The Gryffindor Seeker was hit by a sudden Bludger!
It plummeted straight down from mid-air!
The Slytherin Beater looked completely bewildered, utterly unaware that someone in the stands was silently reciting an incantation.
He remembered hitting the Bludger toward Wood, so how had it ended up at the opponent's Seeker?
Could it be that he had mastered some legendary Bludger control technique?
Could it make a Bludger turn mid-flight?
"Oh, the Gryffindor Seeker has been knocked off his broom by Slytherin!"
"I hope he's safe and sound!"
"Evil Slytherin!"
Lee Jordan's last muttered remark prompted Professor McGonagall to cough as a reminder.
Discontent rippled through the Gryffindor stands.
Ron, a die-hard Quidditch fan, was so angry he almost cursed out loud.
Madam Hooch quickly called a pause in the match and sent the injured Gryffindor player to Madam Pomfrey.
The game paused at halftime.
The Gryffindor team returned to the common room with somber expressions.
"Wood, how's Moxey?"
How serious was the injury?
The substitute Seeker, Harry, quickly went over to inquire.
Wood looked at Harry with a serious expression: "Harry, you need to be ready to take the field now."
"I?"
Harry looked at his own height and realized he was noticeably shorter than the people around him.
Was he scared?
"A little."
"It's alright!" Wood patted Harry on the shoulder.
"I was like that the first time I played!"
"But no matter what you do, there's always a first time."
"Come on!"
After a short rest, Madam Hooch returned from the school hospital.
The game restarted!
"Look, Gryffindor has sent out their new Seeker!"
"The famous savior, Harry Potter!"
Harry, riding his broomstick, looked around the pitch with a mixture of tension and excitement.
Draco, hovering a short distance away, spoke up: "Harry! This time we're going to have a real showdown!"
"Certainly!"
Whoosh!
The whistle blew, and the game resumed!
Compared to before, this confrontation between the two sides was even more intense.
Slytherin made no attempt to conceal their tactics, using near-foul play to knock down Gryffindor players one by one.
Harry watched with growing anxiety.
Just then, the Golden Snitch appeared before him!
Harry chased after it almost reflexively.
Draco followed closely behind.
Although he had started a bit late, the Nimbus 2000's speed was far beyond what the old relics of Hogwarts could match.
In just a few seconds, he was already flying alongside Harry.
"A... Argus, who do you think will catch the Snitch, Draco or Harry Potter?"
Slytherin Prefect Gemma Farley thought for a long time before finally mustering the courage to speak to Argus.
Ever since witnessing Lucius's attitude toward Argus, he had always felt a sense of guilt when looking at Argus.
"Draco, his broom is much better than Harry's, and his mentality is also stronger than Harry's."
"Although my flying talent is a little lacking, it's not by much."
Argus' attention wasn't on Quidditch; his eyes kept glancing at the professors' table.
Seemingly sensing that Argus wasn't very interested in this, Gemma Farley didn't dwell on the topic.
He then focused intently on watching the game.
As time went on, Draco's broom became increasingly advantageous.
He had already left Harry firmly behind.
Harry was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.
Suddenly, he felt a restlessness in his scar.
Immediately afterward, the broom began to shake incessantly!
The shaking grew worse, with a clear trend of throwing him off!
A series of gasps came from the stands!
From the stands, Argus could vaguely see Quirrell staring intently at Harry.
Making a prayer gesture with his hands!
"My teacher, you finally couldn't hold back anymore!"
"What good will it do you to take action now? With so many professors around, Harry might fall off his broom."
"Even if you were to be resurrected in your prime, they could still put up a fight against you!"
Below Quirrell, Lucius was chatting with Snape, constantly boasting about his son's excellence.
This forced Snape to find no time to cast a counter-curse on the broom.
Harry's best friend Ron was completely lacking in Hermione's intelligence and keen observation skills.
Faced with Harry's crisis, he could only stomp his feet in frustration.
"What are you going to do next, my dear?"
"Without anyone to protect you, your broom won't last long before you fall off."
Argus watched their movements with a completely spectator's attitude.
He wasn't Harry's nanny, so there was no need for him to think about everything for him.
So what if he fell? It was no big deal!
Only Snape would risk exposing himself to help!
But Argus forgot that his close friend was also on the pitch with Harry!
Draco!
Seeing his friend about to fall to the ground, Draco ignored the Golden Snitch that was right in front of him and turned to rush toward Harry.
At the critical moment, Draco grabbed Harry's hand.
He didn't let him get left behind.
But the broom continued to shake and crashed directly into Draco's Nimbus 2000.
Click!
With a soft crack, Harry's broom broke.
At the last second, Draco pulled Harry onto his broom.
With the cushioning effect of the Nimbus 2000, the two crashed heavily to the ground.
After a brief silence, the stadium erupted into a deafening roar!
As Argus watched the two boys' actions, he couldn't help but recall the scene in the original book where Harry pulled Draco out of the Fiendfyre.
He shook his head and smiled helplessly.
This could be considered as repaying Harry's kindness in saving him ahead of schedule.
...
The Quidditch match ended in a Slytherin victory.
After receiving thanks from the Gryffindors, Draco turned around and saw Lucius's cold face.
The smile froze on his face.
"Dad..."
"Who told you to do something so dangerous! Do you know what the consequences of falling from the sky are!"
"Dad, Harry... Harry is my friend!"
"So what! There are so many professors in the stands, and Madam Pomfrey from the school hospital—it's not your turn to help!"
After Lucius finished speaking, as if he had realized something, he took a deep breath and barely suppressed the anger in his heart.
"Go back now, I have things to do. I'll settle the score with you later!"
Shortly after Draco left dejectedly, Argus emerged from the shadows.
"Mr. Grindelwald, I'm sorry to have made you laugh."
"Mr. Malfoy, Draco did a good job. You didn't need to be so angry."
Argus had been nearby when Lucius reprimanded Draco.
He knew that no matter how good his relationship with Draco was, he had no right to interfere in the boy's family matters.
Only after the reprimand was nearly over did he quietly reveal a trace of his presence.
"You know how dangerous what just happened was; this child actually did it for his so-called friends..."
When it came to Draco, Lucius was no different from any other parent, equally troubled by his child.
"It's good to have friends, Mr. Malfoy. May I ask you something?"
Did he still have any truly close friends now?
Lucius was stunned by that one question.
Yes, he didn't know when it had started.
He no longer had any friends with whom he could speak his mind.
He spoke to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghostly way, sometimes not even knowing whether what he was saying was true or false.
A classmate at Hogwarts, and a childhood playmate.
They had all gone their separate ways for various reasons.
Even if Snape remained, he could only be considered an old acquaintance, not a close friend.
He was lost in his memories for an unknown amount of time before he finally snapped out of them.
Looking at Argus's retreating figure, he suddenly uttered a sentence.
"And you, Argus, who are your true friends?"
"I?"
"My path can only be walked alone."
...
Follow on p@treon/Ren_Saga for more FREE advance chapters