"How could anyone still dare to take revenge? All the people who had the guts to take revenge are already gone."
"The public is also celebrating because they drove back Voldemort's attack. Right now, Link can completely be said to be what everyone hopes for.", Hermione said softly.
Hearing this, Harry's eyes widened again.
But when the words reached his mouth, he still did not manage to say them.
Because he actually also felt that, although from the result it looked like Link killed several birds with one stone this time.
Not only did he completely remove the tumor that was the Wizengamot, he also slaughtered quite a few pigs, making the originally empty wallet of the Ministry of Magic full again.
But the process really was a bit too bloody.
After being silent for a long time, Harry finally said, "Anyway, just don't talk about it outside. The reason we can keep sitting here peacefully talking about these things right now is all thanks to Link."
"He drove away Umbridge, defeated Voldemort, and even brought the Ministry of Magic back onto the right track!"
"Honestly, he has already done enough for us."
"So I think now it's also time to think about what we can do for him."
Harry spoke with righteous anger, but after finishing he realized something and said awkwardly,
"Alright, I have to admit that actually there's nothing we can really do for him. So at least we shouldn't hold him back."
"Dumbledore has returned to Hogwarts recently, and Link already has enough troubles on his side. Let's not cause him more problems."
Hearing this, Hermione raised her head with slight surprise and said, "You noticed it too?"
"Dumbledore has already been back for so many days, but they still haven't announced whether Dumbledore will become headmaster again, or if the Hogwarts three-party committee will continue to exist."
Harry said with a worried face, "If this keeps going, Hogwarts will become chaotic!"
After saying that, Harry and Hermione almost at the same time looked toward Ron, who was still laughing and playing with his classmates.
Looking at their cheerful expressions, the two of them both sighed.
From their personal point of view, Hermione and Harry actually preferred that Dumbledore become the headmaster of Hogwarts again.
After all, Dumbledore had already held that position for decades.
Everyone could clearly see his achievements and his professionalism.
Besides, he was still the greatest white wizard of this century in everyone's mind. It could be said that letting him become headmaster again would definitely allow Hogwarts to return to that paradise-like state from before.
But what made them hesitate was that Link's three-party committee was also doing quite well.
This time's OWL exams and first-level NEWT exams were very strong proof.
Although the results had not come out yet.
After comparing answers, everyone said their scores should have improved by a large amount.
All of this was the result of the D.A. advanced class system.
Another thing was that Link had become one of the Ministry of Magic's three committee members as the representative of Hogwarts.
If the committee system at Hogwarts were canceled and Dumbledore became headmaster again, then should Link also give up his position as a Ministry committee member?
Harry and Hermione did not know the answer to that question.
But they both knew clearly that Link would never allow something that might threaten his identity as a Ministry committee member to happen.
In other words, Link would not allow Dumbledore to become headmaster again.
And Dumbledore, as someone who had worked and lived at Hogwarts for decades and had almost treated Hogwarts like his home.
He would also never step back on this matter.
This meant that a conflict between Dumbledore and Link would definitely happen.
The reason Hogwarts looked so peaceful right now was only because both sides were still holding back out of respect for their past relationship.
But this kind of conflict would not disappear automatically as time passed.
On the contrary, as time went on, resentment on both sides would continue to build until at some point it would suddenly explode.
Right now, Hogwarts could completely be said to be sitting on top of a barrel of explosives.
But most people at Hogwarts were actually like Ron, carefree and enjoying this temporary peace.
Only a very small number of people could see through the peaceful clouds in front of them and clearly see the terrifying storm brewing above Hogwarts.
And as part of that very small group, Harry and Hermione instantly felt a heavy pressure called responsibility fall onto their shoulders.
Their expressions gradually became serious, and even their relaxed bodies became tense.
Under the pressure of that heavy burden, they almost spent the entire afternoon sitting in the Great Hall discussing plans on how to solve this problem.
Harry even refused the wizard chess challenge Ron gave him.
Unfortunately... It was useless.
Until the sky gradually grew dark and the floating candles in the Great Hall were lit one after another, they still had not come up with any useful plan.
"Sigh! I think we should just go directly and talk with Link and Dumbledore. Although this method is a bit clumsy, it seems like the best plan for now."
Harry was starting to give up. He sighed and said in a somewhat discouraged tone.
Hermione was still extremely energetic.
Long-term intense studying had made her mental strength extremely tough.
But after thinking very carefully for a long time, she could only nod in the end, agreeing with Harry's idea.
"It seems we can only do that. In a moment we'll go to the headmaster's office and talk with Dumbledore first.", Hermione said decisively.
Hearing this, Harry frowned and said, "Do we really have to hurry like that? I didn't even eat lunch, and now I'm hun...."
Harry's voice suddenly stopped, because he suddenly realized that the Great Hall he was sitting in had completely changed.
This change was not just because of the temperature or the lighting around them.
It was also because the flag patterns covering the walls and ceiling of the Great Hall had changed from the Hogwarts shield crest into the Hufflepuff house crest, the yellow and black badger.
"Damn it! I actually forgot that today is the day of the end-of-year feast!"
Harry quickly realized what had happened and said in disbelief while pulling his hair.
Seeing this, Hermione sneered and mocked,
"The last meal of death row prisoners is like this too, completely forgetting themselves! You can only be this carefree now because the results haven't come out yet. Give you another week and you might even forget your own names."
"Tsk! How is that possible? What you're saying is way too much. Death row prisoners? Honestly, I think I actually did pretty well in the exams!"
Seeing the mockery on Hermione's face growing stronger, Harry finally gave up continuing the topic of grades with her. In this area they were completely incomparable. He quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, why are this year's banners Hufflepuff's? I remember a few days ago we were clearly ahead in points!"
It would have been better if Harry had not said that.
The moment he spoke, Hermione's expression became even more resentful.
"And whose fault is that?" Hermione said quietly. "Five days ago you lost 10 points for casting spells in the corridor. Four days ago you lost 5 points for making loud noise after lights out. Three days ago you lost 10 points for privately insulting Professor Snape. Two days ago…"
Harry felt his head getting bigger and bigger.
"Oh my god, we actually lost that many points!"
Then he raised his head again and said angrily, "But that's not our fault! It was those Slytherin people who deliberately picked fights with us! Besides, most of those points were deducted from lower-year students!"
"Yes, of course I know. That's why I never blamed you, right?"
"Then what are you doing now?"
"Just stating facts. If the truth wasn't that you got carried away playing around and caused us to lose the House Cup, then why are you so excited?"
Hearing this, Harry quickly closed his mouth and turned his head to look somewhere else.
Hermione had already said the final word. Anything he said afterward would be wrong.
And when he turned his head, he happened to see Ron and a large group of boys surrounding Lavender as they entered the Great Hall from the entrance hall.
Lavender in the center of the crowd looked extremely proud.
Ron and the other boys were all red-faced and full of expectation.
This reminded Harry of something Ron had told him this morning, or rather at noon.
Not only that, Harry also noticed something else.
In a dark corner not far from the entrance hall, a boy with platinum-blond hair was watching everything with a face full of resentment.
"Looks like tonight, before we leave Hogwarts tomorrow morning and go back home, Gryffindor's points will drop by another big amount."
Hermione's voice sounded at the right moment, her tone quite helpless.
"So all of this was done by Malfoy?" Harry said in confusion. "But… why would he do that? Their points are still far behind! Even if Gryffindor gets pulled down, the House Cup still wouldn't go to Slytherin! This is hurting others without benefiting himself!"
"Don't you know?" Hermione looked at Harry in surprise. "On the night Voldemort was defeated, Malfoy's father was also in the Department of Mysteries."
"Oh..."
Harry let out a long "oh," trying hard to stop his eyebrows from happily dancing upward.
"So that old bastard died?"
"He didn't die, but it's almost the same," Hermione said calmly. "That night he miraculously survived, but unfortunately Voldemort never cared about whether he lived or died, so he was captured alive."
"Now he's facing prosecution from the Ministry of Magic. Probably the Ministry will only announce the judgment after they finish dealing with the mess they have right now.
And Malfoy obviously blames all of this on you.
Which means everything happening now is actually his revenge against you."
"What does that have to do with me? His father was clearly asking for death himself! And the person who actually captured him and wants to deal with him is Link. Why doesn't he go take revenge on Hufflepuff?"
"Do you think he dares?"
Hermione said with a mocking expression.
Just as her words ended, as if to prove her point, the person everyone had not seen for a long time, Link, slowly appeared in the entrance hall surrounded by Cedric, Percy, and others.
The appearance of Link and his group instantly made the originally noisy Great Hall fall silent.
Then immediately afterward came thunder-like cheers.
The sound was so loud that it even shook Nearly Headless Nick out of the wall.
Lavender, who had been proudly standing surrounded by Ron and the others, instantly turned into a fangirl.
She covered her mouth, her eyes red and full of mist, so excited that she almost cried.
Almost everyone in the Great Hall stood up.
With Link's current prestige, people did not dare rush forward to touch him like before, so they could only stand where they were and clap and cheer with all their strength.
And when it came to the loudest cheers and applause, it was actually Slytherin.
The other houses still had a small number of people who disliked Link, or simply did not enjoy joining this kind of excitement.
But on the Slytherin side, it could truly be said that everyone was excited.
After all, Link was also pure-blood, and even one of the most noble Sacred Twenty-Eight families.
His achievements could completely be seen as the achievements of pure-bloods.
If rounded up, it was basically the achievements of all of them Slytherins.
This way of thinking sounded very strange at first.
But Slytherin people really did think that way.
Among all the excitement, Harry also noticed that Draco, who had looked resentful earlier, was now actually smiling and clapping.
Even though the smile he forced onto his face looked worse than crying.
But he really was smiling.
Seeing this, Harry understood.
Malfoy did not dare take revenge on Link or on Hufflepuff, which Link represented.
He did not even have the courage to show even a tiny bit of dissatisfaction toward Link.
So he could only pour all his hatred onto Gryffindor.
Thinking this, Harry suddenly felt much less angry.
After all, Malfoy was actually quite pitiful.
Smiling and shaking his head, Harry decided not to pay attention to Malfoy anymore.
At the same time, Link and his group entered the Great Hall amid the cheers.
Link did not sit at the Hufflepuff table like usual.
Instead, he deliberately walked past the Hufflepuff table, declaring through his actions that he still favored Hufflepuff.
Then he went directly with Percy and Cedric to the staff table and sat down.
However, the seating arrangement this time was somewhat strange.
The main seat at the center of the staff table had become two seats.
These two high-back chairs, clearly much more luxurious in style, equally divided the most important area of the staff table.
Cedric and Percy, as the Hogwarts committee's student representative and the Ministry of Magic representative, sat on each side of those two seats.
And Link himself sat on the one on the right among those two main seats.
Looking at the seat left empty on the left side, Hermione and Harry exchanged a glance, and strange light appeared in both their eyes.
They both vaguely guessed who the owner of that other chair was.
Sure enough, not long after Link and the others sat down.
Dumbledore also walked down the corridor surrounded by Professor McGonagall and the other teachers.
Accompanied by another round of equally loud applause and cheers, they found their seats at the staff table.
And Dumbledore sat in the other main seat beside Link.