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The quarrel in the staff lounge should have been a secret.
However, secrets always get out. Before the end-of-year feast, the entire faculty and student body already knew about Slytherin's shockingly high average score. The slightly relaxed atmosphere between the houses once again became tense.
However, for the Slytherin students, this kind of hostility was not unfamiliar.
Whether they won the Quidditch Cup or retained the House Cup for six consecutive years, rumors always surrounded them. "Dark Wizard Academy," "Death Eater Academy," "Violence Academy," "Privileged Academy"... there were already enough nicknames attached to Slytherin over the years, they wouldn't mind adding "Cheating Academy" to the list...
Like hell they wouldn't!
Bang!
"Slander, utterly despicable slander!"
Cassius Warrington slammed his fist on the table, saying with hatred.
Beside him, the Slytherin students also looked displeased. They had endured too much ridicule this day. Even if the emeralds in the House hourglass poured down like a waterfall, it couldn't stop the mockery from other houses.
The easiest way to enrage someone is to completely deny all the efforts they have made.
As Severus Snape said, this batch of Slytherin students was indeed quite excellent, winning the Hogwarts House Cup for six consecutive years, especially considering the fall of the dark magic forces, which made it even more remarkable.
With a good foundation, plus a little unintentional help from the Third Generation Dark Lord, it was not surprising that Slytherin's overall performance had improved significantly this year—compared to the children of other houses, Slytherin's greatest advantage was that they could always find a balance between quality tools and egoists.
"Don't be impulsive, Warrington, this is their conspiracy."
Marcus Flint licked his buck teeth, took a deep breath, and looked around at his classmates.
"Miss Casselana has secretly warned us twice, restrain your emotions, don't be disturbed and provoked by outside rumors. If a conflict really occurs, the other professors will not hesitate to deduct points."
"That's right, don't forget how we got these good grades..."
Graham Montague nodded, speaking in a rough voice.
"Facts have proven that it's not good to go against Elena, the Big Sister. On the contrary, if we complete her instructions and needs as much as possible, many good things will fall on us unexpectedly—whoever dares to betray the Big Sister, I won't spare him!"
"Don't worry, no one will betray Slytherin, and no one will betray Elena."
Daphne Greengrass said softly, a hint of sternness flashing in her eyes.
As a first-year student, she was not qualified to sit among the older students to participate in the discussion. However, in the current Slytherin, this year's freshmen who entered the school with Elena were obviously special.
"By the way, the Big Sister asked me to ask, how are the arrangements for the day we leave school?"
After a slight pause, the girl looked down at the small notebook in her hand and turned to look at Marcus Flint.
Logically speaking, these things should have been arranged by Draco Malfoy, but in order to avoid Professor Dumbledore's eyes in the school, Elena chose some more circuitous and hidden ways to pass on the message.
"Everything is in the plan, the Ravenclaw boys have agreed, Roger Davies has promised to support us."
Marcus Flint grinned, revealing a malicious smile.
"They have long planned to teach those stupid lions who reached their paws into Ravenclaw's orchard a lesson. These days, those Gryffindors have relied on their good dueling skills, but they have made a lot of enemies in the school."
"After the end-of-year feast tonight, confirm it again. Slytherin winning the championship may cause some variables."
Daphne Greengrass shook her head, saying with a serious expression.
"If they temporarily defect, it will be fatal to us—Gryffindor is not so easy to deal with. If we add the help of Ravenclaw, then the battle on the day we leave school will become very difficult."
"You don't understand boys, don't worry, this is a great revenge..."
Marcus Flint's eyes flickered, saying meaningfully.
"Whatever you want, as long as you can be sure, I'm just responsible for reminding you."
Daphne Greengrass glanced at the big ape-like Quidditch captain, closed the small notebook in her hand, and added.
"The last point—be careful not to accidentally injure Hufflepuff, otherwise everyone may have to go home lying down. And... appropriately protect the Hufflepuffs who are affected in the melee, you may get some unexpected help."
Daphne didn't finish the rest of the words, but the students present all understood.
By this evening, the Slytherin students were in a remarkably good mood, walking out of the common room in groups of three or five, and went to the Great Hall upstairs with anticipation to attend the end-of-year feast.
In order to avoid accidents, causing them to fall short, most of the Slytherin students stayed in the common room and did not go out.
Therefore, when they came to the hall, the tables of the other houses were already full.
The Hogwarts Hall was decorated with green and silver representing Slytherin, and on the walls on both sides and the wall behind the main table, hung banners and huge banners painted with Slytherin snakes to celebrate Slytherin's seven consecutive years of winning the Hogwarts House Cup championship.
As the Slytherin students walked into the hall, the entire space suddenly became silent, and then suddenly someone started talking loudly again, but couldn't stop their eyes from wandering towards the Slytherin table, and there was more whispering.
Daphne Greengrass noticed that Elena had already sat down at the Hufflepuff table.
Elena was already surrounded by Hufflepuff students of all grades, so Daphne could only give a look from a distance, gently nodded to indicate that everything was going well—she didn't want to cause trouble for Elena because of herself.
After a while, Dumbledore and the professors also arrived at the hall.
The magic candles cast on the dome of the hall lit up one by one. Under the clear magic night sky, the noise in the hall gradually subsided, leaving only the voice of Albus Dumbledore.
"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said happily.
"But before enjoying the delicious food of the end-of-year feast, I must trouble everyone to listen to an old man's cliches. Undoubtedly, this has been a wonderful and fulfilling year, and I am delighted to note that each of you has made considerable progress compared to the past—and there is still the whole summer waiting for you, so that you can properly settle and digest the gains before the next semester begins, and free up energy and space for your body and mind..."
"Now, as far as I know, we must first conduct the awarding ceremony of the House Cup."
Dumbledore smiled and raised his finger, tapping lightly in the air.
Immediately afterwards, the images of the four house's huge hourglasses appeared not far above the old man.
After Grindelwald's nearly a year of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, and more than half a month of "Black Magic Defense Assessment," most students were already quite familiar with this magic.
"The specific scores of each house are as follows: Fourth place, Ravenclaw, one thousand and twenty-six points; third place, Gryffindor, one thousand two hundred and thirty-two points; Hufflepuff, one thousand three hundred and seventy-five points; Slytherin, one thousand five hundred and seventy-three points."
Before Dumbledore's voice completely fell, a thunderous cheer and stomping broke out from the Slytherin table that had been silent since just now, and the ceiling of the entire Hogwarts Hall seemed to be lifted off.
You know, due to the existence of the sixth level, the Slytherin students were once nearly three hundred points behind Gryffindor.
And even if they later overcame their fears and plucked up the courage to fight back, there was not much time left for them to pass the level, so they barely caught up with the last-place Ravenclaw, and were still quite far behind the two houses in front.
This kind of taste of reversing the victory at the last moment is more intoxicating than any previous one.
"Oh, yes, yes, quite an outstanding performance, Slytherin."
Dumbledore clapped his hands gently, raised his voice slightly, with a gentle smile on his face.
"As a student, academic performance is undoubtedly a very important part, and the Slytherin students have obviously been particularly outstanding in the past year. According to the final statistics, Slytherin has won the first place in the average score of the remaining five grades except for the fifth and seventh grades. According to regulations, they have won a reward of five hundred points for their house."
"However, in addition to this, there are some things that need to be announced before awarding the House Cup."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and turned to look at the Hufflepuff table.
"Miss Elena Casselana, please come forward. Yes, yes, go to the place where you were sorted before, so that everyone can see your appearance clearly, although I think everyone in this hall should already know you."
The hall suddenly became very quiet, and the smiles of the Slytherins also slightly converged.
This child is only a first-year student now...
Dumbledore glanced at the suddenly quiet hall and the silver-haired little witch standing in the center of the hall, shook his head gently with great emotion. He really couldn't imagine what it would be like when Elena graduated.
"Uh, ahem," Dumbledore cleared his throat again, "Let me see, right..."
"First of all, Miss Elena Casselana, in this final exam, passed the written tests of all subjects from the first to the fourth grade except for Defense Against the Dark Arts with a perfect score, so she will be specially exempted from the subsequent written exams."
"Second, she created the first multi-house Quidditch team in Hogwarts history, and led the team to win the Quidditch championship this year, so from next year, Hogwarts will have one more team to participate in the competition—this is a new team that does not limit the house and grade of the players."
"Third, during her time at school, Miss Casselana was deeply involved in the planning and development of several large-scale activities such as [Basic Physical Training], [Hogwarts Happy Farm], and [Challenge of Dark Arts Defense], the Wizengamot, the Ministry of Magic, and Hogwarts have decided to award her the Order of Merlin, Third Class, to reward her contributions to magical education."
"In addition to this, Miss Elena Casselana has also made many contributions to Hogwarts, especially in making the various houses abandon their previous suspicions and live in harmony. Due to time constraints, I will not go into details here..."
Dumbledore raised one hand, and the discussion in the hall gradually quieted down.
"Based on the various changes that Miss Casselana has brought to Hogwarts..."
Dumbledore smiled, walked slowly to Elena across the long table, took out a delicate gold shield-shaped badge from his arms, and handed it to Elena solemnly, his face full of emotion and gratification.
"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, have decided to award Elena Casselana the [Hogwarts Special Contribution Award], and in accordance with Hogwarts' long-standing tradition, reward Miss Casselana with two hundred points."
Accompanied by Dumbledore's voice, in the Hufflepuff House hourglass, brilliant diamonds poured down like a waterfall, hitting the diamond pile below, making an extremely pleasant clanging sound. The entire hall was only left with this sound for a while.
Hufflepuff's score finally settled at one thousand five hundred and seventy-five points.
Compared with Slytherin, which was in second place, it was just two points higher, two crucial points...
Immediately afterwards, it was as if an explosion had suddenly occurred in the Hogwarts Hall.
The cheers from the Hufflepuff table were higher than the other, and more than one-third of the Hufflepuff students in the entire school stood up, stomping their feet, applauding, screaming, and hitting the tables with goblets. Everyone's emotions seemed to be ignited instantly.
Not only the Hufflepuff students, but even the surrounding Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables, erupted in thunderous cheers and cheers to celebrate the sudden defeat of Slytherin.
In the eyes of most young wizards, this was undoubtedly the best ending.
Justice was finally served. Those despicable cheaters did not succeed. The justice messenger symbolizing love, peace, and hope defeated the evil demon king. Slytherin's long-awaited dream of seven consecutive championships was shattered.
On the other side, the Slytherin students were as if they had been hit by a body-bind curse, sitting blankly at their respective tables, their faces full of bewilderment and panic, seeming to not know how to face such a reversal for a while.
"So, this means..."
Dumbledore had to shout loudly to drown out the thunderous cheers and cheers.
"We need to make some small changes to the decorations here."
The old wizard clapped his hands. Immediately, those green hanging streamers turned bright yellow, and the silver ones turned black; the huge Slytherin snake disappeared, replaced by a badger with firm eyes.
Professor Snape was shaking hands with Professor Sprout, squeezing out an awkward smile on his face.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick stood next to the two, clapping gently, their faces filled with heartfelt joy and gratification. They had no objection to Dumbledore's decision.
Elena Casselana, this child fully deserved a medal for a special contribution award.
"Marcus, we..."
The Slytherin seeker Cassius looked at the captain next to him and asked in a low voice.
Before he could finish speaking, Marcus Flint suddenly let out a long breath, shook his head helplessly, as if he had made up his mind, took the initiative to raise his hands and began to applaud, with a trace of relief on his face.
Accompanied by Marcus's applause, the Slytherin table gradually woke up.
The Slytherin students looked at each other, and then looked at the silver-haired little witch standing in the center of the hall accepting everyone's blessings and congratulations. The panicked expressions on their faces gradually turned into relief, and they joined the celebration.
On closer thought, such a result was not completely unacceptable for Slytherin...
Under the leadership of Elena Casselana, they successfully defeated the other three houses. Rather than Hufflepuff finally defeating Slytherin, it was better to say that Slytherin lost to the great, wise, and beautiful Princess Casselana.
Noticing the movements on the Slytherin side, Dumbledore and the professors on the faculty and staff exchanged a surprised look, and then showed a gratified expression. The expression on Snape's face was not as awkward as before.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had become different from before.
Students from the four houses abandoned their gaps, like close brothers and sisters, cheering for each other regardless of each other, and sincerely happy for their friends' achievements. Isn't this the scene that the school's four founders have always wanted to see?
Dumbledore quickly wiped the corners of his eyes and looked around the entire hall with great relief.
Although Elena cracked Hogwarts' test-setting rules, making Slytherin almost become the target of public criticism, this seemed to be a bit of a blemish, but Albus Dumbledore knew that it was impossible for everything in life to go smoothly.
This night was one of the most relaxing and beautiful nights for the old wizard in the past year.
Undoubtedly, recruiting Elena was one of the most correct decisions he had made as headmaster.
The anxiety and pressure that he had worried about in countless days and nights, the students of the four houses drawing out their wands to attack each other, and the once peaceful and peaceful campus becoming a magic battlefield, finally turned into light smoke and completely dissipated from his heart.
There was nothing to worry about anymore...
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