Sunday morning, the weather was sunny.
Albert sat in the auditorium, humming an unknown tune as he put slices of black pudding into his mouth with a fork.
Shera fluttered her wings and landed between the salad and sugar jar, placing a thick letter within Albert's reach.
"You've worked hard." Albert moved the food away from the surrounding area, reached out and patted Shera's back, took out some owl nuts from his pocket and placed them in front of Shera, then picked up the envelope and opened it. Inside were letters from Luke, Herbert and Daisy, and a letter from Nia. The envelope also contained a photo of Nia blowing bubbles with Super Bubble Gum.
"What are you looking at?" Aria walked over, sat down opposite her, and asked curiously.
"A letter from home." Albert folded the letter and put it in his pocket. After finishing her nuts, Shera flew back to the owl's hut to rest.
"By the way, Albert, are you going to practice at the stadium this morning?" Angelina came over and sat down next to Arya, continuing, "Charlie said there's Quidditch practice this morning. Well, he told me to tell you that it's okay even if you can't become a regular player for now; the team still needs substitutes."
"Oh, it seems I have no reason to refuse." Albert nodded and said, "After I finish eating, I'll go wake Fred and the others up."
"No...we're already up." Fred covered a long yawn with his hand and greeted everyone, "Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning."
"Good morning, Albert," Charlie greeted him with a smile as he followed behind George and the other two.
"You don't know, Charlie is practically possessed by the devil. Who starts training so early in the morning?" George secretly made a face at Albert.
Charlie sat down beside him and asked, "Shall we go together later?"
"OK."
"Charlie, it's only seven o'clock," a muscular young man couldn't help but complain. "Are you sure we want to start training now?"
The early bird catches the worm.
"Isn't it good to eat meat?" Lee Jordan sat down on Albert's other side, put two slices of fried meat on his plate, took a bite, and muttered, "What's so good about bugs?"
Albert quickly covered his mouth to avoid spitting out the food.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Lee Jordan asked Albert, blinking in confusion.
"nothing."
"Ahem, this is Wood, our goalkeeper." Charlie patted a young man beside him and introduced, "Fred and George, my brother. This is Albert, you didn't see him flying on a broom last time, he's a genius. You would never believe that this is Albert's first time riding a broom, so light… agile…"
Albert turned his head away. Although it was someone else praising him, he felt awkward for some reason, especially since everyone around him was looking at him.
Angelina smiled and mouthed, silently saying: I didn't expect you to be so amazing!
"Ahem." Albert coughed lightly, interrupting Charlie, and asked, "What are we going to do without brooms?"
"I've already explained to Professor Hodge that I'll borrow a few old brooms from the school for you to use," Charlie added, "Of course, don't expect them to be very good."
After breakfast, everyone left the castle in groups, walked across the dew-covered grass, and headed towards the football field along the grassy slope.
Along the way, Charlie introduced the veteran Gryffindor Quidditch players to Albert and the other newcomers.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team consists of six men and one woman, and they all get along well. It is said that two of the batters are a couple.
Charlie pointed to the only girl among the official players and said, "This is the power hitter, Erin."
Erin was a lovely girl, and on the surface, she didn't seem as violent as Charlie's words suggested. She smiled at everyone and introduced herself: "Mark and I are the batters on the team. This is our last year at Hogwarts. And don't listen to Charlie's nonsense, I'm not violent at all."
"Hehe... I haven't forgotten who it was that used a baseball bat to knock so-and-so off the broom last time, and got suspended by Professor Huo Qi, causing us to lose the competition last semester."
"No, that was just an accident. I just used a little too much force and accidentally hit his leg..."
"You almost broke someone's bones," Charlie complained helplessly. "Otherwise, why would Professor Hodge have suspended you?"
"There's a big difference between a fracture and a near fracture," Eileen protested. "Besides, he was the one who tried to knock me off the broom first."
"Hmph." Charlie scoffed at this, not forgetting the conflict between the two, and continued, "The one next to Eileen is her boyfriend, the treacherous Mark."
"Hey Charlie, when have I ever been cunning?" Mark coughed lightly and shook hands with Albert. "Don't listen to his nonsense. By the way, this somewhat dull-looking Wood next to me is the team's goalkeeper."
"How am I dull?" Wood couldn't help but protest.
"In the second game against Ravenclaw last semester, you just stood there like a statue, missing several bad shots, and you still said you weren't standing there." Mark cleverly used Wood to divert everyone's attention.
"Ahem, back then…" Wood coughed lightly, "back then… I was just watching you elbow someone in the face, okay?"
"Really? Well, that was just an accident. Even Professor Huo Qi thinks so."
Accident?
The others scoffed at this.
"Well, that guy Kula was so arrogant, acting like he had us all figured out," Mark said, looking annoyed. "Besides, at that height, he only got a minor injury. I remember last time the Slytherin batter was even worse; he hit Hufflepuff's Seeker so hard his nose bled, and that bastard only got a mild warning."
Albert was a little stunned. Was this really the Quidditch I knew?
This is actually violent Quidditch!
"Charlie, has anyone ever died in Quidditch?" Albert asked cautiously.
"Basically none. At most, there are serious injuries, but they can usually be treated in time." Charlie realized that the tone of his words was off, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "Then, these are our three Chaser players, Mario, Danny, and Jack."
"It's an acrobatic trio," Eileen added.
"Don't call us the acrobatic trio," the three complained in unison. "And don't think we can't hear you."
"If you guys hadn't caused trouble, our chances of winning last semester would have increased by at least 20%." Charlie felt a bit tired. Having just taken over as Quidditch captain, he really wanted to achieve something.