The reaction to Sheila Granger's name was completely different from the reactions that had followed every student before her.
For a moment, the Eastern Grand Hall seemed to forget its exhaustion. The second years were still battered, still hungry, still aching, and still desperate for proper treatment and rest, but the instant Lucia announced Sheila as rank one, a wave of relief and approval passed through the crowd with such force that it almost became visible.
Students who had barely reacted to their own names lifted their heads. Those sitting on the edge of collapse straightened just a little. A few even smiled openly, not with the forced politeness of students acknowledging a high rank, but with genuine relief.
It was not simply because Sheila was respected.
