Tom fell silent for a moment and had to admit that Cedric was right. Although the relationship between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff wasn't as tense as that between Gryffindor and Slytherin, it wasn't harmonious either.
Ultimately, it was due to stereotypes. In everyone's perception, Ravenclaw students were intelligent, while Hufflepuff students were all honest.
The word "honest" could hardly be considered a compliment. Only when someone couldn't be praised for anything else were they called "honest," while common words to praise someone included "handsome," "beautiful," "smart," "kind," among others.
Worse yet, behind the label of "honest" were also negative connotations like taking advantage of or bullying that person.
It's not hard to imagine how the little Hufflepuff wizards lived. Hagrid even openly said while accompanying Harry to Diagon Alley for the first time, "Hufflepuffs are a bunch of useless." Even if Hagrid was a dropout who hadn't finished the third year, that was too exaggerated.
It was normal for the arrogant Ravenclaw students to look down on Hufflepuff students, like an eagle flying high, despising the badger digging in the ground.
Over time, conflicts arose. Although honest people can endure a lot, they can't accept contempt for so long. Therefore, resentment towards Ravenclaw students accumulated over time.
Until today, the contradiction between the two houses has increased considerably. Of course, there has also been a significant gap between the other houses. This can be seen in the clearly separated seating of students from different houses at the party venue, even though this time it wasn't specified where students should sit according to their house.
The teachers were unaware of this division, or even if they were, they didn't care. They allowed students from the same house to gather for meals, made dormitory rooms exclusive to students from the same house, and even allowed students to sit in class according to their year and house...
In every corner of Hogwarts, it seems that someone is constantly emphasizing to students from different houses. This is not a good thing. It can even be said that a division has been artificially created.
Even Dumbledore, a wizard like him, hasn't made any attempt to smooth relations.
Cedric could see this, which really made Tom admire him.
"If students from different houses can celebrate my victory together, maybe they can establish a bond between the four houses and soften relations a bit," Cedric said, expressing his lofty ideal. "I really hope that students from the four houses can come together."
"Very insightful," Tom thought as he mentally applauded Cedric. He supported Cedric's ideas.
"And the Slytherin students?" Tom looked at the Slytherin students, who were clustered not far away, and suddenly remembered that their situation seemed quite bad.
Cedric shrugged. "If they're willing to lower their haughty heads, I have no objections. They can join the celebration at any time."
But if they're not willing to lose even a bit of their pride, Cedric thought they should look for fun elsewhere. And seeing the Slytherin students give in would be something wonderful, how could they miss that?
As they chatted, the group followed the rest of the crowd to the Gryffindor Tower.
Upon entering the common room, Tom was astonished by the party organized by the Gryffindor students.
On tables and chairs, there were mountains of cakes. There were simple cakes and cream-covered cupcakes. Next to the cake plates, there were jugs of pumpkin juice and butterbeer.
The air was filled with remnants of fireworks left by the spectators' celebration. When Cedric entered, the Gryffindor students had hung banners with depictions of their performance at the match.
Fred and George moved among the crowd like bees, recommending toys from their joke shop.
"So, do you know what the content of the second task is?" Cedric enjoyed his meal in the tower as he looked at Tom, hoping to get some hints from him.
"I don't know," Tom immediately rejected. "But I know one thing, wand usage is prohibited."
"What?" Cedric almost jumped out of his chair, which made many people glance at him, but he didn't care about that.
"What do you mean, wands can't be used?" Cedric couldn't understand it. Was this a test for the champions to perform magic without wands?
"Literally, it means wands cannot be used in the challenge. Not even wandless magic is allowed," Tom's words left Cedric in silence.
According to what Tom said, the second challenge probably involved the prohibition of using magic, but the content itself was highly confidential and aimed to evaluate the competitors' adaptability.
"Well..." Cedric responded dejectedly with a pat on the head, accepting the reality.
Many people approached Cedric and asked him about the second task, and he had to find a way to evade the question, after all, there were still three months left for that, no rush!
"Do you want some jam cake?" Fred and George suddenly appeared next to Tom, holding a plate of sliced cakes.
Hermione took a piece of cake from the plate, showing a doubtful expression on her face.
Fred understood what Hermione meant and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, we haven't done anything to the cakes. What you should watch out for are the cream biscuits."
Neville, who was standing nearby with half a cream biscuit in his hand, froze.
Fred: !!!
The next second, Neville transformed into a large canary, capturing the attention of everyone present.
"Ah, it wasn't intentional, it seems I accidentally mixed something special," while everyone laughed, Fred apologized to Neville and chuckled as everyone laughed.
You have to admit, Neville was a great advertising billboard. A minute later, he shed all his feathers and returned to his human appearance, attracting young wizards who quickly approached Fred to buy that little toy that cost seven sickles each.
While Fred was busy, George and Tom began to speak.
"We actually came to ask for some autographs. We hope Tom can sign his name on some of our creations," they said as they took out a small golden object from their bags.
Tom carefully looked, and it turned out to be a miniature golden knight. Beneath him was a hippogriff. At that moment, the little knight was riding the hippogriff, patrolling all around. He looked quite aggressive, occasionally waving his staff held in his hand.
"You guys are fast!" Tom was amazed at Fred and George's speed. Hadn't he just finished competing, and they were already making merchandise?
"You have to seize opportunities to make money," George said with a smile. "Help us sign a few words!"