Chapter 41 Final Banquet and College Cup

Chapter 41 Final Banquet and College Cup

The heroic feat of the Iron Trio added 150 points to them, and even Neville got 10 points, which made Gryffindor far ahead in the scoring funnel. If it weren't for the 150 points deducted from Slytherin by the Parkinson trio before, Slytherin might still have a chance to compete.

Even if Snape tried his best to find faults, by the end of the term dinner, Slytherin was still forty points behind Gryffindor and ranked second.

The festive gold and red overhead formed a sharp contrast with the gloom on the Slytherin table. Della glanced at the Gryffindor lion flag overhead, then turned to Dumbledore who was sitting in the middle of the teachers' seats. His eyes full of wisdom were looking at the students below, and he winked at Della.

Della laughed, she lowered her head and absentmindedly felt the emptiness on her shoulder. At this depressing moment, the clever little snake escaped cunningly.

As a formality, Dumbledore stood up and read out the current scores of the four houses. His majestic voice blessed by magic quieted the lions who were almost unable to contain themselves. As the words of the first place were pronounced, Della could even see golden sparks bursting in the starlight above her head.

However, when the winner of the house cup was about to be announced, Dumbledore cleared his throat. There was a brief silence, and everyone followed his gaze towards the Slytherin table. The majestic yet kind old man spoke.

"Before this, I had a private conversation with Miss Riddle. This brave student told me about the trip to the Forbidden Forest that day and expressed her willingness to accept punishment for her partner. This is a very admirable understanding and courage. For Riddle's awareness, Slytherin adds 25 points!"

The whole audience was in an uproar, but Dumbledore's speech had not yet ended.

"And our Mr. Malfoy, his act of protecting his classmates in danger made me see the unity of Slytherin. For the friendship of little Malfoy, Slytherin should get 15 points!"

It's forty minutes now, and Slytherin and Gryffindor are tied!

At this moment, Dumbledore stopped his practice of giving up scores. He waved his hands twice like conducting an orchestra, and gold, red, silver and green burst out at the same time. The lion and the snake whizzed past the students' heads and froze in the air at the same time.

"This year's House Cup was jointly won by Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

As soon as the words fell, a sumptuous banquet instantly filled the entire table like a back-to-school banquet. Slytherin swept away their previous gloom, and for the first time they burst into shouts even more enthusiastically than Gryffindor. Among these happy shouts, there were also many shouts of "Malfoy" and "Riddle".

Shyness comes after excitement. After Dumbledore announced that Slytherin also had a share in the house cup, Draco's whole face turned red. It was unclear whether he was more shy or excited. The redness reached its peak when he heard someone calling his name.

Faced with Dumbledore's series of giving points, Della raised her eyebrows in surprise. She soon realized that this was both Dumbledore's reward for her that night and an excuse for him to revoke Hagrid's punishment.

Regardless, Della quickly greeted the gazes coming from all directions with an impeccable shy smile, and a sense of honor rose in her heart.

Compared to Slytherin's excitement about regaining the crown and continuing to win the championship for seven consecutive years, the other three long tables seemed indignant. Even the tolerant lion seemed unable to tolerate sharing his crown with others. Just when someone was about to express his dissatisfaction, Dumbledore spoke.

"I have always believed that Hogwarts is one, and the divisions are only to provide you with a suitable environment for your characteristics, and to give you the motivation to strive for glory and improve yourself. I know this will inevitably cause some friction, but I also hope that the four of you can be as friendly as the four founders."

"Now, let's clap for the winner, shall we?"

After a brief silence, thunderous applause broke out from the four long tables. This applause might be to congratulate the two winners, or it might be to show respect for the principal.

The end-of-term banquet ended amid the afterglow of applause, and professors and students packed up to enjoy their vacation.

"I was wrong before. You must be a typical Slytherin. You are so cunning, Della." Even though they were about to get on the train, Ron still came up to Della and once again said to her what he had said countless times in the past two days, "How on earth did you tell Dumbledore about the incident in the Forbidden Forest that day, so that he could give you so many points after such a long time?"

"Ron, I told you, it's a secret." Della smiled and gave the same answer again.

"It seems that our little snake is really unusually cunning."

"You certainly act very different than usual, Della."

The twins also came over, with the same narrow smile on their faces as usual. Taking advantage of their height, they put their hands on Della's shoulders, one on each side. Fred handed her a piece of paper with the address of the humble apartment.

"Although I think Ron has already given you our home address, we still wanted to give you a copy in person."

“Remember to write to us.”

Della smiled and took it. She folded the note carefully and put it in her pocket. "I'll write to you when I find out where to live."

"It's settled."

"We also welcome you to visit our home."

As they said this, they turned back in dissatisfaction, then waved their hands and took their younger brother onto the train. At this time, Draco, who had been watching from behind for a long time, couldn't wait to squeeze next to Della.

"Let's go," Draco said, leaving his two younger brothers behind. He tried to look serious. He nodded to Della, motioning her to follow him, and whispered, "Della."

"Let's go, Draco." Della chuckled and pulled up Draco's sleeve. Although he was still a little shy, after Della's repeated teasing, Draco adapted quickly. He could now lead Della forward without changing his expression.

Crabbe and Goyle were left far behind by him without any care. Della and Draco sat in the box for a long time before they came over breathlessly. Goyle was fine, as honest as his sturdy body, but Crabbe's eyes were flickering with jealousy and resentment when he looked at Draco.

This vague feeling disappeared after Della gave him a cold glance, and soon he sat down in the seat opposite them like Goyle, and started eating snacks without stopping.

Crabbe's gaze was not uncommon, but it was something that required vigilance when it appeared on the faces of those around you. Besides, Della didn't think that Parkinson and the others would think of bringing a camera that day. It was really creepy to think about it.

Turning her head to look at Draco who was sitting in his seat and staring absentmindedly out the window, Della raised her eyebrows. It seemed that this young master really didn't care about anything.

Come to think of it, besides Parkinson, even Crabbe and Goyle called Draco Malfoy, which didn't sound very intimate.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Draco turned his head to meet Della's undisguised gaze. Even his face, which had been tempered by Della's hardworking, turned red in an instant. He asked somewhat uncomfortably.

"I might not see you for the whole summer, so I should see you more now."

Della's words caused Crabbe, who was concentrating on his food, to choke on his food, and Draco's face turned completely red as he coughed.

"You...you...you..." Draco was so frightened that he couldn't utter a word. He didn't even have time to scold Crabbe for the noise in his ear. He looked at Della with a red face for a long time before he came to his senses. He coughed twice and stretched out a hand to Della.

"address."

"what?"

"I said give me your address!"

Now it was Della's turn to be surprised. She looked at Draco who turned his head away because of shyness, and a smile appeared unconsciously on the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry, Draco, I don't know where I will spend my summer vacation. Maybe you can give me yours first."

"How could I not know? Don't you have a place to live?" Draco turned his head suddenly, awkwardly showing his concern.

"Well... I can't say that. I just don't know yet. If it doesn't go well, I will go to Professor Snape's house. Dumbledore said that he had to work hard to get our dean to agree."

"Dean's house?!"

"It's okay to tell you first, but you have to keep it a secret. If it gets out, it will be our ruthless Professor Snape who will deal with you. If I become homeless, it will be Professor Snape who will adopt me."

"..." After a brief moment of surprise, Draco came back to his senses. He raised his eyebrows and curled his lips as if to make a comment, "If that's the case, I might invite you to my house. My father and Snape have a good personal relationship."

"Then this matter doesn't seem so bad." Della raised her eyebrows slightly, and she also stretched out her hand in front of Draco, "Then, may I have the honor of getting the address of our little Mr. Malfoy."

"Of course...!" Draco replied calmly. A slightly crumpled piece of paper fell into Della's palm with the warmth from Draco's hand.

Della looked at the address on the note and pursed her lips with a half-smile.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the address I wrote?"

"Nothing, Draco, I'm just having a hard time. You see, I came to Hogwarts from Wiltshire."

Looking at the gray-blue in Draco's eyes, Della blinked and said this.