Chapter 242: Year-End Banquet

The Weasley twins received good news from En.

For the entire duration before the year-end banquet, they hummed tunes and occasionally poked half their heads out from behind portraits, startling night-strolling students.

The year-end banquet quickly became the most anticipated event among the young wizards, despite rampant rumors—such as the Alchemy Assembly, the lucky black cat, or Snape’s assassination of Quirrell…

But as this academic year drew to a close, students still cared more about the final outcomes of the year.

Personal honors were not worth discussing. After all, no one could surpass Mr. Green unless you scored 121 out of 120 on an exam.

But collective honor—the House Cup—became the most discussed topic.

The day before the year-end banquet.

The castle gradually grew lively as professors began decorating the Great Hall.

Professor Flitwick took the lead, with his most accomplished student, Wizard Sean Green, behind him.

Everyone knew about this.

The Great Hall had been newly decorated in Ravenclaw’s blue and bronze colors to celebrate their victory in the House Cup. Behind the head table hung a massive banner depicting a Ravenclaw eagle.

At that moment, Professor Flitwick was pulling Wizard Sean along to place some Ravenclaw decorations around the hall.

“Dear Mr. Green, it’s been so difficult—Ravenclaw hasn’t won the House Cup in so long…”

Professor Flitwick spoke in a high-pitched voice, wiping away a tear.

The Ravenclaws behind him felt slightly embarrassed.

The little eagles didn’t care much for collective honor, so despite their solid strength, they always lost the cup to the more combative Gryffindors and the unscrupulous Slytherins.

Today’s Great Hall was quieter than ever; Slytherins deliberately stayed away from it, seething with anger.

As for Gryffindor, their atmosphere was strangely odd.

After the exams, Ron hadn’t stopped recounting the “great deeds” of himself, Harry, Hermione, and others.

Previously, Gryffindors led by Seamus had been happy to listen; after all, he told the stories with dramatic flair, and in a Hogwarts full of rumors, it was a decent tale.

But now…

Outside the Great Hall, Wizard Sean had just escaped.

Professor Flitwick was so delighted he even initiated conversation with Professor McGonagall.

“Yes, Minerva, you know we achieved an outstanding 511 points, don’t you?”

“It’s truly heartening—even by Hogwarts’ historical standards, it’s an impressive score.”

“All thanks to dear Mr. Green…”

He would pause mid-sentence, realizing his longtime friend beside him was forcing a smile.

But before all this happened, Wizard Sean had already slipped away.

He walked out of the Great Hall, greeted by Ravenclaws everywhere.

“Wizard Sean, I always said you’re Ravenclaw’s savior.”

Michael was always dramatic.

“Mr. Green, thank you for your contribution.”

Prefect Penelope swept past Wizard Sean with a proud stride.

Wizard Sean nodded in greeting, glanced casually down the corridor, and saw Ron and others looking grim, surrounded by a group of equally glum Gryffindors.

“Weasley, stop lying! What ‘Forbidden Forest story’? What ‘trapdoor’? You’re lucky you weren’t caught and docked more points!”

Dean hissed.

“Gryffindor only has 250 points! Merlin’s beard—we’ve never scored so low!”

Seamus glared at them.

Think about it: Gryffindor should have had 550 points!

If they’d won the Quidditch match and hadn’t lost 150 points to Harry and his group.

Now Ron was still babbling about trapdoors and other baseless nonsense—they couldn’t take it anymore.

“It’s true…”

Ron could only mutter.

He couldn’t deny it—they’d lost many points and failed at Quidditch.

Harry was so ashamed he wanted to crawl into a crack in the floor; even Hermione’s expression was no better.

In fact, she’d heard too many whispers already.

Even though she’d earned over fifty points herself, the Gryffindors didn’t care.

Deductions always left a deeper impression than additions.

Wizard Sean walked over from afar; Seamus and the others snorted and left, easing the tension slightly.

“Don’t worry—there might still be a surprise.”

Wizard Sean comforted them.

“What kind of surprise could there be?”

Ron’s face fell.

The year-end banquet began.

As Harry and the others cautiously entered the Great Hall, they encountered the Slytherins.

The Slytherins had been irritable, but upon seeing Harry and his group, they burst into applause:

“Potter, thank you for getting Gryffindor such a low score—perhaps the lowest ever? Hah—”

“In a few weeks, they’ll forget all about it. Fred and George have been losing points since they enrolled, and people still love them.”

Ron’s face was sour, but he still tried to reassure them.

“But they’ve never lost 150 points all at once, have they?”

Harry said sadly.

“Hmm—no, they haven’t.”

Ron admitted.

The Great Hall was noisy, piled high with delicious food.

Jia Jia Siting was sharing some secrets of magical cuisine with Wizard Sean, who listened intently.

Soon after, Hermione and the others slipped into the Great Hall.

Seeing them seated at the Ravenclaw table, Gryffindors—who normally didn’t care—were unusually irritated today.

Fortunately, moments later, Dumbledore arrived, and the hall’s clamor gradually subsided.

“Another year has passed!”

Dumbledore exclaimed cheerfully,

“Before you indulge in these delicious feasts, I must trouble you to listen to an old man’s rambling. What an extraordinary year it’s been! Your little brains must be fuller than ever before…”

“A whole summer awaits you, giving you time to digest all this before next term begins, clearing space in your minds…”

“Now, as I understand it, we must first present the House Cup. The final scores are as follows:

Fourth place, Gryffindor, 250 points; third place, Hufflepuff, 352 points; second place, Slytherin, 452 points; first place, Ravenclaw, 511 points.”

A restrained cheer and applause erupted from the Ravenclaw table.

But their noise was still less than that of the Hufflepuffs.

The Hufflepuffs didn’t care who won the House Cup—as long as it wasn’t Slytherin.