Chapter 401: The Patronus Charm Club
Cedric had been mulling it over all night, so much so that at breakfast the next morning, he still looked half asleep.
"Have you come up with anything?" Kyle asked.
"Of course," Cedric replied with a relieved expression. "All we need to do is get 150 points ahead of Gryffindor within twenty minutes, and victory will still be ours."
"That's your solution?" Kyle looked at him incredulously. "A hundred and fifty points ahead of Gryffindor in twenty minutes? You must be sleepwalking, or you left your brain back in the dorms."
"You've done it before," Cedric insisted. "Remember the match against Ravenclaw?"
"That was two years ago!" Kyle retorted irritably. "And it wasn't just me; Harris helped, too. Plus, Ravenclaw was so off their game, they practically handed us the points, which is the only reason we got ahead by that much."
"The situation now is that Harris has already graduated," Kyle continued. "And Fred and George warned me right after our first match that they'd never let a Bludger get more than ten feet away from me. Do you get what that means? Between those two and Keeper Wood, I'd have to break through at least three people to score!"
"But it's our only option," Cedric said, almost defensively. He'd spent all night racking his brain and had come to realize that the Firebolt was nearly unbeatable. Against absolute speed, any tactic seemed pointless—unless they could secure the win in advance.
"I'll get everyone to work with you," Cedric promised. "The next strategy will be centered around you."
"All right," Kyle nodded, resigned.
After breakfast, the group left the Great Hall and went off to their respective classrooms to get ready for class. Today was the first day of Professor Lupin's Patronus Charm Club, and everyone was so excited that their attention drifted through the day's lessons.