You guys know the drill I don't own the story or the characters.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
WRAPPING UP
By Friday afternoon everyone had completed all of their tests. That night was the Slytherin versus Gryffindor Quidditch scrimmage. Though it was an unofficial event, the entire school knew about it. Most of the students and several of the teachers showed up to watch. Madam Hooch even volunteered to be the official for the match.
It was the first time Harry would be able to watch an entire Gryffindor Quidditch match from the stands. He sat with Ron, Hermione and the rest of his Gryffindor classmates. Over in the Ravenclaw section, Luna had brought out her hat with the large roaring lion to support her friends in the Gryffindor house. In the teacher's booth, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting with Professor Slughorn. A rumor in the stands said that Slughorn and the Weasleys had a small wager on the outcome.
Ginny shook hands with the Slytherin captain Urquhart, and the match was underway. Despite the fact that the Slytherins had been on their best behavior all summer, and that Urquhart seemed to be one of the Slytherin leaders in this effort, Harry could tell right away that this was going to be a much more physical match than the other two this season. Almost right away the Slytherin Beaters Baddock and Pritchard surrounded a panicked Dennis Creevy and took him away from the action, until Jimmy Peakes arrived and knocked away Baddock with a well hit Bludger to the mid-section.
Ginny was spending as much of her time yelling instructions at Dennis Creevy and Natalie McDonald as she was looking for the Snitch. It was obvious she missed being in the middle of the action as a Chaser. Finally, Demelza Robins had a brief word with Ginny, and then took over as the leader of the Chasers. As Ginny backed off, Demelza threw a pass to Dennis, yelled at him to pass it back when the defense had shifted, then faked out Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper, for the first score of the game.
The Slytherins immediately responded. For the first time in the match, Urquhart broke free and had a clean shot at the goals. Emma was a little slow reacting, and the Quaffle zoomed just beyond her fingertips for a score. Urquhart scored two more times in the next few minutes to put the Slytherins ahead 30-10. Ginny called for a timeout, since Emma was looking discouraged, partly due to the lone voice of Sean McLaggen which could be heard from the stands.
"You call her a Keeper? My eight year old sister could have blocked those shots! She might as well be wearing Slytherin robes!"
"Don't you listen to him, Emma!" demanded Ginny. "I told you it would be tough since you had not been able to practice yet. You just have to keep working hard, and you should get better as the match goes on."
Emma nodded and returned to her position, though she kept glancing over to the stands where McLaggen was still yelling. Ginny then grabbed her Beaters.
"Euan, Jimmy, I need you to hound Urquhart. Leave their other two Chasers open. Their shots should be easier for Emma to block."
Then she whispered to Jimmy.
"And if you get the opportunity, take care of McLaggen, will you?"
Jimmy took a look over at McLaggen, who continued his yelling in the stands. Then he turned back to Ginny and grinned, before returning to the match.
"Uh, oh!" said Harry. "I think it might be best to get a little bit of distance between everyone else and Sean. I've seen that look from Ginny before."
Soon after the match restarted, the Slytherins again took possession of the Quaffle. Urquhart streaked towards the left goal, but found himself sandwiched between Euan and Jimmy. He passed the Quaffle to Vaisey who shot it at the right goal. The shot had a bit less speed than Urquhart's and Emma was able to make the save.
"Lucky save!" shouted McLaggen. "She still stinks!"
As Harry looked at McLaggen, he noticed that Hermione was walking behind him, advising students to move away from Sean. The two rows directly behind him were already empty. Soon he would be standing all alone.
The Slytherin lead continued to grow, reaching 100-40, but Emma was now stopping about half of the Slytherin shots, and Dennis and Natalie each were able to score a goal. The Gryffindor team continued to improve until they were playing about even with the Slytherins. The score increased to 120-60 and then 150-90.
Then Ginny saw the Snitch. She zoomed off in pursuit, well ahead of Harper, the Slytherin Seeker. A catch of the Snitch was worth 150 points, thus providing the Gryffindors with the victory.
Ginny seemed to be able to anticipate where the Snitch was going, and soon she was just behind it. As Ginny's hand closed in on the Snitch, she thought about how much her team was improving as the match went on. It seemed a shame for the match to end so soon, especially since the purpose of the scrimmage was for both teams to get some practice.
Ginny slowly pulled her hand back and let the Snitch get away. Her team needed the practice more than they needed a win. Unfortunately, she did this right in front of the Gryffindor section, incurring the wrath of McLaggen once again.
"Who decided Weasley should be Seeker anyway? It looks like the only way to get on this team is to be tight with Potter."
Ron took immediate offense and started to head for McLaggen. Harry grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed towards the field.
McLaggen was so busy yelling at Ginny that he didn't see Euan and Jimmy following behind. Euan hit a Bludger towards Jimmy. Jimmy made a show of aiming towards Harper, but he instead yanked the Bludger towards the stands, where it caught McLaggen right in the stomach. The breath was knocked out of him in mid yell, and he doubled over in the stands in pain as a cheer arose from most of the Gryffindor section.
The incident seemed to provide a spark to the Gryffindor team. Emma starting blocking a greater percentage of the shots directed at her, while the Slytherins were having a harder time shooting as they were hounded by Euan and Jimmy, who were a two-man wrecking crew. On offense, Demelza was on fire, scoring time after time much as Ginny had done earlier in the summer. The score narrowed to 170-130 and then to 200-190 when Demelza took the Quaffle towards the left goal. As the defenders closed in on her, she faked a shot and passed to a surprised Dennis Creevy who was headed for the right ring. The Slytherin Keeper was even more surprised, which allowed Dennis to recover his composure and score the goal to tie the match at 200 points each.
This time Harper was first to spot the Snitch, and he took off in pursuit with Ginny trailing behind. Ginny was able to catch up when Harper was forced to evade some well-aimed Bludgers from Euan and Jimmy. Ginny was having her own problems dodging Bludgers from the Slytherin Beaters, Baddock and Pritchard. All six players and the Snitch converged in a tremendous crash at midfield. Euan and Pritchard both managed to stay on their brooms, but the other four all landed in a heap on the ground. Ginny's hand emerged from the pile holding the Snitch. Gryffindor had won, 350-200!
A roar emerged from the Gryffindor portion of the fans and they ran on the field to celebrate as the fans of the winning team often did. But there was something different this time. Ginny was sharing congratulations with Urquhart, as they replayed the game and commented to each other on the evenness of the match. Jimmy and Euan were seen talking with Baddock and Pritchard. When they exchanged laughter, Harry was sure they must be talking about Jimmy's perfect shot at McLaggen in the stands. Warrington was giving Dennis tips on how to get off a better shot at the goal, while off to the side Demelza was giving similar advice to Vaisey. Harry had rarely seen such camaraderie between two teams after a Quidditch match, especially when one of the teams was the Slytherins. Perhaps this scrimmage idea was a good thing, allowing the houses to compete without the final result mattering in any competition. Harry finally got to the middle of the pitch, found Ginny, and kissed her right on the middle of the field.
"Great game, Ginny! You really did a great job of improving your team today." Then he lowered his voice before continuing. "I noticed when you missed the Snitch on purpose to get the team a chance to play a little longer and develop some confidence in themselves."
"I'm just glad I survived that final crash at the middle of the pitch. It seemed like every time you were involved in something like that, you ended up in the hospital wing."
"You're either more talented or just luckier than I was."
"Maybe I'm just less clumsy."
There was just one activity remaining before the end-of-year banquet. Wilkie Twycross had arrived to administer the Apparition test. Harry had been too young to take the test last year, but he had "illegally" Apparated so often while hunting for Voldemort's Horcruxes that he wasn't concerned about the test and had not bothered to go to the classes earlier this summer.
Ron, however, was a little nervous. Even though he had also Apparated many times in the last year, he was still worried. When he took the test last year, he had failed because he had splinched part of one eyebrow. He was determined not to fail again.
It was quite a large group which waited to be inspected by Mr. Filch before heading into Hogsmeade for the test. Many of the teachers were on hand to help undo the damage if any of the students left part of their body behind during the Apparition test (a disturbing but fixable problem that often occurs to newcomers to Apparition). Those students in Harry's class who were too young for the test last spring were here, as well as almost every one of the sixth-years who were all old enough since the test was occurring a few months later than normal. While Harry and Ginny walked towards Hogsmeade together, Harry noticed that Hermione was walking with Ron. Since she had already passed the test and had her Apparition license, she had no need come along. Harry had no idea how she had managed to slip past Filch.
Wilkie Twycross was waiting for them in the middle of Hogsmeade. After all the students had assembled and all the professors had taken up their positions, he addressed those who had gathered.
"As you are demonstrating that you have adequate Apparition skills today, make sure you remember your Three D's of Apparition: Destination, Determination and Deliberation. One must be completely determined to reach one's destination, and move without haste, but with deliberation."
"Now I need a volunteer. Who wishes to go first?"
Sean McLaggen was the first to put his hand in the air and was selected by Twycross.
"Whenever you are ready, Mr. McLaggen, I want you to Apparate to that square marked in chalk in front of Madam Rosmerta's. If you do it just like in the last practice session, you will be fine."
McLaggen concentrated on the chalk square in front of Madam Rosmerta's, then he suddenly disappeared from his starting point and reappeared with barely a sound in the exact center of the square.
"Marvelous, absolutely marvelous, Mr. McLaggen. You are a natural. As good as Miss Granger was last year."
McLaggen gave a triumphant yell and ran back to receive the congratulations of his friends. He was shocked when one of those waiting to shake his hand was Harry.
"Great work, Sean," complimented Harry. "You set a tough goal to match."
"Err … right. Um, thanks Harry."
Harry walked back over to Hermione, Ginny and Ron. While Hermione appeared to understand, the Weasleys looked perplexed.
"What are you doing being nice to that bloody git?" demanded Ron. "After all the things he has said about you and Ginny, I'd have thought he would be one of your top enemies."
"I think I have already had enough enemies to last a lifetime. I am not interested in making any more. I'd much rather just quietly get along with everybody. Hopefully that little gesture will make McLaggen act better towards us, and if not, at least I got to have the fun of causing him a lot of confusion."
Most of the rest of the testing went almost as smoothly. Ginny did almost as well as McLaggen. Harry appeared within the square, though not exactly in the center. Ron just barely landed inside the square, and had to struggle to keep his balance and not fall outside. But he passed, and therefore was greatly relieved. Luna was so proud when she passed that she immediately Apparated right in front of Twycross to thank him, then repeated the process for each of the professors in attendance.
Not all of the tests went so well. A Ravenclaw named Graham Carmichael executed what appeared to be a perfect Apparition, until it was noticed that his nose did not come with him. The nose he left behind fell to the ground at the starting location while blood poured out of the hole in Carmichael's face in the landing square. The professors quickly reversed the process, but not before several girls were screaming and one boy passed out.
Most of the other failures were less bloody and more comical. Jonathan Madley appeared to have passed, but lost his balance and fell when trying to walk away since he had left his big toe behind. When Romilda Vane Apparated she reappeared completely bald, with her hair laying like a wig on a pile back at the starting point. She ran and hid in the ladies restroom at Madam Rosmerta's, and several professors had to go in and drag her back out in order to undo the damage.
When the testing was over, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione started walking back to Hogwarts until they were stopped by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
"Ron, Ginny, you're mother and I have barely seen you this summer. Why don't we have a family lunch over at The Hog's Head? Aberforth has reserved a table for us."
"Harry, Hermione, we'd like it if you came too," added Mrs. Weasley.
They all went to The Hog's Head and ordered lunch and a round of butterbeers. They spent the first part of their meal discussing the Apparition test and other recent happenings at Hogwarts. It was a pleasant time that reminded Harry of how much he enjoyed visiting the Weasleys. They always had a way of making you feel like you were home. When the conversation hit a lull, Mrs. Weasley glanced at her husband before bringing up a new subject.
"We asked you here to tell you that Arthur and I have decided to teach another year at Hogwarts. Minister Shacklebolt has assured Arthur there will be a place waiting for him at the Ministry, so he is going to stay and teach Muggle Studies one more year. I promised Headmistress McGonagall that I would stay as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for another year to try to bring some continuity to the position. I haven't decided if I will stay any longer than that."
"Before that," Mr. Weasley added, "we have a few weeks off before the start of the next school year. We were wondering if Harry and Hermione would want to spend those weeks with us at the Burrow?"
Harry was startled. He hadn't given a lot of thought to where he was going at the end of the school year. There was no longer any reason to go back to the Dursleys, not that they would have any reason to welcome him if he wanted to return. There was always Sirius' place at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place in London, but that sounded like a drab and lonely place to live. He, Ron and Hermione were still planning on taking their trip around the world once Ginny went back to Hogwarts, so a stay at the Burrow would be a perfect way to spend those few weeks. While Harry was still absorbed in his own thoughts, Hermione was already answering.
"I would love to spend those two weeks at the Burrow. With my parents in Australia, I need a place to stay until I make arrangements for my own place."
This seemed to make Ron especially happy. Harry noticed that Ginny was looking at him in anticipation.
"I was thinking of moving into Sirius' old place, but a couple of weeks at the Burrow sound much better to me. Thank you for offering."
"Excellent, excellent. Well, that settles that," said Mr. Weasley. "Uh, Molly, maybe you'd like to bring up that other matter?"
"Yes, well. As we said, Arthur and I are going to be at Hogwarts all next year, and that leaves just Percy living at the Burrow. And, well, nothing against Percy, but he spends so much of his time at the Ministry, and I think even when he is home he is doing Ministry work. We're afraid he may need some help keeping the place up. We were wondering if the three of you would live there next year to help keep the place in good order until we get back."
Harry thought that sounded fantastic. This let him put off his decision on where to live until after Ginny had completed her seventh year at Hogwarts. While he and Ginny were apart for most of the year, it could be just like those summers when he came to visit. He could spend the year trying to become an Auror and during his free time he could pal around with Ron and Hermione …
Then he noticed Hermione' red face and the embarrassed look Ron was sporting. Did the Weasley's know that Ron and Hermione were no longer just good friends but now seriously dating, if not more? They'd never kept it a secret, and Harry figured that everyone knew, but this offer made him wonder how up to date Mrs. Weasley was. Harry decided that he'd better keep quiet while Ron and Hermione worked things out with Ron's parents.
Ron definitely had the look of someone who had no idea what to say. Ginny looked like she was ready to start laughing out loud, but she knew enough to let Hermione handle the situation.
"Well," began Hermione, "I'm not sure how appropriate that would be. I mean, Ron and I, well, we, um …"
"We are well aware of the relationship between you and Ron. But you are both of age, and we trust you. Besides, Percy and Harry will be there to keep an eye on you. And if I have learned one thing about Harry through the years," said Mrs. Weasley with a smile, "it is that it is easy to tell if he is not telling the truth."
Ginny had a huge grin on her face by now.
"Don't be so happy, Ginny," continued Mrs. Weasley. "We know all about you and Harry, too. We'll also be keeping an eye on the two of you these next couple of weeks."
Ron and Hermione seemed to be trying to communicate without saying anything out loud. Finally, Ron gave a small nod of his head and Hermione replied.
"I'm willing to give it a try."
"And I'd be happy to spend the school year helping to look after the Burrow," added Harry.
"Well, then, it is settled," proclaimed Mr. Weasley. "I think we'd best finish up and get back to the castle. We still have the end-of-year banquet to get ready for."
The end-of-year banquet was the last event Harry was likely to have at Hogwarts. The next day he would leave for the Burrow and he did not know of any reason why he would ever return. As he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny joined the rest of the Gryffindors to walk from their common room to the Great Hall, Harry found himself wondering who would win the House Cup. He could not recall any mention being made of House points all summer, and he imagined the Slytherins were given the majority of the points during the part of the school year before the Battle of Hogwarts.
Walking into the Great Hall provided no clues, either. The large room was usually decorated for the end-of-year banquet with the banners of the winning house. Today there were no such indicators, only banners showing the crest of Hogwarts. Apparently, Professor McGonagall was saving the surprise until the very last moment.
Harry and his friends took their place at the Gryffindor table. All the Professors were seated at the High Table, and a quiet came over the Great Hall as the last students took their places at their respective tables. Professor McGonagall stood up to address the students.
"This has been an unusual year at Hogwarts. The beginning portion of the year was Hogwarts at its worst, though I believe this summer has been Hogwarts at its best. For those seventh-years who are leaving us tomorrow, you have truly experienced an historic tenure here at Hogwarts. We shall miss you greatly, but also hope that events will settle down a bit now that you are gone."
That brought a round of chuckles out of the students. Somehow, Harry thought McGonagall might be referring specifically about him, as well as Ron and Hermione.
"Speaking of which, I believe it is appropriate that we observe a moment of silence for those students who cannot be with us today, who fell defending Hogwarts from the forces of darkness and evil just a few months ago."
The Great Hall went silent. Like most of the others, Harry thought back to those fallen students. There was Colin Creevey, who used to bother Harry so much with that camera of his. Colin's brother Dennis was still here, and seemed to be doing well, especially as a valued Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He remembered Lavender Brown, especially from that period in her sixth year when she and Ron seemed to be connected at the lips. He even remembered Gregory Goyle, though he could not think of any pleasant memories of him and had a difficult time working up any sympathy about his death. Harry was brought back out of his reverie when Headmistress McGonagall began to speak again.
"To paraphrase my predecessor, I do not want my talking to get in the way of a good feast, so I will keep this short. Some of you have been asking about the House Cup. The staff has decided not to present the award this year. The point system was all out of whack during the first portion of the year, the hourglasses which we used to keep track of the points were destroyed in the battle and have not been replaced yet. We didn't even want to try to award points for all of the brave actions which occurred during the battle. Besides, we want this to be a term where all the houses of Hogwarts come together, so awarding of the House Cup seemed like a poor idea this year."
"To those of you first through sixth years who are coming back, we shall endeavor to make Hogwarts the school it used to be when you return in a few weeks, except that hopefully we will have learned the lesson that we need more unity and tolerance between houses."
"In summary, let us rejoice in the good that happened this term, and look forward to a safe and proper future for Hogwarts. For now, let us enjoy the feast at hand!"
As usual, a large supply of Harry's favorite foods appeared on the plates in front of them. Harry realized he'd better enjoy, because after he left here he had two weeks of Mrs. Weasley's cooking before he was on his own for meals for awhile. Looking at the food, he wondered how Kreacher was doing now that he was a free house-elf. Harry knew that while Dobby was very happy when he was a free elf, Winky had not made the adjustment very well. Harry hoped that Kreacher was doing well.
"How is your meal, Master Harry?"
Harry was startled at the sound of Kreacher's voice right behind him when he had just been thinking about him. Harry jumped up, banging his knees on the table and spilling his glass of pumpkin juice on himself and Seamus. Everyone except Seamus laughed at Harry, while Hermione brought out her wand and soon had the juice returned to the glass.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, Kreacher!"
"I am sorry Master Harry, but Kreacher is a free elf. Kreacher can sneak up on Master Harry whenever he wants."
"Yes, you may. But I am asking you to please not do that to me. You startled me."
"Certainly, Master Harry. Kreacher wants to know where Master Harry is taking him when he leaves school tomorrow."
"What do you mean, where am I taking you?"
"When Master Harry freed Kreacher, Master Harry said that he could not order Kreacher to stay away. Kreacher wants to go where Master Harry is going."
Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione, who were both looking quite amused.
"What are you grinning about Hermione? You're the one who got me into this mess! Maybe I should tell Kreacher to come live with us at the Burrow."
"Hold on," jumped in Ron. "I don't know if Mom wants to have a house-elf around her place."
"She didn't mind him at Sirius' house," offered Harry.
"She didn't have a choice there," countered Ron.
"Kreacher has to come with us to the Burrow or I have to ask him to stay alone at Sirius' place."
"Oh, Harry, you can't make Kreacher stay there all by himself," pleaded Hermione.
"Wait. I have an idea. Kreacher, how would you like to live at Regulus' house, then visit during the day at the Weasleys where I will be staying?"
"Kreacher would like that. I could move back into my little room."
"Actually, Kreacher, I was thinking you should have Regulus' room. I am not going to use it, and I think you deserve to have a nice place for a change."
"M-m-m-master Regulus' room? Oh, no, Master Harry, Kreacher is happy enough to live in my little room."
"But I am not happy to have you living there. And there is one other thing I want to discuss. I believe you are earning two Galleons a week here. In order to come with me, you are going to have to take three Galleons a week."
"No! No! No! No! Kreacher only wants one Galleon per week. Kreacher will not take three. Kreacher won't! Kreacher won't! Kreacher won't!"
Harry turned to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
"This reminds me of the old Kreacher, back when he hated us."
Then Harry faced Kreacher again and made his final offer.
"Take it or leave it Kreacher. Three Galleons and one day off a week. Or else I will just have to make do without a house elf."
Kreacher sighed.
"Master Harry is even a tougher negotiator than Professor McGonagall. Kreacher accepts."
They all congratulated Kreacher and then filled him in on their immediate schedule. They told him how they were going to be with the Weasley family for a couple of weeks, then traveling for a bit before settling down to live at the Burrow for the coming year. Kreacher agreed to spend the time of Harry, Ron and Hermione's trip at Harry's house at Grimmauld Place. Hermione spent time asking Kreacher about the life of a house elf at Hogwarts, then asked him how Winky was doing.
"Winky is still not happy here. Winky says she needs a family to take care of. Winky still greatly misses Mr. Crouch. Winky worries what she will do now that Mr. Crouch is dead and his son is in Azkaban."
"Here's your chance, Hermione," said Harry. "You can take in Winky."
"No, Winky needs to have a family that needs her," said Hermione thoughtfully. "What about Andromeda Tonks?"
"Why Andromeda Tonks?" asked Ron.
"She lost her husband back when Voldemort's people were in charge of the Ministry, and now she has to raise her grandson Teddy Lupin by herself since his parents both died here during the Battle of Hogwarts. I bet she could use some help. The questions are whether she would take the help and whether Winky would be willing to work for her."
"Friend of Master Harry, I know Winky would much prefer working for a family to staying here at Hogwarts, but you will never get Winky to work for paying. Winky is too proud of a house-elf for that."
"Kreacher, please ask Winky if she is interested and I will send an owl off to Andromeda Tonks. Maybe we can work something out."
When the feast was over, they all went back to the common rooms to pack. Tomorrow they were leaving Hogwarts, perhaps for the last time.
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