27 Chapter:27 Aftermath

"Twenty-seven students hospitalized, almost fifty others injured. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

McGonagall bellowed at the prefects and all other Gryffindor members who were present on the training grounds during the chaotic brawl. Her stern voice conveyed a mix of shock and anger at the scale of the incident.

As the late afternoon wore on, the row in the training ground had finally settled down. Numerous students had been hospitalized, and many others were left nursing their injuries.

Charlie, with his left hand in a sling and his forehead bandaged, was receiving care from Isabella, who herself had several bandages adorning her injuries. 

Megan had broken a leg, quite literally, and was being tended to in the hospital wing. Lucy had a busted nose along with a cut on her forehead and was lying down on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room. Eliot and Dylan, who both had a concussion, were being treated in the hospital wing along with all the members of the Slytherin and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams, recovering from the chaos that had unfolded on the training grounds.

The incident had taken a heavy toll on those involved, Fred and George bore at least one black eye each, along with numerous scrapes on their arms and legs from the brawl. Even Percy, who was stuck up for rules, couldn't stand his brothers getting attacked and jumped the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, resulting in his injuries. He was one of the Gryffindors lying in a hospital bed.

Forget about the senior students and the boys, even Angelina and Alicia were injured in the row, both had their arms covered in wraps and someone nearly bit off Angelina's ear.

Only Victoire appeared as though she hadn't been there at all. She still held the blasted paper bag given to her by the house elves gave them and was calmly nibbling on a 'scotch egg', listening to McGonagall berating the prefects.

"Quit it."

Angelina barked in frustration, attempting to snatch the bag from Victoire's hand. However, she found herself grasping at nothing but air as Victoire moved surprisingly quickly, eluding her attempt to take the bag.

Just as Angelina was about to make another attempt, a stern look from McGonagall halted her in her tracks.

"The Heads of the Houses and the Headmaster have reached a consensus on the appropriate measures to be taken in response to this disgraceful behavior by the students,"

McGonagall announced, her voice carrying the weight of authority and finality,

"Headmaster Dumbledore will reveal the punishment during tonight's dinner in the Great Hall."

McGonagall informed the students before storming out of the common room.

The room fell into an uneasy silence, the only sound being the crunching noises as Victoire continued to snack. The minutes passed before Isabella, with a clouded look on her face, stood up and marched over to Victoire. She decisively snatched the bag from her hand, casting a tearful glance in Victoire's direction before returning to caring for Charlie.

The tension in the room hung heavy, and the eerie silence prevailed over the usual bustle of the Gryffindor house. No one reacted to Isabella's emotional outburst, nor did they respond to the sight of Victoire now calmly leaning back in a chair, gently rocking it back and forth. The brawl that had unfolded earlier in the day had drained nearly everyone, now the students were consumed by anxious thoughts regarding the Headmaster's impending judgment.

As the clock above the mantelpiece struck a quarter to eight, Victoire suddenly sprang to her feet. She cast a glance around at the listless, anxious students and declared,

"Come on, eet's dinnertime now."

Victoire's words shattered the silence that had enveloped the room, and she gestured for her fellow students to head towards the door. However, her words were met with a sudden burst of emotion from Alicia,

"Bloody hell! Food, food, food—can you not think for one moment about anything other than what goes inside your stomach?"

Alicia's outburst was filled with tension and frustration, nearly bringing her to tears. The impending judgment by the Headmaster weighed heavily upon their minds, and it felt as though the slightest strain on their nerves would lead to any one of them breaking down in tears.

Charlie, still recovering from his injuries, sighed and voiced his agreement,

"She is right."

He stood up with the assistance of Isabella by his side and continued,

"No use in crying now. Come on, move along to the Great Hall, let's get it over with."

As Charlie led the way, the students followed him through the corridors, past the sliding gates and the moving stairs, until they reached the Great Hall where Dumbledore would deliver their fate.

Along the way, they encountered the Ravenclaw house, which seemed unusually cheerful. Their prefects shot Charlie and Isabella a gloating glance before continuing ahead. 

The students arrived at the Great Hall just as Professor McGonagall took her seat at the teacher's table.

Victoire chose and settled at the table, only to realize that she had unwittingly positioned herself right at the divide between the students involved in the brawl and those who were innocent. This placement meant she was receiving hostile looks from both ends of the table.

As she glanced around, she noticed that not only her fellow Gryffindors but also the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were seated in a somber, dead silence. The entire Great Hall was uncharacteristically silent, except for the Ravenclaws, they were insufferably loud.

The Headmaster's entrance into the Great Hall drew the attention of all the students, even the Ravenclaws. Dumbledore made his way to the teacher's table, his occasional surprised glances at the unusually silent students not going unnoticed. Upon reaching the podium, he took his seat and surveyed the room before clearing his throat and officially announcing the commencement of the feast.

The heavy silence lingered as the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and the Slytherins refrained from touching their food. Both the students involved in the brawl and those who were innocent students sat in an unwavering silence. Occasionally, a student would try to eat but the hostile glares of their neighbors forced them to put down their spoon. Even Victoire, who had been relatively unaffected by the brawl, was beginning to feel irritated from the unexpected shared abstinence from food. 

Forget about the students, even the heads of their houses. McGonagall, Sprout, and Snape, who were typically engaged in conversations with their neighbors, had yet to touch their food. 

The silence that had settled over the Great Hall began to influence even the Ravenclaws, who slowly set down their utensils and joined the rest of the students in waiting for the Headmaster's judgment. One by one, the teachers at the staff table also put down their utensils and patiently awaited Dumbledore's decision.

Dumbledore appeared to be unaware of the collective stillness around him, proceeding with his meal as if nothing was amiss. However, it was only when he reached out for the gravy and noticed the teachers seated silently by his side that he became aware of the situation. Whirling around, he saw the students staring at him intently, their eyes fixed on their Headmaster.

Leaning toward McGonagall, he whispered to her, his voice carrying over the hushed hall,

"Did I do something?"

The question hung in the air for a moment before she replied to his inquiry,

"Albus, the brawl."

"Oh, yes."

Dumbledore's sudden recollection of the day's events prompted him to face the students, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of amusement and seriousness.

"Quite the row we had today, didn't we? I suppose some words regarding that are quite in order,"

he began with a soft smile,

"Of all my years at Hogwarts, nearly a century, mind you, I haven't seen or rather heard of a brawl that involved all three of the houses,"

Dumbledore continued. His words hung in the air, breaths halted, Charlie nearly fainted, and Lucy's grip on the table tightened so much that a chunk of it nearly came off,

"Quite a pity I missed a good show,"

he concluded with a hint of amusement before returning his attention to his plate of steak and potatoes. Then, he casually turned to Professor Snape and requested,

"Pass me the gravy, would you, Severus."

The wave of confused chatter among the students continued as Professor Snape absentmindedly handed over the gravy pot to Dumbledore. Students were asking each other whether that was the end of the brawl episode, but no one had a definitive answer. The common response was,

"I don't know."

Professor McGonagall, sensing the need to restore order, stood up and tapped her wine glass lightly with a spoon. Her action immediately drew the attention of the students.

"Attention, please,"

she called out,

"Headmaster Dumbledore will be speaking after the dinner has been concluded. So, please eat."

Her authoritative voice and the clinking of the glass helped to bring some order back to the Great Hall. The students resumed eating, though the anticipation and curiosity regarding the Headmaster's impending words still hung in the air.

As Victoire continued to eat, she couldn't help but notice that the dinner seemed especially delicious compared to the previous two days. Reflecting on it, she realized that it had barely been two days since the term started, and yet a significant scandal had already unfolded. It made her wonder about the impact of Potter's arrival on future events at Hogwarts, whether it would reduce such incidents or perhaps increase them.

Shortly after everyone had finished their dinner and was indulging in desserts, Professor McGonagall once again commanded their attention. This time, when they looked toward the teacher's table, they caught sight of Dumbledore enjoying a plentiful scoop of plain vanilla ice cream.

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