The Slytherin Magus

Chapter 20. Chasing Glory



We all readied to get into our positions. Captain Jon would be playing as the Keeper while acting as our Coach and Referee at the same time.

I might have been worried about Blythe and Crawley trying to purposely sabotage my play but Captain Jon called them to the side to talk to them when we got to the field.

I could sense them outrightly staring at me but I ignored them, doing a couple of stretches on the perfectly level grass.

"Can you keep up?" Blair drifted closer to me to ask.

I couldn't sense any hostility from her, she was genuinely concerned about me.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me," I reassured her, stretching out my arms.

Captain Jon gave us the signal to take flight and we all did, jumping into the sky to take our positions.

The Quaffle was thrown first and Blair caught it with ease.

We were the only ones on the field so Captain Jon had to handle the release of all the equipment.

Blythe and Crawley were already waiting expectantly with their bats out for the violent metal balls that tried to murder everyone.

The Snitch was also released but it seemed to disappear right away. I wasn't bothered about it though, it wasn't my job to be.

Captain Jon quickly got in the Scoring Box, hovering around the three hoops on the other side of the field.

I had read up on the rules of Quidditch to have an in-depth knowledge of the game, it was quite simple.

Blythe and Crawley were actually decent Beaters but it was hard to not get distracted by metal balls flying your way.

Although I told Blair not to worry about me, she ended up doing everything by herself, getting into a good spot to throw the Quaffle into a hoop only to get stopped by Captain Jon.

We got hold of the ball once again and I told her to pass me the ball that I wanted to try something.

She looked skeptical but she had no other option than to give it to me. She knew that she couldn't win alone against Captain Jon.

"We'll pass it to each other while flying closer to the Scoring Box and then I'll be the one to try to score," I explained quickly to Blair.

She looked like she was about to protest but there was no time to so she was left with no other option.

I threw the ball back to Blair twice as fast as she did to me. Her eyes were wide in disbelief as she struggled to keep up but it also meant that she had a little more faith in me.

Captain Jon was expecting Blair to be the one to enter the Scoring Box so he was caught off guard when I did instead.

He recovered quickly however, falling for my feint to throw it through the middle hoop. 

As soon as he shot forward to block my throw, I spun around and under him, managing a powerful throw in the same moment.

That sent the Quaffle spinning blindingly fast towards the left hoop, there was no chance for Captain Jon to save it.

As soon as it went through the hoop, I flew forward to catch it, zipping around to throw a long curve ball from the left hoop where I was all the way into the right hoop.

Captain Jon had to call a stop to the game. Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't keep playing.

I couldn't blame them, I was just as shocked at how quick my reflexes were. When did I get so good?

I had literally scored two goals in less than a minute. It didn't matter how good the other team's Seeker was, if I racked up an equivalent amount of points or more in the time it took them to catch the Snitch, we would win every time.

And that was if their Seeker was as fast as Harry Potter.

We all got down from our brooms and gathered around Captain Jon. No words were said, they all just gaped at me.

Even Blythe and Crawley were rightfully impressed.

I chuckled inwardly, I was on my way to racking up tons of reputation points. 

"Wow." Blair finally broke the silence. "It's almost like he's a different person."

Captain Jon nodded to show his agreement. "Congratulations, you just secured your spot on the team." He patted my shoulders congenially. "As long as you keep playing the same way you just did, we might even win the Quidditch Cup without breaking a sweat."

I stared coldly at Jon, I wasn't going to forget so easily that he had been a little too quick to kick me off the team even though I was only a reserve who never even played.

I turned my head to the side, pushing a hand through my hair. "You're the boss."

Blair shared a knowing look with Jason, Blythe and Crawley were too dense to pick up on the undercurrents and Jon didn't seem to notice either.

The sun was shining brightly now but I was already warmed up from the air gymnastics I just pulled.

"Alright, team! Let's practice!"

=========

<ATTENTION!!!> : Level - 'WIZARD' Acquired

<REWARD!!!> : 500 SP Awarded

++++++++++++++++

<ATTENTION!!!> : 'Quidditch Player' acquired

<REWARD!!!> : 50 SP Awarded

=========

A series of notification sounds went off in my head but there was no time to check it out, practice had started off again.

We played for the better part of the morning, only stopping when the bell rang to signal breakfast.

At first, I thought that Captain Jon was a decent Keeper but I quickly changed my mind. Also, it could be that I was just that good.

After cleaning up and heading to the Great Hall, I found a nice spot to eat my breakfast.

I was hungry after the practice so I made sure to fill up my plate with food.

Blair slipped into the space beside me, her long brown hair tied into two pigtails.

"I just spoke to the Captain." She went straight to the point, serving herself as well.

I perked up at this, giving her my attention. "What about?"

"That it's better we make you a secret weapon." She said steadily, looking me straight in the eye.

I raised a brow, pausing my fork before it got to my lips. "Oh?"

"Think about it!" She exclaimed with excitement. "No one would be expecting you to be that good, our win against Gryffindor would be absolute."

I faked rubbing my chest like I was in pain. "Ouch, Blair."

She grinned. "So what do you say?"

"How is this going to work?" I asked, getting serious.

"Simple, you play as badly as you like during normal practice but us Chasers and Jon will have our own secret special training. That way anyone who comes to observe our practice would be thrown off course."

I thought it over, it was a really smart move. It didn't matter that after our first game the entire school would know about me because by then the damage would already be done.

"Sure." I agreed dryly. "Why didn't Jon come to tell me himself though?" I asked casually, my eyes sharp.

Blair made a face. "We all found out that he tried to kick you off the team, after the beautiful play you pulled at practice, you have everyone on your side. He knows better than to approach you himself."

I shrugged. "Sure, when's our next practice?"

"We'll not have any normal practice till after we've had the tryouts but there'll be secret practice about 3 times a week, the first will be Friday evening, I'll come find you."

I watched Blair get up and leave, distracted by my thoughts.

Things were going really well and after breakfast, I planned to head to the dorms so that I could properly review the new updates.

So why couldn't I help but feel like I was missing something very important?

I was already on a steady path to being the Quidditch Captain and as long as I leveled up, the game would be won easily.

There was no worrying news either on the Daily Prophet, it was the Wizarding World as usual.

Echo hadn't come to see me today but that was fine, she was welcome anytime.

I got up after eating, making my way to the stone stairs that led to the stone wall that was the entrance to the common room.

"Wolfsbane," I said the password, walking through as the wall opened to the passageway.

I bumped into Captain Jon in the Slytherin common room, he couldn't meet my eyes because he was seated beside Sawyer and had been engaged in an intense conversation before I stepped in.

I leveled him an icy stare, I might have to say a few words to ole Slytherin Captain over here.

"Captain." I acknowledged him, throwing him an air salute.

Although we were both in the same House, I couldn't trust Sawyer's hatred for me not to surpass his loyalty to the House.

I couldn't have Captain Jon saying things that he shouldn't be to Sawyer but that would be later, right now I had something of far more importance to do.


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