Chapter 35: Farewell Ceremony

As this time Harry had not been injured, Madam Pomfrey had to help William out of bed, the truth was that William had been in his bed at all times just as she had requested, there were no complaints or requests as other students do, but there was one thing that William did unlike his peers. William would ask about the potions that were used to cure people, he would ask about the treatments and spells used.

Madam Pomfrey had no problem answering William's questions, the problem was that every time she answered one question ten more would appear making William's stay in the infirmary torturous for Madam Pomfrey.

When it was time for the farewell dinner, she herself offered to take William, even Hagrid who had come to visit was surprised to see the nurse helping William.

In the great dining room all the students were already gathered at their own tables, William could see Cho Chang waving to him, he could notice the look on his brothers' faces and he could also see the surprised expression on several of his housemates.

The entire large dining room was decorated in Slytherin colors, green and silver, to celebrate the triumph of the snake house, winner of the house cup for seven consecutive years. The large banner covered the wall behind the high table, displaying the Slytherin snake.

"Quite an elegant decoration I must admit, usually silver is the symbol of treachery among Muggle religions and well green is green."

"you don't know why it's green?" asked Madam Pomfrey raising an eyebrow as she looked at William who had no shame in admitting his ignorance regarding the subject "never mind, Gryffindor was close to ending the winning streak but their points flew through the sky when Filch caught Potter and company prowling the corridors, they mentioned about someone trying to steal the philosopher's stone but no one listened to them"

"oh" William was surprised, Gryffindor was supposed to lose the house meeting when Potter and co. were found in the attempt to get Norberta out of the castle but William had taken matters into his own hands. The moment Norberta entered William's bag William thought that Gryffindor would win the cup by a large margin but it wasn't as he expected, on the contrary they had Potter and co. found in another kind of stupidity, truth be told William himself hadn't remembered it when he found Neville petrified on the floor....

"Now that I remember was Gryffindor the winner of the Quidditch cup?"

"No..." Madam Pomfrey had her arms crossed and looked slightly annoyed "Potter returned unscathed from his little adventure to save the school but it wasn't enough to win the competition, Slytherin played dirty everyone knows it"

"I understand" In William's memories this year's cup will be ruined because Harry should have been unconscious for three days but things were different with William's intervention, of course now Harry was able to play the last game but that didn't mean he had been able to win.

"You have nothing to worry about Madame Pomfrey, the crusades of my classmates will be rewarded. Professor Dumbledore may be old but he is still wise and knows how to reward the efforts of his students."

Seeing the confidence in William's expression, Madame Pomfrey had no way to burst his bubble of dreams and hopes, she could only sigh as she shook her head "I hope you are right my boy."

William used his default set seat, away from all the students in his house, but really close to the best meals, still he could feel the gaze of his peers and could even hear the murmurs.

"I heard he was the one who protected the stone."

"wasn't he the son of a Death Eater?"

"are you sure it's him?"

"I guess he's different from the others..."

Fame and popularity were not William's strong point, hearing the comments he couldn't help but be slightly embarrassed.

Luckily for everyone, Dumbledore arrived before William decided to scram out of the large dining room. Conversations throughout the dining hall ceased to focus their attention on the headmaster.

"Another year gone!" said Dumbledore cheerfully "And I'm going to tease you with some old man talk, before you can get started on the delicious treats. What a year we've had! We hope your heads are a little fuller than when you arrived..... Now you have all summer to make them nice and empty before the next year begins.... Well, I understand that the house cup is due and the points earned are: in fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two points; in third place, Ravenclaw with four hundred and twenty-six points; Second place goes to Gryffindor, with four hundred and fifty points, and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two!"

William was surprised, the scores different from how he remembered them in both the movies and the books, it meant that not everything he did during the year was in vain, he even avoided losing points with the Norberta affair but that meant there were more ways for Gryffindor students to lose more points.

All the Slytherin students were applauding with glee, William himself did not want to turn to look at the faces of the students of that house, he did not like to look at other people's triumphs and he refused to look at the triumphant face of his brothers.

But William was also aware that the cheers and joy of the Slytherin students would only last until Dumbledore began to speak, that also began to give him a certain kind of pleasure, he wanted to see the ruined expression on his brothers' faces.

When Ronald Weasley's points came in all the Gryffindor students were happy, fifteen points was not such a big reward to risk one's life, not to mention it was less than what was given in the adaptations, but still the one who was happiest was Percy Weasley the prefect.

Hermione won another fifteen points as was foreseen in William's mind, the real Hermione was not like the one in the movies, the little girl was so happy that she buried her head in her arms either to hide her shame or to cry for joy, no one could tell.

Harry Potter won thirty points, everyone was happy, they had beaten the snakes with Hermione's points but more points wouldn't hurt, but finally came the last points for the brave Neville, that was the only moment William clapped. Neville was a different boy to the others, weaker, more damaged and even had a fragile heart but he still gathered all the strength his body had and stood up to his classmates.

"here comes the change of decorations" William stood looking around the great dining hall to witness the change of decorations, he was proud and happy as any boy would be, but he also felt a little bad not hearing his name, even when he himself made the request for it to be so he felt a little empty.