Dumbledore's Crooked Nose
News of Oren's story quickly spread throughout the Wizarding World.
The Daily Prophet described him as an extremely evil and insane dark wizard, and devoted an entire page to publishing his wanted poster.
The remaining pages were entirely dedicated to praising the Ministry of Magic for its heroic actions in successfully rescuing the two students during the operation.
Although very few people will actually read this content.
Many parents wrote to the school requesting an early start to the school year.
What if Oren is still hiding in the Forbidden Forest? They were worried about leaving the child there.
Dumbledore agreed, allowing students to take the Hogwarts Express that day, with their report cards delivered by owls in the following days.
In just one day, Hogwarts lost a third of its people, and the castle looked deserted.
However, Kyle did not leave, nor did Cedric and the others.
Chris returned, looking travel- Hogwarts, and dragged Kyle around, checking him over several times before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
He then led Kyle to an empty classroom and said sternly, "Didn't I tell you not to get involved in this?"
"It was an accident," Kyle said honestly. "I'll be more careful next time."
Chris was clearly not satisfied with Kyle's answer and scolded him for a long time.
Throughout the entire process, Kyle didn't defend himself; he just nodded, showing an excellent attitude in admitting his mistake.
As the two were leaving the classroom, Newt also came out of Dumbledore's office. As they left, Chris asked him if he wanted to go back together.
However, Kyle refused, saying he wanted to take the train back with his friends. Chris thought about it and didn't insist.
To Kyle's surprise, Diana also showed up the next day.
Unlike Chris, she first went to the Forbidden Forest, and then went straight to the Headmaster's Office on the Seventh Floor.
No one knows what happened after that, but during this time, many students noticed some unfamiliar faces on the portraits in the castle corridors, and they even claimed to be the past headmasters of Hogwarts.
In addition, the gargoyle stone beast on the Seventh Floor is also gone.
Kyle didn't know when Diana left.
That evening, he and Cedric attended the End-of-Year Feast. The Great Hall was divided into two parts: the left side was decorated in green and silver, representing Slytherin, while the right side was decorated in yellow and black, representing Hufflepuff.
It's worth mentioning that Oren's bonus points in the Forbidden Forest actually worked.
Add to that the Quidditch champion... and Hufflepuff's House Points are now tied with Slytherin's, making them joint first.
The two walked to the Hufflepuff table and sat down. Kyle noticed that Kanna was still absent today.
After a while, Dumbledore arrived, and Kyle felt that Dumbledore's nose was crooked even more than before, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
The noise in the Great Hall gradually subsided.
"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Before you enjoy these delicious dishes, I must trouble you to listen to an old man's cliché."
Although there were some minor hiccups at the end, it's undeniable that it was still a wonderful year, and your minds are certainly richer than ever before... You have a whole summer vacation to digest all of this and clear your minds before the next semester starts...
"Now, let's proceed with the House Cup awards ceremony. The specific scores for each college are as follows:"
Fourth place: Gryffindor, 101 points; Third place: Ravenclaw, 332 points; Slytherin, 497 points; Hufflepuff, 497 points.
The expected cheers did not come. Hufflepuff and Slytherin stared intently at each other, both somewhat dissatisfied with the result.
There's only one House Cup; it's impossible to award it to two academies at the same time!
The students from the other two colleges stood by quietly, watching the show unfold.
"Yes, both houses performed well," Dumbledore cleared his throat. "However, a recent event must also be taken into account, Mr. Kyle Chopper ..."
All eyes turned to Kyle.
"He not only rescued a freshman in the Forbidden Forest, but also found the dark wizard hiding in the school, demonstrating great courage and extraordinary bravery."
Therefore, I have decided to award him the Special Award for Services to the School and give Hufflepuff two hundred points!
Although the number of people attending the banquet was much smaller than before, the cheers were still deafening. If someone were standing outside the Great Hall at that moment, they might have thought there had been an explosion.
There's no need to calculate scores anymore; Hufflepuff successfully stopped Slytherin's six-peat and won the House Cup!
And then there's the most important one: the Special Award for Services to the School.
Fred and George stood excitedly on the stools and shouted to Kyle, "Don't worry, Kyle, we'll make sure to clean your trophy thoroughly next time you're in solitary confinement!"
"And it's cleaner than everyone else's..."
Professor McGonagall glanced at them coldly, then suddenly felt a wave of weariness wash over her.
"This means..." Dumbledore roared, "We need to make some minor changes to the decor here."
He clapped his hands, and the green hanging ribbons turned yellow, the silver turned black, and a huge banner depicting Hufflepuff badger appeared on the wall behind the High Table.
Snape was shaking hands with Professor Sprout, his expression calm, naturally displaying his signature smile, seemingly without a hint of anger.
Before leaving school, the exam results came out.
Kyle achieved a very high score, becoming the top student in his grade.
Cedric looked at Kyle's report card and exclaimed in surprise, "Merlin, your score is much higher than mine last year, and you were only one point away from a perfect score. What a pity..."
Kyle also felt a little regretful.
He got carried away while writing during the exam and didn't notice the Twelve Uses of Dragon's Blood. He wrote thirteen uses instead, which is why he lost a point.
It seems the professors don't think Dragon Blood can be used as an ingredient in cooking.
Aside from this minor flaw, he got full marks in all his other subjects, including Potions brewing.
Snape gave his Boil-Cure Potion a perfect score, a treatment that even Slytherin students rarely receive.
Kanna came in second in her grade, and Cedric came in first in his second year... Hufflepuff certainly made a splash this year.
Professor Sprout stopped going to the greenhouse and spent his time wandering around in front of the other professors.