Chapter 657: The Noisy Great Hall

"Yes, second, Miss Hermione Granger, she solved the crucial mystery, and for this, I award her fifty points!"

Dumbledore continued.

The noise in the Great Hall was simply deafening; the enthusiasm of the Gryffindors nearly blew the ceiling off. The stars above their heads seemed to tremble slightly from the vibration.

Amidst this, one could hear Justin exclaiming: "That's amazing, Hermione. We all know it was you who found the legend of the Basilisk, and it was you who made Professor Bins tell the story of the Chamber of Secrets."

Hermione's face was flushed red. Compared to her quiet sobbing last time, this time, she nodded and accepted this honor with composure.

Dumbledore raised a hand. The Great Hall gradually quieted down again.

"It is foolish and forgetful for the elderly to underestimate the young.

I understand that we have among us one of the most excellent wizards.

Yes, someone asked me, how does he compare to me when I was young? I think, he is even more outstanding.

I must add three hundred points to Ravenclaw. One hundred of which is to reward Mr. Sean Green, for he alone cracked the puzzle of the Chamber of Secrets before anyone else, and found the monster within the Chamber..."

Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, the sound of gasps could be heard all around.

Sean irrelevantly thought of the joke about gasps causing global warming.

Soon, applause began to ripple through the Great Hall, growing in volume. The Weasley twins at the Gryffindor long table shouted: "Great Green—";

The little eagles at the Ravenclaw long table had their thoughts spinning, wondering if Ravenclaw would win the House Cup for the seventh consecutive year in one fell swoop, after all, they had their dear Mr. Green;

Even the Slytherins were clapping reservedly, with some eyes filled with fanaticism, such as a certain Malfoy with platinum-blonde hair;

The little wizards of Hufflepuff were somewhat disappointed; it was said, according to rumors, that dear Mr. Green had originally wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff...

At the staff table, Professor Fuliwei could not keep the corners of his mouth from curling up. He muttered something gleefully until he saw the poor expressions on his two colleagues' faces, at which point he slowly lowered his voice.

"You should have put him in detention."

Marcus Maige said.

Professor Sineipu did not reply, only nodded with a cold face. After a few seconds, when no one was paying attention, he finally revealed an expression of painstaking effort finally being discovered.

The Great Hall was too noisy, with cheers rising in waves. Some little wizards even stood up to applaud.

"Two hundred of those points—"

Dumbledore had to cast a Sonorous Charm to drown out the crowd's clamor,

"Are to reward Mr. Sean Green. Before the tragedy occurred, he heroically defeated the Basilisk—yes, what an incredible thing—"

The noise from the little wizards came to an abrupt halt.

They stared at one another, then rubbed their ears, seemingly unable to clearly grasp what they had just heard.

"What does 'heroically defeated the Basilisk' mean..."

Ernie of Hufflepuff was bewildered, hoping his partner could give him some explanation.

Unfortunately, his partner was no better off than he was; in the end, he and Hannah and Susan just stared at each other.

Such scenes were happening in every corner of the Great Hall, and the noisy hall became a place of silence in the blink of an eye.

At the staff table, Dumbledore was smiling.

He clapped his hands, and the Ravenclaw house hourglass experienced a terrifying surge in a short amount of time.

It climbed all the way up, surpassing the Gryffindors who had just crossed it by a hair, and left all the other hourglasses far behind.

Well, that was that; even if Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup later, they would not be able to catch up to Ravenclaw.

That was a full three-hundred-point gap.

"Merlin's beard—"

Luo Jie was the first to cheer—truly Merlin be praised! Now, even if their recruitment plan failed, Ravenclaw would not lose the House Cup because of it—and so Luo Jie shouted as if he had been granted an amnesty.

Beside him, a group of Quidditch team members all cheered, driving the entire Ravenclaw house to erupt in intense shouts as if an explosion had occurred.

It wasn't just Ravenclaw that was boiling over; Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were also ignited in an instant.

No one cared about the House Cup rivalry anymore; what was the point of dwelling on something that couldn't be won?

They just needed to know, by any means necessary, how the Basilisk had been defeated. ===== CHAPTER 658 =====