Chapter 2:
The Graduation
It was nearing the end of the year. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had taken all of there end of term finals. All that was left was the end-of-term feast and the graduation ceremony. It was Saturday morning, the day before the graduation. Harry woke up, got dressed and headed down to the common room. There he saw his friends, Ron and Hermione waiting for him.
"I can't believe were graduating tomorrow," said Harry. "I know it seems just like yesterday that we walked into Hogwarts for the first time," replied Hermione. "What are your plans after graduation, Harry," asked Ron. "I want to be an Auror," replied Harry. Ron looked at his watch. "I think we should head to breakfast, I'm starving. Harry, Ron and Hermione agreed. They headed out the common room and proceeded to the stairs.
When the trio entered the Great Hall, they noticed Malfoy standing by entrance waiting for them. "Oh look who have here, if it's not the famous Harry Potter, his stupid red-head friend and the Mudblood "said Malfoy viciously. "You better stop insulting us before I turn you into a toad," replied Hermione. "Oh is that the best you can come up with? Then again, what can I expect from a filthy girl like you, said Draco arrogantly. After that, Crabbe and Goyle started laughing for about 10 minutes. Then, the three just walked away and set over at the Slytherin Table. Harry, Ron and Hermione did the same, except that they sat at the Gryfindor table. The rest of the day went like a typical weekend at Hogwarts.
It was now Sunday, the day of the graduation. Only forty-five minutes remained until the ceremony would begin. The trio was in the great hall. Hermione was correcting her speech. She had gone over it seventeen times. "Hermione give it rest, I'm sure your speech is fine," said Harry. "Oh Harry dear, you know how I am with speeches I get real nervous. I just want to make sure I have everything memorized. Besides, I'm a perfectionist, "replied Hermione. Nothing more was said for the next thirty minutes because Harry and Ron didn't want to disturb Hermione.
At that moment, Dumbledore entered the room along with about 25,000 other people. The entire audience was chatting. It wasn't until Dumbledore started to speak did everyone stop. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Witches and Wizards; Good Morning. This is a very sad day for me because I'm loosing 1200 of my pupils. However, I am very proud that I have to meet all of you. Now without any further interruptions, I would like to introduce our valedictorian, Hermione Granger, said Dumbledore. At that moment, Dumbledore took his seat and Hermione started walking to the podium.
"Good Morning Everyone. I would like to say how honored I feel to be standing here today. I would like to thank my friends Harry and Ron for being so loyal to me for the past seven years. I would also like to thank my teachers for teaching me what it takes to be a successful witch. I have one piece of advice for my fellow classmates. Stick with your dreams. Now this is very important because all of you have to decide what career you want to go into. As for me, I would like to join Harry and become an Auror. Now here's Professor Dumbledore to introduce the rest of the class, said Hermione.
Dumbledore stood up and walked to the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Witches and Wizards, I am proud to introduce the class of 1998," said Dumbledore. He read of the list of students, each student walked up, picked up his/her diploma, shook Dumbledore's hand and sat down. This process took 4 ¾ hours. After this, everyone exited the school and headed to catch the Hogwarts Express back to London.