A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 97 The Final Banquet (Thanks to the host "栀璃语岚" for the donation, first update)

After the exams, William, Cedric, and Autumn visited Hagrid.

Hagrid, wearing an oversized apron, hummed a tune as he busied himself happily in front of the boiler.

Ya Ya was tied to the table, struggling and howling incessantly, as if it were being tortured.

The three stood at the window, and Qiu asked softly, "Hagrid, what are you doing?"

"Oh, it's you three little ones! Come in quickly, they're fresh out of the oven, have a taste!" Hagrid waved his hand hurriedly.

Tooth was still howling, seemingly driven to despair by Hagrid's words.

The three went inside, gathered around the boiler, and watched Hagrid lift the lid.

He was making a cake!

It was a large, steaming chocolate cake with the words written on it in green syrup:

HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY.

Hmm... Hagrid, are you serious? He misspelled all the words except for Harry.

And that cake... its dark color looks like mud, and its hardness is more like a rock crust. It's really not meant to kill someone.

Ya Ya smelled the scent and started struggling frantically again.

"Oh, Yaya, I know you want some, but don't rush. This cake is for William and the other two to try, including Bobocha, of course," Hagrid comforted, patting Bobocha's head in William's arms.

Ya Ya seemed relieved and stopped struggling, but Bobo Tea started struggling.

Cedric asked, "Hagrid, how many pieces of cake did you give Toothbrush?"

"Not many, just three portions."

William thought that even if Yaya wasn't poisoned by Hagrid's terrible cooking, she would die from overeating.

He glanced quickly at Cho and Cedric, then hurriedly covered his mouth, saying, "Hagrid, what a pity... I've been eating too much sugar lately, and I have some cavities. I can't eat sweets, it hurts!"

Qiu felt as if she had been struck by lightning. This was the reason she had just wanted to give, but it had been beaten to it. She glared fiercely at William.

"Oh, I see." Hagrid considered it seriously. "I really should take care of my teeth. Roy sent me a lot of dental care products."

Haig and Roy are friends, and Roy often gives Haig books about dental care.

"Here you go, you two still have boba tea. Share this cake with us, don't be shy, there's more to come!"

"..."

"Hagrid, has Professor Dumbledore agreed to let you pick up Potter?" William asked after putting down the Boba tea.

Hagrid visited William's house last summer for this project, and although the result was not satisfactory, he at least gained some experience.

"Yes," Hagrid said cheerfully, "He's agreed. Dumbledore is such a good man. Of course, he can only assign this task to me; I'm someone he can trust!"

Hagrid was filled with pride.

"By the way, thank you for your suggestions. I spoke with Dumbledore this morning."

"What did you talk about?"

"Of course it's Lou Williams," Hagrid said mysteriously.

William looked at Hagrid with feigned confusion.

Dumbledore already knew that Cerberus was hiding in the Room of Requirement, but he just didn't say anything. William also brought it up, and Dumbledore said he would keep Fulwei around.

Hagrid just didn't know that.

Hagrid was also very happy, saying, "The headmaster agreed to let me raise Luwei and even got me a breeding certificate."

However, for the time being, Lu Wei needs to be kept in the castle; he needs to borrow it for a while.

All three were taken aback, including William.

"Why does the principal need Lou Williams?" Cedric asked tentatively.

"Well—I'm not sure either—maybe Dumbledore just likes petting dogs, and Fluffy is so cute!"

Hagrid's eyes darted around, refusing to tell the truth.

William and the other two exchanged glances, realizing that the situation was not so simple.

But it doesn't matter, Hagrid is always the weakest point of attack.

"By the way, you're going to have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Hagrid began, changing the subject.

Who is it?

"Professor Quirrell, oh, I remember him, he was a very good student when he was in school."

However, he later took a year off from school and traveled around the world in order to gain some firsthand practical experience.

I haven't seen him in years. Dumbledore said he'll be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next year.

William raised an eyebrow. There really are some fearless people. Just look at Robert and Professor Tywin to know how dangerous this position is.

Hagrid was quite pleased. "Thank goodness Professor Quirrell is willing to take this position. No one has applied for months since Tywin was imprisoned in Azkaban."

William and the others tried to steer the conversation back to Lucas, but Hagrid only talked about Professor Quirrell and kept quiet, suggesting that the headmaster had spoken to him about something.

In the end, the group didn't get anything of value out of Hagrid.

That evening, the school held its year-end banquet.

The Great Hall was newly decorated in Ravenclaw's sky blue and bronze to celebrate their breaking of Slytherin's monopoly and winning the House Cup.

On the wall behind the main seating area, there was a huge banner depicting a Ravenclaw eagle.

When William entered the hall, the hall suddenly fell silent, and then everyone suddenly began to speak loudly again.

During this period, the Daily Prophet extensively reported on William's affairs, so it's no wonder he received such attention.

A moment later, Dumbledore arrived, and the noise in the Great Hall gradually subsided.

"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Before we enjoy these delicacies, I must trouble you to listen to an old man's cliché."

What a wonderful year this has been! Your little minds must be much richer than before... There's a whole summer vacation waiting for you, giving you time to digest all that information and clear your heads before the next semester starts...

"Now, as far as I know, we will first hold the College Cup awards ceremony. The specific scores of each college are as follows:"

Fourth place: Gryffindor, 89 points; Third place: Hufflepuff, 248 points; Second place: Slytherin, 312 points; First place: Ravenclaw, 480 points.

A thunderous cheer and stomping erupted from the Ravenclaw table.

The Gryffindor students all lowered their heads and remained silent.

Their college is significantly different from the other colleges.

The polarization is so severe because too many points were deducted in the early stages, and it took a long time to catch up before finally turning positive.

Because of Tywin Lannister, the Quidditch final was cancelled, which meant that neither Gryffindor nor Hufflepuff received Quidditch Cup points.

Dumbledore raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down.

"This score is not the final score; something that happened some time ago must also be taken into account."

The auditorium became very quiet.

"Uh, uh," Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Let me see, Mr. William Stark..."

All eyes were once again focused on William.

"He captured a wanted criminal of the Ministry of Magic and protected Hogwarts students from the Death Eaters, something that hadn't happened at the school for many years."

I want to award him the School's Outstanding Contribution Award, and of course, I'm giving Ravenclaw College a hundred points for that.

The Ravenclaws' cheers nearly lifted the enchanted ceiling. The stars above them seemed to tremble as well.

People weren't excited because William had given the college a perfect score, but because he had received the school's Outstanding Contribution Award.

This is a remarkable achievement, and the school will award a gold medal to be permanently displayed in the awards room.

After the principal finished his announcement, every student happily ate the food that appeared before them and talked loudly about their summer vacation plans.

William ate very quickly; he knew that if he didn't eat fast, he wouldn't be able to finish.

Sure enough, halfway through the dinner, Peeves suddenly appeared at the Slytherin table with two enormous dung bombs.

A strong, pungent odor quickly filled the auditorium.

William and his companions took advantage of the chaos to escape.

If it weren't for the dung balls, this would definitely be a wonderful night.

But in any case, William's freshman year is finally coming to an end.

……

……

(First update, two more updates this afternoon, please vote!)

P.S., As a fellow reader pointed out, I saw on the Harry Potter Wikipedia page that "Homonculous Charm" is translated as "Tracking Charm," so I changed "Scarring Charm" in the previous text to "Tracking Charm."

(End of this chapter)