Chapter 77: The Mysterious Change in the Academy’s Hourglass Distribution

“Tell us what happened with them,” Professor Melrose asked.

Moody replied with an expressionless face, “They stayed up late last night. They’re probably still asleep now.”

Professor Melrose frowned slightly, then turned to address all the young wizards below the stage, earnestly admonishing, “On the very first day of term, I told you all that your house is your home at Hogwarts!”

“As members of the same house—even the same dormitory—you must learn to unite and help one another, to encourage and keep each other accountable. Waking your roommates when they forget about classes is not only a responsibility for their studies and future, but also for the collective as a whole!”

“This time, due to their truancy, Gryffindor will have thirty points deducted!” Professor Melrose looked at Moody as she spoke. “These thirty points could have been easily avoided. Mr. Moody, please remember to wake your roommates next time!”

Her words left Shevin and Gomez greatly relieved, and both Abraxas and Mobley cast grateful glances in Moody’s direction.

Moody opened his mouth, seeming as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately sat back down in silence, his face returning to its usual blankness.

“For certain reasons, your Professor Lorey has had an accident and cannot teach you anymore,” Professor Melrose resumed her kindly expression and continued, “Hogwarts will find a new professor to fill the gap as soon as possible, but until then, I’ll be temporarily in charge of your first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts classes!”

The young wizards gave the deputy headmistress their due respect, and the hall rang with enthusiastic applause.

“Well then, before we begin, let me first check your previous learning progress.”

...

Professor Melrose, a distinguished teacher of many decades, certainly lived up to her reputation. Her teaching was practiced and lively, and she could even observe each student’s learning state during class. In short, Shevin listened with utmost concentration!

However, Abraxas and Mobley suffered for it; they hadn’t slept much last night, so they kept nodding off during the lesson.

Whenever either of them dozed, Professor Melrose would immediately notice. At first, it was only verbal reminders and warnings, but their inability to stay awake angered her enough to deduct five points from each and assign a five-inch written reflection as punishment.

...

After class, Shevin and his three roommates headed toward the Great Hall.

“I bet that today, except for those Ravenclaw bookworms, every other house will lose a ton of points,” Abraxas declared confidently, dark circles under his eyes.

“This late-night revelry might make Ravenclaw the biggest winner,” Mobley agreed, equally sleep-deprived.

“Do you think there’s something behind the headmaster lifting the curfew?” Gomez speculated quietly. “Look—Professor Melrose is the Head of Ravenclaw; we can’t be sure which house Headmaster Dippet was in, but some upperclassmen guess he graduated from Ravenclaw as well.”

Shevin’s mouth twitched. Somehow, Gomez’s theory seemed rather convincing...

Chatting casually, the four quickly arrived at the marble staircase leading to the Great Hall.

“I’ll wager a Galleon that Ravenclaw’s house gem hourglass is at the top right now!” Abraxas raised a finger to the others.

“I’ll wager two—wait, where’s my Galleon?” Mobley rummaged through his pockets and found only two sickles and three knuts remaining, crying out in shock, “Oh no, I lost all my Galleons last night!”

His voice was so loud that it drew the attention of every nearby wizard. Even a professor walking toward the hall glanced their way.

Quick as a flash, Gomez covered Mobley’s mouth to prevent further scrutiny from the professor. After all, private betting among students was a serious violation of school rules!

Shevin hurriedly gave an awkward laugh to the crowd, “Sorry, everyone, he’s just having a moment. Nothing else going on here, carry on!”

Seeing there was no drama to witness, the young wizards quickly dispersed, and that professor, evidently not one to meddle, shot them a suspicious look before moving on into the Great Hall.

Abraxas let out a deep breath, glaring fiercely at Mobley, “You almost got half our house thrown in detention, do you realize that?”

Mobley nodded with lingering fear, then shot a disgruntled look at Shevin, who had improvised the cover-up, managing somehow to keep up a look of utmost misery.

His expression management left his three roommates dumbfounded.

“But I lost all my Galleons! If I dare write home for more now, my dad will kill me,” Mobley said, utterly dejected.

Shevin couldn’t help gazing at his odd expression a moment longer, then comforted him, “Don’t worry so much. You don’t need to spend much at Hogwarts. Two sickles and three knuts will last you ages!”

Beside him, Gomez glanced at his own empty pockets and nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go. Right now, the most important thing is that wager,” Abraxas said, slinging an arm around Mobley’s shoulders. “If Ravenclaw isn’t leading in points, I’ll give you my Galleon straight away!”

Descending the marble stairs outside the Great Hall, they rounded a corner and saw the four giant hourglasses by the entrance.

Each hourglass was filled with gems of different colors: red, yellow, blue, and green, representing the four Hogwarts houses. When a house gained points, gems would fall from the magically expanded sphere above; when points were lost, the gems would fly back up.

Abraxas looked at the blue gems, which hadn’t dropped much since yesterday, and burst out laughing.

“Haha, I knew Ravenclaw would have the most house points—wait, what?”

His smugness was abruptly shattered by a bolt from the blue.

As expected, Gryffindor’s red gems were almost depleted; Hufflepuff, always low on points, was now nearly tied with Gryffindor, which was no surprise. Ravenclaw’s blue gems had barely dropped, living up to expectations.

So where was the problem?

It turned out Slytherin’s green gems had piled up into a mountain, towering over the blue and claiming first place in house points!

“What…happened?” Every wizard present—Slytherin and Ravenclaw alike—was stunned, though for different reasons: Slytherins were frozen in ecstatic disbelief, while Ravenclaws wondered if the castle’s magic system hadn’t fully recovered and something was amiss again.

Just then, Shevin seemed to recall something, his face changing drastically. He urgently tapped his roommates, dragging all three in secret haste into the Great Hall.

But surprises always arrive faster than plans…

“Shevin, there you are!” Ignatius’s voice called out from behind as Shevin stepped through the Great Hall doors. “Slytherin owes you big time for this!”

Shevin: “…”

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