Compared to the two senior players, Malfoy's luck was far worse.
When others fell, there were warning signs, and the professors managed to catch them in time... But Malfoy sped downward uncontrollably and crashed into the ground, leaving no time for anyone to react.
Quidditch really wasn't a safe sport.
During William's first game in the time loop, he was hit in the head by a Bludger only thirty seconds in, and died on the spot.
No one in the world understood death better than William!
Malfoy let out a scream that sounded like a pig being slaughtered and curled up on the grass, his robes stained with patches of blood.
"I'm going to die!" he shouted. "I'm dying... I'll never play this stupid game again!"
"Time-out!" Lee Jordan shouted, "Malfoy's down on the ground, and... oh dear, his leg's twisted up to his head.
"From my years of clinical experience, I'd say his leg is broken. Someone call Madam Pomfrey!"
"They should ban the entire Ravenclaw team permanently!" Pansy Parkinson wailed, her face drenched in tears.
"Cho Chang should be expelled immediately. That witch!!"
Cedric, whose ears were exceptionally sharp, heard Cho's name even from several hundred yards away.
He casually picked up seven or eight dungbombs and hurled them toward the Slytherin stands, then pretended as if nothing had happened, gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.
Snape narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping coldly through the Gryffindor crowd, searching for the twins.
Damn! If he caught them, they'd be done for!
At that moment, Lockhart pushed through the crowd and strode forward.
"Make way! Professor Lockhart is here! Don't forget, I'm a master of healing magic.
"In my book Waltzing with Dementors, I saved a Dementor Queen, who even wanted to give me a French kiss..."
Lockhart babbled as he squeezed his way to Malfoy's side.
"My, my... What a nasty fall—cough, I mean, how unfortunate, truly unfortunate!" Lockhart tutted and clicked his tongue in sympathy, flashing a dazzling row of gleaming teeth.
"Child, if you had even half my Quidditch skills, you wouldn't have fallen... Of course, with talent like mine, I could've easily made the Scottish national team.
"But not everyone is as gifted as I am."
"But don't worry, I can make your pain vanish in a second."
Lockhart knelt to examine Malfoy's condition.
Malfoy groaned continuously, panting and ordering Lockhart to get lost and not touch him with his dirty hands.
"Come on now! It'll only hurt for a second, like getting jabbed in the bum, and then the pain will disappear," Lockhart reassured him.
"It'll even feel pleasant, refreshing, really. I'm quite skilled and experienced in this area!"
"Fine!" Malfoy relented, urging, "Just be gentle and make it quick!"
Lockhart smiled, rolled up the sleeves of his emerald-green robes, and spun his wand, aiming it at Malfoy's leg.
A strange, overwhelmingly uncomfortable sensation shot like lightning from Malfoy's thighs straight to the soles of his feet.
The intensity of it made him cry out involuntarily.
Judy Crouch drew in a sharp breath, she recognized that spell all too well!
Back in the day, when she was still a novice, she'd used the same spell to completely remove Professor Tywin's femur.
She often wondered if that man was happy, or even remotely comfortable, during his time in Azkaban.
A second later, Malfoy really didn't feel any pain anymore. He wobbled as he tried to stand up and promptly collapsed back onto the ground.
"My leg..."
"Ah!" Lockhart exclaimed, "Yes, well, that does happen sometimes.
"After all, after your first time, walking is bound to feel... a little awkward.
"But the key point is that your bones are all reattached now. That's what you should really remember.
"Alright, Malfoy, jog over to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey can... oh... give you a bit of fine-tuning."
"Where's my wand?" Malfoy whimpered from the ground, his voice thick with suppressed sobs. "I'm going to have my father kill you!"
The crowd parted, forming a path as Madam Pomfrey finally arrived. She looked pale and utterly ignored Malfoy lying there on the grass.
"What happened, Poppy?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.
"Minerva, it was... another attack!" Madam Pomfrey said sorrowfully. "The Headmaster has ordered the match to be canceled."
Loudly, Professor McGonagall announced. "The match is canceled! Everyone, return to your common rooms immediately!"
The crowd erupted with groans and shouts of protest, especially Oliver Wood.
How many times was this now? Every single time there was a Quidditch match, something terrible happened! Couldn't the dark wizards pick another day for their antics?
Why today of all days?
Once everyone had returned to their common rooms, they found out that the latest victim was none other than Gryffindor's Colin Creevey.
Madam Pomfrey had discovered him in the hallway as she was rushing over with potions to treat Malfoy.
This time, there was no Harry found near Colin's body. But Colin's camera was filled with nothing but pictures of Harry!
There were shots of Harry eating, going to the bathroom, lying in bed before getting up... daily snapshots, artistic portraits...
The most outrageous one was a picture of Harry in the bathroom, shirtless, holding a bar of soap, smiling with bright eyes... No one knew how Colin had managed to take it.
Colin's reputation as a "photography maniac" was immediately cemented.
The strangest part was that he only photographed Harry...
Ron, who was by Harry's side most of the time, was completely excluded from the pictures, as if deliberately ignored from specific angles.
The more people thought about it, the creepier it became.
Just imagine, a boy following you around all day, taking pictures of you nonstop... William couldn't help but recall a certain photography teacher named Mr. Chen.
Well, in Britain, this sort of thing wasn't considered too unusual.
All signs pointed to Harry as the culprit.
During the match, Harry and Ron hadn't been watching with everyone else, they were wandering around the castle.
At one point, Harry had gone to the bathroom alone, with no alibi.
Everyone suspected that Harry had secretly ditched Ron and attacked Colin, who had been trailing him.
Still, Colin hadn't died. When he woke up, he was mumbling Harry Potter's name...
...and his symptoms were exactly the same as Filch's.
For a moment, all the students believed Harry had opened the Chamber of Secrets, and fear began to spread throughout the school.
Dumbledore's suspicions were correct, on Colin's palm was a rune-shaped serpent marking.
The rune serpent was a three-headed snake native to the small African country of Burkina Faso, and in ancient magical script, it symbolized the number three.
Professor Kettleburn's Clabberts suddenly became popular.
Despite their hideous appearance, the frogs' pustules would turn bright red and flash whenever danger was nearby, serving as an early warning system.
Marietta even wore two Clabberts around her neck, despite having complained about them incessantly during the first lesson.
The only downside was that the Clabberts secreted a special liquid with a strong heather flower scent.
Soon, the entire castle was filled with the scent of heather.
To those unaware, it almost felt like springtime had arrived early, and that it was mating season for small animals.