Chapter 38
The following night, the grand final feast began. Albert and his friends rushed to the hall early, leaving a spot for Harry at the long table in their house.
"I told you Harry would come today, do you really think he will?" Hermione asked Albert as she sat next to him.
"I believe he definitely will. After all, we saw how well he was recovering yesterday. It would be good for him to leave the hospital today," Albert replied.
Ron, sitting across from Albert, also chimed in, "Yeah, I think Harry will definitely come. How could he miss such a big feast? I'd crawl here even if I broke my leg."
Hermione glared at Ron in annoyance, then turned her gaze toward the hall's decorations. The entire hall had been redecorated in the green and silver of Slytherin to celebrate their victory of the Academy Cup for the seventh consecutive year. A giant banner was hung on the wall behind the head table, featuring the Slytherin serpent.
"If we had more time, maybe we could get the points back," Hermione muttered, a bit dissatisfied.
Albert appeared completely indifferent. On one hand, Dumbledore had been insistent on giving extra points for a while. "At least we're not in last place; we're ahead by at least thirty points over Hufflepuff," he said. After all, just one night left with fewer than fifty points, it seemed like a small consolation.
After hearing Albert's relief, Hermione appeared even more downcast.
Amid this, Harry hurriedly entered through the doors of the hall. The noise of the hall ceased, then slowly rose again.
Albert waved to Harry from his spot. Harry ran over and sat next to Ron, leaving an empty space ahead of him. Everyone around them stared at Harry, making him slightly uncomfortable.
Luckily, Dumbledore arrived soon after, and the noise in the hall gradually died down, as everyone turned their attention to the headmaster.
Dumbledore happily gave a brief summary before starting the ceremony for the Academy Cup awards. This time, the house results were as follows:
Fourth place: Hufflepuff, with 352 points.
Third place: Gryffindor, with 384 points.
Second place: Ravenclaw, with 426 points.
First place: Slytherin, with 510 points.
Slytherin erupted in loud cheers. Albert saw Draco Malfoy banging the table with his goblet. He didn't think that was in line with the so-called aristocratic behavior. He truly couldn't understand how the so-called pure-blood families taught manners.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "However, many recent events must also be considered."
The hall fell silent, and the smiles on the Slytherin faces faded. Albert knew that Dumbledore would add extra points now. Even though Albert had been slightly irritated by these extra, somewhat unfair points when reading the original story of his past life, he remained focused.
As Albert expected, Dumbledore announced a variety of extra points. First, he awarded fifty points for the wisdom, courage, and spirit of sacrifice shown by Albert and Ron on the chessboard. This caused cheers at the Gryffindor table. Ron blushed deeply, his excitement evident, while Percy's voice was heard next to him: "That's my little brother. He broke Professor McGonagall's chessboard!"
After Dumbledore added thirty points for Hermione's thinking skills, Hermione burst into tears of joy at the table.
Finally, Harry was awarded sixty points for Gryffindor for his exceptional bravery and courage.
At this, the cheers from the Gryffindor table reached a new height. With these points, Gryffindor now had 524 points, ten points more than Slytherin.
Dumbledore waved his wand, changing the decorations in the hall. The green curtains turned bright red, and the silver became gold. The massive Slytherin serpent disappeared, replaced by the majestic Gryffindor lion, flanked by several black lions. Albert noticed Snape shaking hands with Professor McGonagall, his face flushed with an awkward smile.
Afterward, the dinner was lavish, and the evening was truly splendid.
A few days later, the final exam results were announced. Albert secured first place, while Hermione naturally came in second. Albert's ability to outshine Hermione was due to the fact that the actual process of casting spells carried more points than theoretical knowledge, which allowed him to claim first place in the final exam results.
Despite this, Albert began to accumulate a more varied set of knowledge.
It seemed that Hogwarts wasn't too difficult in the final exams, as everyone passed. However, Harry expressed regret that some of the foolish Slytherin students had passed the exams as well.
The last semester had completely come to an end, and everything was packed away. A notice was sent to every student, informing them that magic use was prohibited during the holidays.
(Well, Albert has a way of practicing magic without the Ministry of Magic finding out that he was using spells.) Hagrid was responsible for guiding them to the boat fleet that crossed the lake.
Now, they were on the Hogwarts Express, chatting and laughing the whole time. Outside the window, the countryside became greener and cleaner as the train passed through bustling towns. They ate some Baby's Beans, removed their wizard robes, and wore jackets and blouses instead.
Finally, the train stopped at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station.
It took quite a while for all of them to make it through the platform.
An old, frail guard stood at the ticket gate, allowing only two or three people at a time to pass through, so as not to have a large crowd entering and exiting the solid wall at once, which could attract unwanted attention.
Ron said, "You should come to our house this summer. Come on, I'll send an owl to invite you."
Harry responded, "Thanks, I really need to take a look. Look, life with the Dursleys isn't great, and I really hope it'll be a little better this holiday."
Albert and Ron walked through the exit together and saw a little red-haired girl, who must have been Ginny, Ron's younger sister, and Harry's future wife. Ginny pointed to Harry Potter, exclaiming, "There he is, Mum, there he is, look!"
Mrs. Weasley greeted Harry with a smile, but the Dursleys interrupted the conversation abruptly. "Come on, boy, we can't be late all day." Mr. Dursley turned away and left.
"Do you live there?" Albert asked with an incredulous expression. It was rare to see such rude people. Hermione showed the same expression. "I hope you have a nice holiday."
Luckily, Harry seemed to be in good spirits. "Oh, I'll be fine. They don't know that we're not allowed to use magic at home. This summer, I want to take good care of Dudley."