Jon would probably never forget how he spent the rest of his days after his first-year final exams.
He had a sad face all the time and seemed to have no desire to live.
There are only some strange thoughts in my mind:
"Why is this happening?"
"Whether it's the basilisk, the Horcrux, or the Occlumency technique, I was the one who prepared countermeasures first!"
"Why does a terrifying creature like Boggart exist...Why"
So much so that Astoria once thought Jon was sick and forcibly took him to the school hospital.
"Mr. Hart was just a little frightened!" Madam Pomfrey said truthfully after a careful examination: "Same as you were, Miss Greengrass... Fortunately, the potion prepared last time has not been used up..."
After drinking half a bottle of the odd-tasting, light blue potion, Madam Pomfrey forced him to stay in the school hospital for another night before letting him leave.
...
...
Back in the Hufflepuff common room, Jon learned the news: in the first game of the final round of Quidditch, Gryffindor defeated Ravenclaw with a narrow advantage of 270:240.
Among the four house teams, only Gryffindor and Hufflepuff won two games, and Hufflepuff's net score was more than 900 points higher than Gryffindor's.
This means that as long as Hufflepuff does not lose to the unmotivated Slytherin by 900 points in the final round, they can win the Quidditch Cup.
Sure enough, in the match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin, the seven Hufflepuff players sat back and watched Slytherin throw 16 Quaffles in a row with a Buddhist attitude... and then Cedric Diggory took the Golden Snitch from under Draco Malfoy's butt.
In the end, Hufflepuff lost to Slytherin 150:160.
This allowed Slytherin to avoid the embarrassing record of losing all three games, and also allowed Hufflepuff to win the Quidditch Cup again after thirteen years.
…
Three days after the last exam, Jon followed a group of Hufflepuff students to the Great Hall for the end-of-year banquet.
The hall had already been decorated with Slytherin's green and silver to celebrate their seventh win in eight years; on the wall behind the podium hung a huge banner with a Slytherin snake painted on it.
Students and teachers arrived one after another, and the whole auditorium was packed with people.
After seeing that most people were almost here, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood up, raised his hands and signaled everyone to be quiet.
The auditorium quickly fell silent.
"Before you enjoy these delicious dishes, I must trouble you to listen to an old man's words." Professor Dumbledore said gently: "What a wonderful year this was! Your little brains must be richer with knowledge than in the past. You have a whole summer vacation waiting for you. You can digest those things before the next semester starts and free up your brains..."
"Now, as far as I know, we must first conduct the awards ceremony for the House Cup. The specific scores of each house are as follows: fourth place, Gryffindor, 412 points; third place, Hufflepuff, 423 points; Ravenclaw, 432 points, Slytherin, 539 points."
There was a thunderous cheering and stamping of feet from the Slytherin table.
Jon saw Astoria hugging her sister in celebration.
"It's Slytherin again..." Jon heard the prefect Gabriel Truman muttering beside him, "Ever since Snape became the head of Slytherin, Slytherin's scores every year are either first or second..."
Gabrielle's complaints were valid.
In Potions class, Snape was always finding fault with students from other colleges and deducting points (even though he almost never deducted points from his own), while Slytherin students who were not particularly bad would usually get extra points from him... and as the other three head of the house generally maintained fairness, Slytherin's scores rose and lifted all boats, and in recent years it was easy for Slytherin's scores to be much higher than those of other colleges.
Hufflepuff was the biggest victim, because Hufflepuff had the largest number of students and the most points were deducted every year. So even though they won the Quidditch Cup this semester, they could only come in third in the House Cup.
"Don't worry!" Cedric Diggory comforted, "Professor Dumbledore may have something else to say, just like last year."
Cedric's calculation was correct.
"Yes, that's a good performance!" Dumbledore added, "However, recent events must also be taken into account."
He cleared his throat and said, "There are still some points to be distributed. Let me see... Oh, the first one - Miss Ginny Weasley!"
Ginny, who was sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, stood up with a red face; when she realized something was wrong, she quickly sat down again.
"Faced with the most terrifying and darkest existence, she was still able to maintain her remaining sanity and bravely tell everything... I reward Gryffindor House with forty points for this!"
The cheers of the little lions almost blew away the enchanted ceiling.
Percy Weasley could be heard shouting from the prefects' table: "It's my sister, you know, my only sister..."
"The second is Miss Hermione Granger..." Dumbledore continued, "She is probably the youngest student in the history of Hogwarts who has prepared advanced potions... I will award Gryffindor forty points!"
Once again, the Gryffindor students were ecstatic and jumping up and down at the table!
"The third - Mr. Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said, and the hall suddenly became unusually quiet. "Facing the monster of Slytherin, he risked his life and showed unprecedented courage, and even won the recognition of Godric Gryffindor... For this, I will also reward Gryffindor House with 50 points!"
The noise was deafening.
All Gryffindor students were in endless carnival... Gryffindor's score now was 542 points, while Slytherin only had 539 points!
For two consecutive years, they surpassed Slytherin in the house cup on the last day of the semester... On the podium, Snape shook hands with Professor McGonagall and forced an awkward smile on his face.
Dumbledore had to yell, "So, we need to make some small changes to the decor here!"
He waved his fingers, and the green ribbons turned bright red, and the silver flags turned gold; the huge Slytherin snake disappeared, and was replaced by a majestic Gryffindor lion.
"Favouritism!" Jon said to himself, then picked up a glass of pumpkin juice on the table and drank it.
Dumbledore suddenly raised his hand again.
The celebrating Gryffindor students fell silent.
"Of course there is a fourth aswell - Mr. Jon Hart!" Dumbledore said calmly.
"Puft. What the f.." All the pumpkin juice in Jon's mouth sprayed out at once, almost spraying Hannah Abbott beside him.
However, Hannah and the other Hufflepuff students seemed to be completely unaware, and their eyes were all focused on Professor Dumbledore.
"Fuck, is Dumbledore going to give me extra points too?" Jon quickly calculated in his mind that Dumbledore would have to give Hufflepuff 120 points so that they could surpass Gryffindor.
Could it be that turning a Boggart into a school principal would bring such a high reward?
"I have been teaching at Hogwarts for more than ninety years, and this is the first time I have seen a student create such an interesting Boggart... For this, I have to give Hufflepuff ten points!" Dumbledore said with a smile.
Only ten points obviously... Jon couldn't help but take a breath. Dumbledore was too stingy.
However, the Hufflepuff badgers around him were far from being as calm as he was.
After Dumbledore added ten points, Hufflepuff's score was 433, surpassing Ravenclaw's 432.
They were no longer at the bottom of the College Cup, but were in third place.
Cedric Diggory clenched his fists excitedly, Gabrielle Truman almost shed tears, and Hannah Abbott hugged him from behind...
"Finally, we are no longer at the bottom..."
"Hufflepuff has been at the bottom for seven years in a row..."
"Well done, Jon, you're a Hufflepuff hero!"
Even Professor Sprout stood up from his seat with a smile and nodded to Jon.
Jon had somehow become a hero, and was soon embraced in the sea of Hufflepuff celebration.
…
In stark contrast to Hufflepuff, there was silence at the Ravenclaw table.
Even Professor Flitwick on the podium lowered his head in shame... Now, no one under the podium could see him at all.
Penelope Clearwater, who was sitting in the prefect's seat, was wiping her tears, crying bitterly... She was not the only one, most of the Ravenclaw girls had already cried out loud, except for Luna Lovegood who was still smiling without changing her expression.
"What's going on?" Jon asked Cedric carefully.
Because he felt that many Ravenclaw boys were looking at him with extremely hostile eyes.
"This is the first time this century that Ravenclaw has finished last in the House Cup!" Cedric explained, "Ravenclaw is the house that has won the most House Cups this century, and they haven't finished last in the House Cup for more than ninety years..."
"Well done, Jon!" Gabrielle patted his shoulder vigorously. "We can't always take the last place in the House Cup. It's time for Ravenclaw to have a taste of what this feels like!"
Jon smiled bitterly and nodded, then glanced at Dumbledore on the podium.
Dumbledore blinked at him, then looked away...
"Now, let the party and celebration begin!"
Countless kinds of British food suddenly appeared on the table...