Hogwarts: I Became the Third Dark Lord.

This time, Snape directly called Wentworth by name and asked.

"I'm sorry, Professor, this was my idea, and I'm willing to take full responsibility for it!"

Seeing Wentworth admit it without hesitation, Snape spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Alright, since you've admitted it, then I..."

However, before Snape could finish speaking, Cedric suddenly stepped forward and said:

“Professor Snape, I think the responsibility for this lies with me. Wentworth made this hotpot for me to eat!”

Cedric's sudden appearance surprised Snape. It was the first time Snape had ever seen a student rush to admit their mistake, which made Snape's already gloomy face even more unpleasant.

But what surprised him even more was what happened next. Hufflepuff's prefect Kirk then stepped forward and said:

"I think the responsibility for this is actually mine. As the prefect, not only did I fail to stop them, but I was also completely addicted to hot pot... but it was just so delicious! Moreover, this hot pot party was held under my direction, so the responsibility for this is mine!"

As Kirk stepped forward, many Hufflepuff students followed suit, surrounding Snape and claiming they should be held responsible for the incident.

"This is my fault. We originally came to find Kirk, but we got so engrossed in the hot pot that we didn't go back to report, which led to the misunderstanding!"

"No, no, it's my fault. As a Hufflepuff prefect, I shouldn't have said they were hoarding food, Hiss... but it smells so good!"

Snape felt a wave of dizziness as he looked at the Hufflepuff students surrounding him. Normally, all the students would avoid him!

Behind him, Professor Sprout gazed at his students with a look of satisfaction and pride.

Dumbledore and Ilona, ​​however, kept their eyes fixed on Wentworth, their expressions unreadable.

"enough!"

At that moment, Professor McGonagall shouted, and the Hufflepuff students surrounding Snape quieted down.

Professor McGonagall walked over and said:

"This is outrageous! What are you trying to do? Are you planning a rebellion? Making mistakes requires punishment, that's a must. Do you think the school will give in just because you're surrounding us?"

It must be said that Professor McGonagall, as the vice-principal of Hogwarts, was indeed very competent and outstanding. With just a few words, she rendered the Hufflepuff students, who had been gaining momentum, speechless.

At this moment, Snape seemed to realize that he had just been surrounded by a group of his students, and he trembled with anger. Just as Snape was about to speak, Professor McGonagall turned around and said:

“But then again, Professor Snape, I think the cauldron is just a tool, meant for the students. How they use it is their right, whether it's for making potions or…”

"Of course, we can't let it affect future teaching! So, I think a small punishment is enough, no need to make a big fuss, what do you think?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Hufflepuff's Lucky Star

Hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Snape's anger subsided slightly. He turned and looked around before speaking:

"Hufflepuff, for throwing a party in the common room without permission, causing misunderstandings with other houses, Hufflepuff, deduct 20 points!"

After saying that, Snape turned his attention to Wentworth, since everyone could see that Wentworth was the one who started this incident.

Seeing that Snape had focused his gaze on Wentworth, Professor Sprout, the Headmaster of Hufflepuff House, stepped forward:

“Professor Snape, I think Wentworth…”

Professor Sprout was interrupted by Snape before he could finish speaking.

“Mr. Wentworth, you seem to be very skilled with the cauldron, which is excellent! It shows you have a real talent! I've decided that for the next month, from Monday to Friday after dinner, you should come to me, and I will teach you some potions to make using the cauldron!”

"This is not punishment, this is a reward!"

After saying that, without waiting for anyone else to react, Snape turned and walked away quickly from Hufflepuff's common room.

Professor Sprout, the headmaster of Hufflepuff, ultimately couldn't bring himself to plead for Wentworth after hearing what Snape said.

Seeing Snape leave, all the Hufflepuff students except Wentworth breathed a sigh of relief. As for the points deducted? It didn't matter! Hufflepuff hadn't won the House Cup in a long time anyway, and in the eyes of Hufflepuff students, the so-called House Cup was just a bigger bowl!

Only Wentworth thought to himself, "No wonder he's someone who can infiltrate the Second Dark Lord's inner circle. He really has the ability to distort the truth!" What was clearly a punishment was turned into a reward by Snape, to the point that Professor Sprout couldn't even plead for him.

Just then, as Snape left and the other professors were about to leave as well, Dumbledore walked in.

Unlike Snape, all Hufflepuff students held Dumbledore in high esteem.

"This thing is called hot pot? It does smell pretty good!"

Dumbledore pointed to the cauldron in front of the students and said with a smile.

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, the Hufflepuff students immediately smiled. One of the Hufflepuff prefects even took out a clean small bowl, filled it with meat and seasonings, and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore didn't stand on ceremony and immediately began to taste it.

"It's really good. I didn't expect that such a simple cooking method could produce such delicious food."

The students around Dumbledore answered:

"Headmaster, it's mainly because Wentworth's seasoning is so good!"

Dumbledore nodded slowly, and after eating the entire bowl, he refused the students' request for more food, waving his hand and saying:

"I'm getting old, and my appetite has decreased, haha! But today's Hufflepuff really surprised me!"

“I have fully understood what happened. When faced with potential unknown dangers, you did not run away, but instead faced them together and entered what you at the time thought was a potentially dangerous lounge. That takes immense courage. Hufflepuff, ten points!”

Dumbledore's words silenced the Hufflepuff common room for a moment, then erupted in enthusiastic cheers. Even Professor Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff, couldn't help but applaud them.

As the cheers from Hufflepuff gradually subsided, Dumbledore continued:

"When faced with potential punishment, you did not deliberately shirk responsibility. Instead, you took the initiative to step forward and eagerly took on this responsibility. This is a rare quality that many adult wizards cannot do. Hufflepuff, add ten points!"

After Dumbledore finished speaking, an even louder cheer erupted. This time, not only Professor Sprout, but also the other professors couldn't help but applaud.

Seeing that Dumbledore didn't seem to have finished speaking, the cheers quickly subsided, and the Hufflepuff students looked at Dumbledore with surprise and delight.

Dumbledore walked over to Wentworth and fixed his gaze on Wentworth, staring into his eyes.

This was Wentworth's first time facing Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard in the wizarding world at the moment. Wentworth suppressed his excitement and looked at Dumbledore with admiration... while also activating Occlumency.

After a moment, Dumbledore said with a smile:

"Wentworth, thank you so much for providing such a delicious meal for an old man, and for making an outstanding contribution to the diversity of the Hogwarts menu. So, Hufflepuff, add five more points!"

Dumbledore's words brought the atmosphere in the Hufflepuff common room to a fever pitch, with many Hufflepuff students even hugging each other in excitement.

There's a reason everyone's so excited. Today is the first day of school, and it's also the weekend, so none of the students have classes. Therefore, none of the four colleges have received any bonus points so far.

Snape just deducted twenty points from Hufflepuff, making it the worst-performing house. But with Dumbledore adding those twenty-five points, Hufflepuff has become the best of the four houses!

With tears in his eyes, Kirk said, "Five years! A full five years! For the first time since I became a prefect, we Hufflepuffs have finally taken the lead over the other three houses! Even if it's just for a day, I'm incredibly proud!"

Kirk's words made Wentworth look at him with new respect. In Wentworth's mind, Kirk had become a strong candidate for the future Minister of Magic of England!

Perhaps sensing Wentworth's gaze, Kirk also turned his gaze to Wentworth, then hugged Wentworth tightly and said:

"Wentworth, you're a lucky charm for us Hufflepuffs!"

With that, Kirk gave Cedric a look, and the two of them lifted Wentworth up and tossed him into the air. Then, more and more Hufflepuff students joined in, and Wentworth's gasps echoed throughout the entire Hufflepuff common room.

Seeing this, Ilona finally couldn't help but reveal a proud smile.

This is the future leader of our Mafia Party. How long will it take to conquer one of Hogwarts' houses? Wentworth's answer is, the time it takes to eat a meal!

Suddenly, Ilona realized that perhaps joining Hufflepuff was also part of Wentworth's plan.

Although Hufflepuff students don't come from as prestigious families as Slytherin students, nor do they have the same academic excellence as Ravenclaw students, Hufflepuff is the largest house at Hogwarts.

The wizards who emerge from Hufflepuff will infiltrate every corner of the magical world and become the cornerstone of its future.

Thinking of this, Ilona's gaze toward Wentworth was now filled with admiration.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Before Potions Class

Dumbledore didn't stop the Hufflepuffs' cheers; instead, he turned to Ilona and said:

“Professor Ilona, ​​I apologize for interrupting your welcome reception. Shall we continue? I am very interested in what you just said about the Indian shamanistic customs.”

Ilona smiled and said:

"It's alright, Headmaster Dumbledore. In fact, I've already fallen in love with this great school!"

With Dumbledore and many professors gone, the Hufflepuff students let loose even more, and the hotpot party continued into the evening.

So much so that when the students from the other three houses had dinner in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, they found the Hufflepuff long table empty and looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling quite uncomfortable.

After the party, Wentworth had just returned to her dorm to rest when she heard Cedric knocking on the door.

"Wentworth, you're going to Professor Snape's place tomorrow night. You haven't had a Potions class yet. Tonight, I'll help you preview it. You can't learn too much in one night, but at least it'll prepare you mentally."

Cedric entered the room with his book in hand and spoke to Wentworth, who was quite exhausted, having prepared several different seasonings that day and whose hands were sore.

But seeing Cedric holding a book in his hands, Wentworth couldn't bear to refuse his kindness.

Surprisingly, not long after, Kirk, the Hufflepuff senior, also arrived, carrying several books, which he handed to Wentworth.

“Wentworth, these are the notes I’ve taken in Professor Snape’s classes over the years. I’m giving them to you in the hopes that they will be of some help.”

"You are our Hufflepuff's lucky star. If you ever need anything in the future, don't hesitate to come to me!"

If Wentworth initially chose Hufflepuff because he feared that joining Gryffindor or Slytherin would cause him trouble later on...

But after what happened today, Wentworth truly fell in love with Hufflepuff, the house that appeared the least in the original Harry Potter books. It was honest, upright, and courageous, and it began to occupy an important place in Wentworth's heart.

So Wentworth spent his second night at Hogwarts in the preparatory class that Cedric had set up for him.

Fortunately, the next day, Monday, Wentworth's first class at Hogwarts was History of Magic. As Hogwarts' only ghost teacher, Professor Binns fully demonstrated the qualities of an excellent teacher in the eyes of his students: he would never wake up any sleeping students.

So Wentworth made good use of the morning to catch up on sleep.

Because in the afternoon, Hufflepuff's first-year students will be having Snape's Potions class.

That afternoon, Wentworth, who had become the backbone of the Hufflepuff freshmen, walked towards the Potions classroom surrounded by all the Hufflepuff freshmen.

But in the hallway, they happened to run into a Slytherin student who was also a first-year student.

According to this semester's schedule, Slytherin and Hufflepuff first-year students will be taking Potions class together.

Similar to the Hufflepuff newcomers who were surrounded by Wentworth, there was also a Slytherin newcomer who was treated like a star, namely Cassandra.

At this moment, Cassandra, dressed in a dark green robe and with her golden curly hair flowing freely, walked with elegant steps at the forefront of Slytherin, and happened to bump into Wentworth.