Everyone else relied on their brooms to carry them through the air.
Sean looked no different from Flint and the others, but in reality, he wasn't controlling the broom at all.
On the contrary, he was carrying the broom.
The broom was nothing more than a prop, a disguise to keep others from realizing he was using the Flying Charm.
Back in the Valley Forest, Sean could only maintain the spell for five minutes.
After the final exams, absorbing the Wizard's Heart had greatly increased his magical reserves. More than a year had passed since then, and the duration of his Flying Charm had stretched to eight full minutes.
(At the end of the previous chapter, the six-minute limit has been revised to eight minutes.)
He had to catch the Golden Snitch within eight minutes.
Otherwise, he would exhaust his magic and plummet from the sky.
The Flying Charm was no slower than a Nimbus 2001.
The wind swept Sean's naturally curly brown hair back from his forehead. Flint flew beside him, and the distance between them remained almost identical.
In a straight sprint, there was no clear winner.
The real test would begin when the Golden Snitch started to dance.
Suddenly, the tiny golden ball tilted its adjustable wings downward by thirty degrees.
Whoosh!
It shot diagonally toward the ground.
Sean adjusted smoothly and followed.
Flint stayed close behind.
Then the Snitch began changing directions nonstop, weaving around the spectator towers in a dangerous obstacle course.
This was the most hazardous part.
One mistake, and a Seeker could smash straight into the tower.
Sean didn't look completely relaxed, but his face showed no visible strain.
Flint, however, had already circled the tower several times, his nerves stretched taut.
One lapse in concentration and he'd crash.
The Flying Charm controlled Sean's own body.
In the air, he was as nimble as a bird.
Flint, dependent on his broom, couldn't match that level of agility.
"Sean's flying is actually this good? Then all those times before…" Cassius stared in disbelief.
Everyone present was from Slytherin.
They all knew Sean had failed Flying class.
Yet the boy currently in the air looked like a top-tier Quidditch player.
"He did it on purpose?"
Flint's anger flared.
He was convinced Sean had hidden his true skill just to make a fool of him.
Flint steered closer.
As they chased the Snitch along the side of the tower once more, Flint suddenly threw his powerful body sideways, trying to slam directly into Sean.
Sean stood 177 centimeters tall and had an athletic build. Among fourth-years, he was already one of the taller students.
But Flint was a brute in every sense of the word.
He stood around 185 centimeters, broad-shouldered and heavily muscled, and he was notorious for using his body to bully opponents.
A collision from Flint could knock someone off course—or right off their broom.
Sean knew exactly what kind of player Flint was.
The moment Flint drew close, Sean was already prepared.
"Here it comes."
Sean shot Flint a sideways glance.
"He's trying to ram me into the tower."
Just as Flint came within inches of him, and everyone watching thought Sean was done for, Sean abruptly shot upward.
Flint, having committed too much force, nearly crashed straight into the tower.
Before Flint could recover from the scare, Sean reached out and snatched the Golden Snitch from the air.
Only a little over five minutes had passed.
"I got it."
Flint gritted his teeth, glaring at Sean with unconcealed resentment.
Sean flew back to the spectator stand.
Chris hurried over at once.
"When did you secretly become this good at Quidditch?"
"We'll talk about that later," Sean said. "Let's discuss the important part first."
He turned to Flint, who had just stepped off his broom.
"I won. Does that mean I'm on the team?"
If any other student had embarrassed Flint like this, he would have shamelessly refused.
But Sean was a celebrity at Hogwarts and one of Dumbledore's favorites.
Flint bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Sean firmly belonged to the second category.
"Fine," Flint said stiffly. "But all the positions are filled. If you join, you'll be a substitute."
Flint knew perfectly well that Sean was a better Seeker than Draco and the stronger choice for the position.
But he still insisted on making Sean a reserve player, if only to salvage some dignity.
"No problem."
Sean glanced up at Cassius.
"But remember one thing. If we're falling far behind during a match, and you don't want to lose, substitute me in."
He added casually, "And I won't be attending team practices. I'm only the substitute, after all."
He shot Chris a meaningful look, and the two of them descended the tower together.
Training wasn't over yet, so Cassius had to stay.
Two hours later, he returned to the common room to find Sean apparently waiting for him on the sofa.
"Sean, what was that all about?"
Cassius's tone was difficult to read.
He sounded both amazed and slightly offended.
"Have you been secretly practicing Quidditch behind my back?"
Chris also looked at Sean expectantly.
They had all been classmates and close friends for four years.
Had Sean's disastrous Flying class performances in first year all been an act?
Sean glanced around.
Even though no one else was nearby, he still beckoned them closer.
"Shh. You know my flying ability."
"Then what happened at the pitch?" Cassius asked.
Sean lowered his voice.
"I beat Flint because I used a little magical trickery. And magic just happens to be one of my specialties."
Cassius immediately looked enlightened.
"So that's what it was."
He had no idea what spell Sean had used, but as far as he was concerned, Sean was unmatched when it came to magic.
If Sean said he'd won with magic, then that was all the explanation he needed.
"But isn't that cheating?" Chris asked. "If you use it in an actual match, won't someone notice?"
"Did either of you see anything different between me and the other players?" Sean countered.
Chris and Cassius exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"What spell did you use?" Chris pressed.
Sean smiled mysteriously.
"Trade secret. Let's just say I'm flying while holding a broom. I'm not interfering with anyone else."
He had flown through the air using his own power.
If anyone wanted to call that cheating, they were welcome to try.
Cassius's eyes lit up.
"So that means we might get to play together on the same team."
"I'm only the substitute," Sean reminded him, patting his shoulder. "You're still the starting player."
That evening, Cassius's appetite returned to normal, and he once again devoured his dinner like usual.
Sean and Chris exchanged a smile.
At last, their friend was back to his old self.
That night, after returning to his dormitory, Sean took a comfortable shower and retrieved the Wizard's Heart from his bedside cabinet.
The Flying Charm still consumed an enormous amount of magic.
After replenishing his reserves with the Wizard's Heart, he locked the cabinet once more.
The brass lock was a magical alchemical lock he'd purchased from a junk shop after winning the tournament prize money the previous year.
No student could open it.
Basic unlocking charms like Alohomora were useless against it.
And Sean always carried the key with him.
Perhaps because of the day's exertion, Sean experienced a strange sensation of sleep paralysis that night.
But when he woke the next morning, everything was perfectly normal.
More than a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Sean passed the personalized end-of-term assessments prepared exclusively for him.
Starting from the last Monday of September, he was officially exempt from attending any classes he had already tested out of.
To avoid further trouble from Lockhart, Sean even wrote to Hearns and asked him to purchase a complete set of Lockhart's books.
November 7, 1992.
The first Saturday of November.
The Hogwarts Quidditch season officially began.
The opening match was Gryffindor versus Slytherin.
Whether because he was the sponsor—or for some other reason—Lucius Malfoy had come to Hogwarts to watch the game in person.
Sean knew that Dobby still hadn't given up on his so-called mission to "protect" Harry.
Dobby would interfere during this match.
Gryffindor would win.
And Harry would end up with a broken arm because of Dobby's sabotage.
Before the players took the field, Sean walked up to Flint.
"Remember what I told you. If you feel like you're going to lose, call a timeout and put me in."
Flint didn't even acknowledge him.
He ignored Sean completely, just as confident as ever.
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