To prevent everyone from voting collectively for their friends and family, Dumbledore gave each person five votes, allowing them to vote for their favorite person while still supporting friends and family.
The effect was significant, as the Weasley Twins received the vast majority of the votes.
And in second place was Sirius Black, who cosplayed as Professor Snape.
To protect those who did not want to reveal their names for fear of harsh revenge from Professor Snape, Dumbledore announced an anonymous voting system, so even if Snape wanted to retaliate, he had no way to do so.
The result made Sirius feel a bit happier.
He stood up, bowing to everyone, and sang a song that the Weasley Twins had made up—lyrics by Ginny.
As expected, thanks to Sirius's antics, Snape deducted points even more ruthlessly.
The next morning, Gryffindor students lost twenty points for secretly mocking Professor Snape.
"He's truly gone mad." Lavender Brown said apprehensively to her classmates: "Did you see? He looked just like a bat that's been salted."
Of course, this was said in the dorm, and everyone knew Snape liked to sneak up behind people, so if you talked quietly about him outside, he would sneak up and deduct points.
But no one knew what a "salted bat" was, yet when Lavender Brown told them to picture Snape standing on the podium, the image immediately formed.
At noon that day, Snape and Sirius unexpectedly crossed paths in the Great Hall and finally drew their wands over being called a snot spirit.
"You want to duel me?" Sirius also drew his wand, "Alright then, snot spirit, when it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts, I'm not afraid of you! As for Transformation Spell, I'm even better than you!"
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall acted quickly, grabbing Snape and sternly lecturing Sirius, putting an end to the matter.
"Severus, let it go!" She and Professor Dumbledore persuaded Snape, thus avoiding a duel between professors in the Great Hall.
It's easy to imagine that Snape, having been infuriated by Sirius, would channel his anger elsewhere.
The Gryffindor students didn't mind, as they would lose points regardless, so it was better to have Snape fuming.
At least this way, everyone could enjoy it a bit.
Just as the Death God was about to be summoned, Harry also went to see Professor Lupin.
Professor Lupin looked quite spirited today, not as ill as he had seemed a few days before.
Harry didn't think Professor Lupin was on a trip, but rather unwell—though he wouldn't delve into the professor's secrets since everyone has their own little secrets.
"Ah, it's Harry." Lupin greeted him warmly, inviting him to sit down, and pulled out a Chocolate Frog from a drawer to give to Harry: "Here, have some chocolate, it's so cold, a little something to warm up."
Harry didn't refuse; he first thanked Lupin, then unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and bit off its head.
It wasn't a Chocolate Frog, just a knock-off frog-shaped chocolate, but it tasted better than the Chocolate Frog, and Harry even felt a warm flow spreading through his body, as if the chocolate had some special effect.
"So," Lupin, seeing Harry had eaten the chocolate frog, asked: "Is there something you wanted to see me about, Harry?"
"Well, Professor." Harry pondered for a moment before saying to Lupin: "I... um, I know you were good friends with my dad, so I thought I'd ask you about my dad."
Lupin didn't respond immediately; instead, he gestured, and some teacups floated over, and then he poured Harry a cup of hot tea and said: "You're right, when we were at Hogwarts, we were good friends—as you know, we had a little group called 'Marauders,' what do you think? Sounds a bit rebellious, doesn't it? But Sirius and James liked the name, so it became our group code."
"Doesn't sound great." Harry hesitantly nodded, then said: "I—I remember from my mom's memory seeing the scene at the Black Lake Shore—my dad hoisted Professor Snape up, my mom went to save him, and Professor Snape called my mom a dirty little—"
"Oh, you're talking about that incident..."
Professor Lupin's eyes flashed with reminiscence, "That was when we were in our fifth year, just finished taking the O.W.L.s, the standard wizard exams... so, do you have questions about it?"
"Professor Snape said my dad was arrogant and conceited, and a pathetic bully." Harry shrugged, saying to Lupin: "I didn't believe it at first, but after seeing my mom's memory... well, I have some doubts, but I figured only hearing Professor Snape's side wasn't wise, so I came to ask you and Sirius, what you both who were friends saw in my dad."
"I see..."
Professor Lupin's eyes grew softer, he shook his head and smiled at Harry: "Just as I expected, you're more like your mom than your dad... but Sirius isn't very happy about it, he thinks you should be the second James."