Chapter Twenty-Eight: Righting a Wrong

Bathing in sweat, Daphne sat up in her bed, and for a moment she didn't know where she was. Her dreams had been filled with cold, stone floor, angry hissing, ghostly apparitions, and a black-haired boy and a red-haired girl being trapped, helpless, while Daphne hadn't been able to do anything but scream…

She angrily stared out into the gloom. It wasn't the first time since she'd come back from the Chamber of Secrets that she'd had this nightmare, nor even the first time this holiday, but whenever she had it, it left her shaken for quite a while.

She checked the time, and found that it was only half past three in the morning. It'd be hours yet before she had to get up, but with how she was feeling now, she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep immediately anyway.

She opened her window and leaned out, breathing in the cool air of the late July night. The first few weeks of her vacation, she'd done all of her homework and kept in regular contact with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, but as Harry had already feared on the train back to London, he hadn't been able to send any letters to his friends. It bothered her.

She knew that Ron and Hermione had a way of getting in touch with him, but according the letters Ron and Ginny had sent her separately, Ron's attempt to use it hadn't gone quite as they had hoped.

A couple of times, Daphne had wanted to send Finny to go and check on Harry, but she felt there wasn't enough justification to do it. Last time, Harry's silence had been unexpected. This time, he'd told everyone it was likely to happen. And she didn't want to risk Finny's safety for nothing, either. If one of the Muggles saw her, Harry would get in trouble, but Finny might, as well, even though Daphne knew Harry wouldn't betray her.

A soft breeze blew in through the window, and Daphne looked up at the dark sky. Something seemed to be moving through the air, and it appeared to be headed directly to the Greengrass manor. Daphne frowned. Who would be sending mail at this time of night?

To her great surprise, the owl landed in her windowsill and held out its leg, to which a small note was tied. When she realized where the owl had most likely come from, her eyes widened in realization.

She quickly took the note off the owl's leg, who gave a dignified hoot and flew back into the night. The handwriting on the note was long and looping, and Daphne opened the note, reading it by the light of a candle.

"Dear Miss Greengrass,

What a very interesting proposal. I must say that I had not expected a student to do something so generous. As it happens, I think it would be rather useful to Hagrid in the coming year — though you will find out what I mean by that in due course. You may owl him at your convenience to set a date. Had school been in session, I would have granted you points for asking permission first, but I daresay you'll earn a fair few during the year, regardless.

Most sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore"

Daphne smiled. Despite some of the misgivings she had regarding Dumbledore's inattentiveness with the Chamber of Secrets, she was glad that he at least seemed to be amenable to this idea. She wished that the Hogwarts owl had waited a bit longer, so she could have sent a note back with it, but maybe Styx would be in his aviary.

She quickly wrote a note Hagrid, asking him if he'd be able to meet her in Diagon Alley on relatively short notice, and that she'd tell him what it was about when she saw him.

With the note written, she went outside, into the aviary. The night was cool, but pleasant, so the fact she was only wearing a thin nightshirt didn't bother her at all. The cool grass felt nice against the soles of her feet.

When she entered the aviary — being extra careful not to step in any droppings, given she was barefoot — Styx flew down from above immediately. He was her parents' personal owl. Their other four owls, Lethe, Acheron, Phlegethon, and Cocytus, were nearly always busy on business, and by the looks of it they weren't here this night, either.

"Take this note to Hagrid, okay, Styx?" Daphne whispered.

Styx hooted, then spread his dark wings and soared into the night. Daphne made her way back inside slowly, relishing every step outside in the fresh air after her dreams of confined, dark rooms.

When she entered the solarium and wanted to go back up to her room, someone said, "You're up late. Or early, depending on how you look at it."

Daphne jumped, and Mum laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I heard you going downstairs, so I wanted to check up on you," she said.

"Just…sending a letter," Daphne said.

"Because of course, that couldn't wait until tomorrow morning," Mum said jokingly.

"I…I was up anyway," Daphne said softly, looking away.

"The same dream again?" Mum asked.

Daphne nodded. She had told her parents everything that had happened, even that she'd faced Voldemort himself, and that Lucius Malfoy had been to blame for getting him back into Hogwarts in the first place. Sadly, without any proof, her parents would be unable to do anything to him, but both of them had promised her that if they ever saw a chance, they'd take it.

Mum got up and threw her arms around Daphne, who didn't struggle like she might usually do if her parents were being a bit too affectionate.

"I'm still amazed you were so brave, you know," Mum said. "Dad and I never…when he was powerful, we…we didn't try to stop him. We weren't on his side, but we didn't do anything to help, either."

Daphne looked up and saw that Mum looked troubled.

"And you've already stood face to face with him twice. This time, you even fought him. I'm not saying I'm happy you had to face him at all, but…I don't think you'll ever really understand how proud Dad and I are of you."

When she said that, Daphne suddenly remembered something Riddle had told her in the Chamber of Secrets.

"When I was there…" she said hesitantly. "Voldemort told me that I would never live up to the greatness of my family heritage. And…he knew Grandpa Richard, too. Was Grandpa…?"

Mum smiled knowingly. "I don't think he knew your grandfather all that well, if he believed Grandpa Richard was a blood purist. He was the first one in the family to turn away from it, I think, though Dad would know that better. He said it was because of something at school…"

Daphne and Mum looked at each other, both wondering the same thing. Had Voldemort himself turned a Slytherin family away from being blood purists? If so, she had to thank him. If it hadn't been for that, Daphne would never have befriended Harry, Hermione, and Ron. She might even have been friends with Malfoy. She shuddered at the thought.

"I should probably get back to bed," Daphne said after a moment.

"Probably," Mum agreed. "But you know, if something's bothering you…you can always talk to us, right?"

Daphne smiled. "I know, Mum. Thanks."

Late the next day, Daphne received a note back from Hagrid that he'd have time to meet her in Diagon Alley the day after, so after sending back her confirmation, Daphne finally told her parents about her plan. They were immediately supportive and told her to pass along their regards, and the next morning, Daphne Flooed over to the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with Hagrid.

"Mornin', Daphne," he said with a huge grin. "I was mighty surprised ter see yer note. Doesn' happen much that the students want ter meet up in the holidays."

Daphne grinned back. "Well, there's a first time for everything," she said brightly. "My parents told me to say hi, by the way."

"How've they bin?" Hagrid asked.

Daphne told him that Dad was often busy at the Ministry, mainly the Department of Mysteries, while Mum managed and trained a professional Quidditch team, the Suffolk Scourges, who had nearly taken the championship twice since she'd come on as their manager, as well as both of them fulfilling Noble House duties in the Wizengamot.

Hagrid nodded appreciatively. "Good ter hear they're doin' alright, then," he said. "So where're we goin', anyway?"

"You'll see," Daphne said with a grin.

She led Hagrid through Diagon Alley, until they eventually reached their destination: Ollivander's store.

"We're here," Daphne said.

Hagrid looked at Daphne with wide eyes. "Yeh don' mean…"

"Sure do. I even asked Dumbledore if I could do this for you and he agreed," Daphne said.

She grew more serious and said, "You were wrongfully expelled, and I don't think you've ever been compensated for it. So I think at the very least, you deserve to get a new wand."

"An' Dumbledore…"

"Said it was an interesting proposal and that you might find it useful, though he didn't say why," Daphne confirmed.

Hagrid was speechless, and Daphne could see his eyes were getting watery.

They went into the store. "Good morning," Ollivander said. "Ah, Miss Greengrass, cypress, eleven-and-a-quarter inches, unicorn hair, correct?"

Daphne nodded.

"And Hagrid, oak, sixteen inches, dragon heartstring…broken when you were expelled," Ollivander finished darkly.

"And that's why we're here," Daphne said quickly. "To get Hagrid a new wand."

Ollivander gave Hagrid a curious look, and then said, "Well, I'm sure we have the right wand for you…let me take your current measurements…"

Muttering, Ollivander pulled out a magical tape measure and began to measure the length of Hagrid's arm, fingers, circumference of his wrist, and many other ones Daphne couldn't imagine being important, like the distance between his nostrils. She vaguely recalled sneezing the tape measure out of the air when it had attempted to do that to her.

Ollivander began to take out several boxes and had Hagrid try a number of them, until eventually, a rain of sparks shot out from one of them.

"Ah, yes. Fifteen-and-a-half inches, pear, with a core of phoenix feather. Springy, yet highly resilient. A fantastic wand for a loyal, good-natured person who wishes nothing but the best for those close to him. A good fit for you, Hagrid, I think," Ollivander said.

Hagrid looked like he couldn't believe that after all the years where his old, broken wand had been hidden inside his umbrella, he was finally holding a real one again.

"It's beautiful," he said tearfully.

Daphne smiled and paid for the wand, and not much later they stood outside again.

"I can' believe yeh did this fer me, Daphne," Hagrid said. "Yeh've no idea what this means ter me."

Daphne smiled at him. "You deserve it, Hagrid, you really do. I hope it'll help you with…whatever mysterious thing Dumbledore will think it'll help you with."

Hagrid dried his eyes and smiled mysteriously. "Yeh'll find that out when the new year begins. Come on, lemme buy you an ice cream…least I could do after what yeh just did fer me…"

They set off for Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and passed Flourish and Blotts on the way there, where the owner was battling with what appeared to be cage full of biting books.

Daphne and Hagrid stared at him for a moment, and then he said, "Hang on, I need ter help him for a second…"

Hagrid strode over to the book salesman and talked to him for a moment. The owner stepped back and Hagrid opened the cage. One of the books immediately leapt at him, but with an enormous hand he simply scooped it out of the air and stroked the spine, after which the book allowed Hagrid to leaf through it.

He exchanged a few more words with the owner, and then came back looking a bit distraught. "Those books aren' that bad, are they?" he asked.

"Er, I don't know? We haven't gotten our book lists, yet," Daphne said.

"Ah, well, that'll be one on the list," Hagrid said with a wave in the direction of the book cage. "Yeh need ter pet it ter open it, but I though' that was obvious…"

"Hagrid, some things that are obvious for you really aren't for us," Daphne said. "Especially since you're a lot bigger and stronger than we are."

Hagrid looked thoughtful. "Hmm, yeh may be righ'…I'll need ter keep that in mind when…well, never mind. Let's go get that ice cream," he said.

Daphne and Hagrid spent a while outside, enjoying the sun and eating ice cream. When they said goodbye later on, Hagrid told her to look forward to the new school year, and Daphne was beginning to have an idea of what might happen. To not take Hagrid's big moment away from him, though, she pretended not to have a clue.

A few days later, she saw a picture of the Weasleys in the Daily Prophet. They'd won the seven hundred Galleon draw, and would be spending a month in Egypt visiting Bill, the eldest brother, who worked there as a curse breaker.

Both Ron and Ginny wrote her letters informing her of their luck as well, as well as the news that Percy had made Head Boy. Daphne wrote back to both of them, telling them to congratulate Percy from her — since she expected that Ron might 'forget' to do it — and to ask if Bill had any experience with curses that caused misfortune, explaining that she knew someone afflicted by one, and hoped Bill might know how to break it.

It seemed like her vacation was going very well…and then, on Harry's birthday, the news came out that Sirius Black, who had been convicted of the murder of twelve Muggles, had broken out of Azkaban.

She knew the name Black very well, and knew it had been one of the darkest families, comparable to the Malfoys in their desire for blood purity. Narcissa Black had even married into the Malfoy family.

But Sirius, as far as Daphne knew, had been disinherited by his parents. Had his killing of those Muggles been an attempt to get back into their good graces?

But what bothered her worse was that she knew she'd heard the name Black before in relation to Harry. Someone at Hogwarts had mentioned it. Had it been Dumbledore? Hagrid? It annoyed her that she couldn't remember exactly when it had been mentioned but the news gave her a very bad feeling regardless. If it was connected to Harry at all, he might be in danger.

What if Black was a follower of Voldemort? Surely, killing Harry would be high on his list of priorities, wouldn't it? And Harry was at the house of his Muggle relatives, unaware he might be in danger… Just like the year before, she felt she had to do something.

"Mum? Did you see that article in the Daily Prophet?" she asked.

"You mean about Sirius Black? Yes, I read it," Mum said darkly. "Why?"

"Do you think…do you think he might go after Harry?"

"I don't think he would know where to find him, but I wouldn't put anything past him," Mum said. "He's broken out of Azkaban of all places. He's clearly very dangerous. I presume you want to ask if Harry could stay here for the rest of the summer, then? Because it's much less likely that he'll be in direct danger here?"

Daphne nodded. "Yes. It's not like we don't have room for it, right?"

Mum laughed. "More than enough. If he wants to stay here, he can, of course. Given what he's done for the wizarding world already, it would be strange if we denied him that."

Daphne thanked Mum and headed up to her room. "Finny?" she called.

The House-Elf appeared immediately. "Yes, Mistress Daphne?"

"Could you go and check up on Harry Potter for me, please? I want you to ask him if he'd like to spend the rest of the summer vacation here. Tell him he might be in danger and that I'll explain when I see him. Oh, and…don't be seen by the Muggles, if you can."

Finny nodded. "Yes, Mistress Daphne. Finny will go talk to Harry Potter at once."

With a crack, she Disapparated. Just like the year before, it didn't take Finny very long to return with news.

"Harry Potter says he would love to stay here. But he says he cannot leave, as his aunt is visiting and 'she hates me more than my uncle does'," Finny said, imitating Harry's voice on the last bit. "Harry Potter says that his relatives pretend they send him to 'St Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys'. Finny believes that Harry Potter said that to emphasize how much they hate him."

Daphne sighed. By the name of the school, it probably wouldn't be good. They would have to go and get him. But arriving in a flying car would probably not be the best thing to do, as the Weasleys had proven the year before. The safest thing would probably be to Apparate, which Daphne obviously couldn't do. Side-Along Apparition would work, but then her parents would have to be willing to dress up as Muggles to go and get him.

She thanked Finny for her work and went back downstairs.

"Mum? Do you think we can go and pick Harry up? We'd need to dress as Muggles, though."

"Shouldn't be a problem, I think. Dad should be home around six. I'll Floo him to tell him he needs to bring home some Muggle clothes. It's been a while since we last had to do that, though. I think it was for the Quidditch World Cup in '82."

Mum smiled at the memory. "What a match that was. Romankov was scoring shot after shot but Gonzalez hit that Bludger like you wouldn't believe and then Alvarez took the Snitch…"

"Yeah, I get it," Daphne said with a roll of her eyes.

Mum shook her head in exasperation. "Harry plays Quidditch, right? At least I'll have someone to talk to about it then."

"Your job is Quidditch!" Daphne said.

"So? It's the best sport in the world, obviously I like to talk about it," Mum said.

"Bonkers, the lot of you…" Daphne said.