Chapter 486: Heroes of Slytherin
Chapter 486: Heroes of Slytherin
"Albert, Albert, look over there, tell me I'm not seeing things," Lee Jordan exclaimed as he suddenly grabbed Albert by the arm, pointing at the enormous hourglass that recorded the House Points for the Goblet of Fire competition. It was the morning after the previous day's events, and as Albert and his friends passed by, Lee noticed that Gryffindor's hourglass was now at the very bottom, indicating they were in last place.
"You're not mistaken; we really are in last place now," George Weasley exclaimed, his mouth hanging open in shock. They had been so close to overtaking Slytherin and reclaiming the House Cup.
"Do you think the hourglass is broken?" Fred wondered, tapping the glass gently.
"It looks like we're missing about a hundred and fifty points," Albert interjected, stopping Fred from doing anything rash. He calmly assessed the situation. "My guess is that last night, someone was wandering the castle and got caught by Filch, resulting in a significant point deduction for our House."
Fred, George, and Lee gave Albert suspicious glances. "Do you know something we don't? I recall you had a date last night as well. Don't tell me you were the one caught by Filch!" They found it hard to believe that Albert could have been caught, but they were certain he knew something about the reason for Gryffindor's massive point loss.
"Well, there were quite a few students roaming the castle last night," Albert admitted with a helpless shrug. "Anyway, let's go get some breakfast."
"Aren't you upset at all?" Fred muttered. "We were so close to beating Slytherin and winning the House Cup this year."
"Not really," Albert replied nonchalantly. "Winning or losing doesn't make much of a difference to me."
For the students of Gryffindor, that morning brought despair.
In just one night, all their hopes of winning the House Cup had been shattered.
As soon as the Gryffindors realized that their House had mysteriously lost a whopping one hundred and fifty points, they erupted in confusion and anger. How could their House point total have dropped so drastically overnight? What had happened last night?
Everyone scrambled to find out what had transpired, and it was only when Percy Weasley mustered the courage to approach Professor McGonagall that they finally learned the reason for their House's sudden point deduction.
"Are you saying that Harry and two other students wandering the castle at night cost us that many points?"
Albert's roommates couldn't help but voice their frustrations at him. "Why didn't you help Harry last night? Most students want their House to win the House Cup."
"They were just being careless and got caught by Filch," Albert explained helplessly. "Sometimes, it's not a matter of helping or not."
News of this incident spread quickly throughout Hogwarts Castle.
The renowned Quidditch hero of Gryffindor, the one and only Harry Potter, had caused their House to lose a significant number of points.
By the end of breakfast, Harry, Hermione, and Neville had become the most unpopular people in Gryffindor.
Upon learning of this, a Slytherin student approached Harry, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Thank you, Potter. You've done us a great favor!"
"We owe you one for the House Cup!"
More and more Slytherin students gathered around Harry Potter, applauding, whistling, and cheering him on. They surrounded him at the breakfast table, making him the center of their celebration. It became so overwhelming that Harry had to be rescued by Professor McGonagall, who helped him escape the throng, looking rather disheveled.
Meanwhile, the rest of the students gave Harry cold stares and turned their noses up at him.
"Do you care about the House Points?" Albert asked his three roommates after finishing a sausage.
"I just feel like we were so close to beating Slytherin and winning the Cup," Lee Jordan mumbled. "It's frustrating to see it ruined like this."
"What's frustrating?" Albert asked calmly as he spread jam on his toast. "Have you contributed that many points to Gryffindor yourself? If you really care that much, you should have been working harder to earn points for the House all this time."
"What right do you have to be depressed? If I'm not bothered, then why should you be?" Lee Jordan was left speechless by Albert's remark.
"What are you talking about?" Lee sputtered.
Several hot-tempered senior students who overheard this exchange turned to glare at the speaker, only to freeze when they saw that it was Albert.
"Do you think I'm not qualified to say that?" Albert asked without looking up.
Though displeased, the students fell silent.
If anyone else had said this, they would likely have incurred the wrath of the Gryffindor students, but the speaker was Albert.
Even though his words struck a raw nerve for many students, they had to admit that Albert had the credentials to say such things.
After all, Albert consistently contributed a substantial number of points to Gryffindor each year.
Most Gryffindor students were already doing well if they didn't deduct points from their house, let alone actively adding to the tally.
The reason for the Gryffindors' discontent ultimately boiled down to their dashed hopes of winning the House Cup, and they directed all their frustration at the three unfortunate individuals, with Harry Potter bearing the brunt of it, simply because he was the most famous among them.
In the evening, Albert went to find Harry, intending to ask him to retrieve the Invisibility Cloak from Albert's possession. However, he witnessed Harry approaching Wood to express his intention to quit the Quidditch team.
As expected, Wood gave him a stern scolding.
Although Wood was also upset, he didn't let his anger cloud his judgment. He knew that without Harry, Gryffindor might even lose the Quidditch Cup.
"Wood, do you mind if I borrow Harry for a few minutes?" Albert raised his hand in greeting to Wood.
"Be my guest," Wood replied curtly.
In full view of everyone, Albert led Harry to a secluded spot.
"Come on, don't be sad. It's just a deduction of points," Albert said. "You forgot to take the Invisibility Cloak with you last night. Remember to get it back from me later!"
"Aren't you angry?" Harry asked in surprise.
Currently, the only other person in Hogwarts who might say something like this to Harry was probably Ron.
"Angry? No, I don't value the so-called House Cup as much as others do. It's there if we have it, and it's not a big deal if we don't," Albert said, patting Harry's shoulder reassuringly. "If you can't stand their gossip, then keep a low profile and focus more time and energy on studying. Most students don't have long memories for these things, and they'll forget about it in a week or two. By next semester, they'll have completely moved on."
After some comforting words from Albert, Harry felt a little better, but his situation remained unchanged.
There was no other way around it—when you climb high, the fall is harder.
Sometimes, being too famous has its downsides.
Wherever Harry went, people pointed and whispered, and some even insulted him to his face.
Perhaps that was just the way people were, Albert concluded.
As Harry's accomplice, Hermione and Neville also had a hard time. Although they weren't as famous as Harry, they still had to endure pointing, mocking, and malicious gossip behind their backs.
Initially, Hermione tried desperately to make up for the lost points by actively participating in class and earning extra points, but all she got in return was cold ridicule and malicious slander.
As a result, Hermione stopped drawing attention to herself in class and kept her head down, quietly studying on her own.
If one had to pick the one who was having the toughest time among the trio, it would undoubtedly be Neville.
At least Harry and Hermione had friends to lean on for support.
Ever since Gryffindor lost a significant number of points, Neville became a lonely outcast, shunned even by his roommates, who no longer spoke to him.
He could only endure it all quietly, shedding countless tears in the stillness of the night.
(End of Chapter)
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