Chapter 10:
Harry, Ron and Ginny followed Fawkes through the long, dark corridors. A few minutes later, they found themselves standing in front of Professor McGonagall's office. Harry knocked on the office door before pushing it open. He, Ron and Ginny then stood in the doorway, covered in slime, dirt and -in Harry's case- blood.
Suddenly, a scream made them all jump, "Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley's voice rang through the office as she sprang up from her seat next to the fire. She had heavy tears falling down her face as she ran over towards Ginny with Mr. Weasley following right behind her and seconds later, they had both flung their arms around their daughter.
Behind the Weasleys, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall stood by the fire, Dumbledore was beaming at them while McGonagall stared at them with the a look of shock on her face. Fawkes had flown in and was now sitting on Dumbledore's shoulder. Before Harry knew what was happening, Mrs. Weasley had engulfed both him and Ron into a tight embrace.
"You did it! You saved her! But how did you save her?" Mrs. Weasley said as she continued to hug them.
"Yes, that is something we would all like to know." Professor McGonagall chimed in quietly.
As Mrs Weasley finally let go of Harry and Ron, Harry walked over to the desk and placed the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor on top of it, along with the remains of Tom Riddle's diary, Then, he turned to the others and told the the entire story. He told them everything from hearing the disembodied voice through the halls, how Hermione and Lena had figured out that he was hearing the voice of the Basilisk through the pipes, about him, Ron and Calla going into the Forest to talk to Aragog who had told them about where the last victim had died, how they had guessed it was Moaning Myrtle who had been the victim, and finally, about the Chamber of Secrets being in her bathroom. By the time he had finished telling the story, silence rang out through the room, soon broken by McGonagall.
"Well, you have broken several schools rules but you actually managed to find the Chamber of Secrets. But how in Merlin's name did you all get out of there alive?" she asked them. Harry took a deep breath and began his explanation about how Fawkes arrived in time to help Harry, about how the Sword came from inside the Sorting Hat. Then, he hesitated and glanced desperately at Dumbledore when it came time to tell the others about the diary and Ginny. Dumbledore smiled as he caught Harry's look.
"What I would like to know," Dumbledore said, much to Harry's relief, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to get control of Ginny when my sources say that he is currently hiding in Albania." he said.
"Wh-what?" Mr. Weasley said in shock. "You-Know-Who was controlling Ginny? But Ginny isn't - she hasn't been…- has she?" he said, not being able to say the words.
"It was because of his diary." Harry explained. "Tom Riddle wrote it when was sixteen." he added.
Dumbledore took the diary into his own hands and examined it, "Well, he was the most brilliant student of his time at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, making the Weasleys all look at him in surprise. "Not many people are aware that Lord Voldemort was actually known as Lord Voldemort. I was one of the teachers at Hogwarts that taught him fifty years ago. Once he had left Hogwarts, he completely disappeared, traveling around the world. He sank so deep into the Dark Arts that he became obsessed with them, He went through so many dangerous, magical transformations that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was not even recognisable. Nobody could have ever connected the clever and handsome boy from Hogwarts who used to be Head Boy, to Lord Voldemort." he said.
"B-but, what's Ginny got to do with him?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"I h-hs his diary." Ginny said, sobbing. "I've been writing in his diary all year, a-and he's been writing back." she added.
"Ginny!" Mr. Weasley said, shocked, "What do I always say? Never trust anything that can think for itself, and you have no idea where it's brain is! You should have shown the diary to me or your mother because something like that s clearly full of Dark Magic." he said.
"I didn't know." Ginny cried. "I found it in one of the books that Mum got me. I thought somebody just left it there and forgot." she explained through sobs.
"I think that Miss Weasley should be taken to the Hospital Wing, immediately." Dumbledore interrupted, "This has all been a terrible experience for her. I can say that there will be no punishments, as people much older and wiser than her have been enchanted by Lord Voldemort. What she really needs now, is rest and a steaming mug of hot chocolate." He said as he walked across the room and opened the door. "I believe that Madam Pomfrey is still awake and giving the Mandrake juice to all the Basilisk's victims, I would say that they might be waking up soon." he added.
"So, Hermione is going to be okay?" Ron asked happily, "And Lena too?" he added as a second thought.
Dumbledore nodded his head "From what I know, there was no sign of lasting damage to any of the victims." he said. As these words left his mouth, Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley led Ginny out of the room and headed towards the hospital wing, both of them looking exhausted and shocked.
Once they had left, Dumbledore turned around and faced Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, I think all that has happened today is deserving of a good feast. May I ask you to go and notify the kitchens?" he said to her.
"Of course." she said as she walked swiftly towards the door. "I feel you will be able to deal with Potter and Weasley alone." she said as she strode out of the room. Dumbledore noded as she walked out and Harry and Ron stared at him cautiously, wondering what was going to happen next.
"I do recall mentioning to you that if you broke any more school rules, I would have no other choice but to expel you." Dumbledore said turning towards them. Ron's face turned pale in horror as his jaw dropped. "Which proves that even the best are sometimes wrong," he continued, a smile making its way onto his features. "Both of you will receive Special Awards for Services to the School and I believe that two hundred points each for Gryffindor." he said. Ron flushed deeply, turning pink as his jaw snapped shut in surprise.
At this moment, Gilderoy Lockhart walked into the room, still smiling happily. Dumbledore seemed to notice his odd behavior and questioned him on why he was being so silent about his own adventure down in the Chamber. Ron then explained to Dumbledore about Lockhart trying to cast the memory charm in the Chamber and it backfiring due to Ron's broken wand and took away Lockhart's memory. Dumbledore nodded in understanding and asked Ron to take Lockhart to the Hospital Wing and that he would like to talk to Harry a bit more. Ron nodded hesitantly then led Lockhart out of the office, shooting Harry a curious look on his way out the door.
Once the door had closed and Ron and Lockhart were out of the room, Dumbledore thanked Harry, shocking him. Dumbledore told about why Fawkes had been called to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry worded his concern about how Tom Riddle said they were very alike and him and Dumbledore talked about Lord Voldemort and how he had placed a part of his soul into Harry the night he had tried to kill him. Dumbledore then mentioned to Harry that only a true Gryffindor could have pulled the sword out of the Sorting Hat because it used to belong to Godric Gryffindor himself when Harry told him how the Hat had only put him in Gryffindor because he asked it to.
"You look quite tired, Harry, I think you should go down to the feast and then head straight to bed. I need to write to Azkaban now, because we do need our gamekeeper back. I will also need to write an advertisement for the Daily Prophet for we seem to be in the need of a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher considering what has happened to professor Lockhart." Dumbledore said finally, taking a piece of parchment out from one of Professor McGonagall's desk drawers. Harry nodded his head silently and crossed the room, walking to the door. Just as he was about to reach and open the door, it suddenly swung open, hitting the wall and making Harry jump back in surprise.
Harry had jumped to the side and stared at the doorway in surprise. There stood an enraged Lucius Malfoy with Dobby standing behind him. Dumbledore greeted Lucius Malfoy politely but Mr. Malfoy wasn't in the mood for beating around the bush. He marched straight past Harry, nearly pushing him over as he did so. "So, you have returned against the direct orders of the governors of Hogwarts I see. We have all suspended you, but you have still come back," he said, fury evident in his voice.
Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, "You see, Lucius, the other eleven governors all contacted me today. They told me that they had heard about how Arthur Weasley's daughter had been taken into the Chamber and they all seemed to think that I was the best person for handling the situation. They said that they wanted me back immediately. They all told me very unusual tales as well, they told me that you had threatened to curse their families unless they agreed to suspend me." he said.
"So, have you caught the culprit yet? Have the attacks stopped?" Lucius asked with a hateful sneer on his face.
"Yes we have." Dumbledore said, "It happens to be the same person as the last time this happened. Except this time the person worked through a diary in order to control another student." Dumbledore explained. He then held up the diary in question and watched Lucius' actions closely while Harry watched Dobby. The house elf stared intently back at Harry, occasionally pointing at the diary, then at Lucius before hitting himself.
"I see…" Lucius said slowly while sneering at Dumbledore.
"The plan was quite clever. Of course, if it wasn't for Harry, and his friend Ron hadn't discovered the diary, then, Ginny Weasley would have taken the blame for the entire thing And nobody would have ever been able to prove that she was forced to do everything," he said, still staring suspiciously at Lucius as Lucius sent Harry a sharp glare. Dumbledore then went on to say how it would have affected Arthur and the rest of the Weasleys if everyone had found out that their only daughter was the one that was attacking the Muggleborns in the school. Lucius seemed to be getting more stiff and his expression getting more blank as Dumbledore talked on.
That is when Harry finally understood what Dobby was trying to say by the pointing. Harry stepped up and said that Lucius was the one that slipped the diary into Ginny's book when he was examining it at Flourish and Blotts. When Lucius snapped at him to prove it, Dumbledore stepped in and said how they couldn't exactly prove anything yet, Arthur would be sure to trace all the evidence back to Lucius in order to prove his daughter innocent. Harry saw the fury in Lucius's movements as Lucius snapped at Dobby, telling him that they were now leaving. When Dobby reached the door, where his master stood, Lucius angrily kicked the house elf down the corridor. Just as Lucius and Dobby had made around the corner, Harry had an idea and grabbed Tom Riddle's diary from Dumbledore's desk. He asked Dumbledore if he could give the diary back to Lucius, to which Dumbledore agreed calmly, and ran out of the office instantly, sprinting to catch up with Lucius Malfoy.
Right before he reached the other side of the corner, Harry took off one of his shoes and pulled the dirty, mud covered sock off his foot, then replaced his shoes on his foot and ran faster to catch up with them as he stuffed the sock inside the diary. "Mr Malfoy." Harry called out as he finally caught up to them. "You forgot this." he said as he shoved the diary and sock into Lucius' hands.
Lucius sneered at Harry and through the book and sock to the side. "You will meet an end just like your parents one of these days, Potter." he said and he turned around, "Come Dobby." he said as he started to walk away, but Dobby didn't follow behind him. "Dobby." Lucius said fiercely as he turned around, only to find a stunned Dobby, holding the sock in his hand.
"Master has given Dobby a sock... Master had presented Dobby with clothes…" Dobby said happily, "Dobby is free!" he said.
Lucius stared angrily at Dobby for a moment before turning to Harry and walking towards him. "You've lost me my servant!" he said as he lunged at Harry but Dobby jumped in front of Harry at the last moment.
"You shall not hurt Harry Potter!" Dobby shouted as he raised his hand. Lucius suddenly flew backwards with a loud bang. As Lucius got back up and started walking towards Harry again, Dobby raised his hand threateningly, then with one final threat, Lucius had no choice but to shoot one final hatred filled glare at Harry and walked away.
"Harry Potter has set Dobby free!" the elf said joyfully. "Dobby knew Harry Potter is greater than most!" he said, looking up at Harry.
Harry smiled back at the little elf. "It was the least I could do Dobby. Just do me favor, never try to save my life again." Harry said, chuckling at Dobby, who nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course Harry Potter." Dobby said happily.
"Well, I'd better go now." Harry said, "There is a feast in the Great Hall and my friends, Hermione and Lena, should be awake by now." he said.
Dobby nodded and suddenly hugged Harry around the middle, "Farewell, Harry Potter." he said once he let go and disappeared with a loud crack, leaving Harry to walk to the Great Hall alone.
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Calla, Evie, Ethan and the Weasley twins all walked into the Great Hall, still in their Pajamas, and their eyes lit up. They had never seen a feast quite like this before. Everyone was clad in their pajamas, happily talking and laughing together as the plates magically refilled themselves with more and more food.
The three Lockhart siblings walked over to where they could see Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean standing while Fred and George split away from them and headed towards Lee. Harry and the others greeted them with cheerful smiles as the three siblings joined their group.
"You two actually pulled it off! I'm glad you guys are okay!" Calla said happily, pulling Harry and Ron into a hug.
Ron rolled his eyes and smiled as Calla let go of them, "'Course we're okay! Have some faith in us, Calla." he said to her jokingly, making everyone laugh. Calla nudged him playfully and giggled.
They all continued talking near the Gryffindor table as the feast continued, it seemed like the feast would last all night. Hot chocolate was served to every student throughout the night with the empty cups constantly refilling themselves. Suddenly, Neville's eyes shifted over to the door of the Great Hall and his smile grew even wider. "Hey, guys!" he said to the others, "Look over there!" he said happily, making everyone's attention turn towards the door.
At the door stood Lena and Hermione, slowly walking into the Great Hall while having a friendly conversation with Sir Nicholas. Harry and Ron smiled brightly as Hermione noticed them and started to run over to them yelling "You did it! You solved it!" as she hugged them. Calla, Evie and Ethan stood frozen in place as they saw Lena chuckle and slowly follow after Hermione after saying a goodbye to Sir Nicholas.
"LENA!" Calla, Ethan and Evie suddenly yelled as she drew closer and they all broke into a run, making the others jump. Many heads turned towards the Lockhart siblings as Lena also broke into a run, a huge smile plastered on her face as she ran towards her siblings with her arms outstretched. Ethan, being the fastest of the siblings, reached Lena first and immediately jumped into her open arms, burying his face in her shoulder. Calla and Evie also joined into the hug, although they didn't all slow down in time and the four siblings promptly fell to the floor, still clutched in each other's arms and laughing.
Lena, Calla and Evie suddenly felt Ethan's shoulders start to shake a bit as he kept his face buried in Lena's shoulder. "Ethan? What's wrong?" Lena asked him worriedly, putting her hands on his shoulders. They all stood up, but Ethan still refused to let go of Lena and she started feeling his tears on her large t-shirt she usually wore to sleep. Lena looked over questioningly to Calla, whom had a small smile on her face as she looked at Ethan. Uh… Is everything okay? Why is he so upset? Lena asked worriedly in Calla's mind.
Calla's gaze softened as she met Lena's gaze before looking back down at Ethan, who was now clutching onto Lena's shirt. After you got petrified, Ethan tried to stay strong for Evie… and me… So, he didn't exactly let out his emotions since he was trying to be strong for the rest of us, she replied causing Lena to nod and smile down at her younger brother. Calla and Evie then let go of Lena so that she could comfort Ethan.
A warm and calming feeling spread through Ethan as Lena's arms wrapped around him. "It's alright baby bro, everyone's fine now." Lena whispered to him softly. Ethan smiled softly and let go of his older sister, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"It's great to have you back, L," he said quietly, smiling at his sister. Lena nodded her head and smiled back at him. "Come on you guys, let's go join the others." he said to his sister, they all nodded while smiling and they all headed back to their friends.
"It's great to have you both back." Harry said as he gave Lena a side hug.
Hermione nodded her head and smiled, "I can't believe you guys solved it and got rid of the awful beast!" Hermione said as Lena and Ron gave each other a side hug.
"We couldn't have done it without the two of you, though." Ron said, beaming at Hermione. Ren and Eleanor then ran through the door, barking happily with Orion and Hercules on their backs. They headed straight over to where Lena, Calla and the others stood and Calla gave Lena a questioning look.
"How did Ren end up with Eleanor and the others? I left him in the Hospital Wing with you." Calla asked her sister, who just chuckled.
"Well, all of us went back to our dorms before coming here so we could change into our pajamas so I decided to bring them all along." She explained as she bent down to pet Ren behind the ear. As she did so, Calla saw something glinting in the light on Lena's wrist and giggled lightly.
I see you found the bracelet he left for you. Calla said in Lena's mind, causing a rosiness to dust across Lena's cheeks.
Yeah, I did. Honestly didn't think he cared enough to come and visit me, but I'm glad he did. Lena replied with a small smile on her face.
Calla rolled her eyes, Well he obviously does care for you, even if it's only slightly, because when I came to see you the night of the attack, he was standing by your bed and looked pretty upset. she said. Lena's cheeks darkened and she looked down at Ren so nobody else could see.
Uh… Well… Er, that's s-sweet of him. she said back, sounding slightly flustered. Calla chuckled as she bent down next to Lena and began to pet Eleanor.
"I can never understand how you can get this flustered and yet you still find the courage to hit him in front of the entire Slytherin and Gryffindor teams." she whispered to Lena. Lena huffed in response but their conversation was soon interrupted by Hagrid walking up to them.
"Well, I'm glad ter see ye all again. Welcome back Hermione and Lena!" Hagrid said with smile as he cuffed Harry and Ron on the shoulders so hard that they both jerked forward, nearly dropping their mugs.
A few seconds later, Lena found herself in the middle of two red headed twin boys who both had an arm around her shoulders and were beaming down at her. "Well hello there! Not going to say hello to your wonderfully creative best friends, are you?" They said in unison.
"Especially since we have both been soo worried about you." George added jokingly, causing Lena to chuckle and roll her eyes.
"Well, I would have if I could have found my two handsomely creative best friends, but it seemed that they didn't want to be found." she replied, playing along with a smile on her face as Fred went and slung his arm over Call's shoulder and George's arm stayed around hers. Fred and George laughed along with Lena and Calla as they all joined into the conversation the others were having.
The conversations didn't last long though, considering that a few minutes later, Professor McGonagall stood up and announced to the whole school that exams had been cancelled as a school treat. Hermione let out a cry of disappointment while everyone else cheered loudly, including Lena and Calla. Next, Dumbledore stood up and made the announcement that Professor Lockhart would not be able to return to Hogwarts to teach next year. Everyone, even some of the teachers cheered due to that announcement.
Amidst all the cheering and clapping, Lena spotted Draco with Crabbe, Goyle and some other of his friends, She smiled at him and her hand unconsciously found it's way over to her bracelet. Thanks for the bracelet, Draco. Also, Calla told me about how you came to visit me, thanks for that too. she said in his mind and chuckled as she saw his cheeks redden slightly and look over at her.
Draco pouted and narrowed his eyes at her as his cheeks faded back to their regular color. Whatever… I would have rather preferred to give it to you in person though. You really should have been more careful, Lena. He replied while smirking, causing Lena to roll her eyes in his direction before joining the rest of her friends in their conversation.
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The rest of the summer term passed by quickly at Hogwarts with a few changes: Defense Against the Dark Arts classes had been cancelled since their professor was no longer available, and Lucius Malfoy had been fired as a School governor. The latter, in turn, caused a change in Draco Malfoy's mood, he no longer strutted through the hallways holding an air of superiority. Now, he could mostly be found looking quite sulky. He only ever looked remotely in a good mood when he was talking to Lena or playing with Ren. Quite opposite of Draco, Ginny seemed to have cheered up a lot since the entire situation was resolved. A few weeks later, it was time for them all to board the Hogwarts Express once. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Lena, Calla, Ethan and Evie all had an entire compartment to themselves on the train ride back home.
They spent the entire train ride talking, and playing random games. Then, suddenly, Harry remembered how Percy didn't want Ginny to tell him and Ron something, so since he thought it was safe, he went and asked her. In turn, Ginny giggled and told them all about how Percy was dating Penelope Clearwater. By the time they had finished hearing about Percy's girlfriend, the train had reached the station and they had all gotten off. Together, they made their way through the Muggle gate, pausing for a few minutes as Lena ran off to Draco to give him a quick goodbye hug when nobody else was looking, and met up with their families. Then, they all went their separate ways for the summer after a long goodbye filled with promises of staying in touch.
Hey there! So here is the final chapter for the second year! We've already started working on the third year story so be on the lookout guys! Don't forget to review and favorite if you like the story!
~Lena Lockhart