While Brian worked hard at playing mad scientist, trying to turn a Basilisk into a docile sheep, the Gryffindor Hourglass suffered another devastating blow-a full three knuckles' worth of gems had vanished. That was fifty points-a major topic worth discussing from now until the Christmas holidays actually arrived.
The first person to discover this was an older boy from Slytherin House. After letting out a strange cry of delight, he raced straight to the Great Hall and pretended to let the news slip at the top of his voice, trying to spread it far and wide.
At first, his voice did not stand out much, because far too many people were talking-the sound of last night's explosion had already spread throughout the student body. Initially, only Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had known about it, but in the time it took to eat a vegetable salad, word had spread from two houses to all four.
Points, however, always caught the students' attention. Within seconds of the first curious student falling silent, the bustling Great Hall suddenly went quiet.
And once the Slytherin student swaggeringly explained everything, with plenty of embellishments, the students who had previously been airing their lofty opinions in an orderly-or disorderly-fashion naturally connected this new piece of news, "the Gryffindor Hourglass takes a heavy hit," with "last night's explosion."
The discussion of "what exactly happened last night" suddenly became "what exactly did the Gryffindor students do last night?"
The entire Great Hall instantly erupted-as though a pan of scalding oil, provoked by hot-tempered water, had splattered violently and impartially in front of every plate.
"Gryffindor... ah, Gryffindor... well, that's hardly surprising." After a burst of chatter, much of the spark of gossip died in most of the Hufflepuff students' eyes.
One student said, still shaken:
"Oh, I suddenly feel