That evening, two Houses held lively celebrations of their own.
They were Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
Gryffindor celebrated Neville defeating Slytherin's great snake with his swordsmanship. Though he had lost in the end, this was Neville Longbottom they were talking about.
And he had defeated Slytherin's giant snake with the Sword of Gryffindor, a symbol of their House. Just hearing that excited every Gryffindor.
For the first time, Neville found himself surrounded by a crowd in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room, demonstrating over and over how he had defeated Slytherin's giant snake.
An older student even thoughtfully conjured up a snake for him using Transfiguration, letting him show off to his heart's content.
Harry's trio sat in a corner with Ginny, and Harry told them what he had seen at the time.
Ron looked at Hermione, his face full of regret.
"If you hadn't dragged me off to the library, I definitely wouldn't have missed something so brilliant. I really wish I could've seen the look on Malfoy's face."
Hermione sighed. "It's a shame he still won in the end."
Harry shook his head. "Neville did really well already. Wood analyzed it with us afterward. If Malfoy had coordinated with the giant snake and attacked Neville together from the start, Neville might have lost even faster."
Ron grumbled quietly.
"I really don't know why the professor gave a magical item to someone from Slytherin. If he'd given it to Neville, things definitely would've turned out differently."
After looking around in puzzlement, Hermione asked, "Why haven't I seen Percy or the other older students who went to take on the challenges today?"
Ginny spoke as she ate her dessert.
"They came back ages ago, but they didn't seem to be in very high spirits. My guess is either the challenges