Ron, who had spent a day and a night in the dark and damp cave, was finally rescued by Professor McGonagall.
When he came out of the cave, he looked as if he had just come out of the river.
The dampness inside the cave, and the pain from the broken right leg.
God knows how he got through that day and night.
Harry felt so guilty about almost causing trouble that he couldn't bear to look at Ron.
Although it was Ron who suggested that Harry go find the Philosopher's Stone first, it was also out of trust in Harry.
But now...
If Draco hadn't mentioned it, Harry probably wouldn't have remembered even if he had been in so much pain inside!
...
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
With the final exams over, the little wizards had been playing like crazy that week.
No homework, no classes.
Every day, the first thing they did when they opened their eyes was think about where they should go for fun.
Unfortunately, happy times were always too short.
The day for the results to be announced arrived quickly.
Countless students crowded in front of Hogwarts Castle.
A huge parchment was posted on the bulletin board; one could find out their grades simply by tapping it with a magic wand.
Of course, this report would also be mailed to their homes during the holiday.
As soon as Argus, Draco, Hermione, and the others reached the outer perimeter, whispers arose from the crowd.
They proactively carved out a path.
"Argus is here!"
"I wonder what score Argus will get?"
"Is there even a question? It's definitely number one!"
"..."
The group of young wizards almost reached a consensus.
Even before Argus had seen his grades, he was certain that he was first in his grade.
"Don't move, let me go first!"
Before Argus could speak, Draco quickly took out his wand and pointed it at the parchment.
If Draco checked it himself first, at least he could lower his expectations a bit.
If Argus got first place in the grade and then revealed his barely passing grade, wouldn't he be laughed at to death?
The jet-black ink slowly emerged on the parchment.
Herbology: A
Potions: E
Charms: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: A
Transfiguration: A
History of Magic: A
Flight Lesson: O
Astronomy: A
"Thank goodness, I passed them all!"
Draco breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and looked very pleased.
Turning his head, Draco saw Argus's ambiguous smile.
"Don't forget what you promised me."
"Continue with extra classes during the holidays!"
After saying that, ignoring Draco's wails, he was about to check his grades when Hermione beat him to it!
Herbology: O
Potions: O
Charms: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: E
Transfiguration: O
History of Magic: O
Flight Lesson: O
Astronomy: O
Except for Defense Against the Dark Arts, all of them received the highest rating!
But this still didn't satisfy the little witch.
"I knew it! In the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, I didn't answer several questions completely, I didn't even finish them."
"If only the parchment were a little bigger!"
Hermione's lips were so pouting they could practically hang a soy sauce bottle on them.
Argus smiled helplessly: "It's already very good."
"How are you going to make others live like this?"
As he spoke, he took out his wand and pointed it at the parchment.
Surprisingly, Argus's grades were not directly displayed on the parchment; instead, the Hogwarts crest appeared.
Badger, snake, lion, eagle!
The school emblem, composed of four animals, burst into brilliant flames in mid-air.
"I knew it! Argus is definitely number one in the grade!"
"My God, Hermione Granger only has one E, so Argus can't be all O's, can he?!"
"There are differences between O's. Some people get an O because their skill level is only O, while others get an O because the highest evaluation they can receive is O!"
Draco was now incredibly grateful that he had seen the results in advance.
Otherwise, people like Goyle, Crabbe, and Theodore would be too embarrassed to even look!
On the parchment, Argus's achievements gradually became apparent.
Except for the flight lesson, which was blank, everything else was O!
At the same time, a system notification came to his brain.
[Congratulations, host, for achieving first place in the final exam! Achievement: First in Grade]
[Achievement Points Reward: 100]
[Current remaining achievement points: 600]
Exclamations of surprise rippled through the crowd.
"He's ranked first even though he missed one course! That's a huge difference!"
"Didn't you see during the exam? We hadn't even finished looking at the questions, and Argus had already finished!"
"Don't think about it anymore. The exams are over anyway. We might as well wait and watch the House Cup tonight."
House Cup!
When this topic came up, Argus suddenly thought of something.
Since there were achievement points for being the top student, there should be similar rewards for the House Cup, right?
He wondered if Dumbledore would cause trouble this time.
In the original book, he forcibly added 170 points to Gryffindor's score in order to enhance Harry's reputation.
They practically handed the House Cup to Gryffindor.
But things were different now from the original story!
Harry himself admitted that he was the one who defeated Quirrell.
Even if Dumbledore wanted to give Gryffindor extra points, he couldn't bypass that.
Moreover, Harry and Ron had lost far more than 170 points that academic year.
Gryffindor had lost Hermione, its key to boosting scores.
It was already firmly at the bottom of the four houses, nearly a hundred points lower than the third-ranked Hufflepuff, and more than two hundred points lower than the first-ranked Slytherin!
Unless Dumbledore was shameless enough to give Harry and Ron 300 points each.
But if he really dared to do that, he wouldn't be able to get past Professor McGonagall alone, let alone Slytherin's students.
The impartial cat professor would not allow such favoritism and corruption.
Even if you were the one who benefited!
...
Night.
All the students of Hogwarts gathered in the Great Hall.
Because the winner of the House Cup would be announced soon, and because they would be on holiday tomorrow.
All the students seemed extremely excited.
The entire hall was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Especially Slytherin.
The score in the hourglass was significantly higher than that of second-place Ravenclaw, essentially securing the victory.
Even the decorations in the hall were adorned with Slytherin's green banners.
Ding ding ding!
Professor McGonagall gently tapped the glass in front of her, and the entire hall gradually fell silent.
Dumbledore stood up, glanced around, and then slowly spoke.
"Another school year has come to an end."
"Now, it's time to award the House Cup again."
The scores for each house were as follows.
"Fourth place: Gryffindor, with a total score of 256 points."
Sparse applause rippled across the long table in Gryffindor.
And... sighs.
They were clearly very dissatisfied with the score.
Several people even cast disgusted glances at Harry and Ron.
"Third place: Hufflepuff, with a total score of 352 points."
"Ravenclaw is in second place with a score of 461."
"At the top of the list is Slytherin House, with a total score of 517!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a deafening cheer erupted from the Slytherin table!
Draco was extremely excited, and several people kept waving their arms to show their excitement.
A smile appeared on the faces of several prefects.
Even Snape, who was sitting in the professors' seats, silently applauded.
"Well done, Slytherin."
"However... we must also take into account the recent events."
"I still have some final points to award..."
...
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