Chapter 24: The Aftermath of Chaos
The sanction for the fight was quickly decided, and all those involved were sent to detention.
Harry, Evan, and Hermione assisted Lockhart in responding to his fans because Lockhart sought their help, while Ron, Colin, and Neville aided Filch in cleaning the trophies in the trophy room.
Malfoy had to clean Snape's office, while the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams had to clean the Quidditch field as Fred and George had thrown too much dung.
During dinner, Harry appeared frustrated, expressing to the others that it was the worst punishment; he would have preferred to help clean the trophies or the Quidditch field.
Hermione was even more frustrated than Harry, furrowing her brow as she stated, "Look at what they've all done; there's only one day left before the official newspaper launch, and everyone is in detention. Evan, you shouldn't be so impulsive, and Ron, you're still spitting slugs because of Malfoy."
Upon hearing Hermione's complaints, Ron was at a loss for words.
Ron quietly murmured to Harry with his head bowed, "When we were fighting, Hermione seemed more thrilled than anyone. Of course, her voice was low, so except for Evan, who was seated beside Harry, no one else heard it."
"Don't be upset, Hermione," Fred reassured her, "after all, didn't we win, right?"
"This was the first time we used Dungbombs to attack others, the effect was incredible!" George exclaimed, surveying the long Slytherin table with satisfaction. Everything smelled foul, so nobody wanted to go near them.
"To celebrate this victory, we should have a party," the twins said in unison.
"I should write to your mother about this," Hermione said, looking at them indignantly.
"Let them be, Hermione," Evan quickly interjected, "after all, they helped us; it was Malfoy who called us mudbloods."
"What does that mean?" asked Harry, clearly sensing it was something derogatory.
"It's an offensive remark. Mudblood is a derogatory term for people born of Muggle parents without recent magical ancestry," explained Ron, "some wizards, like the Malfoy family, always feel superior to others because they are called pure-bloods."
"Discrimination based on lineage," Evan added, "Voldemort used this as a reason to massacre Muggles."
At the mention of the name that must not be named, everyone at the table shuddered, especially Ginny, who looked terrified.
"Let's change the subject, what are we going to do now?" Hermione inquired.
"I have a way to convince Professor Lockhart to let us out early."
"Really, Evan!" exclaimed Harry excitedly.
"Of course, Harry, but you'll have to be the sacrificial one and stay with him."
Upon hearing Evan's words, Harry felt dejected once again.
When they arrived at Lockhart's office after dinner, Evan requested that Lockhart allow him and Hermione to return and finish the manuscripts because there was only one day left until the official launch of Hogwarts' magical newspaper, and they still had a lot of work to do.
Lockhart readily agreed to Evan's request, seeing himself as the focal point of the newspaper.
Ignoring Harry's pitiful look, Evan and Hermione hastened to the library with a stack of papers.
"This will be a lot of work!" Evan remarked with a smile, "We can ask Ginny to help us since she shouldn't be in detention."
"She went to aid Fred and George in cleaning the Quidditch field, where it..."
"Well, Hermione," Evan sighed, "Fred and George are good people, and we all like them."
"I'm not saying they're bad people, but they're too mischievous, perhaps..."
"Well, Hermione, I just wanted to ask, what are you going to write?" Seeing Hermione about to continue talking endlessly, he changed the topic of the conversation.
"An article drawing attention to school violence," Hermione responded with a brief pause, "But after hearing you speak about Mudbloods, I will change the title to 'The Legitimate Rights and Interests of Muggle-born Wizards,' that is my task, so the rest is up to you!"
Afterward, Hermione stood up and searched for books related to her article.
Evan rearranged the cover and placed the fight incident as the headline.
Time passed, and the Gryffindors were still in a festive mood.
Many people heard about Saturday's fight; even though the final outcome was close, upon seeing the Slytherin students unkempt, people knew that Gryffindor had emerged victorious with a few cheap tricks.
Rumors spread everywhere, and once again, Evan was the center of attention, there were rumors about him everywhere, at least ten versions of him confronting Malfoy.
Ron was also a topic of discussion as he spat slugs, so everyone was speculating about what kind of spell could do that, causing many spellbooks from the library to be borrowed.
The four houses regretted not witnessing the fight in person.
As a result, anticipation for the first issue of Hogwarts's magical newspaper was at its peak, as the newspaper contained details of the battle and the spell Ron used.
On Monday morning, Evan rose early and arrived at the Great Hall with a freshly printed newspaper.
Following his strategy, the first issue was free and included all the staff details, the author's name of the article, and how to request it. Fred and George composed a song, but Professor McGonagall silenced them. However, that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of everyone, except for the Slytherin's boycott of the newspaper, all copies were soon taken by the other houses.
Inside the Great Hall, everyone was flipping through the newspaper or discussing the articles.
The long Slytherin table was at complete odds with the other three, as they ate breakfast in silence with grim faces. It was like a funeral at the Slytherin table, the atmosphere was chilling and eerie.
Evan set aside a pile of newspapers after printing them for the teachers. He took more than ten thick newspapers and handed them to each teacher.
Dumbledore happily accepted them, while Professor McGonagall simply nodded but seemed a little proud of Evan, and Professors Flitwick and Sprout smiled and took the newspapers; as for Lockhart, he took them and immediately went straight to his photos and started laughing, asking Evan to send him a few copies.
The issue was Snape; he looked at Evan with a furrowed brow, seeming to have no intention of speaking to him, just like the Slytherin students.
Evan pretended carelessness and dropped the newspaper where Snape could see the article about Lily, but Snape still displayed a look of disgust as he glanced at it.
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