Chapter 22 Quidditch Temporary Selection Test
The sun gradually sank, looming amidst the swirling clouds. The golden rays turned into beams of light, shining through the cracks in the clouds and falling towards the distant mountain range. Amidst the magnificent scenery, it brought a sense of the elderly's twilight.
The weather remained cold, and the cold wind continued to whistle over the Quidditch pitch, with faint sounds coming from the Forbidden Forest in the distance.
Maca and Charlotte arrived at the pitch together. He noticed that the grass on the Quidditch pitch had obviously been enchanted; even in the cold winter, it remained lush green.
"Here already? Hurry up and warm up; the test is about to begin." Darren greeted Maca warmly as he approached.
While Maca stretched his legs and arms to warm up, Darren introduced the official players of the Hufflepuff team to him one by one. It turned out that one of the old players was about to graduate, and upon learning of Maca's talent, he simply retired early to prepare for post-graduation work.
Maca greeted the players, and he soon realized that there was another fourth-year student participating in the temporary selection besides him. Whether Maca borrowed the glory of that old player or the fourth-year student borrowed Maca's glory, or perhaps both, remained unknown!
"Alright, let's get started!" Darren smiled and then put on a more serious expression, beginning to explain the test content to the two participants.
The goal of this temporary test was to recruit a suitable Chaser.
In a Quidditch team, there were three Chasers in total. They were responsible for passing the "Quaffle" to each other and trying to throw it into the three goal hoops of the opposing team. Each time the Quaffle went in, it earned ten points for their team.
Chasers needed to have strong teamwork skills and be able to dodge the "Bludgers" sent by the opposing Beaters—clearly, this required a high level of flying ability from the players.
Before finding the Snitch, they had to score as many points as possible by throwing the Quaffle into the hoops, constantly competing for basic points.
The old player who had already retired played this position.
Therefore, this temporary test was divided into three stages according to the selection rules.
In the first stage, candidates needed to participate in catching and passing the Quaffle with the other two active Chasers, testing their reaction speed and passing accuracy.
Among the three types of balls, the Quaffle was the only one that didn't move on its own. It was entirely controlled by the two Chasers.
Sitting on his broomstick, Maca watched the fourth-year student nearby stiffly performing various flying maneuvers and suddenly felt—perhaps he could really do it.
"Not bad, but your reaction speed is too slow; you need to keep an eye on the surroundings at all times!" Charlotte, the Chaser for Hufflepuff, smiled as she spoke when the opponent flew towards them.
She was said to be quite skilled as a Chaser for Hufflepuff.
"Go! My little junior, I think it's you!" Charlotte patted Maca on the back forcefully, almost knocking him off his broomstick.
"Oh! I know—" "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up!"
Maca felt like he was some rare Pokémon being tossed forward by Charlotte, having to go to the field and work tirelessly.
"Let's start!" Fifth-year Chaser Kristen said, and then she passed the Quaffle to Maca.
Maca immediately accelerated forward and caught the Quaffle at the position where it arrived. On the edge of the pitch, Captain Darren kept shouting "move move," urging him to start moving irregularly.
"Pass it to me!" Another Chaser, Charles, shouted loudly, flying behind Maca at this moment.
Maca, who was diving slightly downwards, didn't even turn his head when he heard the shout. He simply tossed the Quaffle backwards from his shoulder, already predicting Charles' exact position.
"Oh! Beautiful reverse pass!" Darren exclaimed excitedly from the sidelines.
It had to be said that Maca's observational skills were indeed very strong. He could keep track of the exact positions of the other two players while closely watching the trajectory of the Quaffle.
"Pass it to me!" Kristen flew past Maca at high speed, with the two of them being only inches apart at the closest point.
Yet Maca still firmly seized the opportunity and passed the Quaffle to her as Kristen flew past.
The standby players on the sidelines couldn't help but cheer, and the two old Chasers inside the pitch exchanged excited glances.
The quick transition move just now wasn't even something Kristen had planned to do, but Maca did it!
The two old players exchanged a glance, planning to coordinate to perform a move that they hadn't even intended to test.
They quickly flew closer on their broomsticks and, with just a "follow me" gesture to Maca, flew forward shoulder to shoulder.
"Twenty feet apart, weaving forward, high-frequency passing!" Charles said.
Maca immediately understood. This was a medium-level technical move from the "Quidditch Classic Moves Collection"—the Trident Attack Formation.
He quickly reached the left position and spiraled in with the other two. In the fast-paced advancement, the Quaffle was passed back and forth between the three of them at an extremely high frequency, leaving the other players on the sidelines breathless.
It wasn't until the three of them individually performed a diving motion to break apart and headed towards their respective goal hoops, drawing three arcs in the air, that they stopped one after another.
Charles smiled awkwardly at Maca. At the last moment of the high-speed passing, he missed catching the Quaffle—he dropped it.
"Charles! It's because you keep making mistakes that we always hesitate to use high-level moves in official matches! Let's see how you face Maca today; remember, he's just a first-year!" Kristen laughed, teasing Charles loudly, pointing at him with her slender fingers.
Maca looked at this spirited short-haired girl and recalled the feeling of cooperation just now, feeling exhilarated.
"Oh—I know! I'll practice hard next time and set a good example for Maca." Charles scratched his head and laughed along.
It seemed that Maca had already been internally chosen by the two active Chasers in the first stage.
"Captain, I think that's it! It's him, no doubt!" Kristen shouted loudly to the captain, Darren.
Maca saw Darren nodding as well and glanced at the somewhat disheartened other participant. He felt that accepting this situation peacefully didn't fit the image he had worked so hard to create.
He thought for a moment and then said to Darren, "I think it's better to complete the test; otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to the senior who participated in the selection with me."
Darren looked back at the fourth-year student next to Charlotte and nodded.
"Well said," Darren said, "Let's continue to the second stage of the test, scoring goals."
Of course, it wasn't as simple as just throwing the Quaffle at the goal hoops; the goalkeeper wasn't easy to deal with!
And the goalkeeper for the Hufflepuff team was none other than the captain—Darren Chris.
"Hey, little junior! Our Captain Darren's goalkeeping skills are average, so be gentle on him; don't hurt his self-esteem!" Charlotte hugged Maca's shoulder, smiling mischievously, with no intention of lowering her voice.
"I can hear you!" Darren, at the goal not far away, turned around and intentionally glared at them fiercely!
The test for the fourth-year student ended quickly. Out of ten balls, he scored three, which was actually not bad for a participant. Of course, this also indicated that Darren's goalkeeping skills were indeed average.
It was Maca's turn. Holding the Quaffle, he looked at Darren with some hesitation.
"Don't worry! The stronger you are, the happier I am, after all, you're one of us Hufflepuffs!" Darren smiled at Maca.
Maca nodded at the reassurance, dispelling his doubts, and dashed towards the hoop on the right.
Darren immediately reacted and moved a bit to the right, guessing whether Maca was going to shoot or just trying to shake him off.
He had seen Maca's flying movements just now, and the smooth and swift small arc movements undoubtedly proved Maca's flexibility.
Closer, closer, Maca indeed began to ascend and rotate.
Darren immediately moved towards the center hoop, but Maca only ascended without any lateral movement.
It was a feint! Deceive the goalkeeper with the false impression of a small rotating movement, retreat to the height of the hoop, and then throw the ball.
The Quaffle was thrown into the empty right hoop without any surprises, a beautiful goal!
Ten rounds of practice didn't take long. Under Darren's defense, Maca scored 90 points without hesitation. If it weren't for the last ball being grazed by Darren's fingertips, Maca might have scored full marks.
"Amazing!" Darren, with a bitter face, greeted Maca to fly to the sidelines, saying as he flew, "In this year's Quidditch Cup, you will be our Hufflepuff team's secret weapon! No, the super-secret weapon!"
"I've never seen a newcomer with such strong talent! It's like those monsters in the professional selection matches!"
"Captain Darren, don't say that. Quidditch is a team sport, not something one person can dominate the entire game." Maca smiled.
Indeed, that was the case. For example, in the World Cup, there were always some elite players who were surprisingly strong, but so what? In the total-point system of Quidditch matches, winning more matches didn't guarantee the championship. Personal heroism was always just a joke.
Even the 150-point Golden Snitch would pale in comparison to the basic points earned through high-level teamwork. Not to mention the personal skills of the Chasers—teamwork was the key.
"Next is the final stage; the test content is very simple, just try to avoid the attacks launched by the Beaters towards you!"