CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DOBBY'S REWARD

"Dobby's Reward?" Sirius read.

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"I had recently been told my only daughter was dead and then there was a knock at the door and she walked in alive." Molly explained.

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"Not EVERYTHING" McGonagall said giving Harry a warning glare as if to tell him never to leave out important information again.

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"Nice way to bring it up." Sprout said.

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Hermione rose her eyebrows. Harry and Ron, upon seeing this, winced knowing that Hermione was going to try to outdo Voldemort in the 'most brilliant student' category.

And they'd be stuck along for the ride.

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Remus gasped and turned to the girl.

"The Transfiguration book?" he asked.

Ginny nodded.

"Wasn't that the one Malfoy Sr. picked up?" Tonks asked.

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Snape nodded having witnessed the process. Not to mention being a victim himself.

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Ginny smiled knowing that what Dumbledore had said had been in fact true.

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Ron groaned as he heard Hermione mutter something about slave labor in the middle of the night.

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Expelled for sealing up the Chamber of Secrets for good." Ron sighed to explain what he had been thinking. "And for saving a fellow student even if that student had been my little sister so I would have been down there anyways."

"You should have contacted us" the twins chorused.

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"Only you would give points for rule breaking" Snape sighed.

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"Did you have to use THAT description!?" Ron exclaimed as his brothers laughed.

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"Yes you were" everyone but the chuckling Dumbledore chorused.

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"So you knew?" Remus asked.

"I had my suspicions. After all, as you said Remus, nobody can get that close to a werewolf in wolf form and come out with a pretty face."

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"Oh please." Fred swore.

"No Slytherin would do HALF the stuff you did down there." George said.

"Nor the stuff you've done in the past,"

"Present,"

"And probably future."

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"Certain disregard for the rules is also a Gryffindor trait." Snape said.

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"So THAT'S where you got it." Remus said.

"Huh?" Tonks asked.

"It's now currently hanging in his office." Moody said.

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"That plan went a little south." Remus said remembering not having seen an advertisement that year in the paper, but rather two days after it was announced that Sirius had escaped, Dumbledore had shown up and practically begged him to teach.

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"So Dobby was Lucius'?" Sirius asked. "Figures."

"At least he tried to warn me." Harry argued.

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"I would have paid big to see Malfoy looking like that." Moody chuckled.

"I agree." Arthur added.

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"Knew it" Sirius, Remus, and the ministry workers chorused.

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"Not quite the answer he was looking for, was it?" Ron asked having been told by Harry what had happened.

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"Wait. He did all that to stop a bill?" Tonks asked. "Nut case!"

"You do realize you're speaking about your uncle right?" Charlie teased her.

"He's as much an uncle to me as Vernon is to Harry…literally, being my mother's sister's husband."

"Small world." Harry observed.

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Hermione growled at the way the elf was acting because he HAD to.

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"I was just telling him that to show him that he wasn't THAT clever." Harry said.

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"Damned right I will" Arthur said.

"Well, that explains a FEW of the words." Molly said glaring at her husband realizing that he might have said a few words in his solitary rants.

Apparently, there had been a few eavesdroppers.

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"Why?" Remus asked.

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"Poor little guy" Hermione said sadly.

"Do I need to remind you that he stole Harry's mail, got Harry in trouble using a levitation charm, closed the barrier, and sent a rouge bludger on him?" Ron asked.

"He was just trying to help." Hermione argued.

"Sirius. Read." Harry begged.

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"Why didn't I ever think of that?" Sirius asked.

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"HEY!" the two Marauders chorused.

"Well, they WERE pretty meddlesome" Snape reminded them.

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"He's free." Tonks laughed.

"Nice duping." Moody praised Harry.

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"He BETTER not lay a hand on you!" Molly declared dangerously.

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"I LOVE that elf!" the twins chorused as they, and their brothers, laughed hard.

Even the teachers were laughing.

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Laughter filled the room again.

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"Good point." Tonks said.

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"This is one STRANGE little elf" Flitwick said.

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"I think you were the only one upset about that." Ron told her.

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"I had plans for him." Ron admitted about Lockhart.

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"That had hurt" George told his twin.

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"With those two?" Bill asked pointing to the twins.

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"The End" Sirius said closing the book.

Harry and Ginny both sighed in relief.

"So…do we start book 3?" Bill asked.

"Let's do what we did for this one." Molly said. "That way any lectures can be said and everyone can reflect on what happened."