Hi All,

Welcome to chapter 25 of Little Red Bird. Thanks for showing it love.

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Disclaimer: All HP rights and characters owned by JK Rowling, and fics are created for entertainment only

News of Lockhart being the man behind the muggleborn attacks spread throughout the school before the night was up. DMLE Head Madam Amelia Bones and her squad of Aurors took everyone's statements before starting up a manhunt for Lockhart.

The partially burnt cloth with Lockhart's initials, his wand at the scene and the testimony given by Madam Pomfrey and Harry Potter was enough to pin the crime to the famed Dark Creature hunter and ex-DADA Professor. Minister Fudge too announced a reward of 1500 galleons on the capture of Gilderoy Lockhart, so as to seem as doing something.

Three days of scouring through the dark and dangerous Forbidden Forest finally yielded results, however it was not what anyone could have expected. The aurors found a half eaten and severely mauled body of the ex-DADA professor.

It seemed that he was powerless without a wand, and before he could escape the Forest, he was brutally attacked and eaten by a predator. The claw marks suggested it was something big and feline in nature. Any kind of foul play was ruled out once the body was examined for any spell damage.

For the next few days, the Daily Prophet had multipage stories published about the life and achievements of Gilderoy Lockhart, including his infamous stint at Hogwarts as DADA professor, where they claimed he revealed his dark side finally before being caught by none other than wizarding world's resident savior, The-Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter.

After he was hailed a hero by the papers, his previous crimes were forgotten and the student body once again, like simple-minded sheep turned from hating him to worshipping him. Fortunately, he didn't have to spend time inside the hospital wing to prove his innocence this time around.

It took a week before the mandrakes were finally ready for harvest. Professor Snape brewed the potion which again took 3 more days.

Today's the day, the potions finally were going to be administered to the students. The entire student body and professors sat in the Great Hall for the dinner feast as the Headmaster moved towards the lectern.

Albus Dumbledore stood at the lectern with a grandfatherly smile and a twinkle in his eyes. With a flick of his wand, he shot a few golden sparks as the chatter quieted down and everyone's attention was at the high table.

"Welcome to today's feast! I have a few important announcements to make, but before that let me inform you all that with help from Professor Sprout and Professor Snape, the mandrakes have been harvested and used to create the restorative draughts. Madam Pomfrey has administered the draughts already and our friends should be joining us… anytime!"

The doors of the hall opened up and in walked the students healed of all injuries. Harry and Ron were ecstatic to see Hermione walk in as they got off their seats, she just ran towards the duo and hugged Harry before awkwardly shaking Ron's hand.

"Yes, yes, it is indeed a joyous moment, however I would request everyone to settle down. I do have a few announcements before we begin." the Headmaster said, "Excellent. In light of the recent events, the final exams have been cancelled for this year."

The entire hall erupted with chatter and excitement. A section of the crowd was disappointed, but that was mostly limited to the Ravenclaw table. Another person who was peeved sat glowering at the Slytherin table glaring holes into the bushy-haired witch sitting with her back to her on the Gryffindor table. Ron's eyes met hers and he gave Ginny a mocking laugh before turning back to his friends.

"...which means, the term ends tomorrow and you shall be aboard the Hogwarts express back home one week early. Now, on to serious matters, Professor Lockhart had been behind all the attacks and it was through Mr Potter and Mr Weasley's efforts that he had been caught and exposed. The teacher's body and I have unanimously decided to present the Special Award for Services to the school to Mr Harry Potter." The Headmaster continued as the Hall erupted into cheers.

"Now, on to the House cup." With a clap the Hogwarts banner changed into Slytherin colors, "With the current standing, Slytherin lead with 379 points" The Slytherin table erupted into cheers along with claps from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws as the Headmaster continued, "Yes, Yes, Well done Slytherin. Ravenclaw stands second at 367 points, Hufflepuff third at 324 and Gryffindor at 263 points. However-" Almost everyone at the Slytherin table groaned as the Headmaster continued, "I do have a few last minute points to give out, to Mr Harry Potter and Ron Weasley 60 points each, for showing tremendous courage in the face of adversity, helping the school catch the real perpetrator and as a reparation to the points taken for his alleged involvement in the attacks."

The Slytherins and most of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table started booing while the Gryffindors cheered the headmaster as he continued, "Which means a change in decor -"

"I'm extremely sorry for interrupting, Headmaster! But a terrible mistake has happened on my behalf." the silky smooth voice of Professor Snape cut in.

"What's the matter, Severus." Dumbledore asked with a slight amazement.

"I realized when you were awarding points, that I had taken points from the culprits during the Polyjuice incident, but I forgot to reward the students who did a commendable job in uncovering it. So please let me take this opportunity to reward Ms Ginny Weasley 25 points and Mr Draco Malfoy 10 points for Slytherin." Professor Snape replied with a smirk.

The Great Hall was silent for a moment, before all three tables sans Gryffindor burst into loud cheers as he continued, "Thank you, Headmaster for letting me fix my error. You may continue with the announcements."

"Right, well, it seems Slytherins are now leading with 414 and Gryffindor are second with 383 points, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff remain unchanged. Congratulations to Slytherin House for winning the House Cup and without further ado… let the feast begin!" The Headmaster clapped with a smile as the feast appeared magically on the tables courtesy the hardworking Hogwarts elves.

The Potions professor sat with a smirk holding his goblet of wine towards the Slytherin table where his eyes met Ginny's who raised her own goblet to him. The tiny diminutive Charms professor seated next to the potions master chuckled, "Well played, Severus. Well played, indeed!"

The Gryffindor table just sulked mostly before dissolving back into chatter while almost everyone else was happily celebrating their snarky potions professor's cheekiness. It seems the eccentric headmaster got one upped this time.

The party continued in the Slytherin dungeons late into the night starting with a cheer for Ginny. Thanks to Snape, they won the cup and Ginny won the admiration of most of the House members.

The ride back home was pretty uneventful apart from the usual shenanigans between Malfoy and Potter. Ginny was happy to finally be back home, she would start learning more combat and also finally start working on animagus transformation.

Ginny sat having a buttered up toast and some eggs for breakfast. Arthur sat to her left reading the Prophet while the others slowly filed into the kitchen. Molly was busy cooking up the sausages when they heard a pained screech coming from outside. A ruddy old owl flew into the room and crash landed on Ginny's plate.

"Ughh! Stupid bird!" Ginny flipped out wiping eggs off her face and clothes, "Dad! This letter is for you."

Arthur took the letter off her hands and read it, then re-read it, wiped his eyes and read it again, "Dear Godric!"

"What's the matter dear?" Molly asked him amused, serving up the sausage.

"Honey, we… have won a lottery! Daily Prophet's Galleon Draw Grand Prize of 700 Galleons!" Arthur said excitedly.

"That's great dear, we can finally take that trip to visit Bill. We have been postponing it every year and finally we have the funds for it." Molly chimed in.

"What!" Ginny blurted out, slightly more louder than she intended as the twins and everyone looked at her surprised. "Aaoh! I… I mean, why not use it for daily needs, Ron needs a wand, for example!"

"Ofcourse, Ginny dear! We'll get him the wand once we're back. We'll have a little surplus post the trip." Arthur smiled at her.

"Uhmmm… Well… we can.. I-" Ginny stammered trying to find a reasonable way to avoid the trip before Molly cut her, "There's no arguments Ginny, we are taking that trip. Now, since the holidays are in and we have a lot of stuff to do before we leave, why don't you get started on the carrot fields today."

"It's okay, Molly. They've just begun the holidays, let the kids settle down for a few days!" Arthur tried to placate his wife who was acting slightly caustic.

"I'm done!" Ginny picked her plate and deposited it in the sink before disappearing back upstairs into her room. She would need to plan something, this was not how she anticipated her holidays.

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