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Frog, I've got loads...." |
Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds |
me. I've got yeh a present." |
"It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" said Harry anxiously, and at last |
Hagrid gave a weak chuckle. "Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off |
yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead -- anyway, |
got yeh this..." |
It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. Harry opened it |
curiously. It was full of wizard photographs. Smiling and waving at him |
from every page were his mother and father. |
"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin' fer |
photos... knew yeh didn' have any... d'yeh like it?" |
Harry couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood. |
Harry made his way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. He |
had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing about, insisting on giving |
him one last checkup, so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked |
out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's |
winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner |
showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table. |
When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started |
talking loudly at once. He slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione |
at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were |
standing up to look at him. |
Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away. |
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you |
with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our |
delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a |
little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get |
them nice and empty before next year starts.... |
"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the |
points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and |
twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; |
Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred |
and seventy- two." |
A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. |
Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a |
sickening sight. |
"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent |
events must be taken into account." |
The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little. |
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. |
Let me see. Yes... |
"First -- to Mr. Ronald Weasley..." |
Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn. |
"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I |
award Gryffindor house fifty points." |
Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars |
overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other |
prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past |
McGonagall's giant chess set!" |
At last there was silence again. |
"Second -- to Miss Hermione Granger... for the use of cool logic in the |
face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." |
Hermione buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected she had |
burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside |
themselves -- they were a hundred points up. "Third -- to Mr. Harry |
Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet for pure nerve |
and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points." |
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves |
hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points |
-- exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup -- if |
only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point. |
Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent. |
"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a |
great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to |
stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville |
Longbottom." |
Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some |
sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted |
from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and |
cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people |
hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. |
Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who |
couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the |
Body-Bind Curse put on him. |
"Which means, Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even |
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we |
need a little change of decoration." |
He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet |
and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a |
towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor |
McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. He caught Harry's eye |
and Harry knew at once that Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed |
one jot. This didn't worry Harry. It seemed as though life would be back |
to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts. |
It was the best evening of Harry's life, better than winning at |
Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out mountain trolls... he would |
never, ever forget tonight. |
Harry had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but |
come they did. To their great surprise, both he and Ron passed with good |
marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years. Even |
Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his |
abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid |
as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a |
shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life. |
And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, |
Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were |
handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the |
holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred |
Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats |