The next day, after a good night's sleep, Allen headed to the Room of Requirement for his morning training, feeling utterly refreshed. The intense workout left him drenched in sweat and feeling wonderful. After washing up, Allen went to the Great Hall for breakfast as usual.
The moment he entered the Great Hall, Allen keenly sensed that the atmosphere was extremely strange. At a glance, he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Gryffindor sitting listlessly at the table, while Neville beside them had eyes swollen like walnuts. Ever since they had faced Malfoy together, Neville and Flag had become very close, inseparable wherever they went. Yet Flag was nowhere to be seen now.
Allen understood at once. They had still been caught, and Flag had most likely been dragged into it as well. To confirm his guess, he deliberately looked toward the enormous hourglasses recording the House Cup scores. Sure enough, only a few scattered gems remained in Gryffindor's hourglass. Compared with Ravenclaw's neighboring hourglass, which was full of gems, it looked especially bleak and pitiful.
Unlike Allen, who had already suspected what had happened, the Gryffindors thought there had been some mistake. Gryffindor had originally been in second place, ahead of Slytherin. Now, without even counting, they knew they had fallen to last place, with little hope of even overtaking Hufflepuff. But how could they have suddenly lost two hundred and fifty points overnight? Before long, though, the news spread: the famous Potter and four foolish first-years had nearly wiped out their House's entire year's achievements.
Yes, two hundred and fifty points! Flag and Neville had been caught red-handed by Professor McGonagall while searching for Harry and the others. Ron, meanwhile, had not been confined to bed thanks to the extraordinary effectiveness of Allen's Potions. He had gone with