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Chapter 82: End of the first academic year

The first place in the second year went to a Ravenclaw girl named Autumn Zhang.

However, to their surprise, Hermione Granger, despite having top marks in all other subjects, did not secure first place in Defense Against the Dark Arts as they had hoped.

The first place in first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts went to Harry Potter!

"Harry, do you think we're nice to you?" That evening, after the results were released, Fred and George each had an arm around Harry's shoulders and asked with serious expressions.

"Well... well, you're pretty nice... whether in the Gryffindor common room or on the Quidditch pitch, you've always looked after me," Harry replied, puzzled about what they meant. "W-what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong." George said with great distress, "But you've caused us serious harm!"

"I... I did?" Harry felt a pang of guilt, unsure of what he might have done wrong.

"Harry, how could you steal Hermione's first place in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Fred patted Harry's shoulder, mourning deeply.

"Ah?"

Harry was startled and glanced at his book bag, fearing that something like a diary or notes had been exposed.

However, George's next words made him lose the desire to talk to them—

"We made a bet with those Slytherin rich kids that Hermione would get Professor Dracula's amulet. Do you know how those arrogant pure-bloods think? They didn't believe a Muggle-born witch could possibly get first place, so they bet ten Galleons with me."

"We thought it was a sure thing, but in the end, you got the amulet..."

George exaggeratedly gestured with his hands, pretending to wipe tears, and cried out dramatically. "That's ten Galleons, Harry! That's the amount my dad earns in a week!"

Hearing George's complaints, a red glow seemed to flash in Harry's eyes.

"Fred, George, you really need to stop gambling!" he suddenly shouted. "You know that ten Galleons is Mr. Weasley's weekly salary. Have you considered that you might lose even more in the future?!"

"The Slytherins can afford to lose! They might just get a scolding for losing money. But you? If you lose so much that you can't afford it, you could end up affecting your younger siblings and the whole Weasley family's livelihood!"

Fred and George stared at the emotional Harry, looking a bit bewildered.

"We're sorry, Harry," George said weakly, "Why are you shouting so loudly? You nearly scared us to death."

Harry realized he had lost his composure. He quickly adjusted his glasses, apologized, and hurriedly said goodbye to the twins.

The twins exchanged confused looks, with question marks appearing in their eyes.

"Was that really Harry just now?" Fred asked George. "He didn't use to yell at people like that, did he?"

"Not sure. Maybe he's changed a bit after getting first place in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" George shrugged, uncertain.

...

The last Quidditch match was held three days after the end-of-term exams.

The match was between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw and was crucial in determining whether Gryffindor could win the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup.

This was a vital game.

Currently, the top of the House standings was Slytherin, who, due to Snape's "unrelenting efforts," had accumulated a high score of 442 points. Following closely was Ravenclaw with 426 points, and Gryffindor was in third place with 412 points.

Although Gryffindor was only in third place, the point difference between them and Slytherin was not large. If Gryffindor's team could win the Quidditch Cup, they would gain a significant 50-point bonus, allowing them to overtake Slytherin and win the House Cup!

Moreover, Gryffindor had a strong chance of winning.

With Harry's outstanding performance, they had already defeated both Hufflepuff and Slytherin teams, creating a significant point gap with Slytherin, who was in second place.

Therefore, as long as they could defeat Ravenclaw, or even if they didn't fall too far behind, they could win the final Quidditch Cup!

In this crucial match, Harry, who had defeated Quirrell and driven away Voldemort, was in excellent form. Within an hour, he successfully caught the Golden Snitch, securing victory for Gryffindor.

With the 50 points from the Quidditch Cup, Gryffindor's house points reached 462, surpassing Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and moving into first place!

As soon as the match ended, the Gryffindor lions eagerly lifted Harry and tossed him high into the air.

That evening, Gryffindor Tower was festooned with decorations, and the celebration began early.

They celebrated enthusiastically as Gryffindor had stopped Slytherin's six-year streak of winning the House Cup and successfully took the honor!

...

However, they had forgotten that the end-of-year feast was still three days away—

Snape, whether because he really wanted Slytherin to keep the House Cup position or because he wanted Harry's gratitude to turn into dislike, or perhaps both, was determined to make things difficult.

In those remaining three days, he seemed to have gone mad, working day and night to deduct points from Gryffindor. He deducted five or ten points for even the smallest issues, and soon, Gryffindor's points were nearly equal to Slytherin's.

So, on the afternoon of the last day of the school year, Harry went to Snape's office and had a heated argument with him—

"Professor Snape, why are you doing this?" Harry asked with a pained expression. "You could be a good person, so why do you insist on making me dislike you?"

On one hand, Snape's usual actions were indeed quite unpleasant, especially to Gryffindor's lions, who deeply disliked him, including Harry in the past; on the other hand, Snape had tried to save his life twice, so Harry didn't harbor much hatred toward him now.

Snape nonchalantly continued to sort his potion ingredients, seemingly ignoring Harry's questioning.

However, upon closer inspection, it could be seen that his expression was tense, and his actions were merely unconsciously breaking herbs.

"You're thinking too much, Potter," he said after a long silence. "Isn't it normal for me to want my house to win the House Cup? Or do you think I should help Gryffindor win the cup to be the 'good person' you're talking about?"

"Don't be so self-righteous, Potter. Not everything in the world revolves around you!"

Snape threw the last two herbs into the pot and spoke slowly.

Harry's face turned red with anger at Snape's mockery.

A flash of red light appeared in his eyes, and his emotions suddenly became intense.

"Isn't it exactly what you want? Go ahead, deduct my points!" he shouted uncontrollably. "I should have been blind to be grateful to you!"

Snape's actions stopped, and he sneered coldly.

"Indeed, the Potters are always so foolish, arrogant, and self-righteous," he said coldly. "As you wish..."

"Defying a professor, Gryffindor loses fifty points!"

...

That evening, Harry left the Potions professor's office, feeling disheveled and climbed the spiral staircase to the entrance courtyard to attend the end-of-year feast.

By the time he arrived at the hall, it was already filled with people.

The hall was decorated in green and silver, representing Slytherin, to celebrate their seventh consecutive win of the House Cup. A huge banner with a snake was hung behind the guest seats.

As soon as Harry walked in, Ron and Hermione pulled him over to the Gryffindor table.

"Harry, did you know? Gryffindor just had fifty points deducted!" Ron said indignantly. "Now, even if we win another Quidditch Cup, we can't catch up with Slytherin."

"Yeah, I don't know who gave Snape such a big opportunity," Hermione said, slamming her book on the table, her mood ruined.

Harry paused, his mood suddenly sinking.

"Don't say anything. I'm the one who did it," he said quietly.

Ron and Hermione fell silent, staring at Harry in shock.

"What happened, Harry?" Ron asked. "Didn't you already reconcile with Snape?"

"I don't think we'll ever reconcile." Harry said sadly, not understanding why he was so emotional lately. "I wanted to talk to him about the point deductions for Gryffindor... but I lost control of my emotions and ended up arguing with him..."

Hermione wanted to ask more, but just then, Dumbledore entered the hall.

He walked out from the side of the staff table, smiling and waving at everyone. The noise in the hall gradually quieted down, and Hermione chose not to ask further, as the situation was already set.

"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said as he stood beside his seat, not sitting down but standing there excitedly. "Before we enjoy this delicious feast, I must trouble everyone to listen to an old man's clichés. Let me say a few words..."

Unlike the various headmaster speeches in Muggle schools,