Chapter 758: Reward
At ten o’clock in the evening, Hogwarts Castle fell silent. Due to the curfew, the corridors were empty, save for the low murmur of voices from the portraits on the walls.
Then, not far away, a sudden flash of light appeared. A door had been opened, and the glow from within spilled out. The quiet sound of stone grinding against the floor followed, accompanied by the footsteps of a lone figure.
Harry took a few steps forward but couldn’t help glancing back at the Gargoyle, which had hopped back into place. He let out a long, melancholy sigh.
He had tried to bargain with Dumbledore—offering Slughorn’s memory in exchange for being spared detention, something he had been certain would work—but it had completely backfired.
"I’m glad you got the memory, Harry. If you like, I’ll give you an extra reward, but it won’t help you avoid punishment. Those are two separate matters that cannot be easily offset," Dumbledore had told him.
That meant he still had to report to Professor McGonagall’s office every Saturday for detention, which also meant missing the final and most crucial Quidditch match.
The only small consolation was that Kyle seemed to have other commitments and wouldn’t be playing in the match either.
With only one game left in the season, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were neck and neck, separated by a mere ten points. In other words, whoever scored higher in the final match would likely take the championship.
Now that both teams had lost a key player, the playing field was, in a way, evened out.
"I hope Kyle still doesn’t play," Harry sighed, then turned and headed toward the common room.
At this hour, there weren’t many students left in the common room, but Hermione and Ron were still there, looking as though they had been waiting for him the entire time.