NOVEL WEB Stoat Sandwich
Dumbledore coughed to get everyone's attention. "I have a few last-minute points to award," he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "Let me see...yes."
And with that, he began to dole out points like there was no tomorrow. Ronald Weasley got fifty points for getting knocked out playing chess, Hermione Granger also got fifty points for being smart, Harry Potter got sixty points for being stupidly brave and Neville got ten points for being useless. In total, Gryffindor was gifted one hundred and seventy points, catapulting them into first place.
'Let me get this straight,' he cursed Dumbledore in his heart. 'First, you dock them two hundred points for saving the school from Hagrid's dragon obsession, which was your responsibility in the first place, and then you award them only two-thirds of that for literally risking their lives to save the Wizarding World, which was also your responsibility. Do you have no shame?'
To be honest, he was somewhat impressed by how Dumbledore had led everyone by the nose the whole year. For a moment Ben wondered if the Headmaster was simply a mastermind or if he had just turned senile, as some speculated.
The Great Hall erupted into cheers and shouts of joy as Dumbledore's magic transformed the room's decorations, changing the green hangings to scarlet red and the silver to gold. The Gryffindor lion replaced the Slytherin snake on the banner behind the high table.
A rare sight occurred as an ecstatic McGonagall shook hands with Snape, who had a miserable smile plastered on his face. Everyone except the Slytherins seemed to be cheering but the atmosphere at the Ravenclaw table was a bit complicated. Everyone's eyes couldn't help but dart towards one Bendict Nigel Brown, the Seer of Ravenclaw, as they cheered at the snake's defeat, that name was going to hold some weight after today.
"Remind me to never doubt you again, mate," Michael said, patting Ben on the back.
"You've got to tell me if I'll pass the Potions exam. I haven't been able to sleep in days; Snape's face has been haunting me every night," pleaded Terry, who did seem to have dark circles under his eyes.
"I don't know, man. I need to be relaxed to be able to divine anything," Ben replied, rubbing his stiff shoulders.
"Here, let me help you with that," he quickly caught on to Ben's hint and started massaging his shoulders; Terry Boot is a lackey material for sure.
"Oh yeah, that's the spot. I can feel it. Something is coming up," Ben said, drawing even stranger looks from around the room.
--
The next day, the exam results came out, and of course, Ben had the best grades among the first years. It came as a shock to many people as Ben was known for his weird antics rather than his smarts. Some people *Cough* Hermione *Cough* even accused him of cheating by looking into the future, but Ben didn't bother denying it and simply said, "Why don't you do it if it's so easy?"
By the evening, everyone's trunks were packed and ready to leave. While they were all handed notes warning them not to use magic over the holidays, Ben already knew how to get around it.
Hagrid was there to sail them across the lake again.
"Yer alright there, Ben?" Hagrid asked, looming over him with a friendly smile.
"Aye, Hagrid! Great to see ya again," Ben replied.
"Now, 'ere I got ya somethin' fer the way," Hagrid said, handing Ben what looked like a giant wrapped sandwich.
"What's this then?" Ben asked, taking the sandwich from Hagrid's massive hands.
"I 'hope it's not a stoat sandwich," said Ben, and a cute angry face peeked out of his robes, chirping as if to say, "It better not be."
Hagrid chuckled and replied, "It's ham. Learned me a lesson, I 'ave," and Ben laughed. Hagrid had mistaken Sil for a regular stoat and tried fixing himself a sandwich on one of their visits. It ended with a lot of nuggets in his hair and the place smelling worse than ever.
"Thanks, I've got somethin' fer ya as well," Ben said, pulling out a whole mammoth snout from under his robes.
"You've got bigger pockets than me, you 'ave," said Hagrid, his mouth already watering at the sight of mammoth meat
Ben bid him goodbye and boarded the Hogwarts Express with his friends. Time passed quickly as they talked and laughed, enjoying Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Ben seemed to only get strange flavours like burnt hair and troll sweat.
"You guys should visit this summer. We could use some free labour at the Rabbit Farm," Ben said as they got off the train.
"What do you even do at a Rabbit Farm?" Michael asked.
"Watch them hump each other?" said Terry.
"Yeah, pretty much. So how about it?" Ben asked.
"Count me in," said Michael.
"I can't. My dad's taking us on a trip to North America," said Terry regrettably. But Ben could feel the excitement in his voice.
Ben remembered that the Boot family was connected to the founders of Ilvermorny school in North America. Terry's parents were muggles, though, and he wasn't sure if they even knew much about their ancestry.
"Well, I guess it's just going to be us two then," said Ben, and he soon spotted his mother in the crowd.
"Ah, Ben. It's so good to see you," he was enveloped in a tight embrace by Thea, but this time he didn't have to suffocate as he now reached her shoulders.
"Oh my, you're growing so fast, aren't you? It seems Hogwarts has been treating you well," she said, taking a good look at him.
"Hogwarts is good, Mam," he said.
"What's this with your hair? You need a proper haircut," she said, looking at his long hair that had now touched his neck.
"No, I don't," he said resolutely.
"Yes, you do, young man," she said with a look that left no room for questions.
"Here, meet my friends, Michael and Terry," Ben shifted the matter.
"Hello, Mrs Brown," they said.
"It's great to see you dears. Ben writes about you two all the time," she said, completely changing her tone of voice.
'No, I don't,' Ben thought, rolling his eyes internally. He'd only mentioned them a few times in his letters
"It's great to see you too, Mrs Brown," said Michael.
"We're grateful for the gifts you sent us, especially the giant chocolate eggs for Easter," said Terry.
"And the cake you sent for Ben's birthday," said Michael.
Ben was shocked at how innocently the two had started talking. He couldn't believe this bunch of chameleons.
"Alright, let's go, Mam. I've already invited them for the summer. You can talk then," he said, dragging her towards the exit.
"You've got lovely friends, Ben," she said.
"Oh, they are lovely alright," he said, knowing their true colours.
