Chapter 8
I woke in the hospital. The pain was gone and I felt fresh. I could see Ron lying in the bed opposite me. He was awake and talking to Hermione and Neville. Harry was in the bed next to me but he was still unconscious. I looked down at my side. Where the cut used to be, there was now a dull, thin, scar.
"How long have I been out?" I asked. The others turned to look at me.
"You're awake!" Hermione exclaimed. She ran up to my bed. "You've been unconscious for two days. Ron woke up a few hours ago but Harry hasn't woke up yet."
"Are you okay, Ron?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, "You?" I nodded.
"What about you guys?" I asked Neville and Hermione.
"We're fine." Hermione assured me.
Madam Pomfrey walked in the room. "Oh good, your up." She said. She then performed a spell to check me over. "You seem fine but I would recommend staying here for a few more hours." She told me. "Same for you, Mr Weasley." She then turned around to tend to other patients.
"Is Harry okay?" I asked Hermione.
"Madam Pomfrey said he would be fine when he wakes up." Hermione told me.
...
A few hours later we left the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had told us to let Harry rest. Soon professor McGonagall walked over to us. "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you." She told them. "The password is 'Bertie Bott's'." We looked at each other and started heading towards the headmasters office.
We reached the gargoyle. "Umm. Bertie Bott's." Hermione said. The gargoyle jumped aside to reveal a set of stairs. We walked up them and nocked on the door to the office.
"Come in." Dumbledore called from the other side of the door. Hermione opened the door and we followed her inside. Dumbledore gestured to the chairs on the other side of his desk. "Lemon drop?" He asked us. I shook my head along with Hermione. Ron and Neville each took one.
"Now," Dumbledore finally said. "Please tell me what happened." We all shared an uncomfortable look. Hermione was the most reluctant. Probably worried we would get expelled. No one was saying anything so I launched into the tale. I explained how we found out about the stone. I tried to leave out the parts that might get Hagrid in trouble but I couldn't leave out the fact that he told someone how to get past Fluffy. I was quite sure Dumbledore wouldn't hold it against him though. Dumbledore hands out second chances like they're lemon drops. I told him how we got through the challenges. The others chimed in sometimes to help explain certain things. Finally I finished with Harry making Quirrell turn to dust. There was a long silence after I finished. "Thank you. You may go." Dumbledore finally said. We got up and left.
...
I skipped breakfast the next morning. I was still pretty tired. I had to get up to go to classes though. I hurriedly got dressed and left my dorm room. As soon as I walked down the stairs, everyone fell silent and stared at me. I saw a few people pointing at us and whispering to their neighbors. Just Great! I thought sarcastically. I squirmed under the scrutiny. "Is it true?" someone finally asked, a tall fifth year girl.
"Is what true?" I asked in annoyance.
"Was Quirrell really evil?" She asked.
"Did you really help stop him?" Asked someone else.
"I heard you took down another troll!" Another person said. I was slightly shocked. How did they all find out?
"Where did you hear that?" I asked innocently.
"Dumbledore told everyone at breakfast." Hermione said, walking up to me.
"Oh." I mumbled.
"So it's not true?" Asked another student. I sighed.
"No, it's true." I stated. "But I barely did anything, it was a team effort."
"But I was told you beat the troll!" Yelled someone. I blushed.
"Well, yeah." I admitted. My face was quite red. I didn't like all the attention. Hermione quickly saved me by dragging me off to potions. Thank god for potions class. I Never thought I'd ever think that!
...
Harry woke up that evening but madam Pomfrey only let us talk to him for five minutes. He hurriedly told us about a conversation he had just had with Dumbledore. He told us that the stone had been destroyed. He told us that Dumbledore said Voldemort was still at large, very weak, but there were other ways for him to return. He also said that when his mother sacrificed herself for him and old magic protected him. Kept him safe. Stopped Quirrell from killing us. The power of love.
Of course I already knew all this and more but I put on an interested face. I even broke out a few surprised expressions when necessary. He didn't go into much detail because when Madame Pomfrey said five minutes, she meant five minutes. We soon found ourselves kicked out.
...
Harry wasn't allowed to come to dinner that night though. Ron, Hermione, Neville and I were eating when an owl flew in and dropped a letter in front of Hermione. She opened it hurriedly and let out a loud squeal. Those who weren't already staring turned to look at Hermione in surprise. "What is it?!" Ron asked in alarm. Hermione put the letter down to reveal a huge smile on her face.
"Well," She said turning to me. "Harry and Ron told me what you said on christmas, Annie. So I owled my parents and asked if you could stay with us for the summer holidays." I stared at her in shock. I had completely forgotten about the holidays. I had no where to go.
"They said yes!" She told me happily. She was practically bursting at the seams with excitement. I smiled and pulled her into a big hug.
"'Mione, thank you so much!" I breathed. I can't believe she did that for me. "You are such a great friend." I was so Happy right now.
...
We all went down to the end of year feast and sat together in the hall at the Gryffindor table. Almost everyone had finally stopped pointing and whispering when we walked in a room. It had just made me feel a little more sympathetic for Harry. I was just getting a small taste of what he has to endure most of the time.
Dumbledore stood up and addressed the hall. "Another year gone!" He said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts...
"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin and Gryffindor, currently tied with four hundred and seventy- two points." Of course! Harry, Ron and Hermione never lost those one hundred and fifty points for being caught sneaking out.
Everyone was silent. It was not often that there was a tie. Also, I don't think the Slytherins or the Gryffindors, were happy to share first place with their enemy house. "However," Dumbledore broke the silence by continuing. "Recent events must be taken into account and I have some last minute points to award. "First, to Mr Ronald Weasley," Ron went very red in the face. "For the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor fifty points." All the Gryffindors cheered loudly and Fred and George both patted Ron on the back happily. This was such obvious favoritism. He is basically awarding Ron points for breaking heaps of rules and being good at playing chess.
Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!" Finally the hall fell silent again.
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Translation: I am awarding you points because you are a wizard who actually has a brain. There was more cheering for Hermione.
"Third, to Mr Neville Longbottom, for great bravery and the cool use of intellect while other were in grave peril. I award Gryffindor house another fifty points." Translation: Yay, you stopped your friends from being killed by a plant because you actually pay attention in herbology. More cheering for Neville. The Slytherins looked ready to kill at this point but Dumbledore still wasn't done.
"Fourth, to Miss Joanne Rogers," My jaw dropped. He was actually giving me points. Me! I can't wait to hear what excuse he comes up with to give more points to Gryffindor. "For amazing endurance and the smart use of spells on much tougher enemies, I award Gryffindor fifty five points." Translation: Go you, for fighting off a troll while you were injured and not dyeing. Also, I like you so I'm giving you five more points than the rest of them. Despite my brains protests, I blushed deeply as the Gryffindors cheered louder. Fred patted me on the back like he did Ron. Malfoy was giving me such a death stair. If looks could kill... Or should I say, if he were a basilisk...
"And finally, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points." I had nothing to say to that. Harry deserved it. When the cheering finally died down Dumbledore said, "So, if my maths is correct, Gryffindor wins the house cup with seven hundred and thirty seven points!" There was an explosion of cheering. It was louder than anything heard so far. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff joined in, glad that slytherin hadn't won again. The Slytherins were looking at us like we just murdered all their puppies. I laughed at everyones enthusiasm.
...
I had completely forgotten about the exam results by the time they finally came. Harry and Ron looked so surprised and pleased when they passed with good marks. Hermione, of course, was top of the year. Neville's good herbology marks made up for his bad potion ones. He was pretty pleased with himself. He was slowly starting to grow more and more confidant while hanging out with us. Me and Harry both did everything we could to boost his self esteem.
As for my results, I did quite well. I didn't do Hermione-well of course, but well all the same. I got top marks in transfiguration and defense against the dark arts. However, purely for being associated with Harry, my potions marks suffered a little. That and I suck at potions. I did okay in charms. Since I had been practicing the complicated ones, I hadn't worked to hard to get the first year ones perfect. I still passed easily though. It's good that I did so well in transfiguration because I really want to try something next year.
I am so happy to be staying with the grangers this summer. And since I would be staying in a muggle area, hopefully I would be able to find a job. I was sick of living of Dumbledore. I didn't know how long he would continue to pay for my things and it would be nice to have spending money. However, it will probably prove difficult to find a summer job since I'm eleven now. Soon we were all packed up and on the train. First year is officially over. I can't wait till next year.
...
See if you can guess what she wants to do involving transfiguration next year. It's pretty obvious. Be excited. Please review. Thanks for reading :)
