When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, the Fat Lady had been dozing off, suddenly opened her eyes.
He stared at them for a full three seconds, his expression shifting from surprise to amusement, before he covered his mouth and giggled.
"Yo-- Draco Malfoy! Hermione Granger!"
"You two night-out buddies, you've even brought along the famous Harry Potter tonight?"
"You three are really messing with Hogwarts ' rules! Tell me, where did you sneak off to this time for your adventure?"
Draco didn't reply, but calmly took out a beautifully packaged small candy box from his pocket and handed it over.
The Fat Lady's eyes lit up when she saw the box, and she immediately dropped her teasing expression, looking as if she understood perfectly:
"Oh, I understand, I understand. Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. As for secrets, I'm the best at keeping secrets."
Right after she finished speaking, the portrait clicked open automatically, without even needing a password.
Draco casually placed the small gift on the small table in front of the portrait, then turned and gestured for Harry and Hermione to go inside.
Harry was completely stunned, exclaiming incredulously, "You... you actually bribed the Fat Lady with a gift? And she actually fell for it?!"
In all his years of life, this was the first time he had ever seen someone enter the Gryffindor Tower without needing a password, simply by delivering a gift.
Hermione had a faint smile on her lips, appearing completely unfazed.
The three quickly slipped into the portrait's opening, while the Fat Lady behind them happily put away the candy and quietly closed the door.
The corridor fell silent again. Draco turned his head to look at Harry, who was still in a daze beside him.
"Have you learned it?" Draco asked.
"... That works?" Harry was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was referring to the gift-giving maneuver that had allowed him to pass the level. He was both amused and exasperated, yet couldn't help but admire the maneuver.
Hermione glanced at Draco, a forced smile playing on her lips. "Don't listen to him. That's Malfoy -style shortcut; normal people shouldn't follow that."
"Indeed... I'll have to be more careful with my money from now on."
Hermione glared at Draco and said, "Get to the point, Draco? Stop wasting money! All you do is bribe portraits with things, what kind of behavior is that?"
"I'm promoting positive social values," Draco said righteously.
Harry was completely dumbfounded, and asked in bewilderment, "Giving gifts to get through... is this what you call promoting positive social values?"
"Watch your wording. I'm calling this promoting positive social values," Draco corrected him.
"Think about it, my family is so rich, if we flaunt it too much, people will be envious. If I squander a little money and spend it all, won't everyone feel more at ease?"
Harry was stunned and speechless.
Hermione sighed and quickly interrupted, "Alright, alright, stop listening to his nonsense. Go to sleep, it's almost dawn."
Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I... I think he makes a lot of sense."
Hermione: "..."
"I'm going back to my dorm to sleep now," Harry waved and groggily walked towards the boys' dorm. "You guys should get some rest too."
Once Harry's figure had completely disappeared around the corner of the stairs, only the sound of their breathing remained.
Draco, a wicked grin on his face, slowly approached Hermione: "Now... nobody's around."
Hermione instantly became alert, took a small step back, her cheeks burning, and asked in a flustered manner:
What... what do you want to do?
"Even if you scream your lungs out now—no one will come to save you," Draco said mockingly.
Hermione didn't dare linger any longer. She turned around in a panic and ran towards the girls' dormitory without even looking back.
Watching her flee in disarray, Draco laughed out loud and turned back to his dormitory, satisfied.
Without the Chamber of Secrets mystery, the students were able to focus on their studies and get through their final exams.
As for Lockhart, he didn't even wait until the final exams were over before hastily "resigning."
However, his reasons were presented in a very respectable manner:
"There are still many more innocent people in the world who need me to save, and many more exciting adventures waiting for me to experience. The children at Hogwarts are already excellent enough, and I can confidently entrust them to more experienced professors."
To put it bluntly, he can't teach, and he doesn't dare to teach anymore.
He knew absolutely nothing about real Dark Magic, and his ignorance was completely exposed in actual combat. If he stayed any longer, his reputation would collapse sooner or later.
So he took advantage of the end of the semester to make a clean getaway.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to sign autographs for the entire school and smiled brightly at the reporters' cameras. He saved his reputation and his face, and didn't take any blame.
As for whether he taught his students well, he never cared.
Ron watched Lockhart's nonchalant departure and muttered to himself, "Does he really think he's that great?"
"He's always thought so," Lavender said.
Parvati rolled her eyes. "Good thing they left. Next semester we can finally have a real Defence Against Dark Magic class."
That's true!
Draco, who was nearby, overheard this and casually remarked.
The House Cup competition comes after the final exams.
The Great Hall was brightly lit, and four long tables were filled with eager students; the final judging of the House Cup was about to begin.
Dumbledore slowly rose to his feet, his silver beard gleaming slightly in the candlelight, a gentle yet solemn smile on his face, and began his brief end-of-term address.
"Another year has come to an end. Hogwarts has experienced unease, but it has also witnessed courage!"
"Tonight, I want to clarify a long-buried matter for everyone: the truth behind the Chamber of Secrets."
The entire room fell silent instantly.
Dumbledore calmly told everyone: Hagrid was not responsible for the Chamber of Secrets incident fifty years ago; the real culprit has long been stopped, and Hagrid's innocence has been completely restored today.
Applause and cheers erupted instantly. Hagrid stood by the faculty desk, his eyes red-rimmed, and forcefully wiped away his tears.
Then, Dumbledore picked up the golden hourglass and began adding points for the true heroes.
"For Harry Potter's courage in the Chamber of Secrets, he is awarded 50 points."
" Hermione Granger, for protecting her companions with wisdom and composure, is awarded 50 points."
"For Draco Malfoy, who saved the school with courage, judgment, and loyalty, he is awarded 50 points."
With each announcement, golden pebbles poured out of Gryffindor's hourglass, securing the Gryffindor House Cup!
A giant lion emblem lit up the sky above the Great Hall, and scarlet and gold ribbons fluttered everywhere. The Gryffindor students screamed, cheered, pounded their fists on the table, and roared like madmen.
Just as everyone was excitedly embracing and preparing to surround the heroes, Draco had already taken advantage of the chaos to gently tug at Hermione's wrist.
The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other without saying a word, and quietly slipped out of the noisy Great Hall from the side of the long table, leaving all the cheers and excitement behind.
By the time everyone realized they needed to find the hero to celebrate, Harry was left standing alone.