Chapter 29

Author's Notes: Hello everyone to the next chapter update. This story is coming to an end people and yes, I will be changing the ending since neither twin is living with their muggle relatives.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own the Harry Potter series, J.K.Rowling does; only a select few characters are from my own creation.

Chapter 29 DOBBY'S REWARD AND MORE

For a moment there was silence as Harry, Hally, Blaise, Ron, Ginny and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in both Harry and Hally's case) blood. Then there was a scream.

"Ginny!"

It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter.

The twins, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. Fawkes went whooshing past between the twins' ears and settled on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as Harry found himself, Hally, Blaise and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasley's tight embrace.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.

Mrs. Weasley let go of the twins, who were hesitating for a moment, then walked over to the desk while Harry laid upon it the Sorting Hat, the ruby-encrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle's diary.

They both started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour they spoke one at a time into the rapt silence. They told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized that they were hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how they, Blaise, and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how they had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom….

"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted them as they paused. "So you two found out where the entrance was—breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way. I might add—but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potters?"

So Harry and Hally, their voices now growing hoarse from all this talking, told them one at a time about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving Harry the sword. But then they both faltered. They had so far avoided mentioning Riddle's diary—or Ginny. She was standing with her head against Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they expelled her? Both Harry and Hally thought in a panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore….How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all?

Instinctively, Harry and Hally looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "Is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

Relief—warm, sweeping, glorious relief—swept over Harry and Hally both.

"W-what's that?" Mr. Weasley said in a stunned voice. "You-know-who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not…Ginny hasn't been…has she?"

"It was this diary," said the twins quickly at once, while Harry picked it up and showed it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen….

Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But, Ginny," Said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with—with—him?"

"His d-diary!" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year—

"Ginny!" said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain? Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic—

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it—

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice—I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.

"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny," said Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.

"You know Minerva," Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," said Professor McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with the Potters, Zabini, and Weasley, shall I?"

"Um….I'll just stay with Ginny if that's okay?" Blaise piped up

"Certainly," Said Dumbledore, watching Blaise being led out by Professor McGonagall.

They both left, and Harry, Hally, and Ron gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant, deal with them? Surely—surely—they weren't about to be punished?

"I seem to remember telling you three that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore.

Ron opened his mouth in horror.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes ear our words,"Dumbledore went on, smiling. "You three will receive Special Awards for Services to the school and—let me see—yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor….and since Miss Zabini decided to leave us and keep Miss Weasley company two hundred points may also go to her house as well as a Special Award for Services to the school.

Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers and closed his mouth again.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why do modest Gilderoy?"

Harry and Hally gave a start. They had completely forgotten about Lockhart. They both turned and saw Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart--"

"Am I a Professor?" said Lockhart in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," Ron explained quietly to Dumbledore.

"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver mustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He pointed at Harry. "He'll lend you one."

"Actually it was with Ron's own broken wand, Professor." Hally stifled a giggle.

"Indeed. Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Harry and Hally..."

Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at Dumbledore, Harry and Hally as he closed the door.

Dumbledore crossed to one of the chairs by the fire.

"Sit down, Harry, Hally," he said, and both twins sat, feeling unaccountably nervous.

"First of all, Harry and Hally, I want to thank you both," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. "You both must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you both."

He stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down onto his knee. Harry and Hally grinned awkwardly as Dumbledore watched them.

"And so you two met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in the two of you..."

Suddenly, something that was nagging at the twins, came tumbling out of Harry's mouth.

"Professor DUmbledore...Riddle said we're like him. Strange likenesses, he said..."

"Did he now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Harry from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think, Harry?"

"I don't think that we're like him!" said Harry, more loudly than he'd intended. "I mean, we're, we-we're in Gryffindor, we..."

But Harry fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind as well as Hally's.

"Professor," Harry started again after a moment. "The sorting Hat told us that we'd--we'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought we were Slytherin's heir for a while...because we can speak Parseltongue..."

"You both can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort--who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin--can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you two the night he gave you both those scars. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure..."

"Voldemort put a bit of himself in us?" both twins said thunderstruck.

"It certainly seems so."

"So we should be in Slytherin," said Harry, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in us, and it--"

"Put you both in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me Harry, Hally. You two happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue--resourcefulness--determination--a certain disregard for rules," he add, his mustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you two in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."

"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go to Slytherin..."

"It put me there," said Hally thoughtfully, "Because it told me that Harry would need me when the time comes..."

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which make you both very different from Tom Riddly. It is our choices, Harry and Hally, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Although sometimes we don't always get placed where we ask for." Both twins sat motionless in their chairs, stunned. "If you want proof, Harry, I suggest you look more closely at this."

Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt as well as Hally, who leaned closer to him to take a look herself.

Godric Gryffindor

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry." said Dumbledore simply. "Including Hally, if it was she that the Sorting Hat was with."

For a minute, neither of the three spoke. Then Dumbledore pulled out one of the drawers in Professor McGonagall's desk and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.

"What you two need, Harry, Hally, is some food and sleep. I suggest you both go down to the feast, while I write to Azkaban--we need out gamekeeper back. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too," he added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher...Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"

Harry and Hally got up and crossed the door. Harry had just reached for the handle first, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.

Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.

"Good evening Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly.

Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept into the room, and looked down to see Hally beside her brother, taking his cane and steering her out of his way. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.

The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoy's shoes. Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was disheveled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore.

"So!" he said "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, "the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too...Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."

Mr. Malfoy went paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury.

"So-have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"

"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.

"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"

"The same perosn as last time, Lucius," said DUmbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."

He held up the small black book with the large hole through the center, watching Mr. Malfoy closely along with Hally. Harry, however, was watching Dobby.

The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed meaningfully on Harry, he kept poinitng at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist. Harry quickly elbowed his twin sister gently in her right side, getting her attention. Hally looked down at Dobby, noticing his odd behavior next.

"I see..." said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.

"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Harry and Hally here"--Mr. Malfoy shot both twins a swift, sharp look--"and their friends Ron and Blaise hadn't discovered this book, why--Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will..."

Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly masklike.

"And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "What might have happened then...The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggle-borns...very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise..."

Mr.Malfoy forced himself to speak.

"Very Fortunate," he said stiffly.

And still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.

And Harry and Hally both suddenly understood. They nodded at Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.

It was Harry who chose to speak for Hally and Hisself by using their mind link swiftly, telling Hally not to do anything rash for their dad's sake knowingly.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry said

Lucius Malfoy rounded on him.

"How should I know how the stupid girl got hold of it?" he said

"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?"

Hally's eyes went wide as she and Harry saw Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench.

"Prove it," he hissed

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry and Hally. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you..."

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry and Hally distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to his house-elf.

"We're going, Dobby!"

He wrenched open the door and as the elf came hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it. They could hear Dobby squealing with pain all the way along the corridor. Harry stood for a moment with Hally, thinking hard. Then it suddenly came to him. Hally snapped her head his way...

"No, Harry No! You can't..."

"Yes I can Hal. You can watch at a safe distance, but we owe him." Harry intervened then looked at Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore, can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly. "But hury. The feast, remember..."

Harry grabbed the diary and both twins dashed out of the office with Hally following her brother at a safe distance from his request. They could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding aroung the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry took off one of his shoes, pulled off his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed the diary into it. They he ran down the dark corridor with Hally lagging behind on purpose.

He caught up with them at the top of the stairs. Hally was still deliberately trying to catch up, but could see and would be able to hear everything.

"Mr. Malfoy," Harry gasped, skidding to a halt. "I've got something for you--"

And he forced the smelly sock into Lucius Malfoy's hand.

"What the--?"

Mr. Malfoy ripped the sock off the diary, threw it aside, then looked furiously from the ruined book to Harry. Hally slowed her steps, stopped beside Harry with the look of innocence on her face.

"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Harry Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too. It seems that skipped your sister immensely."

He turned to go.

"Come Dobby. I said, come."

But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Harry's disgusting slimy sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure.

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

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

"Got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw it, and Dobby caught it, and Dobby--Dobby is free."

Lucius stood frozen, staring at the elf. Then he lunged at Harry while Hally snapped her head back with wide eyes.

"You've lost me my servant, boy!"

But Dobby shouted, "You shall not harm Harry or Hally Potter!"

There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing below. He got up, his face livid,and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger.

"You shall go now," he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy. "You shall not touch Harry nor Hally Potter. You shall go now."

Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the three of them, one being Hally looking down at him with her mouth open in shock, Lucius swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight, but not before looking back up at Hally.

"Tell you father young lady, that my family will be visiting yours within a week of the beginning of the summer holiday, over...SpinnersEnd," Lucius announced before quickly heading out of sight.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at the twins one-at-a-time, moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb-like eyes. "Harry Potter set Dobby free!"

"Yeah, without thinking f...mfft!" Hally's eyes lit up with laughter after Harry covered her mouth grinning.

"Least I could do, Dobby," Said Harry grinning. "Just promise us both to never try and our lives again."

The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile.

"I've just got one question, Dobby," said Harry as Dobby pulled on Harry's sock with shaking hands. "You told us all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well--"

"It was a clue, sir," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?"

"Right," said Harry weakly. "Well, we'd better go. There's a feast, and our friend Hermione should be awake by now..."

Dobby threw his arms around the twins's middles and hugged one at a time.

"Harry and Hally Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed. "Farewell Harry and Hally Potter!"

And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.

The twins had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Harry and Hally didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running towards them, screaming "You solved it! You both solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring his hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting them, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Harry, Hally, and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his, Hally's and Ron's six hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat (Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.

"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."

The only part of the feast that upsetted Hally the most was, she kept craning her neck for any sign of Mr. Filch to see if Mrs. Norris was fine. She sighed quietly moments later after realizing that she wouldn't be seeing Mrs. Norris at the feast.

Later that evening, after both twins had fallen asleep with their luck dragons by their feet, their door to their spare room inside Severus quarters opened up silently while four professors and one groundskeeper watched with amusement as a certain feline trotted into the room, and leaped onto Hally's bed walking towards Hally's sleeping face.

Mrs. Norris crept up to Hally, purring contentedly, rubbing her head against Hally's face.

Hally stirred in her sleep. "Okay Silver, hang on..." "Meow" Hally opened her eyes to find Mrs. Norris looking at her intently.

"Mrs. Norris, your awake," Hally grinned waking up her brother.

"Oh man I thought we had seen the last of her," Harry teased with a grin.

"Harry..." "Kidding Hal. Good to see you better Mrs. Norris," Harry yawned, going back to sleep while Hally snuggled into a comfortable position with Mrs. Norris laying beside her.

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences--Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled ("but we've had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned the place. On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the other hand, Ginny Weasley was perfectly happy again and soon became a part of a group of girls that Hally was in charge of when the twins decided to separate for a short while.

Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts express, Severus giving the twins permission to ride back with their friends as a special treat. Harry, Hally, Ron, Blaise, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George got a compartment to themsleves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. Both twins were getting way better at it.

They were almost at King's cross when the twins remembered something.

"Ginny--what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well--Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head.

"What?"

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was--you know--attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.

Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron and Hermione.

"Here, this is called a telephone number," he told Ron, scribbling it twice, tearing the parchment in two, and handing it to them. "I told your dad and ours how to use a telephone last summer--he'll know. Call us at our house."

"Sure thing Harry," Ron promised as they headed back through the gateway to the Muggle world.

Severus Snape sat at his desk inside his home, relaxing at last from a long year. Screech popped into the living parlor serving his master's tea.

"Thank you, screech. Where are my devious twins?" Severus enquired as he stirred his tea

"Outside Master, riding around in the forest with the families new car," Screech answered beaming happily while out in the families forest, the twins were squealing, laughing and having a great time while the family car drove them through the forest, honking its horn happily.

A/N: That is all with the second year book everyone. See you all in book three starting next week bye for now .