When all the judges' scores were tallied and magically displayed on the golden scroll above the Great Hall.
The students were utterly stunned.
Then an uproar broke out.
Snape had given Owen's "Thesis Pie" an 8.5.
He had given Kian's "Troll Beef Tenderloin" an 8.2!
These two scores were second only to those awarded by the professional Michelin chef judges, far higher than his scores for any other dish!
The entire Great Hall erupted with a buzz, as though a beehive had burst open.
No one could understand it.
Only Dumbledore, at the professors' table, showed a flicker of understanding amusement behind his half-moon spectacles.
Snape's sharp tongue had attacked the unorthodox, "Holmes-style" philosophy of medicinal cuisine that these two dishes represented.
All of it was something he despised.
But the high scores he gave were due to his pride as a Potions Master.
He could not deny that Owen's control over the medicinal properties of magical plants had already reached the level of advanced potions.
Nor could he deny that Kian's intuitive gift for fire magic was among the very best he had ever seen.
His pride would not allow him to lie in his professional judgment.
Of course, the most important reason was that, to him, the philosophy of medicinal cuisine was still not potions.
Had this been a potions competition, he would have mercilessly awarded them zeroes.
The individual round ended.
Despite Snape's scathingly harsh comments, his unexpectedly fair, high scores, combined with the votes from the other judges, teachers, and students.
Ultimately put Owen and Kian in joint first place, with a gap so slight it could be ignored.
Both advanced to the finals.
One competition had divided all of Hogwarts.
The air in the Great Hall was torn between two entirely different emotions.
The Ravenclaw