Chapter 209

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-In front of the Entrance Hall-

"Oh, looks like I'm the top student of our year for the second year in a row," I said with a bored face looking at the leaderboard on the noticeboard, only to annoy my friends who were standing next to me.

Michael and Terry who listened to me turned to look at me with blank faces, and all the while Anthony was celebrating the fact that he was again in the top 20.

I then looked around and saw that Granger was also looking at the leaderboard, and when she saw that her name was in second place she frowned.

She then looked at the first name and her frown grew, but then she sighed and looked down at the floor despondently.

Seeing the girl who is undeniably the smartest and brightest girl of my age so disheartened made me feel weird.

I might not be friends with Granger, but that's because we didn't interact much and she always saw me as a rival and someone to get over, but I knew that I basically had an advantage over her when it came to magic, and that without that advantage she would probably be the best student of our year.

Feeling a little bad for her, I decided to try to cheer her up.

"Hey Granger" I called, and she turned to see who was calling her.

When she saw that I was the one who called her she looked at me with a frown.

'What does he want? Did he call me to rub it in my face that he won first place again?' Granger thought, knowing she could do nothing but accept the mockery if that was the case.

"Looks like the two muggleborns are taking the top two spots again... Doesn't that mean we're awesome?" I asked smugly, obviously joking, and it made Granger blink in surprise.

She then looked back at the leaderboard, noting that under her name were many half-bloods and purebloods.

Granger's eyes widened slightly as she realized what that meant, before a proud smile formed on her face.

"Yes... We're amazing" she said amusedly, smiling at me.

'It seems like she was so preoccupied and focused on being the best student and beating me that she didn't even realize that she's actually better at magic than basically any student who's ever lived in the magical world of our year' I thought, shaking my head ironically.

Seeing that I managed to cheer her up, I decided to rekindle the flame of this studious and capable girl, who I'm not ashamed to say I admire a little.

"But it's good for you to know that next school year I intend to continue taking first place... I hope you give me a good competition at that time" I said with a defiant smile on my face, inadvertently saying that I considered her my rival.

My friends who listened to me turned to look at me in surprise, only to see me staring at Granger with a smile on my face and arms crossed over my chest arrogantly.

When the meaning of my words finally hit Granger, a feeling of competitiveness rose in her chest, and she then looked at me with narrowed eyes in defiance, but an even bigger smile on her face.

"I wouldn't count on that... Next year the one who's going to dethrone you and take first place will be me" she said, and looking at me a feeling she'd felt the first time she'd seen me reading in the library our first year came back… a feeling of familiarity and understanding.

'I think he's really not that different from me... And he's even nice' she thought.

"I hope you keep your promise, Hermione," I said, feeling my competitive inner self rising.

I always called Hermione by her last name, but after this little exchange I felt she deserved to know that I considered her not only a rival but a friend as well, and it seems she sensed that as she looked at me in surprise.

"Hmph, and I hope you don't let me down, Ethan," she said, turning around with her arms crossed, but I could feel that she was happy.

And between our exchange Harry and Ron had arrived in front of the noticeboard, and seeing our interaction, they as well as my other friends had only one question on their minds.

'''''What the hell just happened?!!'''''

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-Great Hall - End-of-Term Feast-

"This year we had a lot going on. Some things were good and some things were bad, but the important thing is to remember that we all went through it together!" the Headmaster said after rising from his seat, his voice echoing through the Great Hall with all the students looking at him.

With everyone's attention on him, the Headmaster continued with his speech.

And meanwhile I was looking at the other students and teachers with my Magic Vision, until my gaze focused on a certain magical spot that was hidden inside Ron's pockets.

'Pettigrew' I thought, a calculating look on my face, 'I could have caught you anytime since last school year, but I still need you alive Peter'

I kept looking at the magic point that was Pettigrew, hiding a cruel smile that threatened to creep across my face without my realizing it. I then started thinking about the events that will happen in my third and fourth year.

'If I didn't need you to resurrect Voldemort and to exonerate Sirius I would have already given you to Nyx... Although she probably wouldn't want to eat something as disgusting as the Wormtail. But maybe she could have fun chasing him' I thought, huffing as I imagined Nyx chasing Pettigrew Tom and Jerry style.

While I was lost in thought, the Headmaster finished his closing speech, and the students around me started to applaud as he looked at everyone with a grandfatherly smile.

After a while the students calmed down, as we all knew that the Headmaster still had something to say, something that everyone was eagerly waiting to hear.

Seeing that the students were calmer, the Headmaster started to speak again.

"I know you guys are excited to know who won the House Cup, so without further ado, let's get to the scores!" he said, and all the students fell silent as they glanced lightly at the hourglass with the house points of the four houses, and the Hufflepuffs smiled at each other as they saw their points.

"In Fourth Place with 287 points we have Slytherin" the Headmaster said, and the Slytherins scowled as some looked at Malfoy and some Sixth and Fifth year Slytherins.

"In Third is Gryffindor with 394 points, and Second is Ravenclaw with 451 points" when he said that, the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students made a sad face, and I just looked bored at the hourglass with the points.

"And in first place with 512 points, and thus considered the winning house of the House Cup is... the Hufflepuff!" the Headmaster said waving his hands lightly, changing the colors of the Great Hall to yellow and black, with the flags turning yellow with the badgers' coat of arms.

Before the Headmaster could even finish speaking, the badgers at the yellow table were on their feet celebrating, clapping and cheering as they hugged each other in pure joy and happiness.

And meanwhile the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws cheered too, as any house winning was better than Slytherin winning. Also, even though Hufflepuffs are considered useless and lacking in qualities by others, they were still friendly, so the disappointment and sadness of losing the House Cup to them wasn't that great.

And meanwhile at the teachers' table, Professor Sprout was receiving congratulations from the other teachers, and you could see a huge smile on her face as she tried not to cry with emotion.

'Well... I guess this result isn't all that surprising' I thought with a shrug, clapping my hands as I waved a smile at Susan and Cedric.

Ravenclaw got a lot of points because the house had a lot of students who loved to answer questions in the classrooms to show they were smart and to accumulate points, but there were also some random students *Cough*... Me... *Cough* who liked to get into trouble and play pranks, and that's why the house of ravens also lost some points, thus causing Ravenclaw to take second place.

Slytherin lost a lot of points thanks to the fact that Malfoy didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Thinking that no one would dare say anything to him, Malfoy called Hermione and a few other muggleborns a mudblood several times, but one of those times Professor Sprout was nearby and overheard him, becoming furious with him, and that day the ferret lost a lot of house points and gained a few weeks of detention with Filch.

But it wasn't just Malfoy who lost points in the Slytherin, thanks to the genius of the twins the Three Musketeers managed to frame some idiot Slytherins who were tormenting other students, some even from their own house, and so they lost a lot of points, and some from these points it was Professor Snape himself who took it.

And I don't even need to explain why Gryffindor came in third. Aside from the fact that the twins are in that house, the other Gryffindors didn't make much of an effort to get house points, at least not as much as they did to lose them.

The only exception would be Hermione, Percy and a few other truly studious and rule-following lions, who were a maximum of 8 people.

And with all these facts, it became obvious that the victory would go to Hufflepuff, who have hardworking and smart students, and who don't get into too much trouble.

And for me, seeing Hufflepuff winning is better than seeing Gryffindor or Slytherin win, as what pissed me off about the House Cup was Professor Snape's blatant favoritism and stealing and the Headmaster's favoritism.

And I've also experienced the feeling of winning the House Cup last school year, and besides a momentary joy I just didn't feel anything else.

Basically my fun is getting points or making others lose points, who wins or who loses is simply irrelevant to me as long as the winning house hasn't won because of favoritism.

'Well... Everything ends well when it has to end well, I guess' I thought, shrugging my shoulders with a satisfied smile on my face.

End.

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(End AN: I think I already know what the downside of cold winter weather is... It's how easy it is to get sick)