On the field, with the first person eliminated, the pressure on the remaining two increased significantly.
They were forced to bring their full attention to avoiding the two Bludgers, while also trying to create some trouble for each other.
The standoff continued for over ten minutes before a winner finally emerged.
To everyone's surprise, the last one standing was the third-year student who wasn't favored. Relying on agile positioning, he successfully countered and defeated the towering fifth-year opponent at the critical moment.
The spectators on the stands began clapping and cheering.
Harris stepped forward with a smile and extended his hand, "Will Nader, welcome to the team."
"My honor, Captain." The third-year student similarly extended his hand and shook Harris's.
Another round of applause erupted around them.
Next up was the Chaser selection. Kael stood up and, holding his broom, headed onto the pitch.
"Go Kael!"
Cedric shouted loudly, while also igniting a firework.
The firework exploded above the stands, forming a large banner depicting a running badger, along with the glowing words "Kael Go Win".
No one knew where Cedric got the firework, but it was clearly visible even in the daytime.
It's a bit over the top...
Amidst this unique form of encouragement, Kael advanced to the center of the field.
Competing for the Chaser position with him were two other fifth-year students.
"As a chaser, accuracy in shooting is very important..."
Harris holding the Quaffle, addressed the three, "I'll be acting as Keeper, while you'll be responsible for shooting. Whoever scores the highest within the allotted time will enter the team.
So... who wants to go first?"
"I'll go..." Kael stepped forward.
Although going first without understanding Harris's defensive style could be disadvantageous, he had the broom advantage, so it balanced out.
"Alright then, just remember, don't get nervous and perform normally." Harris advised Kael briefly before heading to the goalposts.
Kael mounted his broom and with a gentle push left the ground.
"Shall we begin?" Harris asked.
"Ready." Kael replied just as someone below threw up the Quaffle.
Kael dived, catching the Quaffle, and quickly flew towards the goal.
Harris hadn't reacted by the time Kael arrived.
Seizing the open goal, he casually tossed the Quaffle in.
"Ten points!"
Someone below teasingly shouted, "Captain, what were you doing just standing there, weren't you supposed to block?"
"Go away!" Harris's face reddened.
He certainly wasn't letting them score; he simply hadn't reacted in time.
He knew the Nimbus 2000 would be fast, but hadn't realized it would be so much quicker than the Nimbus 1700. Despite being only two years apart, these brooms were at entirely different levels!
It's strange... is this really the same Nimbus Broomstick Company known for small incremental improvements?
"Again!"
Harris steadied himself, determined not to be accused of letting them score again.
Soon, another Quaffle was thrown up.
Just like before, Kael caught the ball and reached the goalposts.
With prior experience, Harris reacted this time, directly blocking Kael.
Kael lightly tossed the Quaffle with his right hand...
"He's aiming for the right goal!" Harris thought and immediately flew right.
Unexpectedly, the Quaffle didn't fly right; it spun a few times in the air, then returned to Kael.
At this point, Harris had flown far away, and it was too late to turn back.
Kael scored again.
"Twenty points!"
"Harry, look, it's a return pass." Ron excitedly grabbed Harry's arm on the stand, "Merlin, I can't believe I'm seeing one of the classic Chaser feints here."
"Is that move difficult?" Harry asked puzzledly.
Having just been introduced to Quidditch, he didn't understand much of it yet.
Speaking of feints, Harry suddenly recalled something.
Professor McGonagall had mentioned his action of catching a Memory Ball resembled a classic Quidditch feint while leading him to Wood.
What was it called, Strong feint... or Wronski feint... he couldn't quite remember.
But they were similar.
"Performing a return pass isn't hard, the difficult part is successfully fooling the Keeper." Ron thought for a moment, "The Keeper on the pitch is Hufflepuff's captain, arguably Hogwarts' most experienced player. It's tough to deceive him."
Harry still didn't fully understand, but judging by the surrounding deafening cheers, Kael must have performed a spectacular move.
So he joined in the cheering.
Understanding wasn't necessary... he could pretend, the key was blending in with the crowd.
On the other side, Harris heard vague taunting from below and his face reddened further.
He knew about return passes, having used them multiple times; his final goal in the Quidditch Cup two years ago was scored with it.
That year, Hufflepuff narrowly won the Quidditch Cup by ten points.
But he hadn't expected to be tricked by a return pass himself one day.
No wonder the opposing Keeper looked at him so sourly back then; being deceived was indeed unpleasant.
"Should've stayed out of this." Harris lamented internally.
He worried that using a real Keeper might crush their confidence, which is why he temporarily stepped in.
Now it seemed that decision was rather unnecessary. Yet changing roles wasn't possible, so Harris pressed on.
Kael threw two balls, using just around a minute, still plenty of time remaining from the ten-minute limit.
Over the following moments. He perfectly showcased the speed of the Nimbus 2000.
No matter where the Quaffle was thrown from, he intercepted it first, then dashed to the goalposts to score.
He used varied scoring techniques: sometimes feints, or just relying on his broom's speed to deliver the ball directly.
Gradually Harris began to be convinced.
Sitting on his broom, his eyes warmly fixated on Kael.
This was a genius Chaser!
Cedric last year... Kael this year...
Harris's mouth began to uncontrollably turn upwards; he finally understood why Wood laughed so exuberantly before.
Anyone would feel irresistibly joyful.