Madam Pomfrey did not agree on letting them go the next day. She claimed they needed another day's rest at the very least. Harry appreciated what she tried to do for them, but at the same time he couldn't help resenting being stuck in bed all day long. There were good things though. Hermione and Ron sneaked to talk to him every now and again, when Madam Pomfrey wasn't looking. Tatum, on the other hand, found this harder to do. Madam Pomfrey seemed to think she was beyond ill, and checked on her almost every hour, making it impossible for her to sneak out of bed.
"I truly hope we're out of here by tomorrow!" said Ron sitting at the end of Harry's bed. "I'm bored."
"Yeah, me too" said Harry.
"Tell me about it, I haven't read anything since we're here! I'm starting to get bored too" said Hermione looking disappointed of not having a book to keep her company. Harry knew books were important for her. She enjoyed their company, but wasn't quite satisfied if she didn't feel she was learning something new.
"Let me get this straight!" said Ron waving his hands to get Hermione's attention. "You read for the O.W.L.s, then, you read in search of explanation, now…you want to read for pleasure?"
"Is something wrong in it?" asked Hermione looking rather hurt.
"No, it's just… you hadn't read this much in a while. There's no problem, right?" said Harry. He tried to help Ron out. Hermione seemed to have been offended by his comment, and Harry tried to ease her up.
"Of course not, it's just… she doesn't have to read about everything she hears" said Ron in an undertone. He didn't turn to see Hermione. Harry laughed. Ron was ultimately decided to have his way. Hermione decided this too apparently. She took Harry's pillow and threw it at Ron, and the chat ended with a pillow fight.
When it was time for their meds, or a big piece of chocolate as it was, Ron and Hermione went back to their beds. They could have talk from bed to bed, but Madam Pomfrey had put screens in between, apparently suspecting they were lurking out of her cares. Harry lied in bed staring at the ceiling. He was waiting for Madam Pomfrey. The sooner she came, the sooner they would be able to start talking again.
The door creaked opened. Harry guessed it wasn't Madam Pomfrey. Somebody else was entering the ward. More footsteps came along. Then Harry heard a familiar voice: Cornelius Fudge had arrived. A party of four passed by Harry's bed: Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, Snape and McGonagall, who stayed behind and talked to Harry.
"Potter, would you please come with us?" Harry said yes and started looking for his slippers as fast as he could manage. He found then and followed McGonagall. Instead of leaving the ward they entered to the very back of it. Harry could see Dumbledore, Fudge and Snape by the foot of Tatum's bed. When they arrived, Fudge did not greet him. He did talk to him, but the way he did it you could swear he was talking to something as trivial and unimportant as a chair or the bed itself, very much unlike Fudge had treated him a couple years ago.
"Mr. Potter, would you please, tell us what happened down at the grounds?" Fudge said to Harry. He was staring at him as if they were in a court house and Harry was being accused of being the slimiest person in the world. Harry noticed not only he was staring; McGonagall and Dumbledore were looking at him as well, although their stare was nothing worse than a comfort gaze. Harry told them what had happened as well as he could recall it. He told them what the banshee had said. Snape was staring at Tatum. Harry could see this from the corner of his eye. Fudge was still staring at him, as if waiting for Harry to burst into tears and say everything coming from his mouth was a lie. Once he finished, everyone kept silent. Then, Fudge spoke to Tatum with the same coldness as he had done with Harry.
"I would not be calling a trial. Dumbledore here, asked me not to and I have agreed with the condition of establishing some new policies within the school as well as out. I do have your word, you will keep an eye on her?" he asked looking at Dumbledore, but to Harry's surprise the three teachers nodded politely, not just Dumbledore.
"Very well. However, I do have to report this to the Council. They will ultimately decide your fate and it will be out of my hands. Do I make myself clear?" said Fudge.
"Very clear, Minister" said Dumbledore. "As long as this young girl has fair treatment for what she was."
"And what was that?" said Fudge.
"An innocent" said Professor McGonagall.
"What? I hardly dare to think so. She did a lot of things which would not be considered as friendly by the Council" Fudge stared at McGonagall. "There are other matters" Fudge went on. "Mr. Potter here told us Mr. Lucius Malfoy was in direct contact with You-Know-Who. All I can say is that a boy's and a girl's word doesn't do much against somebody as respected as Mr. Malfoy."
"You think I'm lying again?" said Harry without helping himself. He didn't see the point of interrogating him if Fudge was decided not to believe him.
"I remember having dealings with him and Draco!" said Tatum who had suddenly regained her voice. She had been awfully quiet and staring at the sheets of her bed. Fudge's attention flew from Harry to her.
"Yes, so you say, but… can you remember who else was involved?" asked Fudge who couldn't avoid sarcasm in his voice.
"No, the banshee must have been covering her steps. When she became too strong, I could only know a few things… she was starting to gain a mind of her own" said Tatum sounding ashamed, but determined enough to explain herself.
"Well, then I must say this it isn't quite enough to go blaming our allies around, now is it?" said Fudge in the same tone.
"Lets keep things as polite as we possibly can, shall we?" said Dumbledore. Harry appreciated his comment. Fudge hadn't done anything else than try to offend everyone since he arrived. If their plan was to make a deal, then he would have to change his attitude, Harry was sure of that much.
"Finally" Fudge continued undisturbed. "Miss Salem will be immediately dismissed from the Ministry of Magic. She won't be allowed to request for a job there anymore."
"Must you do that?" asked Professor McGonagall offended, as if she had been the one told off. Dumbledore stared at her and kept silent. Fudge refused to answer and moved on.
"Her Auror application will be effectively deleted." Professor McGonagall was about to talk again. She opened her mouth and then closed it a couple times, still in silence. "And finally, she will have to be expelled from Hogwarts" ended Fudge with a sigh of boredom.
"What?" said Professor McGonagall finding her voice. "It's like you're punishing her already… Dumbledore!" she turned to him.
"Minister, I think as her guardian and headmaster of this school, I should determine Miss Salem's educational fate" said Dumbledore as polite and calmed as he ever was. Harry could notice though, his eyes reflected anger even if he didn't show it.
"I can't risk having her as a latent danger in the school" argued Fudge.
"She is no longer a danger" said Snape. He had been so quiet everyone turned suddenly his way. "She represents no more danger to the students than you and I do."
"Can you be sure? Truly sure?" said Fudge. "She shouldn't be allowed after…"
"I think" said Dumbledore cutting his words short. "If Professor Snape says it's safe, we have no reason to believe it's not, do we?" Fudge was obviously intimidated by Dumbledore. No matter how important he wanted to look, Dumbledore always had something Fudge just couldn't ignore.
"In that case, we should go up to your office and settle the affairs" said Fudge looking offended, but still undisturbed. Dumbledore led them out. Professor McGonagall led Harry back to his bed. When he was alone, Ron and Hermione sneaked to talk to him again. Harry told them what had happened. They sat quiet once he had finished. Harry imagined how Tatum must have felt. She was expelled from the Ministry and her auror training; she was almost forced to leave Hogwarts as well if it hadn't been for Dumbledore. But still, for being an innocent as McGonagall had called her, she had lost quite a bit.
Thanks to the renewed Ministry bonds, Hogwarts remained opened. The lessons were given as normal as ever, except for the curious few, who were often told off by the teachers when they tried to bombard Tatum with questions about the banshee or trying to make Harry tell them in detail about the incident down at the grounds.
The farewell feast was well deserved. Harry and the rest managed to drain out every bit of stress they could have picked up during this disastrous year. They were laughing and eating merrily as they said their farewells before taking the Hogwarts Express back to the muggle world. On the same day, Dumbledore told them the last day of school would be for them to spend at their leisure. They were taking extra precautions while preparing the journey back and the teachers were busy.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tatum, Neville, Ginny and the twins decided to spent this last day out on the grounds. They picked their favorite spot by the lake and joked around. Hermione had gotten back to reading, but even she was distracted by Fred and George's games. They had given Neville a lollipop, which turned his ears into long donkey ones. Harry decided better than to take it, after all, the lollipop had triangle spots of different colors on it. He tried to warn him, but he didn't have the chance to, since Neville took it so willingly.
They spent a good evening. Ginny, Neville and the twins were the first to go back to Gryffindor Tower. They said they had a lot of packing to do, but Harry knew better. They were planning a last joke and he would have to be very careful tomorrow morning when they were heading for the station. The rest stayed to chat some more, but when the grounds started to get darker they had to go inside as well.
Once inside, almost reaching the portrait hole, a voice made them stop. It was Dumbledore asking for a word.
"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore" said Harry.
"Good evening, Harry. I was wondering if I could have a word with Miss Salem" Dumbledore added. He walked a few feet away followed by Tatum. Harry, Ron and Hermione waited for her. "The Ministry has come to a decision" said Dumbledore not troubling to keep his voice down. Tatum took a deep breath and stared at him. "The trouble caused by the banshee will not be attributed to you." Tatum smiled widely. Harry and the rest jumped in the air silently, celebrating the good news.
"What about Hogwarts?" asked Tatum sounding suddenly nervous again.
"You shall see your education through, but you will be under supervision for a while" said Dumbledore. "You do understand I won't be the only one who sees to that."
"I understand" said Tatum. Dumbledore walked away. Harry knew what he had meant. The Ministry had obviously wanted Tatum under surveillance after what happened, but Tatum didn't seem to mind. They joked merrily all the way into the common room, where Tatum let out all of her thrill about staying in school.
"I'm staying in school!" she said to Fred and George, hugging them after saying it. The twins left afterwards, while the rest sat around a table talking about tomorrow's trip. Minutes later, when Harry began to wonder where the twins had gone to, they came back with their arms filled with pumpkin juice bottles and snacks. The excessive candy kept them awake most of the night, but they didn't seem to mind between joke and talk.
The next morning, they said good bye to Hagrid before boarding the train. At the right time, the Hogwarts express headed back to London. Harry, Ron and Hermione found a compartment for themselves, but later on the trip there was a knock on the door.
"Hello there! Can I sit with you?" asked Tatum with her hair slightly smoking.
"Sure" said Hermione sliding over. "What happened to your hair?" she asked staring.
"Is it still on fire?" asked Tatum alarmed.
"No, just smoking a bit more than usual!" said Ron.
"Oh, it's just Fred and George" she answered patting her head obviously trying to put out any fire that might be going on. "I need to rest from their practical jokes for a while!"
A couple minutes later, Ginny came in with her face covered in blue freckles. Harry didn't have to wonder what was the deal with her. She was running away from the twins as well. There were no more visitors after her and the train was ever nearer to London station.
On their arrival, there were Arthur and Molly Weasley greeting them back.
"Hello children!" said Mrs. Weasley hugging the first bunch of children who left the train. They were Ginny, the twins, Ron and Hermione. Harry came behind them. When she saw him, she gave him a single hug. "Are you alright?" she asked him lovely.
"Yes, thank you" said Harry appreciatively. Mr. Weasley was loading their trunks onto a trolley, and Mrs. Weasley kept asking if they hadn't forgotten about anything on the train.
"Nice to see you, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley when he loaded Harry's trunk with the rest.
"Hey" said a whisper from behind Harry. He turned and Tatum was carrying down her own trunk. "I wanted to thank you again" she said blushing. Students were leaving the train behind her and they moved farther away from it.
"About what?" smiled Harry.
"For what you guys did. After all I tried to do, you were still willing to help me…Thank you" she smiled back at Harry. Then she nodded at Mrs. Weasley who was calling Harry. They had already started passing through the barrier back to the muggle world. "You better go!"
"Let's go!" said Harry trying to help her with the trunk. She shook her head and stood still, while people kept passing around them. "What's wrong?"
"I'm scared" said Tatum blushing even more. "Somehow, I feel… like some sort of…. stranger" she said. "It's just me… maybe it won't be enough!" her eyes filled with nervous tears.
"Don't feel that way. Your friendship was real" said Harry. Tatum was still standing quietly. "It doesn't matter where you come from, who you are now… is what wecare about" Harry added. Tatum stared. She opened her mouth, but said nothing. She clearly understood Harry knew the truth about her parents. "You have nothing to fear." When Harry finished speaking, Mrs. Weasley came over and grabbed Harry's shoulder.
"Come on, dear. I expect your Aunt and Uncle must be waiting for you" she told him. Harry felt pressure on his shoulder. Mrs. Weasley had tried to steer him. He, however, did not move, at least not until he heard her saying "Come along, Tatum. We'll take you home" she said smiling. "Arthur! You missed one!" said Mrs. Weasley pointing at Tatum's trunk. "Come along, dear. Arthur will load the trunk. She grabbed Tatum by the shoulder and steered her along with Harry. They went through the barrier together and there they were: the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon saw him, opened his mouth to call Harry, and closed it as soon as he saw Tatum beside him.
Hermione's parents arrived and she hugged them all good bye. She kissed Ron on the cheek, while her own glowed red. The Weasleys were waiting for Tatum. They had already said good bye to Harry.
"Bye then" Tatum told Harry. She didn't seem to find words to say, but seemed eager to say something at the same time. All of a sudden, she hugged Harry and then lowering her face she said bye again. Harry turned to the Dursleys.
"It was about time" said Uncle Vernon when Harry caught up with them, lower enough for Harry to be the only one who could hear him.
This had been a wild year, but Voldemort was out of a weapon and they had all made a new friend. Now he thought it this way, it hadn't been bad at all.
