Chapter 26: Aftermath of the Fight
It wasn't hard to imagine Madam Hooch's expression when she returned to find all the Slytherins suddenly collapsed on the ground, just moments ago, they'd all been perfectly fine. She had just taken one little Slytherin to the infirmary, only to come back and discover a whole pile of them down. Were they so united now that they even visited the hospital together?
It didn't take long for her to locate the suspect, Allen was still standing at the scene, staring blankly at a newly opened system interface. He looked every bit the guilty party.
But instead of immediately confronting him, Madam Hooch rushed to check on the fallen Slytherins. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, they didn't even need to be taken to the hospital wing.
Still, that didn't mean Allen was off the hook, even if other students claimed it was the Slytherins who had started it.
After an incident this big, there was only one person at Hogwarts with the authority to deal with it: Headmaster Dumbledore. No one else could handle a case like this.
After seeing that all the Slytherins were stable, Madam Hooch issued a firm order to disband the crowd and sent everyone back to their common rooms immediately; she didn't want to return again and find more students knocked out on the floor.
Despite following her to the headmaster's office, Allen showed none of the fear Madam Hooch expected. People had varying opinions about Dumbledore, but one thing was undeniable, he was a competent headmaster who always did his best to protect every student.
At the password "Butterbeer," the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance stepped aside, revealing the spiral staircase beyond.
When Madam Hooch knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office, Allen saw that four people were already waiting inside:
Professor Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff; Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin; Deputy Headmistress Professor McGonagall; and of course, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore himself.
It was only when Allen met Snape's gaze that he truly understood how Gryffindors must have felt in the original story, after his class had already been wiped out by Professor Sigma earlier, now the Slytherins had been defeated en masse again, this time by Allen. Snape didn't look pleased.
Professor Sprout's expression, however, was more complicated. It was clear she was upset that Allen had taken down all the Slytherins, but there was something else mixed in there, possibly pride. After all, Slytherin had taken the House Cup four years in a row. And no matter how you looked at it, Allen had won.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I've brought the student as requested. Just like I told you via my Patronus, he took down all of the first-year Slytherins. Merlin above, I can hardly believe a first-year managed that!" Madam Hooch reported in an astonished tone.
"However," she quickly added, "based on what I heard from the other students, it seems the Slytherins made the first move. And this boy didn't do anything to provoke them."
It was obvious she had a soft spot for Allen, a student with remarkable potential.
"Dumbledore," Snape said darkly, "I propose we deduct 100 points from Hufflepuff and give Mr. Allen three months of detention. My Potions classroom could use a cleanup assistant."
Before Professor Sprout could speak in protest, Dumbledore calmly interjected.
"Severus, that punishment seems a bit harsh for a child, doesn't it?" he said kindly.
"But this child, as you call him, single-handedly flattened all his classmates!" Snape retorted, clearly not willing to let it go.
"Professor Snape, I believe you're forgetting one important fact, your students started the fight," Professor Sprout snapped, coming to her student's defense.
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In the end, the final decision came after some revisions to Professor McGonagall's proposed punishment.
Hufflepuff would not lose any points, but Allen would serve one month of disciplinary labor, not under Snape, but with Filch.
Gryffindor was docked 20 points for provoking the situation, and Slytherin lost 20 as well, since they had thrown the first punches.
It looked like Allen got the short end of the stick, but he didn't mind at all. The fight felt amazing!
He could only dominate these new students for so long. If he didn't significantly improve his strength, by the time the Slytherins reached their second year, he wouldn't be able to take them all on like this again.
So yes, the fight was totally worth it!
Even better, Professor Sprout made it clear that if he ever needed help with anything minor, she'd be happy to support such an outstanding student.
What more could he ask for? This was more than enough. That brawl was worth it!
…Well, except for one thing, Allen realized Hufflepuff did get indirectly penalized. The reward Madam Hooch had promised earlier never came.
Not that Allen had the guts to ask her about those 20 points. If she got mad again, one month of punishment might turn into a year.
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By dinnertime, word of the incident had spread throughout the entire castle, even overshadowing the usual fear surrounding Professor Sigma's terrifying lessons, especially since today's class hadn't been all that scary.
When Allen walked into the Great Hall, he was greeted with the awed stares of Gryffindors, as if he were some kind of war hero. For a moment, he wondered if he was really in Hufflepuff at all.
As Slytherin's traditional rival, the Gryffindors were absolutely delighted that their enemies had been humiliated, even if it wasn't their own lions who'd done the deed. Who cared? It was still satisfying.
Even the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were barely holding back their laughter. After four straight years of Slytherin dominance, no one was exactly heartbroken to see them taken down a peg. The Hufflepuffs especially, if Professor Sprout hadn't told them to behave, they'd probably have given Allen a standing ovation. After all, he was their badger!
As for the Slytherins, their expressions toward Allen were… complicated. They respected strength, but they looked down on Muggle-borns like him. Still, they couldn't deny that he had beaten every first-year Slytherin alone. If it weren't for the school's strict no cross-year fighting policy, Allen would probably have been mobbed already.
So when the first-year Slytherins finally entered the hall, led by the Bloody Baron, to prevent Peeves from writing a new ballad about the event, they were met with a whole variety of strange, pointed stares.
Especially from the upperclassmen who had helped Slytherin win the House Cup four years in a row, their gazes all carried the same unspoken message:
Kid, you've let the family down.
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