Dumbledore's Favoritism

After a moment's thought, Dumbledore shook his head and sighed, "I understand, Minerva. I'll handle this."

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words.

He simply placed the Philosopher's Stone on the table and then quietly left the Headmaster's Office.

After Professor McGonagall left, a look of pain appeared on Dumbledore's face.

"I'm sorry, child of the Longbottom family, but in order to defeat the Dark Lord, we have to sacrifice your interests."

"I believe your parents would be proud of your actions if they knew."

Harry Potter is the chosen the Chosen One. To promote Harry and nurture Harry Potter, Dumbledore even dared to put Voldemort, that old silver coin, into Hogwarts.

Now that he had worked so hard to prepare for so long, the fruits of victory had been snatched away by Neville, which was Dumbledore did not want to see.

The Slytherin Common Room.

The lounge, which Lester had converted into a study room, has been restored to its former splendor.

Four genuine leather sofas made of Fantastic Beasts fur are arranged in a circle, with a four-legged table in the middle piled with Gwent.

Not far from the sofa were several hammocks hanging from the beams, where a few young Slytherin wizards lay half-dead, enjoying their leisurely time.

At the far east end of the common room, there was a bookshelf covering an entire wall, filled with books and notes, where a group of Slytherin's best students were gathered, discussing a problem.

In the very center of Slytherin, a black leather sofa stands imposingly in front, and opposite it are dozens of small chairs, with food and drinks in front of them for those who sit down to enjoy.

Under normal circumstances, very few people would sit on those small chairs, and the imposing black leather sofa was practically a taboo subject in the Slytherin Common Room.

This sofa wasn't part of the common room; like the stools, all of these things were brought by Lester, the leader of Slytherin.

Its purpose is simple: you can't expect everyone to stand during a meeting, so Lester, having nothing better to do, took out some of the items he had won in the system lottery.

To be honest, these leather sofas and chairs are really comfortable to sit on. If it weren't for the fact that they weren't intended to be used as meeting spaces, and that moving them around would be a bit of a hassle, Lester would have carried them to class.

On the chair, several of Lester's little snakes, who had always followed him, were excitedly discussing...

"Our hourglass has a full 2000 points, a full 200 points higher than the second-place Ravenclaw House, and a whopping 400 points higher than the last-place Gryffindor."

Malfoy, holding his notebook, pointed to his own number and exclaimed excitedly, "This year's House Cup will definitely be won by Slytherin House again!"

Malfoy's words attracted a lot of attention, and almost everyone listened to Malfoy analysis with smiles on their faces.

Even though Slytherin winning the championship was a foregone conclusion, they still wanted to hear it!

After all, winning the House Cup is no easy feat, and in addition, under Lester's leadership, they have indeed worked hard this past year. Slytherin House deserves this House Cup title.

Even Marcus, upon learning of Slytherin's House Points, would proudly raise his head, indicating that he too had contributed to it.

For example, Ravenclaw House's captain Roger was the one who led the team to use dirty tricks to prevent him from playing, so he also deserves credit.

Jiedi chuckled and said, "I can't wait to see the expressions on those Gryffindor idiots' faces."

"Those idiots must be so angry they can't sleep at night just thinking about the hall being filled with our Slytherin flags."

These words immediately resonated with many people; hating Gryffindor is an old Slytherin tradition.

They naturally wanted to seize any opportunity to mock Gryffindor.

"Hey, what are you all talking about? Why are you so happy?"

In the distance, Lester had just entered the lounge when he saw a group of people gathered around him, so he asked curiously.

Upon seeing that it was Lester, Malfoy immediately repeated what he had just said, "Lester, Slytherin's victory in the House Cup this time is all thanks to your excellent leadership; you're a major contributor!"

Others also offered their praise without reservation.

"Yes, Lyco, with you here, our status as Slytherin is becoming more and more secure."

"Those Gryffindor idiots fell a full 400 points behind us, all thanks to your excellent leadership, Brother Lai!"

Lester readily accepted all the compliments.

No one is perfect, and flattery will always work. Lester is no saint, so he naturally enjoys being flattered.

Of course, most importantly, what they said makes perfect sense.

He taught them magic and led them in activities, all to earn Task Points, but in the end, didn't it all contribute to Slytherin's reputation?

Therefore, Lester believed he deserved the praise.

"Alright!" Lester waved his hand with a smile and said, "Slytherin winning the House Cup isn't just my achievement; it's the result of everyone's hard work. So, we should thank ourselves first!"

"Perfect timing! The House Cup results are tomorrow, and Professor Snape just asked me to set up the venue. If anyone's free, you can come with me!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he received countless responses.

"Brother Lai, we're all free, we'll do whatever you tell us to do."

"That's right, Brother Lai, you're being too distant. Even if something is wrong, your business is the most important!"

Malfoy was overjoyed and exclaimed, "I can't wait to hang our flag in the dining room! Those Gryffindor idiots will have quite a show of faces when they see it!"

"Let's go set up the venue!"

And so, a large group of dozens of people followed Lester excitedly to set up the venue.

Meanwhile, in Gryffindor Common Room.

Ron Weasley lay on the sofa with a look of utter despair, next to Harry also wore a listless expression.

"Why?!" Ron Weasley was filled with bitterness, feeling as if his heart had been shattered.

"How could Professor Quirrell be a bad person? He teaches me magic every week!"

"He even helped me fight Malfoy and said he would become my dueling mentor. How could he be a bad person?"

Ron Weasley was devastated. Finally, someone valued him, but unexpectedly, that person wanted to kill his best friend.

Harry was also very upset, but he still comforted him, saying, "Ron Weasley, you can only know a person's face but not their heart. This isn't your fault."

"Not my fault? Harry, this was never my fault! I'm the victim!"