, hoping he could help gather proof of Snape's guilt.
"Then write an anonymous letter. Seriously, I can't believe you didn't think of that." Rhys was genuinely concerned about the modern little witches and wizards' lack of decisiveness.
He took out a piece of parchment, and with swift, fluid strokes, quickly wrote a letter detailing what Hermione had seen.
After showing it to Hermione to confirm that it accurately described the events, Rhys tapped the letter with his wand. The letter transformed into a small paper bird and flew off toward the staff table.
"Professor Flitwick will provide an answer. Snape really is innocent."
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