Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the second week of school arrived.
Students' enthusiasm for new things is always fleeting; their attention soon shifted from gossip about Adelaide and The Chosen One to the Quidditch team selection lists submitted by each house to Madam Hooch.
At noon that day, Adelaide and Cho Chang were enjoying lunch when a sudden heavy thud of footsteps caught their attention.
An angry Senior Natasha strode over and plopped down across from them.
"I'm absolutely fuming!"
"How can they judge that Ravenclaw's Quidditch team will be at the bottom again this year just because only 21 people applied?" Senior Natasha said indignantly, stuffing a lamb chop into her mouth.
Adelaide raised an eyebrow; she had already heard about the selection lists from Madam Hooch yesterday.
As far as she knew, Hufflepuff had the most applicants with 43, while Gryffindor, the most active in Flying Class, had 36.
Although Slytherin had fewer students, most were from pure-blood families; having been exposed to Quidditch since childhood, their riding skills were much higher than the average of other houses, and 30 people had applied this time.
Ravenclaw had the fewest applicants, only 21—of course, this wasn't surprising.
Firstly, the student population of Ravenclaw House was the smallest to begin with, and secondly, most Ravenclaw students were overachievers who preferred staying indoors and burying their heads in books, showing little interest in outdoor activities like Quidditch.
Moreover, Ravenclaw had a major disadvantage compared to other houses—students from other houses would unhesitatingly sign up for Quidditch tryouts as long as they were decent at riding a flying broomstick.
But in Ravenclaw, even if some students were quite good at riding, they might choose to give up the sport out of concern that Quidditch training would take up their precious study time.
Jessica, who had sidled over at some point, offered comfort: "Don't mind those fools' opinions, Natasha. A Quidditch match doesn't need many people; our team only needs seven elites."
Natasha nodded heavily, then quickly devoured the lamb chop like a whirlwind before relentlessly 'attacking' the delicious pumpkin pasties.
After eating her fill, she turned her gaze toward Adelaide and Cho Chang sitting opposite her, her eyes flashing with a strong fighting spirit.
"It's our house's turn for player selection this Wednesday at four in the afternoon," Natasha said in a low voice.
"I made a bet with the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Wood, earlier. If a newcomer from our house performs better than their veteran Gryffindor players during the tryouts, they'll let us set our training schedule first; otherwise, we'll have to wait for them to finish scheduling the Quidditch Pitch and pick from their leftover free time."
She paused, her eyes fixed like torches on Adelaide and Cho Chang as she continued, "You two are the newcomers I'm currently most optimistic about in the house—if a miracle is to happen, you're the ones most likely to create it."
"I hope you don't let me down in this Wednesday's selection, and more importantly, don't embarrass our house!"
Natasha's position in the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was equivalent to vice-captain; everyone believed the captain's responsibilities would be handed to her after the current captain graduated next year.
Her words carried a sense of heavy pressure, but they also contained trust and encouragement for Adelaide and Cho Chang.
Her gaze swept back and forth between the two, seemingly assessing whether they could handle the responsibility.
"The Slytherin and Hufflepuff captains will also come to watch our selection. We need to give them a'surprise' so they never dare to look down on us again! Understood?"
Adelaide and Cho Chang glanced at each other and nodded in understanding.
Adelaide knew in her heart how important this year's quidditch cup was for Ravenclaw House; it could be said to directly determine whether Ravenclaw was qualified to vie for this year's house cup.
After all, Gryffindor House had a powerful 'bug' like Harry this year—Adelaide was truly uncertain how far Dumbledore would go in favoring Gryffindor to boost Harry's reputation.
Sigh, it seems I'll have to cause Professor Snape more trouble this year.
Adelaide sighed inwardly; Snape was the pillar of point-deduction for Gryffindor House. Perhaps if Professor Snape was unhappy, he would deduct more points from Gryffindor, turning them into 'Gryffin-less'.
The weather on Wednesday was like most weather in Britain—gloomy and damp.
However, for Hogwarts students, they were long accustomed to such weather.
After all, they were British and had a natural adaptability to weather without sun.
In fact, this gloomy weather actually had some benefits for Quidditch players.
Because during flight, they didn't have to worry about sunlight shining directly into their eyes, causing blurred vision or even tearing.
This way, players could focus more on the game and perform at their best.
That morning, Adelaide uncharacteristically woke up earlier than Cho Chang. She stood at the head of Cho Chang's bed holding a long, slender package, startling the half-awake and groggy Cho Chang, who pulled a chopstick from the bedside and waved it blindly at Adelaide for a while.
Adelaide helplessly took the chopstick from Cho Chang's hand and then said gently, "Dear Cho, I bought you a birthday gift early this year!"
"It just so happens there are no classes this morning, so you can go to the pitch to get used to this gift. It's best if you can use it for the tryouts this afternoon; I guarantee it'll be much better than your Cleansweep Six!"
Cho Chang took the long, slender package Adelaide handed over and unwrapped it.
Although she was mentally prepared before opening it, she was still stunned when she saw what was inside—it was actually the latest Nimbus 2000!
A surge of indescribable joy welled up in Cho Chang's heart; she was so excited she almost jumped. Adelaide had never seen Cho Chang express her feelings so clearly.
But Cho Chang was just thinking that with this Nimbus 2000, she could use matching brooms with Adelaide!
---------------------------------
I hope you enjoy this fanfiction! If you're having fun and want to read 30 chapters in advance, feel free to check out my Patreon: patreon.com/TLScarlet
Your support means a lot so if you like the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone.