[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
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Harry then asked Dumbledore a few more questions, and Dumbledore gave him answers that satisfied him. It turns out that his father and Snape were enemies, just as Harry and Draco were. Harry's dislike and resentment toward Snape grew even stronger.
Dumbledore really wanted to talk more, but Madame Pomfrey entered and ordered him to leave. Well, Madame Pomfrey is a serious lady. Even the headmaster loses his dignity in front of her.
Harry stayed in bed for one more night, and when he woke up the next morning, he felt completely recovered.
"Madame Pomfrey, can I go to the party?" Harry asked. Although it was destined that Slytherin would win the House Cup for the second consecutive year, Harry still hoped to finish the semester with his friends.
"Since Dumbledore said it's fine, then it's fine," Madame Pomfrey said with some disapproval.
…
Harry was looking at the photo album that Hagrid had given him.
Hagrid had cried for a long time after arriving at the hospital wing. Honestly, Hagrid, with his face covered in so much hair, Harry couldn't tell where the beard ended and the hair began, didn't look well at all when he cried.
Hagrid kept blaming himself for telling Quirrell how to get past Fluffy. It's worth mentioning that when Hagrid found out that the villain at the end was Quirrell, he was so surprised that his jaw nearly dropped.
After finally calming Hagrid, who had turned into a big baby, Harry felt extremely tired. He was a child under twelve, but he had to comfort a, well, he didn't know how old Hagrid was, but he was a huge man for his age. Just thinking about it was exhausting.
However, he felt that the photo album Hagrid gave him was very meaningful.
The photos inside were all of Harry's parents, individual photos, couple photos, and some group photos.
Among them were several pictures of his parents when they were children. Harry saw his mother as a teenager. Well, she looked 70% like him.
What Harry found most interesting was a photo that Hagrid had told him about. It was a picture of his mother when she was thirteen or fourteen years old. Hagrid said that the photo had been taken secretly by his father, and his mother didn't like him at that time.
"Well, I thought my parents were childhood sweethearts. After all, judging by the age and the timeline, they had their own children just a few years after graduation…"
It's not easy to get these photos, and Hagrid only had a few of them. As for the others, he had asked his parents' old classmates and gotten them from them.
What caught Harry's attention were the three people who appeared frequently in the photos.
Among them was a guy with black hair. Judging by the photos, he had a very close relationship with Harry's father, even seeming closer to him than to Harry's mother.
There was another tall, thin guy who looked similar. There was also another shorter guy who appeared less frequently, but still much more often than the others.
Unfortunately, when Harry realized this, Hagrid had already left, and he didn't have a chance to ask who these people were.
…
That evening, after Madame Pomfrey examined him again and confirmed there were no lasting effects, Harry was allowed to go to the hall to attend the graduation ceremony.
He learned from Ron, Hermione, and Neville, who had visited him earlier, that the Quidditch match had been lost while he was unconscious. Gryffindor had been in a match against Hufflepuff. While the chasers had been evenly matched, Hufflepuff sent in a new seeker who caught the Golden Snitch first.
Gryffindor had led the Quidditch Cup for a year before losing in the final match.
Ron said that Wood hadn't spoken all day. But no one blamed Harry. After all, what Harry did was far more significant than a Quidditch game.
However, Gryffindor would likely be in a miserable position in the House Cup.
Although Harry really didn't want to see the Slytherins, especially Draco and his cronies, showing off, because Slytherin had won the House Cup for six consecutive years and, judging by the current points, it was almost certain that they would win for the seventh year in a row, Harry still didn't want to miss the graduation dinner. It was a summary of this year's school life.
When Harry entered the corridor, he drew everyone's attention almost immediately. Some students even stood up, and others climbed onto benches in hopes of seeing him more clearly.
Harry had already gone through this once at the beginning of the school year, but since then, everyone had gotten used to it, and it was unlikely to happen again. But unexpectedly, he had been noticed again today.
Harry waved shyly to everyone who greeted him, then made his way to the long table and sat next to Ron, Hermione, and Neville.
"Oh, mate, I thought you couldn't come to the dinner, so I was going to bring you some food," Ron said vaguely while shoving a piece of bacon into his already full mouth.
"I don't believe you at all. You can't even remember what you ate. We're all brothers, we know each other," Harry thought.
"Hello, Harry," a light fragrance appeared, and a slim figure squeezed beside Harry, pushing Seamus, who was sitting on the other side of Harry. It was Parvati Patil.
"Hello, Parvati," Harry responded politely.
"I was wrong before. I shouldn't have been angry with you over, um, such a small issue. I'm sorry," Parvati said.
What she was talking about, of course, was when Harry and his friends had deducted 150 points from Gryffindor, and almost no one had spoken to them afterward.
"It's okay, it's okay. We were wrong," Harry quickly said. The beautiful girl had already apologized on her own initiative. It wouldn't be very manly to hold a grudge now. More importantly, he still hoped Padma would continue being his tutor next year.
Patil smiled sweetly, then leaned forward and asked, "Well, Harry, could you tell me the details of that day? You know, the details of when you were guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Ron told us the first part, um... many times. But he doesn't know what happened after the chessboard, and Hermione refused to tell us either."
"Dumbledore won't let me say that," Harry replied. Seeing Harry look at her, Hermione raised her hands in surrender.
Well, when Dumbledore said he wanted to keep that matter a secret, but it still leaked, Harry figured it must have been Ron who spilled the beans. At that moment, it became clear.
As a result, when Harry looked at Ron, Ron innocently opened his hands and said, "I didn't want to tell you at first. I only whispered it to Fred and George in the beginning. Then, everyone found out. So, there's no point in hiding it anymore, right?"
"Yes, of course. You told Fred and George, so what's the difference between that and telling the whole school?" Harry wanted to slap his forehead.
But even though everyone already knew, the beautiful girl still came to ask, and Harry was still a bit hesitant about revealing the details afterward. After all, it was a matter involving Voldemort, and Harry wasn't sure if it was appropriate to talk about it.
But seeing Patil blink her big, beautiful eyes at him, he really couldn't bring himself to say no.
Fortunately, Dumbledore saved him.
"Another year has passed..." Dumbledore always seemed energetic and full of life, which made it hard to believe he was over a hundred years old. "Everyone, please enjoy these delicious dishes and listen to some of this old man's clichés."
There was an explosion of laughter from the hall.
Dumbledore looked even happier. "I must say, this has been a wonderful year. I think your little brains must be richer than last year's. The happy summer holidays are coming, and I'm sure you're all looking forward to that, right?"
"Yes!" Almost every student applauded.
"Well, summer holidays are a wonderful thing. They allow you to digest what you've learned before the next semester and free your mind to receive new things. But before the wonderful summer holidays, we still have a little project to finish, yes, the House Cup award ceremony."
At that, all the other houses suddenly seemed uninterested, but Slytherin, which hadn't responded to Dumbledore earlier, became lively.
Hey, this is the moment I've been looking forward to all year!
On the Slytherin side, Draco shot a smug look at Harry. However, Harry's attention was first on Patil beside him and then on Dumbledore above, so he didn't even notice.
Draco was ignored, and Master Draco was not happy.
"The scores of each house are as follows: fourth place, Gryffindor, 302 points. Third place, Hufflepuff, 358 points. Second place, Ravenclaw, 426 points. Slytherin, 428 points, currently in first place."
There was a thunderous cheer from the Slytherin side.
Draco was particularly smug, even slamming his hand on the table.
This time Harry saw it, but he only gave Draco a look of disgust.
All the members of Ravenclaw are academic geniuses, so there was nothing to say about the extra points they earned. But Slytherin, with that blatantly biased head of house, I'm afraid half of their points are fake.
Harry wasn't the only one who thought this. Students from the other three houses wore similar expressions.
"Yes, yes, very well done, Slytherin," Dumbledore still smiled, "But..."
Of all the things in the world, the most terrifying word is "but"!
"However, several recent events also need to be considered."
Draco immediately realized something was wrong.
Then Dumbledore said, "First, Mr. Neville Longbottom has a deep knowledge of magical plants and remains calm in the face of danger. I reward Gryffindor with forty points for this!"
Neville's eyes widened instantly, but Dumbledore wasn't finished.
"Mr. Ron Weasley, I've heard from many people that he is the best wizard chess player Gryffindor has had in many years. Not long ago, he played the most exciting game of wizard's chess Gryffindor has seen in years. For this, Gryffindor will receive 40 additional points!"
Ron's mouth stretched nearly to his ears.
And the normally composed Percy grabbed almost everyone around him and shouted excitedly, "That's my brother, my brother, you know, my younger brother, he passed through Professor McGonagall's giant chessboard with ease!"
"Miss Hermione Granger, I think there may be some young witches who are good at potions every year, but there are very few who are also proficient in logical reasoning. For this, I reward Gryffindor with forty points."
Although Hermione had suspected this when Dumbledore gave points to Neville and Ron, when it actually happened, her body still trembled slightly with excitement, and even her eyes were a bit red.
Almost everyone in Gryffindor was cheering and celebrating. They had gained 120 points, just six points behind Slytherin.
"Harry Potter!" When the name was announced, the hall immediately fell silent.
"Calm, composure, extraordinary courage, and the proper use of magic. Although you still seem a bit immature, I think it's worth 40 points!"
"Wow!"
The applause nearly tore the ceiling off the hall.
Even though it wasn't their house that won the House Cup, most students were happy to see Gryffindor surpass the unpopular Slytherin.
As a result, the entire hall instantly turned into a sea of joy.
And the Slytherin snakes, well, they were practically ignored at that moment.
The joys and sorrows of people were not shared. While the others were applauding, Draco thought they were just being noisy.
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