Chapter 6: Unbreak My Heart for the Holidays
"There is no test to determine whether someone has been Imperiused or not," said Madam Pomfrey. Harriet was sitting with Hermione, Ginny and Ron in Dumbledore's office watching Pomfrey give her report. McGonagall had gone to tell Sirius and the Weasleys what had happened. Morgan was standing in the corner feeding scraps to a rather poorly looking Phoenix.
"I am aware, but there are signs that can indicate that a claim of being Imperiused isn't true," said Dumbledore.
"Nott seems to be telling the truth, as far as I can tell," said Pomfrey.
"Is it possible that the Imperius broke?" asked Morgan, "physical trauma can do that."
"It is extremely likely that that is what happened," said Pomfrey.
Harriet nodded. "I think Nott would have been hesitant to try to actually murder Colin. He was probably Imperiused."
"I agree," said Dumbledore, "though it will be up to the DMLE to decide fully. Thank you Poppy."
Madam Pomfrey nodded and left the room.
"So the Basilisk?" began Dumbeldore.
"Isn't a threat," said Harriet, "It only obeyed Voldemort out of a misplaced loyalty to Salazar Slytherin. Misplaced onto Voldemort I mean. Slytherin apparently forbade it from ever attacking students."
"Are you sure?" asked Ron, "It was pretty big."
"It was a very reasonable creature," said Harriet.
"The Basilisk wouldn't be the first person Tom Riddle fooled," said Morgan.
"No it is not," said Dumbledore sadly, "that title probably belongs to me, at least among people who are still alive. Though he didn't fool me for long."
Harriet pulled the destroyed diary out of her robes. "This was what caused the whole fuss," she said, "what is it?"
"The diary had a will of its own," said Ginny.
Dumbledore looked over the diary carefully. Part of him actually seemed to be relieved at first, but his visage quickly grew grim.
Morgan's face was unreadable. "You have to tell her. Both Ginny and Harriet. They deserve to know," she said after a moment.
"This magic is so dangerous…" argued Dumbledore.
"These things have wills of their own. For all we know it was seeking Harriet out. If that is the case it is far more dangerous not to tell her," rebutted Morgan.
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Everything?"
Morgan stopped for a moment then hung her head. "Yes, everything," she said.
Dumbledore sagged. "We will wait for Sirius then."
It wasn't long before Sirius and Molly were both led into the room by McGonagall.
"What have you gotten into this time Harry," asked Sirius, his voice betraying his lack of concern.
"I just found the Basilisk," said Harriet. "It was very nice. I talked to it for a while, and it agreed that it wouldn't follow people who attack the school from now on."
"That's pretty impressive," said Sirius in voice that made it clear that he thought she was joking.
"Sirius," said Morgan, "that is exactly what happened."
"Oh," said Sirius, suddenly all business, "well, in that case…"
"Let Dumbledore bring us up to date, Sirius," said Molly.
"Right, of course," agreed Sirius.
Dumbledore quickly explained what had happened in the first floor girls loo and the Chamber. Sirius seemed to take everything in stride, but Molly seemed to nearly have a heart attack when Dumbledore talked about their decision to go talk to the Basilisk. Harriet understood though. Molly had lost both her brothers in the last war, and it had made her a bit of a worrier.
"How could you do that?" asked Molly, aghast.
"Don't blame Harriet, mum," said Ron suddenly, "she just didn't want to kill the Basilisk if it didn't have to be killed. But she was the only person who could determine that. Would anyone in this room have allowed her to go meet a basilisk?"
"No," said Sirius, Morgan, Molly and McGonagall immediately. Dumbledore had stayed silent.
"Albus?" asked McGonagall.
"I think that Harriet's desire to save the basilisk is admirable, but it was too dangerous to go to the Chamber unaccompanied," said Dumbledore, "but if Sirius had given his permission, I might have tried to help Harriet."
"I wouldn't have given my permission," said Sirius.
"So we're all agreed," said Harriet, "All of you would have prevented me from doing the right thing, so I was right not to have asked."
McGonagall's eyes bulged at that, and Molly seemed speechless. Morgan and Dumbledore both seemed amused at this outburst. Sirius on the other hand was stuttering.
"I… I can't…" he tried to say before he finally burst out laughing, "Oh Merlin, Harriet. You're going to be ten times worse than us Marauders ever were, aren't you?"
"But for justice!" said Harriet enthusiastically. Even Molly and McGonagall were smiling now.
"I give up," said Sirius as he sat down next to Harriet and swept her up in a hug, "Don't do this to me please Harriet. Please."
Harriet smiled as she hugged her godfather back. "Okay, I'll be more careful."
"We have a very large problem remaining," said Dumbledore, giving Morgan a slight nod.
"The Diary of Tom Riddle isn't an ordinary artifact," said Morgan, "It is a horcrux. Lord Voldemort's Horcrux."
Suddenly Sirius' arms were clutching Harriet tightly. "What is a Horcrux?" asked Hermione, "I've never heard of one."
"Neither have I," said Molly.
"A horcrux is one of the foulest things a wizard can make," said Sirius, "a dark artifact created by breaking off a piece of the maker's soul."
"How do you break off a piece of a soul?" asked McGonagall.
"Murder," said Morgan simply, "Murder damages the soul of the maker enough to break off a piece."
Silence descended over the group.
"Why would you create such a thing?" asked Harriet.
"Because as long as you have a horcrux, your soul will not pass on to the next life, no matter what happens to your body," said Sirius, "It is a soul anchor."
"But this means that we have killed Voldemort!" said Hermione excitedly, "surely this is good news."
"That the Horcrux is destroyed is certainly good news," said Dumbledore, "but there is a problem."
"Voldemort's level of physical disfigurement was linked to his creation of horcruxes," said Morgan, "Simply put, he created more than one, and we know it because of how inhuman he looked during his last days."
"Molly, do not be angry at Ginny for writing in the Diary," said Dumbledore, "She had no way to resist it's power and persuasiveness. And the way she managed to shake off its power at the end was nothing short of miraculous."
"I will take that into consideration," said Molly.
"Very well," said Dumbledore, "that is all I have for all of you except for Harriet and Sirius. There is more for us to say to them."
Molly stood and led Ron and Ginny from the room. Hermione allowed herself to be led out by McGonagall, but she looked at Harriet with a look that could only be described as extreme worry. Harriet knew how that felt like. This was going to be bad.
Once Morgan was certain they were alone, she turned back to Harriet and Sirius. "There is no easy way to say this," said Morgan, "so I just will. Lord Voldemort intended to create a horcrux on the night he killed your parents, Harriet. He intended to use your death to make his final horcrux. Instead, his own death created the final horcrux. "
She pointed at Harriet's scar. "And it is right there."
Harriet felt her mind go numb. She felt Sirius clutching her desperately, as if that could somehow protect her. It couldn't, but it was sweet of him to try.
"Why hasn't it possessed me?" asked Harriet clinically. Being emotional could wait, she had to focus. Get the answers. This was probably the most important conversation of her life. She needed to keep perspective.
"Your mother's protection has it sealed away," said Dumbledore, "that will only last until you turn 17, though. This is why it is essential that you return to Privet Drive occasionally. The protections there don't just protect you from harm, they keep you from being overwhelmed by the horcrux."
"You've known this since Harriet was a baby?!" screamed Sirius, "I could have taken Harriet out of that house at any time and she would have been helpless!."
"If you had tried, I would have stopped you," said Dumbledore.
"Who gave you the right?" demanded Harriet.
"No one," said Dumbledore, "I should have told Sirius. But I was so sure I could find a way to cure you. I failed, and I couldn't admit my failure."
"So there is no cure?" said Sirius helplessly.
"I believe that I can remove the horcrux," said Morgan, "but there are some aspects of the process that I am not certain of. I have some skill as a healer, but that was a long time ago. I am currently working out how to properly perform the procedure. But I will be able to do it, I believe."
"Do not hold her silence against Morgan," said Dumbledore, "I asked her to remain silent when she confronted me about this. She has wanted to tell you from the beginning, when she first read Harriet's magical capacity."
"This… this is almost unforgivable Albus," said Sirius.
"I am sorry," said Dumbledore, "I wanted to give you good news, better news than I had now at least."
Harriet stood up. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she knew what she didn't. "I am going to leave now Headmaster," said Harriet angrily, "I need time to… process this." And she marched out of Dumbledore's office. In no particular direction.
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Harriet's wanderings had taken her to the same hill overlooking the lake that she had gone to after her first Quidditch match her first year. This place calmed her a bit. But the thing in her skull throbbed. Or maybe she just thought it did. The truth was that Harriet felt as if she could no longer trust even herself.
"You look sad, Harriet," said a familiar, dreamy voice, "Need some company?"
Harriet looked up to see Luna standing behind her. And suddenly, Harriet did want company.
"That would be great Luna," said Harriet.
Luna sat down and put an arm around Harriet's shoulders. For a while, they just sat there. Harriet looked out at the lake again.
"I, uh had some bad news," said Harriet finally, "My scar is containing some very dark magic. And… I'm scared. This could kill me. Or worse."
Luna clutched Harriet's shoulder firmly, and pulled her closer. And then suddenly, Harriet couldn't contain herself any more. She began sobbing as she threw her arms around Luna and threw her face into Luna's shoulder. Luna put her other arm around Harriet and just held her.
It took Harriet a few minutes to finally regain her composure. After she did, she just stayed with her head against Luna's shoulder for a while. It felt nice.
"Thanks Luna," said Harriet, "I needed that."
Luna laughed. It was a wonderful sound that cut through all of Harriet's worries. "Well I do recall you once took the time, more than a little of it really, to comfort me after my mum died. I think that I wouldn't want to do less for you."
Harriet smiled, turned her head to look at Luna's face, then kissed her cheek. "Well, my thanks are still yours for the taking."
Luna looked at Harriet oddly. "You kissed me," she said matter-of-factly.
"Well, uh, yeah, I did," said Harriet her cheeks starting to warm up, "Nothing wrong with that!"
"Of course not," said Luna as she observed Harriet's reddening face.
"How long have you known you were into girls, Harriet?" asked Luna suddenly.
Harriet was suddenly shocked. Where had this come from? "What are you talking about? I'm not interested in other girls."
"Ah," said Luna, "You don't know that you are into girls."
Harriet thought this was phrased rather oddly, but at least Luna seemed to have overcome her misconception. "Yeah, that's right." Harriet agreed.
Luna let go of Harriet, then stood up. She reached down to give Harriet a hand up. Harriet took the hand and stood up, coming face to face with Luna.
"Well I am sorry Harry, but I am into boys, not girls," said Luna seriously, "Feel free to kiss me again, whenever you want, but I don't think I can go much further than that."
And Luna spun around and headed back to school. Harriet was suddenly far less sure that Luna understood what Harriet had tried to say to her.
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Now that Harriet had spoken to Luna she felt as if she had a handle on her emotions. So she didn't tell Ron or Hermione. Somehow she knew that neither of them were really ready to deal with such horrifying news. Oh, they would if they had to, but Harriet decided they didn't need to go through that right now.
Harriet was most worried about Ginny. Voldemort had forced her to kill Hagrid's roosters and petrify Mrs. Norris. That had to be very scary. She had been inches away from killing Colin. That had been very awkward, and Colin had been giving Ginny a wide berth since. It was upsetting her though. A lot.
And while Harriet was close to Ginny, she didn't really know how to comfort her yet. In fact there wasn't anyone who Ginny seemed to look to for that. Except for her older brother Bill of course.
And that suddenly gave Harriet an idea. Which is how she found herself writing a letter to one Bill Weasley.
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Christmastime came before Harriet knew it. Harriet headed home, this year she would spend Christmas with Sirius, then head to Surrey for the New Year. Harriet didn't mind being in Surrey, it meant she got to spend time with Hermione.
When she finally arrived at Grimmauld place she was greeted by Kreacher, who seemed more animated than usual. Apparently Sirius had been making an extra effort to be nice to Kreacher, and it may have paid off a little bit. Harriet wished there was more she could do for the elf, but he was too old, too set in his ways. The Black house was his home. So she'd hugged Kreacher and sent him off babbling about how Harriet was too kind to him.
"So, what is this about visiting the Weasleys on Christmas?" asked Sirius.
"I arranged a surprise for Ginny and I want to be there to see her get it," said Harriet.
"Molly mentioned that," said Sirius, "that was very thoughtful of you."
"Ginny needs it," said Harriet simply.
"Speaking of which," said Sirius, "The Hogwarts Board of Governors is having a meeting shortly after the New Year. They want to discuss the basilisk situation with you."
Harriet considered this. "Should I be worried?"
Sirius nodded. "Anytime Lucius is involved you should be worried."
Harriet considered her options. "Does Lucius usually bring his house elf to those meetings?" Harriet asked.
"Why are you asking this Harriet?" asked Sirius.
So Harriet told him. Sirius loved it.
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Draco hadn't really been looking forward to this moment. But now that he had arrived at home it was inevitable.
"You had a busy term," said Narcissa accusingly.
"Now, now, Draco did what he thought was best," said Lucius, "He showed far better judgement this year than he did last year."
Draco's eyebrow twitched as he tried to avoid saying anything. But it was hard. Where did Lucius get off talking to Draco about his judgement? At least Draco had never tried to kill anyone.
"I think he may have gone too far in the opposite direction," said Narcissa, "You don't have to attack the mudbloods, but saving them?"
"Well if you don't want me saving mudbloods, you shouldn't keep trying to kill them, and incompetently at that," said Draco, his voice livid.
"Draco!" chided Narcissa.
"No, Draco is right," said Lucius, "I was behind the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. And it was out of my control. If Draco hadn't stepped in, I'd likely have been caught."
"Damn right, you nearly got caught! Potter had already figured out that it was you!" shouted Draco as he pointedly didn't look at Dobby, "If anyone had been hurt, Barty Crouch would have had you under Veritaserum so fast that your head would have spun."
"But the problem is dealt with now, isn't it?" asked Narcissa.
"Of course," said Lucius
"I'm not so sure," said Draco, "I keep hearing stories about a diary. You didn't write in it, did you?"
"The letters I wrote disappeared as soon as I wrote them," assured Lucius.
"Are you sure that Dumbledore can't recover them?" demanded Draco.
The question hung over the Malfoys like a shroud, because of course there was no way for Lucius to be certain of that at all.
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On Christmas morning, Ginny woke up early. She wasn't all that excited for some reason. That was wrong, she knew why she wasn't excited. She was still blaming herself for letting the basilisk loose on the school. If she'd just been smarter, or stronger, it wouldn't have happened. And now Colin hated her. She heard her name being called from downstairs. She was so sick of this. She just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep until everyone was fine with her. But life didn't work that way, did it?
She got up groggily and threw on a robe. She didn't know how she'd keep her spirits up enough to not drag everyone else down, but she'd have to try. She marched down the stairs sullenly, not that she had intended to.
And then she saw Bill standing by the fire.
"BILL!" she screamed as she ran to hug her big brother, "What are you doing here?!"
"Harriet sent me a letter, told me you were having some trouble," said Bill with a smile, "She thought it might help if I showed up. Luckily, Goblins are pretty permissive about leave to help out family, especially family that have been possessed by horcruxes."
"Harriet! Well I'm going to have to find some way to repay her for this," said Ginny.
"Well, I'm right here," said Harriet.
Ginny turned to see Harriet grinning like an idiot. "What are you doing here?" Ginny asked.
"Did you think I was going to miss this?" asked Harriet.
Ginny let go of Bill to run over and hug Harriet. "Thank you so much!" said Ginny.
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Harriet watched as Ginny ran back to her brother. It felt good to have done something that would hopefully help Ginny. Harriet was about to Floo back to Grimmauld Place, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"That… that was really kind of you Harriet," said Ron, "You're a very kind person. I wouldn't have expected it of you before… after you punched me into being your friend at least."
"Thanks Ron," said Harriet with a grin, "I'm glad you think so highly of me. I have to get back to Sirius now though."
"Right," said Ron with a bit of a blush, allowing Harriet through to floo back to Grimmauld Place.
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Ginny scowled as she realised that Harriet had snuck out. She really was good at that.
Still she ran over to the Christmas tree, and noticed there were a number of presents with her name on them. One was small, but caught her eye because it had clearly come from a muggle home.
Ginny picked it up. It was from Colin. She opened it. It was a picture of the Forbidden Forest off of the Hogwarts battlements. She turned the picture over. On the back there was a brief note.
This was the picture I took right before being kidnapped. I don't regret it. I also don't regret being your friend. - Colin
Ginny smiled.
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"Did your parents give you a hard time when you came back," said Harriet as she crawled into bed next to Hermione in her new flannel pajamas.
Christmas had been great, and she'd spent it with Sirius, Andromeda and Remus. Andromeda's husband Ted Tonks had been there, as had Nymphadora. Nymphadora just liked to be called Tonks though. She hated her first name. Harriet rather liked it, but Harriet didn't have to live with it either.
She'd come over to the Grangers on Boxing Day, and had spent most of the day studying with Hermione. Under the watchful eye of Helen Granger, who pointedly didn't want the two of them getting into any trouble. Harriet shook her head. What were they going to do?
Now she was spending the night, before heading to Privet Drive tomorrow. Harriet hadn't shared a bed with Hermione since Draco had attacked her in first year. Still she thought she'd be comfortable enough.
"I may have understated the danger of the Basilisk," said Hermione who was changing into her pajamas, "Just a little. They didn't need to know that the basilisk's gaze kills, do they?"
Harriet nodded in agreement. Hermione's mother had a tendency to overreact.
"I wouldn't have told them anything, but Sirius made sure that both my parents and Colin's parents were notified. It was good of him, but it did make things awkward," admitted Hermione.
"That's too bad," said Harriet, "but at least she isn't too mad."
'She really doesn't like or trust you," said Hermione, who had finished changing and now climbed into bed next to Harriet.
"Yeah," said Harriet, "I've noticed."
"You ready to go to sleep?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah," said Harriet.
Hermione turned out the light.
Harriet turned to one side, away from Hermione. She lay awake for some time. She couldn't get to sleep though. She turned herself around, so that she faced Hermione again. And suddenly she smelled it, Hermione's hair. It smelled really good, though Harriet didn't know why.
But it was enough to lull her to sleep.
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Harriet sat uncomfortably outside the chamber where the Board of Governors was meeting. It was on Hogwarts grounds, which was unusual for a Board meeting (except in the summer). But Harriet supposed this was an unusual meeting.
She had spent the New Year with her aunt and cousin. It had been a good time. Dudley seemed to have figured out all his issues at school. No one was willing to challenge him anymore, so the people under his protection were now pretty safe. And Aunt Petunia's job was now full time rather than on a volunteer basis, and she was loving it. But of all the moments in her holiday plans, this was the moment that she was most looking forward to.
When the doors opened, she was led in by Elphias Doge. He was a kindly old man who was rather fond of the sound of his own voice. A big supporter of Dumbledore. That irked Harriet a bit, she was still very upset with the Headmaster. She knew that Dumbledore's omission hadn't really affected anything, but it was still galling that he hadn't even notified Sirius.
Harriet was offered a seat in front of a U shaped table. Lucius was at the head of the table, but there were eleven other witches and Wizards there. 12 wizards to mirror the 12 wizards of the old Wizards Council. Harriet recognized Griselda Marchbanks, who had a seat because of her position on the Examination Authority, as well as Augusta Longbottom. One of the Selwyns was there, a crusty old man who was so fat that Harriet was surprised that he could walk. The others weren't particularly familiar to Harriet. Several of the wizards had house elves attending them, including Lucius, who had Dobby.
"Well, let's get on with this," said Lucius, "I think this is a waste of time though. Griselda Marchbanks will question the witness."
Harriet smiled. There was no way that anyone at this table would think it was a good idea to let Lucius Malfoy question her.
"Harriet," said Griselda, "I am very glad to see you again."
"I am happy to see you too," said Harriet with an easy smile.
"But I do have some concerns as to your actions involving the basilisk," said Griselda.
"I understand," said Harriet, "Ask anything you want to."
"Why are you so adamant that we leave the basilisk alive!" butted in Augusta, "It seems to me to be very dangerous. If it gets loose again…" Augusta trailed off. So much for Griselda asking the questions.
"Let me correct you on one thing," said Harriet, "The basilisk isn't contained. It can leave the Chamber of Secrets whenever it wants. It has been able to do this since Slytherin put it down there. For over a thousand years it did not attack the school, and it only did so on two occasions in the last century, both times because of the intervention of Lord Voldemort."
"The basilisk was unleashed by Hagrid, not the… You-Know-Who," said Selwyn angrily, almost forgetting to not call Voldemort the Dark Lord.
"That is not correct," said Harriet smugly. Whatever she thought of Dumbledore, she had to admit that his explanation of what had happened 50 years ago would be essential to her victory here, "Hagrid was blamed for the incident 50 years ago by a boy named Tom Riddle, and both Albus Dumbledore and the Basilisk have confirmed that Riddle was Voldemort."
"The basilisk… told you this?" asked Lucius suddenly.
"I'm a Parselmouth," said Harriet calmly.
This caused a stir, but only for a moment.
"You-Know-Who is dead," said Doge, "How was he responsible for the attacks now?"
Harriet grinned as Lucius scowled at Doge. This wasn't a line of questioning he wanted pursued. Not that he thought that Harriet would have any proof. And she didn't.
"He made this," said Harriet, pulling out the destroyed diary, "A dark artifact, with part of his will in it. It was designed to possess people, and force them to open the Chamber."
"Exactly the sort of horror that You-Know-Who would think of," said Doge.
Griselda was giving Harriet a speculative look. Harriet just smiled back. Griselda knew something was up.
"May I examine the diary?" asked Lucius, "I have had experience with some Dark Artifacts before."
Everyone gave Lucius a strange look. No one expected Harriet to give him the diary.
"Of course," said Harriet as she stood up and walked over to Lucius. As everyone sat looking on, stunned, Harriet handed him the Diary."
Lucius looked at the cover as Harriet sat back down. "It has been rather thoroughly destroyed," said Lucius, clearly trying to hide his relief.
"Well, the Basilisk realised how evil this artifact was, so it destroyed it," said Harriet, "Which is why it told me it won't ever serve Voldemort again. The basilisk is perfectly safe now."
"Do you mind if I keep this and run some tests on it?" asked Lucius, clearly not really expecting Harriet to say yes.
"Of course," said Harriet, to the continued shock of the rest of the Board, "It isn't really mine anyway."
"As you say," said Lucius as he handed the diary to Dobby behind him.
Harriet leapt to her feet. "Dobby, open the diary," she said.
Griselda's face suddenly lit with understanding as a huge smile played across her face. The rest of the Board was in the dark though.
"What?" said Lucius.
"Open the diary, Dobby," said Harriet.
Dobby opened the Diary and gasped. "Master has given Dobby clothes. Dobby is Free!"
Dobby started jumping up and down, waving a sock he had pulled out of the diary, while the entire Board of Governors leapt to its feet at once. Everyone except Griselda and Doge were yelling at Harriet at once. But Harriet was just grinning. She had expected this furor. They were just lucky she hadn't put a pair of her knickers in the diary, which had been her first inclination. However, she had decided that the Board would definitely consider that a bridge too far. Not that there was anything particularly scandalous about her pants.
Finally Lucius managed to get everyone to quiet down.
"What is the meaning of this!" screamed Lucius.
"I freed your slave," said Harriet.
"House Elves are not slaves," said Augusta angrily.
"Just because the Wizengamot passed a law a couple hundred years ago that reclassified House Elves as not slaves, the fact remains that they are treated exactly the same as slaves. If a thing is the same as another thing, they are the same thing. Listen to Dobby, he's happy to be free."
"Oh yes!" practically cried Dobby, "I'm so happy! So happy to be free of that horrible family who punished me for the smallest mistake!"
Most of the members of the Board hung their heads. Harriet wasn't sure she'd convinced them, but they did seem to realise that at least Dobby had been abused. But this was as far as she thought they would go. But she had one more surprise.
"Dobby," asked Harriet, "Who owns the diary that you were just given?"
"My former master! It was his plan. He set loose the creature!" yelled Dobby.
Pandemonium struck the Board of Governors. Everyone was screaming at Lucius, even Selwyn, who looked just as outraged as everyone else. After all, Lucius had been willing to set a basilisk on the school.
"This is irrelevant!" screamed Lucius, "Everyone knows that the testimony of a house elf cannot, by law, be used as evidence, either in court or in an investigation."
Thank you Hermione, thought Harriet, thinking back to the research she had done with her best friend to plan this ambush.
"That is true for the Ministry, but this Board is governed by the Hogwarts Charter set out by the Founders," shouted Harriet, "and Helga Hufflepuff herself made sure that the testimony of an elf should count exactly the same as that of a human, and she put that into the charter. Dobby's statement is admissible before this body."
Everyone was suddenly silent.
Finally, Griselda spoke up. "Harriet is right. In which case, I move that Lucius Malfoy be removed from the Board of Governors, effective immediately."
After a second from August, every wand lit up in favour of that motion.
"I also move that Lucius Malfoy be banned from the grounds of Hogwarts, permanently!" shouted Doge.
"Second!" roared Selwyn, so angry that flecks of foam were beginning to show in his jowls.
Every wand lit up in favour of that as well.
"Lucius," said Griselda, her eyes aflame. "Get out of here. NOW!"
Lucius Malfoy looked at the enraged looks of his former colleagues, and fled.
Author's Note: This chapter has a few weird scenes. The scenes with Ginny mostly remain in for color, originally they were a part of the Guardian story and played a vital role, but with the bulk of that action moved to 5th year the scene is largely superfluous, though it is a little sweet.
Another fun part is the scene where Luna figures out Harriet's sexuality. I don't really see Luna as having any special powers in this story, she just correctly understood that Harriet's kiss meant a bit more then she was letting on.
And yes, realistically any sane government would find a way to prosecute Lucius for his role in trying to sic a basilisk on the school. I'm playing a little loose with the rules here, but the harsh restrictions on elves WILL be a recurring theme, so I don't feel too off base just making it illegal for the Ministry to even listen to Dobby. And frankly it explains why Lucius didn't get exposed in canon as well.