Having defeated Gryffindor, the celebrations in the Hufflepuff common room went on for quite some time.
In Zacharias's words: "We've practically got one hand on the base of the Quidditch Cup. You could say we're the bosses of Hogwarts now!"
After all, Hufflepuff was one win ahead of second-place Ravenclaw, with a net points advantage of nearly 500; even if Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor by an enormous margin in the final round, Hufflepuff only needed a draw—or even a narrow loss to Slytherin—to take the championship!
Jon sternly put a stop to Zacharias's treacherous talk.
A draw was enough to qualify—enough to win the title. This familiar scenario had been proven countless times in his previous life to be the most vicious curse of all!
"Yes, we can't let our guard down!" Cedric Diggory sided with Jon. "We still need to play the final match well. Like Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, Slytherin is a formidable opponent. They, they... they have seven Nimbus 2001 broomsticks. They're very powerful!"
Even so, the Hufflepuff common room remained festive over the following weeks, as though it were the New Year.
After all, it had been over a decade since they had last laid hands on the Quidditch Cup.
The last few days of February quickly passed, and March went by swiftly as well.
Ever since Slytherin's monster had been destroyed, Hogwarts had been peaceful and uneventful for the past month.
Astoria only spent a few days in the Hospital Wing before returning.
After she came back, she looked somewhat pale and weak, but her emotions seemed to have stabilized.
She did not explain to Jon what had happened in Defence Against the Dark Arts that day, and Jon did not steer the conversation in that direction.
Ginny Weasley also returned to school. Professor McGonagall did