A Halloween Surprise and Unexpected Responsibilities

Professor Sprout gave Jon a Halloween surprise. When Jon followed the Hufflepuff students back to the common room, he suddenly realized that the common room had become very crowded when he was blocked at the door.

After struggling for a while, Jon finally squeezed into the common room and finally found out what had happened. Professor Sprout, who had left the banquet early, had prepared a magical board with a message on it. In addition to some congratulations, there was also something written on it.

"How will Professor Sprout help us win the House Cup?"

As Jon followed Stephen and the others through the crowd and headed back to the dormitory, all he could hear was discussions revolving around this question.

When they returned to the dormitory, the three of them who had been holding their questions in for so long gathered around Jon, eager to know what had happened.

"The House Cup, in fact, was just a gimmick I told the professor," Jon himself felt a headache. "At the time, the professor wasn't very willing to agree, so I came up with this reason. If this club is established, everyone's grades will naturally improve, and it will give the House more points. After all, our House doesn't have any advantages in other areas; we have the advantage in numbers."

"Isn't that a good thing? What's there to worry about?" Stephen couldn't understand. The club would help everyone study and contribute to winning the House Cup. It seemed like a good thing from every angle.

"The problem is that Hogwarts doesn't have any rules about awarding points to clubs. All my ideas were based on the hard work and talent of our House students. But this foundation can't guarantee it. To put it bluntly, I've pre-emptively predicted a result that is unlikely to happen. So, in a way, you could say I lied."

"So, you lied to our Head of House?" Flynn sounded nervous, even though Jon was the one who did it, he always felt he had some responsibility in it.

As Flynn grew nervous, Jon calmed down and patted Flynn's shoulder gently.

"Don't worry, it's not exactly lying, it's more like making a small possibility seem bigger through words... Although I may have exaggerated that 'possibility' a bit, our intentions were good. Besides, even if there's a problem, we can always shift the blame elsewhere. We're just first-year students, who would blame us?"

The three nervous individuals didn't detect any guilt in Jon's tone.

"That makes sense," Stephen said seriously. "But we shouldn't be irresponsible because of this."

Irresponsible? Jon pursed his lips, wondering what responsibility they had.

The one who established the club was Professor Sprout, and whether or not they could win the House Cup was not solely Jon's decision. Initially, he wanted to create this club to find a golden opportunity for himself. The original plan was to gradually disseminate improved spells in stages through student discussions. Hufflepuff always had students with sharp minds who could discover these spell improvements, and in the end, Jon could claim that the improvements came from student interactions.

This would be beneficial to all the Hufflepuff students, as powerful spells, aside from anything else, could ensure self-defense in battles. In Jon's view, strength in numbers wasn't just a saying; it was a reality.

Moreover, when these improved spells became widespread, Jon's role would only be as the person who initially spread them and the one who ultimately benefited. He had no intention of being directly involved in spreading them. Stephen and the others wouldn't reveal this either. They were no longer children, especially when compared to their peers; they were wizards.

At their age, they already understood many things, and the world of these young wizards was very pragmatic. They might boast and show off about certain things, but when they suddenly became beneficiaries of something significant, secrecy, concealment, or even "maturity" would become a survival instinct.

As Jon's roommates, Stephen, Flynn, and Scali had long realized what a remarkable person their roommate was and positioned themselves aboard Jon's ship. When they considered matters related to Jon, they instinctively sought Jon's advice rather than being casual, as they were when dealing with their own affairs.

Jon was skilled at utilizing this instinct and could make use of it to his advantage. Of course, this "utilization" was based on maintaining their friendship. Wizard friendships were taken very seriously, just like when Harry Potter's parents entrusted their fate to the little dwarf Peter, which represented a significant degree of absolute trust.

The only difference was that, on the one hand, Jon maintained enough of a safety net, so he wasn't afraid of his friends' betrayal. On the other hand, Jon maintained enough goodwill to trust his friends. But, could his goodwill be cheaply traded for responsibility towards the entire Hufflepuff House?

"I didn't mean irresponsibility like that. I mean we should help Professor Sprout and not let her down," Stephen said. "We should at least be the first to respond to the professor, so she'll have a better impression of you."

Jon agreed with Stephen's idea. After all, he was the one who had suggested it to Professor Sprout, and he couldn't afford to hold back when it came to this matter.

Besides, they still had several years to spend at Hogwarts. Jon wasn't afraid of what Professor Sprout might do to him. This professor and her ancestor Helga Hufflepuff had always been kind. However, Jon had taken advantage of the professor's care and kindness, and he felt a bit guilty about it.

"Alright, let's go with that plan. We should show enthusiasm when the time comes," Jon affirmed Stephen's idea. He then sent the three of them back to their respective beds and lay down on his own.

Jon felt that since he had arrived at Hogwarts, many unexpected things had happened to him. Even though he continuously improved his mental strength, he couldn't avoid these unexpected events. So, he decided to let things take their course.

As long as there were problems, there would be solutions. Worrying about things that hadn't happened yet was pointless. Tomorrow's problems could be dealt with tomorrow. For now, he needed a good night's sleep.