Early the next morning, when Roy appeared at the breakfast table looking utterly gloomy, he was immediately greeted by the mockery of half the students in the Great Hall.
By now, every student in the dining hall knew of Roy's "glorious deed" of losing Hufflepuff a hundred points after getting caught sneaking into the Slytherin Common Room the previous night.
The Hufflepuff students in particular had been furious when they noticed that the Hufflepuff hourglass in the Great Hall had lost more than half its gems overnight. But when the enraged badgers learned that the points had been deducted because Roy, the hero who had won them the championship last season, had been caught causing trouble in the middle of the night, the flames of anger above their heads were promptly doused with a bucket of cold water.
What could they do? Roy had earned eighty percent of the house's points during last season's championship race. On top of that, he had swept every individual honor and ultimately led them to their first House Cup victory in years. Based on Roy's outstanding performance last term alone, he had earned permanent immunity from criticism within Hufflepuff.
When Roy arrived at the table with his face hanging low, the Hufflepuff students felt too embarrassed to berate him when he was already so remorseful. They could only force smiles and tease him a little, pretending not to care in order to ease their own dissatisfaction.
Clap clap clap clap—
The moment Roy entered the Great Hall, the gleeful Slytherin and Gryffindor students began applauding. Fred and George, those two red-haired baboons, were especially carried away. They stood directly on their chairs, clapping wildly while loudly calling Roy's name toward the Hufflepuff table.
Roy could not be bothered with them. He walked over to