Harry Potter: Returns Back From Game of Thrones (ASOIAF) - 42

Chapter 42: The Strongest Person Is Already in Our Ranks!

Time quickly passed like this. Harry received his broomstick—the Nimbus 2000 Professor McGonagall bought—went to the pitch twice, and roughly understood the rules.

Quidditch had different types of balls. Three Chasers competed to score with the Quaffle through goal hoops; the Keeper guarded those goalposts—this part was relatively like normal sports.

Just looking at the Quaffle made it seem like aerial polo.

Beaters weren't quite normal, though. They were responsible for keeping Bludgers from injuring their own team members while simultaneously hitting those same Bludgers toward opposing players to cause harm.

"Let me confirm—playing this sport has really never killed anyone? I feel using this ball to smash someone's skull is all too easy, plus high-altitude ground impact for finishing secondary damage."

Harry squeezed the Bludger experimentally. With his years of combat experience from [A Song of Ice and Fire], this thing was more suitable than most weapons for killing people.

This was still rules-allowed—victory and defeat weren't determined outside the pitch. You could legitimately kill people during play.

"Uh, generally just concussions and fractures. Normal force can't kill people. Anyway, Hogwarts should have no student deaths on the pitch... right? At least I haven't seen it happen. I've only seen several people get their jaws shattered."

Harry wanted to complain—are you really attending a modern school?

But then again, wizards—some concepts being relatively barbaric was perfectly normal for their society.

"As for adult professional wizard matches, with trained referees present, deaths are relatively few."

Well, "relatively few." Harry noted that wizards were genuinely hardcore about their sports.

This ball sport was rough and savage, actively encouraging hitting Bludgers directly toward opposing players—hitting both ball and people simultaneously. He didn't understand why wizards enjoyed it so much. Possibly because their healing potions had particularly good effects on external injuries, and wizard bodies were relatively durable compared to ordinary people.

Actually Harry also quite liked this confrontational aspect. Unfortunately, his position couldn't engage in that violence.

His position was Seeker, responsible for catching the Golden Snitch—a tiny winged ball.

The Seeker's sole job was to catch it. If either team's Seeker caught the Golden Snitch, his team would gain an additional one hundred fifty points—practically guaranteeing victory in most circumstances.

Most teams wouldn't pull score differences to one hundred fifty points unless strength gaps were extremely large between squads.

But if the Seeker was truly exceptional, completing matches quickly meant opponents had no opportunity to accumulate compensating points.

Only when the Golden Snitch was caught did Quidditch matches officially end, so sometimes a match lasted many days—the highest record Wood knew was approximately three months of continuous play. Players would rotate down to sleep briefly, then keep playing until someone finally secured complete victory.

"Alright, that's everything—any questions?"

Harry shook his head.

He actually felt the rules were very unbalanced. The Seeker's role became far too important, practically the sole protagonist.

Unless opponents had exceptionally formidable Beaters who could continuously assault Seekers with Bludgers, otherwise when Seekers used superior speed to locate the Golden Snitch, other positions became nearly irrelevant to the outcome.

But now the Seeker was himself, equivalent to a guaranteed victory for Gryffindor—then no problem whatsoever.

Anyway, he didn't particularly want to play sports. Harry just wanted to win attribute points from the achievement system.

His desire for victory and power far exceeded any trivial competitive enjoyment. Becoming stronger genuinely excited him in ways entertainment never could.

As for cultivating worthy opponents or prioritizing friendship over competition—that didn't exist in his mindset. This was a champion's mentality.

"This is the Golden Snitch. We won't use it for training at first," Wood said carefully, putting the Golden Snitch he'd shown Harry back in its protective box and closing the lid. "It's too dark out—we'll lose it easily. Let's use some practice balls instead for your initial training."

"No need. Use the Golden Snitch directly."

Harry's presence itself carried overwhelming persuasion. Charisma was the foundation of his authority.

After hearing that decisive statement, Wood didn't refute the command, directly releasing the Golden Snitch into the darkening air.

The instant the Snitch attempted to flee at high speed, Harry's hand shot out faster than Wood could even track visually—the Snitch was already dancing in his palm, wings fluttering uselessly.

"Too simple. Is this against regulations? Should I wait for it to finish accelerating and establish proper distance first?"

Without waiting for Wood's reply, Harry released the Golden Snitch again into the evening air.

Wood stood frozen in amazement. "You're incredibly fast... worthy of your reputation... Wait, you're still not chasing? I can barely see its flight path anymore."

"Don't rush. Let the Snitch fly a while longer..."

Harry mounted his broomstick, slowly circling in place with perfect control. Though clearly riding a broomstick, he rode it with commanding presence, as if leading cavalry charges from another lifetime.

An aura of someone who'd commanded thousands of troops, ready to charge forward at his slightest gesture.

"Three minutes. I'll finish this."

Without any difficulty, two and a half minutes later, Harry retrieved the Golden Snitch effortlessly.

Afterward he repeated the exercise several times, each capture faster and smoother than the last.

Strolling leisurely through the air, catching Snitches seemed as simple as reaching into his pocket.

Wood was beyond happy—he was witnessing something superhuman!

Harry's vision, his speed, his riding technique, his confidence, his pride, his overwhelming dominance!

A perfect athlete—and his capabilities weren't even his limit. The sky itself was his only boundary!

Wood watched with such intense fascination that he could barely form coherent thoughts.

My God, it's Lord Harry Potter himself!

Is this the savior's true strength?

The strongest player is already in our ranks!

Lord Potter! I've witnessed your obsessive drive for victory! I've understood your absolute commitment to being first!

Gryffindor at this moment is fifty times more powerful than ever before!

Wood laughed almost uncontrollably, his expression wild with elation.

With such overwhelming talent on the team, how could mere Slytherin possibly resist?

What team in all of Hogwarts could compete?!

Professor McGonagall had been absolutely right—Gryffindor could now be called genuinely invincible, truly unstoppable!

With this caliber of Seeker, competing against national teams would be trivially easy. Wood could put his grandmother beside Harry Potter on the pitch, and they'd still win the Quidditch World Cup effortlessly!

"This year's Quidditch Cup will be engraved with our names," Wood said with absolute confidence as they walked back toward the castle. "Previously I thought Charlie Weasley was excellent—the strongest young player I'd ever seen. If he hadn't left to research dragons, he'd definitely represent England's national team. I'd always hoped he could have enrolled the same year as me so we could play together, but now he's not the strongest anymore—can't even compare to one percent of your ability, Harry! As for Charlie, I wish him happiness in his dragon research."

Perhaps because Harry stayed so busy now—mainly due to his intense drive for progress—besides attending all required courses and learning new practical magical skills, his training of those master-level close combat techniques from [A Song of Ice and Fire] became increasingly demanding as skill caps further opened.

Plus investigating those potentially attribute-point-earning achievement opportunities—so when Harry suddenly realized he'd already stayed at Hogwarts for two whole months, he felt genuinely shocked at how quickly time had passed.