The first thing that Rachel registered when she woke up was that Katelyn was shaking her. The second thing was a sound like a dull roar.
"Come on, come on!" Katelyn shrieked, pulling both Rachel and Hannah down the stairs, out the portrait hole, and down the corridor.
"Where are we going?" Rachel gasped, feeling rather foolish in her grey plaid flannel shorts and red "The Beatles Rock" t-shirt.
"To the Great Hall," Katelyn answered matter-of-factly. "Harry's done it! The Chamber of Secrets has been shut for good!"
Hannah stopped outside the huge double doors. "We can't go in there—we're in our pajamas!"
Katelyn's face broke into a grin as she swung the doors open. "That's the thing, Hannah—everyone is!"
"Well, at least I know where the noise was coming from," Rachel commented, surveying the crowd with a grin. Then she spotted Seamus. "Er…I've got an apology to make. Excuse me…" She ran up to the Irishman and threw her arms around his neck.
Best of all, however, was Hermione catching them all in a great big group hug. "Oh, you all, I'm so glad to be back—Harry's told me everything!"
Rachel dried her tears on a corner of her t-shirt. "I am so, infinitely, wonderfully happy right now…"
"Then why are you crying?" Tanya asked.
"Because I'm so, infinitely, wonderfully happy."
Katelyn opened her mouth to speak, but Professor McGonagall stood up and called for attention. "In light of Harry Potter's and Ronald Weasley's outstanding courage in the face of mortal peril, I award Gryffindor House 400 points! And the House Cup goes to Gryffindor!"
The roar of exultation from the three Houses would've broken the windows in any other ordinary building.
But, of course, Hogwarts isn't ordinary.
After a brief word with Dumbledore, McGonagall waved for silence again. "And year-end exams have been cancelled as a school treat!"
Seamus closed his eyes. "Hell, I think I've died and gone to heaven!"
And so the Funny Farm's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was ended.
THE END