Although the students already knew that they could recklessly celebrate tonight without restraint, when Dumbledore and the others appeared in the Great Hall, everyone still quieted down.
There was no helping it, fear of Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape was already engraved in everyone's DNA.
Seeing this, Professor McGonagall also nodded in satisfaction, then, together with Snape and the others, sat at the faculty seats at the very back of the Great Hall.
Dumbledore, however, still remained between the Great Hall and the Entrance Hall, gazing at the four large gemstone hourglasses representing the scores of the four houses.
As of now, the gemstones in the Slytherin hourglass had already hit bottom due to Dumbledore's prior strict search-and-seize operation for contraband in the Slytherin house.
The other houses' scores were also lower than in previous years due to the same reason.
But overall, Gryffindor still occupied first place thanks to their excellent performance during the Chamber of Secrets incident (those four dead prefects were from Gryffindor).
Dumbledore's unusual behavior naturally attracted the attention of Link and the other students.
And upon just glancing at those hourglasses, Link's expression became a bit odd.
Because right now the Great Hall had not been decorated with the orange-red banners painted with the Gryffindor lion emblem.
This clearly didn't match Gryffindor's flamboyant nature, and also went against Hogwarts tradition.
But with just a little thought, Link understood.
After all, last year, Ravenclaw had been publicly slapped in the face by Dumbledore after decorating the hall in advance.
As last year's House Cup winners, the Gryffindors must have been afraid Dumbledore would pull the same stunt again this year.
Moreover, so much had happened this year, the final ownership of the House Cup really couldn't be said for sure.
Thinking this, Link couldn't help but smile.
At the same time, Dumbledore at the Entrance Hall finally walked into the Great Hall.
"Students, another school year has come to an end."
Dumbledore walked among the students while speaking, "This year has truly been a difficult one. Due to some irresistible circumstances, all of our students were unable to make much progress in their studies. But I believe sometimes academic achievement doesn't represent everything. Especially for George and Fred."
As he said this, Dumbledore also winked, which triggered a round of laughter among the crowd.
Everyone in Hogwarts knew George and Fred weren't interested in studying, but that didn't stop people from liking them.
After the laughter subsided, Dumbledore continued, "In my view, only students who are brave, clever, loyal, good at strategy, and value honor are the best students!"
"And in this school year, all of you have achieved all the qualities I just mentioned! Hogwarts was able to safely make it through this year entirely thanks to everyone's hard work! So, I've decided to award each house 100 points!"
Once he finished speaking, the hourglasses at the Entrance Hall rang with a ding-ding-dong-dong sound.
After a brief moment of daze, the students began to cheer.
Although this 100 points felt the same as no points at all, it was still a recognition of their endurance and efforts during this period.
"Of course, now we especially have to thank one person, that is, Link Flamel." Dumbledore came to the Hufflepuff table and invited Link to stand up.
"It was he who first saw through this conspiracy, it was he who saved his fellow students, and it was also he who, alone, destroyed the mastermind behind the scenes!"
"Therefore, after discussion with the other professors and Minister Fudge, we have decided to award him the 'Special Award for Services to the School' and at the same time grant 200 points to Hufflepuff!"
After speaking, Dumbledore smiled and hung a bronze medal around Link's neck.
Link smiled slightly, and just as he was about to say some words of thanks, a strange movement came from his chest.
It was Yoyo, the medal's ribbon had pressed on its tail.
Seeing this, Link quickly adjusted the ribbon's position, finally letting Yoyo settle down peacefully.
By now, the Hufflepuffs had already begun cheering.
The Special Award for Services to the School could be said to be the highest honor within Hogwarts. Even throughout Hogwarts' entire history, students who received it were pitifully few. Not to mention that recipients could have their medal kept in the Hogwarts Trophy Room, for future generations to admire.
So, the Hufflepuffs were very excited at this moment.
Students from the other houses also gave their applause, especially those from Gryffindor, whose claps were the loudest and most intense.
That was because the Gryffindors were afraid that Link's performance in the Chamber of Secrets incident would earn him so many points that Hufflepuff might overtake Gryffindor in total.
But now, even with those 200 points added, Hufflepuff was still over 100 points behind them.
This year's House Cup, Gryffindor should have it secured.
Thinking of this, the Gryffindors clapped with even more enthusiasm.
However, just at this moment, Dumbledore made a quieting gesture, then raised Link's arm and said, "Lastly, I have one more thing to announce."
As soon as he said this, the Gryffindor applause abruptly stopped, and the expressions on their faces froze slightly.
They had a bad feeling.
"Back at Christmas this year, I had the honor of hosting a knighthood ceremony for a new member of the Order of Merlin. And this member, is none other than Link."
A burst of gasping sounded around.
"Link is without a doubt the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, Third Class, in history. This achievement not only brought glory to himself, but also highlighted the teaching standard of Hogwarts!"
"Therefore, 200 more points to Hufflepuff!"
When Dumbledore finished, the entire Great Hall fell silent.
But soon, the Hufflepuffs erupted.
John and Cedric and the others rushed to Link like mad, and regardless of Link's resistance, they directly tossed him high into the air and caught him steadily, over and over.
It was true that Hufflepuffs didn't care for fame and profit.
But more importantly, they simply never had the strength to compete for such honors and achievements.
Hufflepuff students were also teenagers, they too valued passion and honor. And now, Link had given them such a chance. How could they not be excited?
At the Gryffindor table not far away, Ron and the other Gryffindors all wore expressions of gloom and exhaustion.
Even though they had anticipated it, being strung along by Dumbledore and then slammed back down into the pit was simply too hard to bear.
But in the end, they still started clapping again. They had no choice, this time, Link really left them nothing to criticize.
Seeing this, Dumbledore chuckled, then finally opened his arms and loudly declared, "Wonderful! Just as I said, tonight, party and celebrate to your hearts' content, children!"
The feast officially began.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y