In this chapter...well, it's going to be the end of the Chamber of Secrets arc.

After that, it will be time to move on to the Prisoner of Azkaban arc.

And no, the titular prisoner of Azkaban is not Hagrid.

He's being set free in this chapter.

I bet it feels good to be released from prison.

And speaking of being set free, can you guess who's going to be set free of servitude?

Chapter 28: A Free House-Elf

Not long after he helped himself to his feet, Neville decided to ask Mary a question.

"Mary? Did you save me?" asked the boy. He was hoping somebody would. The Chamber of Secrets was scary.

"Well, we both saved you." explained Mary.

She imagined that she couldn't have defeated the basilisk and Tom Riddle alone. If Fawkes hadn't shown up when he did, she wouldn't be the girl who lived anymore.

"Oh..." comprehended the second year boy.

Well, he was glad they had both rescued him. He could only imagine what would happen if To finished draining the life from him.

It would most likely help Voldemort return to life.

"I'm glad we managed to put an end to Tom Riddle. He was a sociopath, to be sure." remarked Ginny.

Underneath that charming smile hid a heart of malice.

If they had learned one thing, one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Hagrid had been innocent and Tom Riddle had been guilty. Dumbledore seemed to know that all too well.

Armando Dippet might not have known that though. He went along with Hagrid being the culprit without doing research on acromantulas.

Gilderoy Lockhart was a case of a book not matching its cover as well, though he was never as bad as Tom Riddle was.

"I'm also happy we managed to destroy his basilisk eggs." noted Mary. Now they wouldn't have to worry about other schools being at risk.

"Yeah...I wish I hadn't trusted him. I can't believe he was trying to breed basilisks." remarked the Gryffindor boy. It would have prevented a lot of trouble if he didn't.

"In your defense, you did put his diary in the toilet." noted the first year.

"Mm-hmm." nodded Neville. It was unlucky that Ginny had managed to find it. That way there might not have been more attacks.

But then again, who would have thought that a diary could be so deadly?

It seemed Vector had been right about it the whole time.

"I wonder how we're going to get out of here." wondered Mary. She was so focused on saving the school she hadn't thought of an escape plan.

She didn't want to die of starvation...though given the water around the chamber, she wouldn't have to worry about dehydration anytime soon.

There was a way out, wasn't there? She imagined that Salazar Slytherin would include one.

She hadn't brought her broom, unfortunately.

Luckily, Fawkes the phoenix was willing to help them with that.

He was big enough for all three of them to ride on him. It was impressive how much he had grown from an infant in a short period of time.

They also decided to take the Sorting Hat, and Croaky of course.

Ginny insisted on not leaving the chamber without her.

And the Sorting Hat would no doubt want to sort students next year.

"It was getting gloomy in this chamber." remarked the talking hat.

Moaning Myrtle was happy to see the three of them.

"Did you slay the basilisk?" asked Myrtle.

Given that they hadn't been eaten, it was probably safe to assume they had.

Mary nodded. They had avenged her death.

They also destroyed the Heir of Slytherin as well. Now the Muggle-borns were safe.

Maybe now the governors would reconsider closing down the school. Even Draco Malfoy didn't want Hogwarts to come to an end.

Moaning Myrtle applauded them.

Now Hogwarts was safe.

However, our heroes weren't sure if Albus Dumbledore would come back.

But as it turned out, he had come back.

With him was Neville's grandmother and McGonagall.

"Dumbledore? I thought you were fired! Though I will admit it's good to see you again." noted Mary.

She was worried that she wouldn't see him again after he left Hogwarts.

Part of the reason she was happy to see him again was because he had rewarded Gryffindor a ton of points last year. He appreciated all the things that Mary and her friends had done. Though perhaps Voldemort's return was inevitable.

"The governors had a change of heart. Also, they decided to remove Lucius Malfoy." explained Dumbledore.

They had decided to stand up to Lucius.

Considering that he reminded Mary of his son, that was probably for the best.

Fawkes returned to Dumbledore.

"It appears that your loyalty towards me allowed you to summon Fawkes." noted the professor.

"Well, I think you're a good headmaster." said Mary to Dumbledore.

"You flatter me." spoke Albus.

"It was awfully brave of you to venture into the Chamber of Secrets." noted McGonagall.

"Well, I am a Gryffindor. The fact that I can pull the sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat is proof of that." remarked Mary.

"Only a true Gryffindor could pull that out of the Sorting Hat." acknowledged Dumbledore.

"By the way, do you know why I can talk to snakes?" questioned the girl who lived.

"I believe that after Voldemort attacked you, you inherited his ability to speak parseltongue." explained Dumbledore.

"I suppose that makes sense." nodded Mary.

Neville's grandmother was happy to see her grandson was alive and well.

"I'm sorry about all the trouble I caused." apologized Neville.

It made him feel guilty, knowing he had waken up a terrible monster.

"I assure you, you're not the first person to be fooled by Voldemort." noted Dumbledore.

He fooled his former employer pretty well.

At the grand hall, our heroes were ready to see who would win the house cup.

It appeared that Slytherin would win, but it was possible that Dumbledore might add some last-minute points, as he did before.

However, the headmaster wished to welcome a few people before he started the ceremony.

Mary had a feeling who those people were.

As it turned out, those people were the victims of the basilisk.

They had been cured of their petrification.

Madam Pomfrey was relieved that they would be able to walk again.

Hagrid had returned as well. It appeared that he had been acquitted after Neville had been taken into the chamber.

Ginny hugged Colin, Mrs. Norris leapt into Mr. Filch's arms, Hermione hugged Ron, Percy hugged Penelope, and Mary hugged Hagrid.

"Do I get a hug?" asked Justin.

Nearly Headless Nick hugged him.

"I should probably be more careful what I wish for." remarked the Hufflepuff boy. Where were the Pepperup Potions?

"I feel bad for the mandrakes that were chopped up." noted Mary. That sounded like it was…messy.

She was glad everything at Hogwarts was back to normal though.

Especially since Albus Dumbledore had returned.

"Actually, about the mandrakes…" said Pomana Sprout.

"I can't do it! I've raised these mandrakes their whole lives!" exclaimed Pomana Sprout.

She had set a meat cleaver down on the table…and yes, it was ironic that she was using a meat cleaver given mandrakes were plants.

"If you can't do it, I'll do it." answered Snape.

Pomana Sprout looked away.

Snape pulled out some scissors and snipped some leaves from the mandrakes.

"I thought we needed to chop them up." questioned Pomana Sprout.

"You're forgetting I'm the potions master." noted Snape.

With his skill, he could make a potion using only one ingredient.

As he did the year before, Dumbledore indeed had some last minute points to add.

"Mary Potter, for slaying the basilisk, you've earned Gryffindor 100 house points!" awarded Professor Dumbledore.

The Gryffindors cheered.

"Ginny Weasley, for destroying Tom Riddle's diary and saving our school as well as other schools around the wizarding world (with the exception of Durmstrang), you've also earned your house 100 points!" bellowed the professor.

Ginny smiled. She wasn't expecting to become a hero during her first year at Hogwarts.

The two girls both received an award for special services to the school. Namely because now Hogwarts wouldn't get closed down.

Percy wondered if he himself would receive that award one day.

Of course, maybe it wasn't too surprising that the Weasley girl was getting so many house points as well as an award. Mary explained that she thought she was a hero, and she was right.

As they did the year before, Gryffindor won the house cup.

"Not again!" exclaimed Draco.

They were so close to the house cup, yet so far away.

"There's one question I have though. How did the diary get into Hogwarts?" asked Ginny.

"I suspect Lucius Malfoy was responsible." answered Dumbledore.

"That makes sense." nodded Mary. He did seem to be taking advantage of the situation.

Perhaps it was good that he was no longer a governor.

Hagrid returned to Fang, who licked him on the face.

He was worried that he would never see his owner again.

Chip the gnome was also happy to see Hagrid again, but he still wished to be with Ginny.

Though he would request to visit Hagrid from time to time. Maybe he could use the Floo Network?

Unfortunately for Gilderoy Lockhart, now that his cover had been blown, he had lost his job as Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. None of the teachers and students liked him after finding out what he had done.

He had been fired by Dumbledore. It seemed that two of his friends happened to be two of his victims as well. Though he was a bit surprised that a first year exposed him.

Now he was stuck working at Borgin and Burkes. Not a lot of places would hire him knowing what a fraud he was.

The skeletons creeped him out. Why were they on display, anyway?

At his manor, Lucius Malfoy was frustrated with how miserably his plans had failed. He thought the plan was foolproof, yet no Muggle-born had died.

It appeared that some clumsy oaf named Neville caused Ginny to lose the diary he intended to get her father in trouble with.

Mary had ran a sword through the basilisk's mouth, and now it was dead. The Muggle-borns were safe. How did one kill something when it could kill you just by locking eyes with you anyway?

Not only that, Ginny had destroyed the diary…or the enchantment anyway. The diary was still mostly intact, though it was ripped in some pages.

"Well, this is just perfect! I intended to make Arthur Weasley look like a dark wizard, yet instead I made his daughter a heroine! Not only that, Albus Dumbledore is back in his office, and I lost my position as governor! How can this day get even worse!" exclaimed Lucius Malfoy.

In frustration, he threw his wizard hat to the ground.

But much to his surprise, Dobby caught the hat.

He had wandered into the room after hearing his master yelling.

"Master has given Dobby his hat! Dobby is free!" bellowed the house elf.

Lucius Malfoy screamed.

Now that the school year was over, it was time to return home.

Mary wondered if Hagrid would have his wand back now that he had been acquitted.

On the way back to the Hogwarts Express, Dobby decided to tell Mary the good news.

"Dobby's a free house elf, Mary! Dobby is so happy!" exclaimed the house elf.

"You're free? That's great news!" exclaimed Mary.

"Dobby isn't sure where to go from there though. Still, Dobby finds it to be a joyous occasion." noted Dobby.

"I hope wherever you go, you find yourself to be happy." remarked the girl who lived. "Just don't a bludger to go after me."

She didn't want Dobby to get in trouble.

"Maybe Mary Potter can be Dobby's master?" asked Dobby.

"I'm not the type of person who enslaves others." noted Mary.

"Mary is truly a truly wonderful girl, she is!" exclaimed the house elf.

"There's also the fact you can use magic…and my foster parents don't like that." continued the girl with the lightning-shaped scar.

"Dobby understands." nodded the elf.

"I assumed you would." spoke Mary.

"Still, could Mary give Dobby some commands? Orders make Dobby feel healthy!" requested the elf.

"Sure, why not? How about do some pushups!" exclaimed the preteen girl.

Dobby did some pushups.

Mary then had him do a backflip…and a somersault…and so on until the house elf gasped for breath.

"How are you feeling?" asked the girl who lived.

"Superb!" exclaimed Dobby.

"Why'd you go to Hogwarts this year? You could have been eaten by the monster!" bellowed Vernon.

Perhaps he needed to come up with another story to get Mary to stop going to Hogwarts.

"Don't worry, I slew it." explained the Gryffindor second year, soon to be third year.

Vernon scratched his head.

Fortunately, Molly Weasley did not mind her daughter adopting a gnome.

Though it helped that Chip gave her advice as to how to deal with them whenever they were causing trouble.

"Are you going to toss Gilderoy Lockhart's books in the fireplace?" asked Ron.

He knew that he was going to toss his.

"I could do that, but Gilderoy Lockhart helped Mary kill the monster." noted Ginny.

"He did? I didn't see him go into the Chamber of Secrets with you." pointed out Ron.

"True, but it turned out the magical mirror he gave me could reflect a basilisk's gaze." noted Ron's sister.

"Really? I think Dumbledore will want to know that if it happens again." remarked Ginny's brother.

"He probably would, but we made sure to destroy the basilisk eggs that Tom Riddle was incubating. So it probably won't happen again." hoped Ginny.

Ron admitted that was rather believable. Just in case, he wrote a letter to Dumbledore on the subject.

On the subject of letters, he saw Percy writing one to Penelope at the Burrow.

Fred and George wished that they were that lucky.

Mary hoped that her third year would go well at Hogwarts.

She wasn't sure what would happen though.

Though it was part of what made it exciting.

Would she encounter Voldemort again, like she did her first two years?

She imagined she would be ready.

Lucius has nobody to blame himself for Dobby going free.

And yes, Mary didn't have to lift a finger.

I guess I figured it would be funnier this way. And it was entirely possible for something like this to happen, wasn't it?

In the next chapter, somebody dangerous is going to break out of Azkaban!

Of course, if you've read the Prisoner of Azkaban in its entirety, you'll know what's really going on.

But anyways, have fun reading.