Author's Notes: Hello, friends! Another (short) chapter, huzzah! Thanks to all of you who keep reading and faithfully reviewing, especially my friends in the F.U., and those of you in the F.U. (Fanboys United), subsidiary of the F.U. ^_^

Speaking of which, let's have a warm welcome for our newest members: tR00 kaNgaR00, Aeterna (thank you so much for all your awesome chapter-by-chapter reviews here, and on SQ), and Eliza (I don't know if you're already a fangirl, but you get to be one again for all your awesome constructive criticism). Also, big hug to Liebling because she had an awful day. *Hugs*

Something also needs to be said before I let you read this chapter – Jess, I'm afraid, is no longer on Gilmore Girls. That's right. They took him right out of the credits. Let us have a moment of silence.

…

Okay, now you can read. I apologize to Hermione in advance for portraying her as a psycho-freak. But if there was a chance that your best friend was going to be expelled from school and forced to live in Grimmauld Place for the rest of his life, and you were Hermione, you'd be freaking out too. ^_^

Saturday, 12 August

8:05 a.m.

They don't have a case against him. The law is on his side. There's absolutely no way that they can expel him if they follow their own laws.

So why is everyone so worried?!

Myself included. Logically, I shouldn't be worried, but I am. What if Harry can't come back to Hogwarts?! He'll have to live with his terrible relatives for the rest of his life with nothing to protect himself from the many Dark wizards trying to kill him because the stupid Ministry of Magic will have snapped his wand in two!!!

When Ginny and I woke up, Harry had already left, so I couldn't even give him the last few bits of advice that I'd forgotten to give him last night! What if he needs those bits of advice? What if something I could have told him would swing the trial for him?! If Harry's expelled, it's going to be all my fault!!!

Oh, this is unbearable, I'm going down to the kitchen to wait with everyone else…

1:32 p.m.

He got off, he got off, he got off!

All right, now that that's said…

THOSE HORRIBLE STINKING, SLIMY, IDIOTIC, MINISTRY…PRICKS!

They changed the time on Harry! The trial was supposed to be at eleven o'clock but they changed it to eight! Supposedly they sent Harry an owl, but it's obvious what they were trying to do – if Harry had missed the trial, it would have been a catastrophe! That is so low! I cannot believe the nerve of those people…and Percy! I can't even write about Percy, I can't believe him…

Harry is so lucky that they went so early, and that Dumbledore showed up. They were hoping he wouldn't find out about the time change and that he wouldn't come, but of course Dumbledore knew, and he won it for Harry, really. Harry said the look on Fudge's face when Dumbledore walked into the courtroom was priceless. We have the best headmaster ever.

When Harry came back, I thought I was going to faint. We were all talking in low voices in the kitchen, and then we heard a door slam upstairs and Mr. Weasley's voice. Everyone froze. A few seconds later, Harry walked into the kitchen. We all held out breaths, and then Harry's face split into an enormous grin.

"Cleared, of all charges," he announced, grinning broadly.

Ginny shrieked, Ron and the twins gave a whoop, Sirius's face broke into a grin, Mrs. Weasley gave a huge sigh of relief, and I collapsed into a chair.

"I knew it!" Ron yelled, dancing about. "You always get away with stuff!"

"They were bound to clear you," I said shakily, weak with relief. "There was no case against you, none at all."

Harry smiled. "Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering you all knew I'd get off."

Fred, George, and Ginny started doing a little dance around the kitchen while chanting, "He got off!", so it was difficult to hear, but I could have sworn I heard Mr. Weasley say something about Lucius Malfoy to Sirius. I'll have to ask about that later.

Harry sat down to have some lunch and recounted the finer points of the trial. He was tried by the entire Wizengamot! How completely ridiculous! And Fudge tried to make it seem as if Harry had made the entire story about the Dementors up! Why anyone would want to make anything like that up is beyond me.

But Dumbledore surprised Fudge and called Arabella Figg, who was there when Harry was attacked, as a witness. Dumbledore was so clever – he out-smarted and completely humiliated Fudge just by being logical, which was exactly what I was going to tell Harry to do – be logical, and use their own laws against them. In the end, only about half a dozen members of the court voted against Harry! Oh, I'm so glad Dumbledore showed up…

The only thing that was a bit strange was, halfway through lunch, Harry winced in pain and clapped his hand to his forehead.

"What's up?" I asked, alarmed.

"Scar. But it's nothing," Harry mumbled, "it happens all the time now…"

Even so, I anxiously kept a close watch on him for the rest of lunch. But he seemed fine after that. Still, maybe he should tell someone about these pains, especially if they're happening all the time now…Sirius, or Dumbledore…

Oh, great. Ron just came in and told me to come downstairs, the twins are going to set off a bunch of Filibuster's Fireworks in the front hall to "celebrate Harry's narrow escape from a Hogwarts-less existence". I suppose I should go down there, this might be worth watching…maybe we can set off a firework under Mrs. Black's portrait; perhaps we'll get lucky and it will burn to the ground…

HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF!