"He broke through! Cedric broke through the interference!"
"Both Seekers are now aiming for the Golden Snitch! The match has reached the most thrilling moment!" It must be said that this commentator's choice of words is quite lacking.
However, he does indeed have a love for Quidditch. The atmosphere in the stands was also extremely tense. Ian saw Professor McGonagall even gripping the hand of the Hufflepuff Headmaster next to her.
Clearly.
She also has her own secret bias.
"Could it be that Professor McGonagall is also a longtime fan girl of Cedric?" Ian thought about McGonagall's level of fondness for Quidditch, and the more he considered it, the more likely it seemed.
As time passed second by second.
The match finally approached its end.
"Oh my! It's still Cedric! It's him! Of course it is! How could it not be him! He dodged Slytherin College's interference at a very tricky angle and successfully caught the Snitch!"
"Cedric Diggory! He has created a miracle once again!" the commentator screamed hoarsely, while the Slytherin players and students had unpleasant expressions.
However.
The result was decided.
Though they were discontent, they were not poor losers. The people in the stands began to boil, and numerous yellow banners and flags were raised into the sky by magic.
"Bang~!"
Some students not very skilled in magic accidentally blew up their flags, but the surrounding smoke did nothing to dampen the heated atmosphere, with innumerable little badgers screaming as they attempted to climb out of the stands and rush into the field.
They also had a wild and unrestrained side. Cedric was hoisted into the air by a group of excited students—treated like a hero, Cedric was also extremely pleased.
Aside from the Slytherin College students feeling down, the little wizards who lost their bets weren't in a good mood either. Ian glanced around, worrying about the Hogwarts towers tonight.
"This is what you call gambling dogs."
Ian thought Snape probably placed quite a few bets as well. Among all the professors present, Snape had the gloomiest face, leaving the pitch early with a dramatic sweep of his robe right after the match ended.
"Thank you to the Hufflepuff players! And thank the Slytherin players! They brought us an extraordinary, unique, and intense match!"
"Let us celebrate Hufflepuff College, and also express regret for Slytherin College." After the match, the vice-principal gave a seemingly unbiased speech, but the way Professor McGonagall smiled made it hard to believe she genuinely felt regret for Slytherin College.
...
After the Quidditch match ended, life at Hogwarts returned to normal: discussions, classes—it all seemed no different from before.
Only those helping Filch or wealthier little wizards with dirty work for meager rewards still demonstrated how many people had fallen down the "social ladder" due to the Quidditch match.
It was only because Filch seemed possessed, blowing something up every day, landing in the hospital daily, that these little wizards could earn compensated labor from Filch's hand.
"Perhaps this can also count as my good deed."
Ian's preparations for the final exam were already coming to an end. The professors had a special set of questions just for him, making his movements inevitably filled with a bit of anxiety.
Especially after seeing that Grindelwald had somehow acquired a Ukrainian Iron Belly, the nervousness and anxiety in the little wizard's heart about the final exam reached a new height.
Of course.
The apprehension wasn't due to any reverence for the Ukrainian Iron Belly but because when he saw Grindelwald performing magical modifications on the Ukrainian Iron Belly in his Underground Palace, he casually asked.
"Is this my final exam?"
The little wizard could even curiously go up and kick the glaring Ukrainian Iron Belly a few times.
However.
Grindelwald's response immediately made him lose all interest in the Half-blood Dragon.
"This is for the other students' exam questions."
The cunning Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts smiled intriguingly.
"For you, I have another exam question. Remember to eat less before the exam, or else I'll photograph your vomiting state and show every one of my students."
Effectively a warning of social death.
This kept Ian up for several nights in a row.
Until the day of the exam.
He kept pondering what Grindelwald wanted him to be tested on.