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Chapter - 69 : House Cup

Ava spent the rest of the day at the hospital wing. She found it pleasurable to annoying Madam Pomfrey by constantly calling her Poppy.

"I like your name better!" Ava said when Poppy asked her why she suddenly decided to call her by her first name. "It seems so much more friendly than Madam Pomfrey!"

Poppy chuckled at that. "Alright!"

For the rest of her time in the hospital wing, Poppy told her stories from her childhood and her time at Hogwarts. Ava found it so interesting to know that there was a person to her before she became Madam Pomfrey.

But the next morning, she was discharged.

She made her way back to the Slytherin common room, sheepishly.

As she entered the damp stone wall. Pansy gasped.

Mylene quickly grabbed her into a hug. "Oh! You're okay!"

"Can't- breathe!" Ava choked.

"Oops! Sorry!" Mylene let her go. Ava took a deep breath. But that didn't last long.

Before she knew it, Pansy and Milicent pulled her into a hug too.

"You absolutely idiot! Told you not to go making friends with those Gryffindors!" Pansy teased her.

After them came the Slytherin prefect - Allison Argent - who seemed so caring and kind, Ava wondered why she wasn't in Hufflepuff.

At last after lots of hugs, and thankfully no questions, came Draco Malfoy.

"Harlow," Draco said, holding out his hand.
Ava was too in mood for hugs so she pulled him into a hug too.

He was for sure abashed at her reaction but melted in, nonetheless.

After he was done, Crabbe and Goyle came for a hug too.

Draco's best friend - Blaise Zabini - shook hands with Ava and she moved back to her own dormitory.

It seemed as though the girls had planned everything for a story session from Ava - they'd kept some popcorn, pumpkin juice and cookies ready ("Cookies!" Ava had cried as she took the whole plate to herself); who was she to upset their mood? So she told them everything that had happened from the very beginning. Though, she of course left out the parts of Norbert or Professor Snape being the number one accused by the Gryffindors and such tiny details.

But she politely refused to answer questions about what had happened down under the trapdoor to anyone except Draco, who she felt she could trust with this information. She had also forbidden her secret keepers from telling anyone about what she'd told them.

A morning later, Harry woke up too.

He had had a conversation with Dumbledore before the other three were let in.

So Harry told them what Dumbledore had told him - the Stone was going to be destroyed.

That led to a brief conversation about Dumbledore being off his rocker before Poppy kicked them out.

The evening of the following day was the end-of-the-year feast. The Great Hall was decked in green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning of the House Cup. This didn't really mean much to Ava at all.

So she preferred to stay on one of the ends of the table - away from sight.

But, too late. The girls had caught sight of her sitting alone and as Mylene and Milicent slid in front of her, Pansy sat down to her right.

Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise had also seen them, so they made their way towards them.

Crabbe and Goyle sat next to Mylene and Milicent (much to their discomfort) while Draco sat to Ava's left and Blaise beside him.

Harry came in late - Poppy was obviously fussing over him - Ava smiled at him, he beamed back as he took his place between Ron and Hermione.

A great chatter had erupted among the students, many pointing at Ava and Harry.

But lucky for them, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... You have a whole summer to get them nice and empty before next year starts..."

And after that, as usual, Ava zoned out. She began dreaming of her summer with Leah. Oh! Cookies! Baking cookies was definitely going to be the highlight.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last - minute points to dish out. Let me see here, yes..."

"First - to Mr Ronald Weasley..."

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen these many years, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

Gryffindor cheer nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars seemed to quiver.

At last there was silence again.

"Second - to Miss Hermione Granger... for sheer use of intellect when the others were in grave peril, sixty points."

Hermione buried her face in her hands, Ava strongly felt that she'd burst in tears.

"Third - to Mr Harry Potter for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house seventy points."

The Gryffindor table burst with celebrations - they'd won the house cup. Ava, herself, screamed and celebrated with them, till....

"Fourth - to Miss Ava Harlow, for her cool use of logic in the face of fire and her magical abilities far superior to those in her class.... I award Slytherin house, sixty points." Dumbledore said in a cheerful voice.

This time the deafening din came from the Slytherin table. Those who could add up knew that Slytherin now stood at 532 points while Gryffindor stood at 502.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," he said. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but an just as much to stand up to our friends. I, therefore, award thirty points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might've thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise erupted from the Gryffindor table.

Draco looked horrified and stunned but when he realised that Gryffindors hadn't completely won the House Cup, his smug smile returned.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over as all the four houses cheered for Slytherin hadn't won alone. "We need a slight change of decorations."

He clapped his hands and in a instant, half of the green and silver banners turned into gold and scarlet.

"Well done Slytherin and Gryffindor! For the first time in Hogwarts history, we have a tie for the winner of the House Cup!"

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape smugly shook each other's hands. Ava could not have had a better evening.

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Ana