Rewards

At ten o'clock that night, Hogwarts Castle had fallen silent. Because of the curfew, there was not a soul in the corridors; only faint whispers rustled from the portraits lining the walls.

Then, a light suddenly flashed some distance away. A door had opened, and light spilled out from within.

This was followed by the sound of stone scraping against the floor, along with someone's footsteps.

After taking two steps, Harry could not help turning back to glance at the gargoyle that had hopped back into place. He let out a faint sigh.

He had originally intended to use Slughorn's memory in exchange for avoiding detention. In his view, it had been a sure thing, but unexpectedly, he had failed.

"I'm very glad you were able to obtain this memory, Harry. If you wish, I can give you an additional reward, but I cannot help you evade punishment. Those are two separate matters; they cannot simply cancel each other out."

That was what Dumbledore had said.

Which meant that he would still have to serve detention in Professor McGonagall's office every Saturday, and would be unable to take part in the final crucial Quidditch match.

The only thing that comforted him was that Kyle seemed to have other matters to attend to as well, and would not be playing for the time being.

Everyone only had one final match left. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were far ahead in points, with only a ten-point gap between them.

In other words, whichever of the two teams scored more in the final match would have a chance to win the championship.

Now that both sides were missing a key player, neither of them had an advantage.

"Let's hope Kyle still won't be playing by then," Harry sighed, turning toward the common room.

Because it