Nothing was more frustrating than coming so close.
Yet sometimes, coming close meant being a long way off.
Ravenclaw had ultimately failed to snatch the prize. Even on the day of the end-of-year feast, they remained second in the House Cup, just five points behind. Anyone who said the Ravenclaw students were not frustrated would be lying.
That evening, Albert went to the Great Hall with his dormmates for the end-of-year feast.
The Great Hall had already been lavishly decorated in Gryffindor's red and gold. A huge banner bearing the Gryffindor lion hung on the wall behind the staff table.
The Gryffindor students were all talking loudly, their words brimming with the joy and confidence of winning the House Cup.
Compared with Gryffindor, their next-door neighbors from Slytherin had no joy at all. It was no wonder they could not be happy. Slytherin Academy had won the House Cup for four years in a row, yet... yet that streak had been broken just like that. And they had lost to the Gryffindor they hated most. How could they possibly be in a good mood?
The Ravenclaw students probably had the most complicated feelings of everyone present, as well as being the most frustrated. They had been only a few points away from the championship. No one had handed Ravenclaw an easy win, which was regrettable, but they were also happy to see Slytherin suffer such a crushing defeat.
As for the Hufflepuff students, they had not won the House Cup in a very long time, so they did not care too much. Seeing Slytherin, who disliked fair competition, suffer a miserable defeat was worth celebrating in itself.
Not long afterward, Dumbledore hurried in. He stood at the podium and raised a hand for silence, and the noise in the Great