Early on the weekend morning, Kyle had just come out of his room to go for a run when he was blocked by Cedric, who had been waiting in the common room for who knows how long.
Cedric had a large wooden crate tucked under his left arm, and with his right hand, he was dragging a drowsy fellow along the floor.
Seeing Kyle's curious gaze, Cedric released his right hand with some embarrassment. "This is our House Quidditch team captain, Jack Sparrow."
Because Cedric suddenly let go, Jack instantly flopped onto the floor with a splat. His face had an intimate encounter with the ground, which finally startled him out of his drowsiness.
Jolted awake, Jack opened his eyes, which were framed by heavy dark circles, and looked up at Cedric. "What happened? Was there an earthquake?"
Kyle's face twitched. No wonder the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was always at the bottom of the league every year. With such an unreliable captain, it would be a miracle if they could win a match.
Cedric covered his face in embarrassment. "Jack, have you forgotten that we're supposed to give Kyle his entry test today?"
It took Jack a moment to force his eyes to focus properly. Barely awake, he apologized profusely to both Kyle and Cedric.
Looking out the window at the pitch-black sky, Kyle was a bit confused. Why did they need to hold the Quidditch team tryout so early?
And a solo tryout just for him?
Cedric quickly answered Kyle's doubts.
"The fact that you're becoming Hufflepuff's new Beater definitely won't stay a secret," Cedric said, glancing at the sky outside the castle which showed only the faintest hint of light. "But if we test you during a time like this when no one is around, we can minimize the leak of information."
The three of them soon arrived at the Quidditch pitch.
Hundreds of seats were raised high on stands around the field so spectators could see what was happening on the pitch.
At each end of the field stood three golden poles with hoops at the top; those were the goalposts. As long as you could throw the Quaffle into any of the hoops, you would score ten points.
However, compared to the one hundred and fifty points gained from catching the Golden Snitch, it was relatively little.
Captain Jack opened the wooden crate, revealing four balls of different sizes inside.
"I don't need to explain the Quidditch ball types to you, right?"
Cedric took a wooden club out of the crate and handed it to Kyle. It looked a bit like a baseball bat.
Kyle tried swinging the club in his hand; it felt a bit light.
"Stand back," Jack warned Kyle. Two shiny black balls were struggling desperately inside the crate, trying to escape the leather straps binding them.
Cedric bent down and released the restraint on one of the Bludgers. Instantly, the black ball shot up into the air with a whoosh, then flew straight at Kyle's face.
Kyle tilted his head to dodge the Bludger that seemed intent on smashing his nose, then crooked his finger at Cedric.
"Throw the Quaffle out too."
Cedric looked at Kyle in surprise, then at the Bludger behind him which, having missed its first strike, had turned around in mid-air and was attacking the back of Kyle's head.
"Are you sure?"
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Kyle swung the bat backhand and knocked the Bludger flying. "I'm sure. Bring it on."
Jack cupped the bright red Quaffle, which was about the size of a soccer ball, and tossed it hard into the air.
Kyle gripped the bat with both hands, staring intently at the Bludger attacking for the third time, while his mind rapidly calculated the trajectories of both it and the Quaffle.
With a bang, the Bludger was knocked away by Kyle again.
The black Bludger traced an arc through the air.
At the exact moment the Quaffle reached its apex and began to fall, the Bludger struck it precisely.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of the two balls colliding, the Quaffle's trajectory immediately changed.
When they saw the Quaffle pass through the goal hoop, both Cedric and Jack rubbed their eyes with looks of disbelief on their faces.
After passing through the hoop, the Quaffle, having lost its momentum, fell heavily onto the grass below with a dull thud.
The two of them were still a bit dazed.
That shot... surely it was a fluke?
Kyle swung himself onto his broomstick. "Ced, shall we officially start the test?"
Cedric snapped out of it, looking at Kyle with shining eyes. "That shot just now wasn't a fluke, was it?"
"You can try a few more times, then you'll know if it was luck," Kyle said lightly.
Are you kidding? This was the Shurikenjutsu inherited from the God Itachi himself!
It would be even better if he could swap the wooden bat in his hand for a metal one. Kyle weighed the bat in his hand; he would be much handier with that.
In that case, Kyle felt he could attempt any kind of strangely curving Bludger shot.
That would make it impossible for the amateur Quidditch players on the opposing side to defend against.
Watching Kyle easily use the Bludger to knock the Quaffle into the goal from all sorts of inconceivable angles, the excitement on Cedric and Jack's faces could hardly be suppressed.
The hitting angles were tricky and weird enough, but the power behind the Bludgers Kyle hit didn't seem like something an ordinary first-year young wizard could produce.
Cedric had long known that Kyle's physical fitness was extraordinary, but even so...
Hearing the shrieking sound generated by the rapidly flying Bludger, Cedric had no doubt that if it hit an opposing player, it would instantly knock them down, leaving them unable to return to the field.
What Cedric didn't know was that, aside from his extraordinary physical fitness, Kyle had secretly activated two techniques that could be used without a wand: Lightning Body Forging and Monstrous Strength.
Time passed bit by bit, and the sun gradually poked its head out from between the mountains.
Glancing at the sky, it was about time for the Hogwarts students to wake up.
Cedric waved at Kyle, who was still soaring in the sky. "Hey! Kyle! Time to go back!"
On the way back to the castle, Jack patted Kyle on the shoulder with great jubilation.
"Our names will be engraved on the Quidditch Cup this year—provided you can perform at this level during the official matches."
Kyle wasn't the least bit worried about underperforming in an official match; what he wanted to know more right now was...
"Ced, I recall that the final ownership of the Quidditch Cup is decided by the cumulative points we score throughout the season, right?"
"That's right, why?" Cedric answered casually.
A savage grin climbed onto Kyle's face. "What would happen if we racked up two or three thousand points with the Quaffle in a single match?"
"Are you saying..." Cedric instantly got excited.
Jack understood Kyle's idea immediately and quickly said what Kyle wanted to say:
"Take out the opposing Seeker with a Bludger first, ensuring they can't catch the Golden Snitch..."
On the way back to the castle, the three main players of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team smiled very wickedly.
Judging by their appearance, this year's Quidditch Cup should be in the bag.
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