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Hogwarts Targaryen Dragonborn
Hogwarts Bloodline Wizards
ilham20
"Although it was a bit unexpected, this outcome is still pretty good, isn't it?"
At the staff table, Professor Sprout turned to the stone-faced Snape beside her and smiled.
"Yeah. Everyone sharing the House Cup together… that's a rare experience."
Professor Flitwick wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, equal parts excited and wistful. "It's just a shame for the little eagles. They might not take this result very well."
"After all, the victory that got shared originally belonged to them."
Newt smiled as well. As a former Hufflepuff, seeing the unassuming little badgers claim the House Cup championship felt especially gratifying.
"That's not quite right. They only managed to take the Quidditch Cup because Harry wasn't around."
Professor Flitwick shook his head. While his passion for Quidditch didn't quite match his love for dueling, he had a clear sense of his students' capabilities. He doubted even his own Seeker could have beaten Harry to the Snitch, let alone rack up points against Gryffindor the way things had played out.
"What they can't accept is why the other three Houses—especially Slytherin—got bonus points while Ravenclaw received nothing at all."
"Haha, so that's what it is?"
Newt blinked, then let out an awkward chuckle. As expected, he still couldn't quite follow the Ravenclaws' way of thinking.
"But honestly, I never expected Dumbledore to pull something like this."
Professor McGonagall sounded genuinely surprised. Forcing all four Houses to share the House Cup—she never would have imagined the headmaster cooking up something this dramatic right before term ended.
"Doesn't he worry the students will start questioning the fairness of the whole thing?"
"Speaking of which… did Dumbledore plan this all along?"
After the feast, in Tom's translation shop, several students who had escaped the excited crowd gathered together. Hermione frowned, clearly unsettled.
"Four Houses tying? As far as I know, that hasn't happened since Hogwarts was founded. And the points are so perfectly balanced… like someone deliberately adjusted them. If he does this, does the House Cup even mean anything anymore?"
"I don't know."
Ron's face was bright with uncontainable joy. "All I know is Gryffindor won the House Cup this year!"
"Hmph. It's just the House Cup. What's there to brag about? Slytherin still has seven straight championships."
The arrogant little snake beside him lifted his chin proudly.
"Alright, Hermione, don't overthink it. Dumbledore must have had his reasons."
Seeing Hermione still twisting herself into knots, Ariana floated up and wrapped her arms around the other girl's head with a bright smile.
"Yeah. And as for fairness? Once Snape started deducting points from the other three Houses whenever he felt like it, the House Cup lost any claim to fairness."
Harry nodded in agreement from the side.
[Correction—it's three Houses and Pansy's personal points.]
Tom stirred the pot from the sidelines, clearly enjoying himself.
What he said was true. Ever since that Potions class where Pansy had said the two forbidden words, she had landed squarely on Snape's blacklist. If the students from the other three Houses were collectively shouldering Snape's malice (with Harry taking a slightly larger share), then Pansy had been singled out to bear the full weight of his fury. After one class, the points she lost alone nearly matched an entire House's total deductions. It was easy to picture just how furious Snape had been.
Of course, since it was still his own House, Snape had found ways to claw those points back through Draco. In that environment, House Cup fairness? It didn't exist.
Though whenever he deducted from Gryffindor he made up some on Ariana, and whenever he hit Hufflepuff he made up some on me.
Thinking about it that way… Ravenclaw really had gotten the short end of the stick. The points Snape took from them had no one to replenish them. After finally clawing their way to the championship as the underdogs, the old man had simply "shared" it with the other three Houses. Poor Ravenclaw.
Not that it mattered to Tom. He didn't have any friends in Ravenclaw anyway.
"Alright, Hermione. I know fairness matters to you, but this outcome isn't bad. No one got hurt, and the honor belongs to every single one of us. That feels fair enough."
"But—"
[Look, if nothing else works, just remember what we actually did. We stopped Voldemort from coming back and saved the entire wizarding world. For something that big, asking for one shared House Cup championship is already a pretty low bar.]
"This—… Alright. You have a point."
Hermione still felt something was off, but under the group's gentle pressure she reluctantly accepted the explanation. If she had stopped to really think about it, she might have realized Tom's logic was shaky at best—they had stopped Voldemort by breaking school rules left and right. Dumbledore rewarding them for it could easily be seen as encouraging rule-breaking. But right now, that thought didn't occur to her.
The days leading up to the holidays passed in a busy, lively blur—especially for Draco. The others had genuinely earned honor for their Houses. Their poor little dragon had contributed too, but Dumbledore's public praise had turned him into Slytherin's public enemy overnight.
So you understood what it truly means to be a Slytherin, huh? Everyone else doesn't, huh? A first-year, acting that arrogant?
If the holidays hadn't been so close and if Draco hadn't been the Malfoy heir, it was questionable whether he would have made it out of school in one piece. His only real weapon was his mouth; against older students, he was nothing.
Unexpectedly, though, Draco's reputation among the first-year Slytherins remained fairly solid. While Slytherins looked down on other Houses, they respected strength and results. Dumbledore's acknowledgment carried weight, and Draco had received it. He became someone worth watching.
Of course, that only applied to the normal Slytherins. Brainless types like Crabbe and Goyle, or Pansy—who had been driven half-mad by Snape's targeted torment—were exceptions. They were even whispering behind Draco's back that he had betrayed his class by mixing with Muggle-borns and mudbloods, dragging the pure-blood name through the mud.
Tom, hearing the gossip, did nothing dramatic. He simply smiled and passed the information along to Snape.
Judging by the three students' expressions afterward, Snape had zero tolerance for classmates who insulted others behind their backs. Whether he recognized any of himself in the situation… who could say?
Finally, no matter how reluctant anyone felt, departure day arrived.
Hogsmeade station. Staring at the familiar Hogwarts Express, Harry felt a complicated swirl of emotions. The year had flown by so fast it made him question whether any of it had been real. Maybe it was all just a dream—one he had conjured after another beating from Dudley.
If it is a dream… let me never wake up.
"What dream?"
Hermione blinked beside him, caught off guard.
"Nothing. But… is Ron actually okay?"
Harry glanced at Ron, who stood nearby clutching his trunk, face pale.
"I'm fine."
Ron forced a smile. "Just… not really looking forward to going home."
After all, one of his exam grades was a P. If his mum found out…
Just imagining her reaction made his scalp prickle. The twins might cause chaos, but their grades had always been solid—never below passing. Ron was currently the only Weasley child to fail an exam. The thought of facing his mother made him briefly consider staying at school.
"I get it."
Harry nodded. The reasons were different, but the feeling was the same. Number Four, Privet Drive had never been home. He had never felt warmth there. Maybe Hogwarts was the only real home he had.
People's joys and sorrows rarely aligned. Not far away, Tom looked at the train that had once killed him and felt a flicker of helplessness.
[So why do we have to take this stupid train back? If there wasn't this ridiculous restriction, I'd already be home.]
As a first-year champion doted on by the Lovegood family, Tom was itching to get back and show off. The bigger reason, though, was that both Newt and Nicolas had invited him to visit over the holidays.
Newt wanted to continue researching magic that could help control Obscurials. Nicolas wanted Tom to visit his alchemy workshop. Dumbledore hoped the two of them could work together on solving Ariana's physical body problem. Having finally found an apprentice he actually liked, Nicolas also planned to introduce Tom to his network of contacts.
Tom had already mentioned to Pandora that he wanted her involved in the spell research as well, and he knew Luna admired Newt. He planned to bring both of them along for a visit during the break.
He had cleared it with Newt beforehand and received permission. Tom wasn't the type to show up uninvited.
"This… I don't know. My brother didn't tell me either."
Ariana stood nearby, eyes bright with quiet longing and excitement. Like Tom, she was looking forward to the holidays. After so many years, she could finally spend proper time with both of her brothers.
Tom glanced at her empty hands and shook his head.
[Then have a good holiday. I'm getting on the train. Go say goodbye to Harry and the others.]
Unlike the students, Aberforth lived in Hogsmeade year-round, so Ariana didn't need to take the train. She had only come to see everyone off.
"Mm. Happy holidays. Safe travels."
After saying goodbye to Tom, Ariana slipped through the crowd toward Harry and the others. Tom turned and boarded the train.
The train pulled away from the platform. In Harry's compartment, besides Harry himself, Hannah Abbott was already seated.
"Time really is its own kind of magic."
Hannah sounded wistful. "I still remember us all on the train together… and now a whole semester is over."
[Yeah. I still remember those Chocolate Frogs you kept feeding me.]
Tom brought it up on purpose, teasing.
"Why do you keep bringing that up?! It's been almost a year! And I've been really careful since then, okay?"
Hannah ducked her head, embarrassed. It hadn't been intentional, but the memory of nearly killing him still made her feel guilty.
[Yeah. Almost a year. Time really flies. And somehow it's still just us in here… like nothing changed at all.]
Tom felt the same strange nostalgia. They said time passed quickly when you were doing what you loved. Turned out that was true. It felt like everything had happened yesterday. What he had always hated wasn't school itself—it was the dull, empty routine that came with it.
Just as they fell into comfortable silence, the compartment door slid open. A familiar head poked in. Harry's face lit up the moment he saw them. Before either of them could speak, he turned and hurried off again. A minute later he returned with three more heads in tow—Ron, Hermione, and Draco.
The compartment was meant for four, but they were still small enough that six could squeeze in without too much trouble.
The quiet space instantly grew lively, especially once Ron and Draco sat down and immediately started bickering. Harry sat between them like a buffer, but it didn't slow either boy down. Hermione claimed a corner seat with a thick book, occasionally glancing up to glare at the arguing pair. Whenever she did, their voices dropped a notch.
Tom and Hannah exchanged a look. Time really had changed things. At the very least, this compartment was no longer just the two of them.
Outside in the corridor, Neville stood with Trevor in his arms, watching the lively scene through the glass. He hesitated, then turned away. He had wanted to thank Tom—thanks to the cat's help, Trevor rarely wandered off anymore—but the atmosphere inside didn't feel like the right moment to interrupt.
Maybe next time.
He walked away.