Professor Dumbledore called James and Jade into his office the next week. "I have determined that the diary was used as a way to help Voldemort cling to life. That is why he didn't die when the Killing Curse bounded off Harry Potter. The part of Voldemort contained in the diary could possess someone who spent too much time writing in it. In any case, I have burned the diary and it will not cause any harm. So you don't have to worry any more about it, Miss and Mr. North."

"That is good news, Professor Dumbledore," said Jade.

Dumbledore nodded and showed them the blackened cover of the diary. The pages inside had all been burned to ash. James looked at it and suddenly thought of something. "Professor, could I have the remains of the diary?"

Dumbledore stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, you may, Mr. North. I'm sure you will put it to good use. Lemon drop?" He held out a glass jar filled with golden yellow sweets.

Jade and James each took one and thanked Dumbledore. After that, they were allowed to leave.

Once in the hall, Jade demanded, "What are you going to do with the remains of the diary, James?"

"Send it to Mr. Malfoy so he'll know his plot failed," answered James. "And set Dobby free at the same time. I'll stick a sock or some other small item of clothing inside the cover. When Mr. Malfoy sees the blackened remains of the diary, he'll give it to Dobby to throw out, I'm sure. Dobby will find the sock or whatever and therefore be set free."

Jade grinned. "Oh, that's perfect! I can't believe I never thought of that!"

Later, James grabbed one of this socks, a green one, and stuck a note in it asking Dobby to go to Hogwarts and talk with James and Jade after being set free. The sock was then folded and put inside the blackened remains of the cover. A Sticking Charm was added to keep the sock from falling it, as well as a Disillusionment Charm that would wear off as soon as Dobby touched the diary. Finally, Jade wrote a note.

"Dear Mr. Malfoy,

Whatever you planned with Tom Riddle's diary failed. I know that any spell that allows a person to preserve memories, other than putting them in a Pensieve, borders on dark magic, so I was naturally suspicious. Also, my mother has told me to never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. So I turned the diary in to Dumbledore, who after some study, identified what kind of Dark object it was and destroyed it.

I am returning the diary, or the remains of it, rather, to you. Please do not try anything like this again. I can't prove that it was you who slipped the diary among my school things, but I have told my mother and future stepfather about it. They will do everything in their power to make certain you are punished if you try to slip any more of Moldywart's old things to my brother or me again. Since you have no need of the remains of the diary, I suggest that you have your house-elf (you do have one, I hope?) throw it out.

Yours truly,

Jadina North"

The note was placed on top of the remains of the diary and everything was wrapped up. That evening, Hedwig flew away with the package.

The next afternoon, Hedwig swooped inside an open window of the Malfoy Manor and left the parcel on the table. Several minutes later, Lucius Malfoy went inside the room and saw the package. Frowning, he opened it and looked at the note and the remains of the diary. "Who sent this?" he demanded angrily. Then he picked up the note and read it. Byt the time he was done, he was furious. His cheeks were red and his eyes flashed.

After muttering curses at his failed plot, he summoned Dobby. When the poor house-elf appeared, Lucius vented out his anger by kicking Dobby and threatening all nammer of punishments. Finally he thrust the remains of the diary and snapped, "Throw out this rubbish and then go punish yourself."

Dobby bowed and said, "Yes, Master." He took the book, which fell open in his grasp. The Disillusionment Charm vanished and the sock appeared. He let out a gasp and grabbed the sock. When he realized that a temporary Sticking Charm was on it, he removed the spell and then took out the sock, staring at it.

"What are you still doing here?" demanded Lucius Malfoy seconds later. "I thought I told you to throw the rubbish out!"

"Master has given Dobby a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave it to Dobby."

"What's that," spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"

"Dobby has got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master gave the burned book to Dobby. The sock was in it. Dobby is free."

Mr. Malfoy was even more furious as he realized what had happened. That Mudblood girl didn't just return the remains of the diary to him to prove that his plot failed. She had also used it as a way to set his blasted house-elf free. He reached for his wand to do something to Dobby, but the house-elf had found the note in sock, read it, and disappeared with a small crack. Mr. Malfoy shouted curses before storming angrily upstairs to rant at his wife.

Meanwhile, Jade and James were telling Susan Bones what they had done with the remains of the diary in an empty classroom. Susan laughed. "Serves Mr. Malfoy right. I hope the plan to free his house-elf succeeds."

"But what do you plan to do when Dobby shows up here?" asked Hermione. "Once he's free, he'll probably want to find a family to work for that's going to treat him decently."

"He can work for Sirius and my mum," responded James. "They'll be good to him. Sirius could use a nice house-elf to take care of his family home. Dobby will be much nicer than Kreacher."

"Who's Kreacher?" asked Susan curiously.

"Oh, the old house-elf that the Blacks had," replied Jade. "He was really annoying. The one time I saw him, he kept muttering about how Sirius was a blood-traitor and called James and me 'Mudblood brats'. Sirius freed him and I expect Kreacher went to work for the Malfoys, since Mrs. Malfoy was born a Black and is Sirius's cousin."

"You mean Sirius Black is related to Draco Malfoy?" inquired Susan, making a face. "That's terrible!"

"I'm distantly related to him," said James, not thinking. "Since all pureblood families are related. And you would be too, Susan, because the Boneses are also a pureblood family."

"True," said Susan. "And what do you mean that you're related to Malfoy? Your parents are Muggleborn."

James sighed, realizing his slip. He got up and paced the room, deciding what to do. Susan was a good friend, and he was sure she was trustworthy, but should he tell her his secret? Sixteen people already knew it, (besides him and the goblins at Gringotts) so he should add another person to the list? He sat down again and looked at Jade, pleading with his eyes for help.

Jade considered, then said, "Well, Susan is our friend, and she's a trustworthy person, so I think it's safe to tell her. Susan, what we tell you next doesn't leave the room. You can't tell anyone, not even those you're close with in Hufflepuff."

"Okay," replied Susan. She raised a hand and said, "I swear to never reveal what you are about to tell me to anyone." A silver glow surrounded her hand, signifying that it was a magical oath.

James dispelled the Glamour and said, "Okay, the Daily Prophet article about Harry Potter being in Canada isn't true, because I'm him. It's something my adopted mother and aunt and uncle cooked up to put an end to the search. My adopted aunt and uncle are teachers at the Toronto School of Magic, by the way."

"You're Harry Potter?" demanded Susan, staring at him. "Well, you do have the scar. But why are you hiding?"

"Because if Moldyshorts knew where I was, he'd go after me again," answered James. "I know eventually I'll have to face him again and defeat him once and for all, but I don't want it to happen anytime soon. I need to be properly prepared, after all. That's why I'm hiding in plain sight. My relatves didn't want me, so I got dumped on a random doorstep. Luckily for me, Jade's mother was the owner of the house and she adopted me. To help keep me safe, I was to go by my birth middle name and I was made Jade's twin brother, with her birthday, July 25th. Mum told me the truth when Jade and I turned eleven."

"Okay," said Susan, digesting it all. "What about last year? You faced You-Know-Who over the Philosopher's Stone."

"Well, I had help," said James. "And it was also partly luck and the protection my birth mother gave me when she died to save me. That was why Quirrell couldn't stand to touch me and why he died. But eventually Moldywart will find a way to get a body and come back into power. When that happens, I'll have to fight him and defeat him once and for all. But I don't want him seeking me out first, so it's best that he doesn't have idea where my exact location is."

"But why do you have to defeat him?" pressed Susan. "Couldn't Dumbledore do it? He defeated Grindelwald."

"If Dumbledore was the one that could defeat Voldemort, don't you think it would have already happened?" asked Jade. "Or at least, Voldemort would go after Dumbledore? But instead, Voldemort chose to go after James. If he was so keen to try to kill James then, then Voldemort'll want to go after him once he's regained his powers and a body."

Susan looked thoughtful. "That does make sense. Well, you can count on me to help you, James." A gold glow appeared around her body, and as she clasped James's hand, a red cord flashed on her wrist for several seconds.

"You've definitely joined our group then," said Ron, looking surprised. "The red cord means that you're more than just friends with us. What did you say it meant, Jade? That it was like blood brother and sisterhood?"

Jade nodded. "Yes, it is, except that it we wanted to be boyfriend and girlfriend, we could." To Susan, she explained, "When the rest of us promised to help James and that we'd be eternal friends, the same thing happened to us."

Susan looked awed. "Wow. So now I'm more than just friends with you guys." She sighed. "I almost wish I were in Gryffindor with you guys. Hufflepuff is a great house, but it's easier when you're in the same house with your friends."

"Well, you have the notebook, so you can talk with us when we're apart," pointed out Neville. Just then, there was crack, and Dobby appeared, holding the sock and note.

"Thank you!" he cried. "You is freeing me, Jadina North!"

"Just call me Jade," said Jade kindly. "James and I felt sorry for you, working for the Malfoys and being treated so badly, Dobby. So James came up with a plan to get you freed and we carried out it. Besides, you did warn us about the plot that was planned. Since you didn't seem happy working for the Malfoys, we felt freedom would be the best reward for you."

Dobby bowed. "Thank you.You is being a great and kind witch."

"Dobby, since you no longer work for the Malfoys, would you like to work for my mother and her husband-to-be, Sirius Black?" asked James. "They'd treat you much better than the Malfoys did."

"Dobby is happy to!" Dobby exclaimed. Then his eyes widened as he took in James's appearance.

James sighed and said, "I was born Harry Potter, but now I go by the name James North, okay, Dobby? It's to protect me from You-Know-Who. I have on a Glamour most of the time that makes me look like I'm the twin brother to Jade, though I'm really just her adopted brother. Now, Dobby, you can't tell anybody about this, okay?"

Dobby nodded fervently. "James North can count on Dobby to keep his secret."

"Good," said James, sighing with relief. "Now, why don't you go to my house and ask my mother and godfather to hire you? Just a minute and I'll write a note explaining things." He reached in his bag and pulled out parchment, ink, and quill. He hastily wrote a note explaining how Dobby came to be free and asked if he could be hired. "Take this with you and give it to either my mother or Sirius, Dobby."

Dobby bowed, thanked James and Jade again, and then disappeared with a crack.

"That was nice, offering Dobby a job," said Hermione.

"Actually, Mum and Sirius will be the ones to decide if they want to hire him," said Jade. "Though I'm sure they will."

"If they don't, can I ask my parents if they want to hire Dobby?" asked Ron. "My mum has always said that she wanted a house-elf to help with the laundry and stuff."

"Sure," said Jade, shrugging. She glanced at her watch and said, "Let's go down to dinner."