Michael Brown

When the end of June came and it was time for the end-of-the-year feast, I found myself walking through Hogwarts with a broad smile on my face.

The joyful mood I was experiencing was obviously not due to the excitement I felt about the feast. My feelings about the House Cup and Dumbledore's upcoming speech fluctuated between indifference and active disdain, so it wasn't something I was really looking forward to. No, I was happy because after ten months of dealing with Ministry spies, magical conspiracies and pureblood fanatics, my school year would soon come to an end, allowing me to finally relax. I'll be able to rest, no longer having to deal with all the magical bullshit I've been exposed to in recent months…

...Well, 'rest' was the wrong word. I would still have to deal with all the mundane bullshit I've been dealing with for years. Still, better the devil you know than the one you don't and all that.

That was why there was a smile on my face as I was walking toward the Great Hall. Luna was, of course, walking next to me, cheerfully chatting about some magical creature she had found in the forest the week prior, making the whole journey more enjoyable.

As we were nearing the great hall, ready to experience the grand finale of student indoctrination, we saw something quite unexpected.

Leaning against the wall of the corridor stood Marcus Fawley. He was looking at the people passing him with impatient eyes, seemingly looking for someone. As it turned out, we were the ones he was looking for, because as soon as he saw us, Marcus stopped leaning against the wall and moved toward us with a surprisingly serious expression on his face.

When he finally approached us, he took a deep breath, most likely gathering his courage, and spoke, his voice strangely hesitant.

"There is ... something I need to tell you both" Marcus began nervously. I didn't know why he was so hesitant, but I had my suspicions. If I was right, he was about to reveal his vampiric heritage, driven by some strange noble pride. He probably felt guilty for not using his vampire noble powers to capture Lockhart or something like that.

"Of course, go ahead," Luna said encouragingly, most likely noticing the boy's nervousness. Hearing this, Marcus turned to me. Not knowing why he thought he even needed my permission, I nodded.

Unusually serious, Marcus looked us in the eye, visibly bracing for something.

"You... are frankly completely insane" Marcus said bluntly, making me raise my eyebrows in surprise. That was... not what I expected. "Most of your actions are questionable at best and nonsensical at worst. Not only are you a distraction to others, but you're also a bad influence. For some reason, your lunacy is contagious, infecting everyone around you. Your very existence baffles me, because I can't understand how it is possible that people like you can exist."

As Marcus spoke, Luna and I listened in silence, trying to understand what he was trying to achieve. He was clearly venting some grievances, although I had no idea what he was getting at. After all, I already knew that I was crazy, if only because my point of view differed greatly from that of a normal person. This was, of course, because I knew the truth about the world, while the majority of the population didn't, but strictly speaking, Marcus wasn't lying. I wasn't a sheep, therefore I was mad.

Unaware of my thoughts, Marcus paused, apparently having trouble saying something. After a few seconds of struggling, he continued, his voice slightly strained.

"But... you are both extremely brave, fighting Lockhart at my side and forcing him to flee. You are also quite brilliant, if given the chance, showing that the sorting hat made the right decision in sorting you into Ravenclaw. There is also no malice in your strange actions, so I can't bring myself to blame you for your behavior, no matter how much I would like to do so." Marcus said quietly, looking rather embarrassed. A slight blush appeared on his face, a clear sign of his embarrassment "I... What I want to say is that both of you are ... okay and I hope that we will be friends... Michael, Luna"

After saying these words, Marcus smiled and looked at us expectantly. Well, this was quite unexpected. I was not expecting this extremely friendly, if somewhat suspicious, announcement. I was actually a little touched. Unused to emotional conversations and not knowing what else to do, I smiled and gave Marcus a thumbs up.

" Nice one, Fawley. I was totally expecting some dark reveal, but this was even better." I declared, giving the boy a friendly smile.

Apparently, this was not the right reaction, because Marcus's face darkened when he heard my words, while Luna bopped me on the head.

"I'm really sorry! From now on I will call you Marcus, really! Please stop sulking!" I said apologetically to Marcus, trying to make the boy forgive me. The three of us were currently sitting in the Great Hall, participating in the ongoing feast. While the students around us were merrily chatting and having fun, celebrating the end of the school year, the mood around us was heavy, mainly because of Marcus. After my careless remark, Luna explained to me that Marcus was trying to deepen our relationship by using our first names, therefore my reaction to his words was completely inappropriate. I agreed with that, so I tried to correct my mistake. Unfortunately, for some reason Marcus didn't want to accept my apology!

"I don't care, Brown! Leave me alone!" Marcus replied angrily, deliberately looking in another direction. Why was he so petty? He acted like a child who... wait, he was actually a child, wasn't he? Weird.

"Come on, don't go back to calling me Brown. You've already praised me so much, saying I'm brilliant, brave and..." I began, trying to convince him, only to be interrupted by Marcus putting his hands over my mouth to stop me from speaking.

"Shut up! Don't say it out loud!" Marcus shouted with a slight blush on his face, apparently ashamed of his earlier words, "Of course you would be like that! Why did I expect you to react in a normal way?!"

"Wbwell, yosdu sfudee..." I began to mumble, trying to answer Marcus' question through his hand, but then we both heard a loud clap coming from the staff table. The noise seemed to attract everyone's attention, as all the students stopped their conversations and looked in the direction of the table, already suspecting the person responsible. Unsurprisingly, the culprit turned out to be Dumbledore, who was standing behind the table with his hands raised, no doubt intending to make a speech. Seeing that everyone was looking at him in silence, most of them influenced by his dark charisma, Dumbledore approached the podium and began to speak.

"Dear students! I'm happy to see you all here, enjoying the feast and celebrating the end of another school year at Hogwarts. I'm sure you all have plans for the summer and are looking forward to leaving these walls tomorrow, but please let the old man say a few things first." Dumbledore began. He looked at the crowd with complete confidence in his eyes, somehow managing to look both like a cheerful grandfather and a charismatic leader. Which was probably the point. "As we can all attest, this year has been full of surprises and complications. Monster's attacks, protests, Lockhart's treachery... It was certainly a difficult time for everyone at the school"

"However, despite all these problems, we were able to endure the difficulties and finish the year with our heads held high!" Dumbledore announced, causing the students to cheer " With all the victims of the petrification cured and the perpetrator on the run, Hogwarts is safe again. This would not have been possible without the three Ravenclaw students sitting here today. Marcus Fawley, Luna Lovegood and Michael Brown have shown stunning bravery and wisdom in exposing Professor Lockhart's machinations and forcing him to flee Hogwarts. Therefore, I would like you all to give them a round of applause, because without their help, we would not have been able to solve this problem!"

Suddenly, almost every student in the hall turned in our direction and began clapping, following Dumbledore's command. Everyone cheered, shouted various praises and looked at us with admiration, apparently impressed by our actions. The few shouts of disagreement, unsurprisingly coming from the Gryffindor table, were drowned out by the cacophony of noise coming from everyone else. Of the three of us, Marcus looked the most comfortable, as he seemed to take the whole situation in stride, most likely accustomed to this kind of attention as a noble scion. Luna seemed a bit embarrassed, though she tried to keep her usual cheerful smile on her face. I, on the other hand, was visibly tense, completely unaccustomed to this kind of attention. Although, to my own surprise, I soon discovered that I wasn't totally opposed to it. It was a surprisingly pleasant feeling to be praised for my good deeds...

...well, I actually aided the real Heir of Slytherin and helped him frame Lockhart, but that wasn't the point.

After the applause finally ended and people grew silent again, Dumbledore continued.

"I have also been informed that there was another group investigating the Heir of Slytherin case. Although their activities were not as important as those of the previous group, I think they also deserve a mention. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger conducted their own investigation, researching potential suspects among the students and examining the locations where the victims were petrified. Although they ultimately failed to discover the Heir's identity, their efforts must be rewarded. For that, I would like to award each of them twenty points for Gryffindor!" declared Dumbledore, causing everyone to look at the Gryffindor trio with surprise.

Although I knew it was all just a cover-up, meant to render the recording I had on the voice recorder useless, most of the students took Dumbledore's words at face value. Therefore, most of the students were clearly confused, as none of them had heard of such an investigation before. For this reason, the applause that followed Dumbledore's announcement was scattered and brief, even when it came from the Gryffindor table. I also saw many students whispering among themselves, clearly unhappy with the development.

"I think now that we've covered more serious topics, it's finally time for the house cup ceremony." Either oblivious or indifferent to the students' disapproval, Dumbledore went on, "In fourth place Hufflepuff with 375 points!"

Most of the students cheered upon hearing this, although some were already frowning their eyebrows, as they most likely knew how it would all end.

"In third place, Ravenclaw with 415 points!"

This time the cheers were few and far between, with many people looking quite displeased with Ravenclaw's position. There were several people who looked at me with pity in their eyes for some reason, though I didn't know why. After all, I didn't care about the points, so it wasn't like I was unsatisfied. Besides, I had personally torpedoed Ravenclaw's chances of winning with my previous actions, so I didn't really expect my house to win. In fact, I was quite satisfied with the result.

"In second place, Slytherin with 460 points!"

Okay, now people just looked angry. Mainly because the situation was the same as last year. Just like last year, Slytherin students entered the Great Hall with the highest number of points. Well, if they had attended my lectures, they would have known from the beginning that they had no chance of winning.

"And in the first place, Gryffindor with 480 points! Gryffindor is the winner of the house cup!" Dumbledore exclaimed. Yup, just as I expected.

What I didn't expect, however, was for one of the seventh-year Slytherin students to throw a large tomato in Dumbledore's direction, shouting something about the abuse of pureblood rights. The tomato unfortunately missed its target, hitting a Hufflepuff student instead. This action seemed to be a catalyst of sorts, as soon the entire Great Hall turned into a battlefield, with most of the students throwing food at each other, shouting various demands and insults, and the teachers unsuccessfully trying to calm them down.

And so ended the last day of my first year at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore's awarding of points to Gryffindor in such a situation was probably not in-character for him, but... it just felt right.