The noise in the Great Hall rose like a swelling tide, one wave higher than the last.
Nora was surrounded in the center of the crowd, her long ice-blue hair shimmering with tiny fragments of light beneath the candle glow.
She was not very used to this kind of liveliness, but she did not push away the classmates gathering around her either.
After all, this was the last time.
“Nora, over here!
Take a photo with us!”
“Senior Nora, I’m a second-year.
Can I take a picture with you?”
“Ravenclaw forever!
Thanks to you, we won the House Cup!”
The voices rose one after another, filled with excitement, gratitude, and unconcealable reluctance.
Nora smiled and nodded, cooperating as she posed, allowing Evelyn to raise that silver-black box and press the button with a click in front of them.
It was Evelyn’s camera, a product of the Muggle world.
Supposedly, her father had specially found it in one of London’s oldest camera shops.
It had a metal body, needed film, took black-and-white photographs, and the pictures would only be developed after several days.
“This thing is way too ancient,” Nora had been unable to resist commenting when she first saw it.
“Back in my time, phone cameras could even beautify pictures in real time.”
“What phone?
What beautify?” Evelyn had been completely confused, carefully holding the camera as if it were some rare treasure.
“My parents bought this specially for me, so I could record my days at Hogwarts!
Look how delicate it is!”
Nora looked at the heavy camera and sighed inwardly.
Sure enough, the generation gap between eras was not so easy to bridge.
But now, this “ancient” camera had become the most popular treasure of all.
After all, photographs in the wizarding world moved.
This kind of still, grainy, black-and-white image instead carried a novel sense of ceremony.
“Speaking of which, the House Cup really was close this time!” Evelyn said emotionally to Nora while taking photos for their classmates.
“At the very last moment, Professor McGonagall awarded you twenty points, saying it was to reward you for ‘upholding the honor of your house and repeatedly resolving conflicts.’ The faces of those Slytherins at the time—tsk, tsk, they were darker than Professor Snape’s black robes!”
Nora smiled but said nothing.
She knew the real reason behind those twenty points.
It had not been because of “upholding honor” or anything like that, but because she had caught the Rosier boy at the top of the Astronomy Tower, secretly trying to stuff extra point gems into Slytherin’s hourglass.
She had caught him red-handed and dragged him straight to Professor McGonagall’s office.
She had not spread the matter around, and Professor McGonagall had tacitly rewarded her for it.
Ravenclaw had narrowly defeated Slytherin and won this year’s House Cup.
Those twenty points truly had been the key.
“Nora!” A loud voice came from outside the crowd.
It was Gryffindor’s Quidditch captain.
“Come here!
Our team wants a photo with you!
You know, that ‘anti-cheating tactic’ you designed helped us beat Slytherin!”
Nora had barely walked over before several tall Gryffindor boys grabbed her by the shoulders and forcibly shoved her into the middle.
Evelyn held up the camera, laughing so hard she nearly bent over.
“Move closer!
Yes!
Nora, give us a smile!”
Click!
The sound of the shutter rang out, freezing that chaotic yet lively moment in place.
Nora rubbed her shoulder, which hurt a little from being patted so much, and was just about to find somewhere to catch her breath when her gaze landed on the platform.
Dumbledore was saying something to Professor McGonagall.
Professor Flitwick was wiping away tears nearby, while Professor Snape sat alone in the corner.
The goblet in front of him was empty, and his expression was as gloomy as ever.
A thought suddenly popped into her mind.
She parted the crowd and walked straight toward the platform.
“Professor Dumbledore.”
The old headmaster raised his head, his blue eyes curving into crescents behind his glasses.
“Oh, Nora.
Is something the matter?”
“Well, everyone is taking commemorative photos,” Nora said, pointing at the lively crowd below.
“The graduates of our year would like to take a group photo with all the professors.
Would that be all right?”
Dumbledore paused for a moment, then laughed, his voice as pleasant as wind chimes.
“What a wonderful idea!
Minerva, what do you think?”
Professor McGonagall pushed up her glasses, and a rare trace of softness appeared on her usually stern face.
“I have no objection.
It would be an honor to take one last photo with these children.”
“Severus?” Dumbledore looked toward Snape in the corner.
Snape lifted his eyelids, swept a cold glance over the students below, and gave a huff without speaking.
Nora understood at once.
This Potions professor had always been sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.
She walked over to Snape, deliberately slowing her steps.
A perfectly measured, slightly sly smile appeared on her face.
This was one of the few “special moves” she had that could make Snape show a little leniency.
“Professor Snape~” she dragged out her tone, her voice carrying a hint of coaxing.
“Just one photo.
You see, over these seven years, I’ve helped you deal with quite a few ‘little troubles’ in your classes.
Give me some face, all right?”
She was telling the truth.
Snape’s Potions classes were famous for being strict.
Especially toward non-Slytherin students, he could find fault in the smallest details.
But Nora was an exception.
Her talent in Potions was exceptionally high.
Not only could she brew standard potions perfectly according to the recipe, but she could also draw inferences and improve formulas.
More importantly, whenever a student disrupted class or questioned Snape’s teaching, Nora would always be the first to step forward and “put out the fire.”
Sometimes she used precise Potions knowledge to leave the other party speechless.
Sometimes she simply used magic to freeze the troublemaker in place.
Over time, Snape’s attitude toward her, while still far from gentle, had clearly become much more lenient.
She was the only student outside Slytherin who could earn points in his class.
Snape’s brows furrowed.
A complicated emotion flashed through his pitch-black eyes, as if he were struggling.
But looking at Nora’s ice-blue eyes, which held a hint of expectation, he finally let out a single syllable through his nose, extremely unwillingly.
“Fine.”
That counted as tacit agreement.
Nora was delighted and immediately waved to the students below.
“Everyone graduating this year!
Come over here!
Let’s take a photo with the professors!”
The students below instantly cheered and surged toward the platform.
Although the Slytherin students were reluctant, under Snape’s icy gaze, they still dragged themselves over unwillingly.
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