I apologize for not updating last month. I'd been going through a lot of drama lately. Christmas was almost cancelled because half my family got COVID. Luckily I had a sister who wasn't sick so I went to her place to celebrate. And don't get me started with the weather.

Enjoy!

Chapter 28

Aftermath

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley, who was sitting in front of the fireplace in McGonagall's office, screamed. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their only daughter. They both showered her with hugs and kisses, not caring that she was covered in muck, slime, and God knows what else.

The others saw Dumbledore standing by the mantelpiece, beaming at them. McGonagall was taking deep, steadying breaths, clutching her chest. Fawkes wooshed past Harry's shoulder and landed on Dumbledore's. Mr. Weasley wrapped his arms around the Okumura twins.

"We can't thank you enough for saving our daughter!" he choked out, sounding like he was trying not to cry.

Molly, meanwhile, swept Harry and Ron into her arms. "You saved her! You saved her!" she sobbed. "How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," McGonagall said weakly.

Shura walked over to her and placed a grimy hand on her shoulder. "Sit down, Minerva. It's a loooonnng story."

The boys then explained everything that had happened over the past year. From Harry hearing disembodied voices to Moaning Myrtle's role in the whole thing. Rin and Yukio threw in their own tidbits as well, such as Kuro's ability to hear the basilisk. Shura added how they all survived fighting the basilisk.

"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests in Albania."

"Wh-What's that?" Arthur said in a stunned voice. "You-Know-Who? En-Enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not… Ginny hasn't been… has she?"

"It was this diary," Harry said, showing Dumbledore the diary. "Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen."

"Whatever it did to Girl Weasley, it gave her a temptaint," added Shura.

Dumbledore took the diary and peered down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Let's hope Hermione gives him a run for his money," Rin muttered to Yukio.

Dumbledore turned towards the Weasleys. "Very few people know Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school… traveled far and wide… sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But…but Ginny," said Molly. "What's our Ginny got to do… with him?"

"His d-diary," Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it all year and he's been wr-writing back."

"Ginny!" Arthur exclaimed. "Have I taught you nothing? What have I always taught you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain! Why didn't you show the diary to me or to your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark magic!"

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum bought me. I th-thought someone had just left it there and forgotten about it -"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore said firmly. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment." He then strode towards the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, his eyes twinkling down at her.

Shura chuckled. "The boss has got the right idea, Girl Weasley. Think I'll do the same thing after a nice, long shower."

Dumbledore turned his twinkling eyes towards the exorcist. "Only you'd add alcohol to your hot chocolate, wouldn't you?" he said slyly.

Shura's face turned red and she looked away.

As soon as Ginny was escorted out of the room by her parents and McGonagall was sent to alert the kitchens of a celebratory feast, Dumbledore turned to the four boys who flinched. How much trouble were they going to be in? Yukio's record was relatively clean. Rin's was spotty to say the least. Ron and Harry's records, however… The twins were worried that this was the final straw that would get Harry and Ron expelled, especially after their little stunt at the beginning of the year.

"I seem to remember telling you two that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules this year," Dumbledore said to Harry and Ron.

Ron opened his mouth in horror.

"And while I am not surprised that Rin joined you in this escapade, I am surprised that you joined in, Yukio," Dumbledore continued, turning his eyes towards the twins. They both opened their mouths to say something but nothing came out.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "All four of you will receive Special Awards for Services to the School and - let me see - yes, I think two hundred points a piece to your respective houses."

The boys' faces turned as pink as Lockhart's Valentine flowers. Ron shut his mouth and stared at the floor. Rin scratched the back of his head and stared at the ceiling. Yukio stared at Dumbledore with unblinking eyes while Harry waved his hand in front of his friend's face.

~0~0~0~

While Ron and the Okumura twins escorted Professor Lockhart to the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore spoke to Harry about how he was able to obtain Godric Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat. Shura stayed behind wanting to speak to Dumbledore after he was finished talking to Harry. Dumbledore was about to just that when the door slammed open and Lucius Malfoy stormed in. And cowering behind his legs was a heavily bandaged Dobby the house elf.

"Good evening, Lucius," Dumbledore greeted pleasantly.

"What the hell are you doing here, Papa Ferret?" Shura growled.

Lucius almost knocked Harry over as he swept across the room. Dobby was scurrying after him, carrying a rag stained with shoe polish.

"So!" he said. "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see, Lucius," Dumbledore said serenely, "the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too… Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."

Shura glared at Lucius. "Threats? That's low, even for you."

Lucius's eyes were slits of fury. "So - have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"

"The same person as last time, Lucius," Dumbledore answered. "Only this time, Voldemort was acting through someone else. By means of this diary."

He held up the small book with a large hole in the middle.

"I see…" Lucius said slowly.

Shura then toned the conversation out and let her thoughts wander. How did Riddle possess Ginny? How did that diary work? It gave the girl a temptaint, how was that possible? As far as everyone knew, one could only get a temptaint through an injury or illness by a demon or magical creature. Weasley got his from Hagrid's baby dragon last year. Potter got his from the basilisk. As far as Shura knew, Granger hadn't gotten one yet but since she was Petrified by the basilisk, Shura wouldn't be surprised if the girl had one when she was restored.

One thing was for sure, Shura needed to take the diary back to the Vatican. It gave someone a temptaint. That was something the Knights of the True Cross needed to know about. The Magic Branch could figure out how Riddle was able to do what he did with the diary and come up with a plan to stop him from returning.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked, snapping Shura from her thoughts.

Papa Ferret turned towards the boy.

"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he asked.

"Because you gave it to her," Harry answered, "in Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her Transfigurations book and slipped the diary inside, didn't you?"

Shura sneered at Lucius. "You're a real piece of work, you motherfu-"

"Shura!" Dumbledore interrupted. He then turned to Lucius. "I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them fall into the wrong hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…"

Lucius stood there for a long moment, his right hand twitching as if he wanted to reach for his wand. Instead he turned to his house elf. "We're going, Dobby."

He wrenched open the door and as the elf hurried after him, he kicked him right through it. His back was turned so he didn't know Shura was flipping him two birds.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry suddenly said. "Can I give the diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "But hurry. The feast remember…"

Shura jumped in. "If he doesn't want it, Potter, I'll take it off your hands."

Harry nodded and hurried out of the room.

As soon as the boy was out, Dumbledore calmly turned towards Shura. "You know that you need to mind your language in front of students, Shura," he reprimanded.

Shura sighed. "I know, Boss, but the fact that Papa Ferret deliberately put something so dangerous in the hands of a little girl just pisses me off!" She looked back at the headmaster. "But you're not just scolding me for my sharp tongue, are you?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "'Sharp' is putting it gently, Shura. No, I'm actually curious as to why you want the diary if Lucius Malfoy refuses it."

Shura smirked. "It gave the girl a temptaint. That's something the True Cross has never seen before. Our scientists will want to know more about it. Plus, it'll make a nice 'I-told-you-so' gesture for Arthur Auguste Angel and the Grigori," she explained. Her smirk then turned into a mischievous smile. "In fact, could you help me with something?"

~0~0~0~

Arthur Auguste Angel looked through several files as he worked at his desk at Vatican Headquarters. This was getting frustrating. Several witches and wizards had been coming forward to join the Magic Branch of the Knights of the True Cross.

Tap, tap, tap

Arthur looked up and saw an owl tapping its beak on the window. It was carrying a red letter addressed to him. He frowned at the sight. While people at the Vatican were slowly growing to tolerate their magical comrades, Arthur remained adamant that they were nothing but trouble.

Tap, tap, tap!

Arthur stood up abruptly from his desk, startling his fellow exorcists. He marched towards the window and let the owl in. The bird swooped in, dropped the letter on Arthur's desk, and flew out. Arthur raised an eyebrow at what he just witnessed and closed the window.

"You got mail," Arthur's right-hand man, Lewin Light, quipped.

Arthur sneered at his comrade. "It's from the wizarding world. It might as well be junk mail."

Lewin laughed. "Come on! They're not that bad. Their photographs move and they make a candy that comes in every flavor imaginable. Mephisto loves them."

"All the more reason to treat them with contempt," Arthur growled. He picked up the red envelope and opened it.

"HEY BALDY!" Shura Kirigakure's voice yelled from the envelope. It floated into the air and took the shape of a mouth. "GUESS WHAT! THE MYSTERY OF THE PETRIFIED HOGWARTS STUDENTS HAS BEEN SOLVED! THE REASON MY NAGAS WOULDN'T COOPERATE? A BASILISK! IT WAS A BASILISK THAT WAS PETRIFYING THE STUDENTS! HOW DID IT HAPPEN? A FORMER STUDENT NAMED TOM RIDDLE, AKA VOLDEMORT, POSSESSED A STUDENT TO DO HIS BIDDING! WANNA KNOW MORE DETAILS? I SENT THE EVIDENCE TO THE RESEARCH DIVISION!

"I ALSO SENT A VERY DETAILED REPORT TO THE GRIGORI ABOUT THE WHOLE INCIDENT! THE NEXT TIME YOU QUESTION MY ABILITIES AS AN EXORCIST I'LL SEND ANOTHER HOWLER DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME!"

The Howler then burst into flames and the two men just stared at the burnt piece of paper. Lewin then burst out laughing.

"You must've really pissed Shura off!" he laughed. "What'd you do to her?"

Arthur released a sigh. "Nothing. She's just shooting the messenger," he said.

"You mean from when you went to Hogwarts back in the spring?"

"Yep. I told her what the Grigori told me and she did not take it well."

Lewin let out a laugh. "She'd be crazy to send the Grigori one of those letters so she chose the next best thing."

A tick mark appeared on Arthur's blond hair. "How am I the next best thing?!"

Lewin smirked. "She didn't want to risk offending the higher-ups, so she chose you instead."

That didn't make Arthur feel better.

I'm trying to come up with an original ending for our heroes. I mean, we know that everyone returns to normal but what else should happen? I want the final chapter of this story to have enough oomph!

Please review and share your thoughts.