<h4>Chapter 28: Out of control broom</h4>
Drac stood on a high tform at the edge of the Quidditch pitch, holding an umbre.
His expression was one of aloofness, a stark contrast to the lively atmosphere of the small witches and wizards around him.
Out of respect for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the young witches and wizards gave him plenty of space, crowding into the four corners of the stands, shivering in their ces.
As the referee, Ms. Hooche, stood in the center of the pitch with her broomstick, waiting for the yers to take the field, Harry nced up at the stands. First, he saw arge banner waving above the crowd with "Potter for the Win" emzoned on it; then he spotted Professor Drac, standing alone and prominently under his umbre on the high tform.
Drac nodded to Harry, who was dressed in gold and red Quidditch robes and standing on the pitch.
Harry tightened his grip on his Firebolt 2000.
The support from his Gryffindor friends and the encouragement from his professor filled him with excitement, making him feel he had the courage to defeat Slytherin!
After a brief speech, Ms. Hooche blew her silver whistle, and in the next moment, fifteen brooms soared into the air, rising high into the sky.
The match had begun.
Soon after, Drac became quite bored.
He had little interest in the witches and wizards zooming around on their brooms or the various winged balls flying about. These things were far slower than he was, and he found the experience of watching the match, unlike the excitement felt by the young witches and wizards, to be exceedingly dull.
Moreover, it was a bright sunny day, and Drac struggled to maintain a good mood in such weather.
He scanned the surrounding young witches and wizards, disinterestedly observing their continuous cheers and screams, and found the noise and vibration of the crowded stands irritating.
Several times, he considered slipping away from the stands, but he noticed that Harry, the Seeker for Gryffindor, would asionally nce in his direction, seemingly hoping for his approval.
So, in order not to disappoint his little fan, Drac stayed put, enduring the ufortable atmosphere.
Just as he was about to give up and leave despite the young witches and wizards'' anticipation, he suddenly noticed a young wizard in yellow and ck robes sitting among a group of Hufflepuff badgers, asionally pulling out a pen and notebook to jot down notes while watching the match.
This young wizard, Cedric Diggory, had a certain aristocratic quality that Drac found appealing, reminiscent of a vampire noble.
Drac snapped his fingers and conjured arge bat. As soon as the bat appeared, it pped its wings and flew over to the adjacent stands, grabbing Cedric and bringing him over.
Cedric was startled when a giant bat grabbed him with its ws.
However, Drac''s Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons had not gone to waste; Cedric quickly drew his wand from his pocket, ready to cast a signal spell to alert the professors.
But the bat soon deposited him on the neighboring stand and then vanished into the air.
"Good morning, Mr. Diggory," a familiar voice said in Cedric''s ear.
Drac made the umbre muchrger and nted it firmly on the ground, creating a shaded area on the stand.
"Feel free to sit," he said, lying on a long bench he had just conjured, pointing to another chair and making small talk with Cedric, "I saw you were taking some notes earlier. What were you writing?"
Seeing the "most fearsome professor at Hogwarts" so close, Cedric cast a helpless nce at his Quidditch teammates.
However, his teammates, who were ready to rescue Cedric from the giant bat''s ws, turned away upon seeing Drac, as if they didn''t know Cedric.
Even his prefect, Truman, gave him a look of helplessness, indicating he was on his own.
"Good morning, Professor," Cedric had no choice but to face Drac alone and said bravely, "Actually, I''m the Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and I''m observing how Potter ys as a Seeker."
"What do you think of Potter''s skills?" Drac asked, seemingly uninterested.
"Quite impressive for his age," Cedric responded.
Just then, the two Seeker figures flew above them, and therge umbre blocked their view, making Cedric anxious.
"Professor, it''s sunny today. Do you really need an umbre?" he couldn''t help but ask, "And aren''t you cold in just a thin robe?"
"Not cold," Drac adjusted his red and ck cloak and casually replied, "Besides, I don''t like the sun. It''s quite normal to use an umbre in the sun, isn''t it?"
As the conversation continued, Cedric began to rx and enjoyed chatting with Drac.
However, the pleasant moment was short-lived, as an unexpected situation unfolded on the Quidditch pitch—
High above, Harry''s broomstick had started to behave erratically. The broom was twitching and twisting violently, gradually lifting him further away from the pitch.
"What kind of tactic is this?" Cedric, sitting next to Drac, used his binocrs to look at Harry, puzzled, "Is it a new psychological tactic to deceive opponents?"
Drac''s crimson eyes narrowed as he focused on the unfolding situation.
Harry''s broom continued to roll and tumble uncontrobly, and he struggled to stay on it. Suddenly, the broom twisted again, throwing Harry off. He was now hanging in the air, holding onto the broomstick with just one hand.
"Wait, this isn''t some Quidditch tactic. Potter''s broom is really malfunctioning!" Drac said with a frown.
He immediately turned his gaze to Krum on the other stand.
However, the development seemed unexpected—
Drac had assumed that Krum had long since aligned with Voldemort, and all his actions were meant to procure the magical stone Voldemort needed, even attacking Harry Potter to cause trouble for Voldemort.
But as Harry struggled with his broom, Krum showed no sign of abnormal behavior.
He was instead watching the match with great interest, showing no indication of using any spells.