A Web Of Magic - Volume 1 Chapter 68 Year End
It was time for the year-end feast once again. This marked Magnus’s successful completion of his second year at Hogwarts. The results of the exams were out just yesterday and just as Magnus expected, he scored Os in all of his subjects. He even got more than 100% in all of the subjects except for History of Magic and Potions but that wasn’t a surprise anymore. The rest of the Ravenclaw table was somewhat subdued. You’d need at least one O to remain socially popular in the house and those that didn’t were all very gloomy.
Once all of the students had all eaten their fill of the sumptuous feast, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up to give his customary year-end speech. “Another successful year completed at Hogwarts and I hope that we’re all now wiser than we were last year. Now the moment all of you have been waiting for- the House cup.” All of the students waited with bated breaths. Even though they could see the possible results from the giant enchanted hourglasses that tracked the points of each house respectively, the final results are always subject to change.
Dumbledore continued, “In the fourth place this year, we have Hufflepuff with 350 points.” Most just clapped perfunctorily. There was no surprise there for most. The Hufflepuffs while sad took it like a good sport.
“In the third place we have Gryffindor with 360 points.” The Gryffindors let out a disappointed sigh. Fred and George tried to hide their faces as much as possible but to no avail. Some of their housemates were giving them the stink eye, most prominent of them all being their brother Percy. Merlin knows how many points they have cost the house. But Magnus knew they’d be back at it again the next year as if nothing had happened. He just shook his head with a smile. All the more points for him.
“Next we have Ravenclaw with 430 points followed by Slytherin with 480 points.” Most of the Ravenclaws looked at the Slytherin table with narrowed eyes. Slytherin somehow gained 100 points in the last week, no doubt courtesy of Prof. Snape. For a man who looks so serious, he sure can be childishly competitive. Magnus just smiled at Warrington and his gang that were trying to show off from across the table. That threw them off and gave them a bad feeling.
“But the rankings don’t end here. I’ve received news just yesterday that a student of ours has received the Young Healer award on behalf of the Ministry and St. Mungo’s for his outstanding contribution to the field of Healing. You might have already known his deed of healing a critically wounded patient just before this semester. Please give an applause for Magnus Webb. For his remarkable achievement that hasn’t been seen in decades, I award him 100 points. That brings Ravenclaw to 520 thus winning this year’s house cup. Congratulations,” Dumbledore clapped his hands and the hangings on the walls of the Great Hall changed from an emerald green to the blue of Ravenclaw. The serpent of Slytherin was replaced by the eagle of Ravenclaw.
Thunderous claps filled the Great Hall. All the house students were clapping while the Slytherin students looked at each other in confusion. Their script seemed to have gone wrong. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were just happy that Slytherin didn’t win the cup. They had enough pomp as it is. Magnus joined his housemates in celebration as they all congratulated him for his achievement. He could see Pomfrey, McGonagall, Flitwick and the other professors giving him a smile when he looked at them. Well, Snape just had a neutral face. Oh well, it’ll just be more homework next year. When Magnus looked at Dumbledore, the headmaster smiled and nodded at him like a good-natured grandfather. His twinkling eyes met Magnus’s own for a moment before they moved away. Flitwick already informed him of the award. The ceremony is to take place at St. Mungo’s the day after tomorrow. The extra 520 impact points he gained when he won the house cup only added to his happiness. Why else would he worry about house points if not for them?
The next day they were all packed and boarded the Hogwarts express to London. It was evening by the time they had reached King’s Cross and waiting for them were Arthur and Molly Weasley as always. The Weasley couple were very happy for Magnus when they learned of his new award. Mr. Weasley patted him on the back while Mrs. Weasley gave him a crushing hug. ‘Just as strong as always,’ Magnus wryly thought. He went along with them as usual and had a good dinner at the Burrow. When he left Fred and George gave him despairing looks. ‘Oh yeah, these guys blew their grades. Guess I won’t be seeing much of them this summer,’ Magnus thought as he gave them an encouraging smile. That’s what too much fun and too little studying got them. They’ll be sure to remember their mum’s lesson this time.
Magnus floo-ed himself home later. ‘Back home again. Time to get cleaning.’ He pulled out his wand and started cleaning the house. It was much faster this time around as he used wandless magic in tandem with his wand. Once he was satisfied with the cleaning, he washed up and went to bed. It had been a long day. The whole of the next day was spent taking care of his garden. He had gotten some new plants this time both from Diagon Alley as well as the Forbidden forest that he wished to grow in his own garden. The Mandrake plants along with some others have matured nicely. He harvested them and kept some for himself while the rest of it will go for sale. While the income from selling plants may not be as high as that of potions, they were still a steady source of money. His costs will only go higher from now on so it’s always nice to be prepared.
On the day of the ceremony, Magnus made himself a nice suit in a combination of white and blue. Mr. Weasley offered to take him to St. Mungo’s and Magnus didn’t say no. Fred and George followed along. They were supposed to be grounded because of their poor performance in school, but they pleaded that they wanted to learn from Magnus’s deeds and so their mother let them go just this once.
The ceremony was to be held on the fifth-floor hall. The hall was already filled by the time they reached the venue. It wouldn’t receive as much fame usually, but no young British wizard has won any such award in the past twenty years, so the Ministry decided to make a big deal out of it. Magnus’s tragic story only added to the specialty of the event.
The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge came to present him the award in presence of the Head of the hospital Mr. Bunham and the other senior Healers. Then they posed for pictures and shook hands. “Magnus my boy, I knew you were special when I first met you. I’ve always kept an eye on you and my intuition was proven correct. Well done and keep it up,” Fudge said before he went away to socialize.
[Impact Points+100]
Magnus didn’t know how many hands he shook. He received plenty of offers to work as a Healer once he graduated school. Magnus kept a calm smiling face throughout the event and greeted everyone politely. But throughout it all he didn’t forget one fact. They all told to look for them if he ever needed help, but none spoke about his parents’ case. It’s like they all conveniently forgot about the halted investigation. Thus, Magnus didn’t take any of their words to heart. Some things have to be done by himself and he had just the tools to begin this summer.