Dobby's Reward

For a moment they stood in the doorway and there was a shocked silence as four sets of eyes took in the muck, slime and blood that the five of them were covered in. Then there was a scream.

'Ginny!'

Mrs Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fireplace, leapt to her feet and, along with Mr Weasley, flung themselves on their daughter.

Fawkes flew off to sit on Dumbledore's shoulder, who was standing by the mantelpiece, smiling. Professor McGonagall next to him, clutching her chest. Harry and Ron were pulled into Mrs Weasley's embrace, leaving Sherlock to awkwardly fiddle with the Sorting Hat in his hands.

'You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?'

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

Mrs Weasley let go of Harry and he and Sherlock approached the desk, laying the sword and the Sorting Hat upon it. Harry then pulled out what was left of Riddle's diary and placed it down. He took a deep breath and began to tell the room everything that had transpired that year. Sherlock paid close attention, trying to fill in the blanks in his memory.

'Very well,' said Professor McGonagall, 'so you found out where the entrance was – breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add – but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?'

So Harry, his voice growing hoarse, described Fawkes's and Sherlock's timely arrival and the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. He faltered and Sherlock glanced at him. So far he had avoided mentioning Ginny's role in these events.

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

'W-what's that?' said Mr Weasley 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 quickly, holding it up to show them. 'Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen.

'Brilliant,' Dumbledore said softly, taking the diary. 'Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen.'

He turned to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

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

'But Ginny,' said Mrs Weasley, 'what's our Ginny got to do with him?'

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

'Ginny!' said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. 'Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told 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 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 got me. I th-thought someone had just left it there and forgotten about it.'

'Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing straight away,' Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. 'This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort.'

He strode over to the door and opened it.

'You will find Madam Pomfrey still awake. She's just getting ready to give out the Mandrake juice – I dare say the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment.'

'So Hermione's okay!' Ron said brightly.

Dumbledore stopped Ginny on her way out.

'I hear Castiel makes a delicious hot chocolate. No doubt he will make you some if you ask.'

Mr and Mrs Wealey left with Ginny, still looking deeply shaken.

'You know, Minerva,' Dumbledore said thoughtfully, 'I think all of this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go alert the kitchens?'

'Right,' Professor McGonagall said crisply. 'I'll leave you to deal with these three, shall I?'

'Certainly,' said Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall closed the door behind her.

'I seem to remember telling you that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules,' said Dumbledore.

Sherlock froze. He couldn't remember anything of the sort.

'When did you say that?' he asked quickly.

'Apologies, Sherlock, you weren't there. However, it is of no matter, as these events just go to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words,' Dumbledore went on, smiling. 'All three of you will receive Special Awards for Services to the School and – let me see – yes, I think two hundred points for each of you, for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.'

Ron flushed bright pink and Fawkes suddenly lifted himself off of Dumbledore's shoulder to settle back on Sherlock's.

'It seems that Fawkes has taken a liking to you,' Dumbledore said. 'I would have thought you would have a lot more to say about these goings on, Sherlock.'

Sherlock looked down.

'My experience of this year is not very reliable,' he said quietly.

'How so?'

Sherlock sighed.

'I discovered Professor Lockhart to be a fraud and he's been using Memory Charms on me ever since.'

'I see,' Dumbledore said seriously. 'Speaking of which, one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure. Why so modest, Gilderoy?'

Sherlock twisted around in his seat and saw Lockhart sanding in the corner of the room, wearing a vague smile. Sherlock had totally forgotten he was there. When Dumbledore addressed him, he looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.

'Professor Dumbledore,' Ron said hastily, 'there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart- '

'Am I a Professor?' said Lockhart in mild surprise. 'Goodness, I expect I was hopeless, was I?'

'He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired,' Ron explained quietly to Professor Dumbledore.

'Dear me,' said Dumbledore, shaking his head. 'Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!'

'Sword?' said Lockhart dimly. 'Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though.' He pointed at Harry 'He'll lend you one.'

'Would you two mind taking Professor Lockhart and Fawkes up to the hospital wing?' Dumbledore said to Ron and Sherlock. 'Madam Pomfrey needs some phoenix tears, and I'd like a few more words with Harry…'

Ron and Sherlock didn't encounter anyone on their way up to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey was very happy to see Fawkes.

'Bring him over here,' she said, dragging Sherlock over to the large cauldron at the end of the ward.

Ron left Lockhart standing alone and went over to his parents and they hugged him again.

'Ron!' a relieved voice said.

It was Castiel.

'Your parents told us what happened,' he said.

He then moved over to Ginny and gave her a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Ginny took a sip and smiled.

'Dumbledore said you were good at these,' she said.

Castiel blushed slightly.

'Well, you can have as many as you like.'

Sherlock was still stood with Madam Pomfrey. Fawkes had refused to move from Sherlock's shoulder, so she was instead trying to catch his tears in a phial. She soon seemed satisfied and Sherlock looked around at the ward. All of the curtains had been taken down, revealing all of the Petrified people, including Nearly-Headless Nick, floating in the corner. Sherlock went to sit by John and watched the room. Madam Pomfrey called Castiel over and together they filled up some small phials of potion.

'Remember, in the mouth or ear,' said Madam Pomfrey.

She moved Lockhart to an empty bed and out of her way. Together she and Castiel took a side of the room each and distributed the potion. Soon, all of the victims had received some potion, save for Nearly-Headless Nick. Castiel eventually came up with the idea of a spray bottle and gave him a good spray with the potion all over. Once she had finished, Sherlock beckoned Madam Pomfrey over.

'Is- is there anything you can do about reversing Memory Charms?' he asked hesitantly.

Madam Pomfrey considered it for a moment.

'I can give you a potion that will encourage memories to return, but it all depends on the strength and frequency of the charms. Whether they will or not is entirely up to chance,' she told him.

She pulled some soft green potions out of her cupboard and handed them to him.

'Three drops a day and we'll see how it goes.

'Thank you,' he said.

Soon after, gasps ran through the ward as the victims began to unfreeze. Sherlock watched as John's limbs loosened and dropped against the mattress. He groaned loudly and pushed himself up.

'Whoa. Why do you have a bird?' he said as he caught sight of Fawkes.

'It's a long story.'

'I bet.'

John's eyes began to water and sting and his eyelids fluttered. Madam Pomfrey went around handing out eye drops to the people that had been frozen with their eyes open and then went to her office to revive Mrs Norris.

'You look really gross,' John commented, rubbing his neck.

Sherlock chuckled.

John picked up the mirror that he had been found holding, hopped off his bed and walked over to Ginny.

'Thank you,' he said, handing her the mirror.

Tears started running down her face again.

'Hey, don't cry, I'm okay! Everything's okay, Ginny,' John told her gently.

Ginny nodded, struggling with herself and John looked down into her mug.

'Hey, Castiel, I think we need a refill over here.'

'Of course,' Castiel smiled, taking the mug from her.

Ginny giggled weakly and gave John a weak hug. He, Ron and Sherlock then went to talk to Hermione, who had also woken up, and were joined by Castiel once he had returned Ginny's mug to her. John shook his head.

'She told me everything when I caught up with her and gave me the mirror before she was possessed. I couldn't have escaped and she saved me. She's not in any trouble, is she?'

'No, she's not,' said Sherlock.

Hermione looked up and down the slime-covered Ron and Sherlock.

'I think you'd better tell us what happened,' she said.

So he did, much in the same way Harry had done in Professor McGonagall's office, with a little help from Ron. Hermione, John and Castiel all paled when Sherlock told them the true identity of Tom Riddle.

'Are you sure it's him?' Hermione said in hushed tones.

'Dumbledore seemed pretty sure,' Ron said grimly.

'Ron, come on, we're going down to the feast,' Mrs Weasley called.

'I'll see you in a bit,' he said, hurrying after his parents.

Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping the previously Petrified in the ward until she had finished checking them all over. They all began to filter out and just as the four of them were getting ready to leave, there was a loud crack and Dobby the house elf appeared in the middle of the room, wearing one black sock along with his old pillowcase. He saw Castiel and squealed, running at him and hugging him tightly.

'Harry Potter freed Dobby! Dobby is free!' he said excitedly.

'That's amazing, Dobby!' Castiel said.

He knelt down in front of Dobby.

'Now that you're a free elf, I have a gift for you.'

He pulled a plain blue tie out of his pocket and tied it around Dobby neck.

'There, now don't you look handsome.'

Dobby's large eyes filled with tears.

'Castiel is too kind. Dobby is lucky indeed!' he wailed. 'Dobby must go. Dobby must find a new master.'

'Wait a moment, Dobby. May I ask you who your previous master was?' Castiel probed.

Dobby trembled and gulped.

'My masters were the Malfoys, sir.'

Castiel grimaced.

'I thought so. I wish you luck, Dobby, and I hope to see you soon.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Dobby bowed deeply and disappeared again with a loud crack.

'That was weird,' said John. 'You just walk around with a tie in your pocket?'

Castiel shrugged.

'It's Gabriel's. I'm sure he won't mind.'

Hermione, Sherlock, John and Castiel made their way down to the Great Hall and saw Hagrid coming in the main entrance.

'Hagrid!' Castiel exclaimed delightedly.

They hurried down the steps, Fawkes flying away back to Dumbledore's office when they hit the bottom, and were all squeezed tightly by Hagrid.

'It's good to see you, Hagrid,' Jon grinned.

'An' you. Come on, let's go in. I got a bone ter pick with Harry.'

Together they entered the Great Hall and were faced with the most unusual feast they had ever been to. Everyone was in their pajamas and the celebrations lasted all night. Justin and the other Hufflepuffs apologised profusely to Harry for suspecting them, Molly giving John a small wink as they did so, and the four hundred points Ron and Harry had received secured Gryffindor the House Cup, as well as Sherlock's getting second place for Ravenclaw, for the second year running. Professor McGonagall announced that they exams had been cancelled and Dumbledore told them all that Lockhart would be unable to return next year.

The rest of the summer term passed in a blaze of sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal, with a few exceptions. Defense Against the Dark Arts classes had been cancelled, and Draco Malfoy no longer strutted around like he owned the place, due to his father being sacked as governor.

Soon it was time to board the Hogwarts Express. The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, John, and Sherlock all managed to get a compartment together, while Castiel disappeared off down the train with Gabriel. After spending the journey playing Exploding Snap and practicing disarming each other while they could still use magic, Harry remembered something as they approached King's Cross.

'Ginny- what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?'

'Oh, that,' said Ginny, giggling. 'Well, Percy's got a girlfriend.'

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head.

'What?'

It's that Ravenclaw Prefect, Penelope Clearwater,' said Ginny. 'I caught them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she'd been attacked. You won't tease him, will you?'

'Wouldn't dream of it,' said Fred, looking as if Christmas had come early.

'Definitely not,' said George, sniggering.

The train slowed to a stop and they disembarked at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, barely getting a chance to wave goodbye to Gabriel before he was whisked away. They went through the barrier in pairs and when they were through, John turned to Sherlock.

'I'm sorry about what Lockhart did to you,' he said.

Sherlock shook his head.

'There's nothing you could have done.'

'Well, I'm glad you're yourself again,' John smile, hugging Sherlock tightly. 'Okay, I'm off. See you soon.'

John ran off to his family and Sherlock watched him go until he grudgingly went over to Mycroft, who was waiting stiffly.

'You've got some explaining to do, little brother,' he said disdainfully.

'Stuff it, Mycroft,' Sherlock said sharply.

Mycroft tutted and rolled his eyes, and together they got into the Ministry car and drove off.

Thanks to TsubasaKEI, Mangaka Shuzen and everyone else that reviewed, favourited and followed throughout this story. I love you all and I hope you are enjoying the series so far.

A note on Prisoner of Azkaban: I already have the whole thing planned out with a timeline, so hopefull it'll come across a little more structured. As with before, I will add a preview chapter here for those that want to follow the story but not me, and, yes, Dean will be making an appearance above a cameo :D I know it's been a long wait but hopefully it'll be worth it.

See you all soon, bye for now!