Dobby's Reward
At first, there was just silence as Arthur, David, Mary and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck, slime and blood in Arthur's case.
Then a scream ended the silence.
"Mary!"
It came from Martha Merlon, who sat crying in front of the fire. She had leapt to her feet and, closely followed by Benjamin Merlon, embraced their daughter with so much emotion.
Arthur, however, looked past then and was overjoyed to see Dumbledore there, who was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming next to McGonagall, who took big and steadying gasps, clutching her chest.
Fawkes then whooshed past Arthur's ear and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder. Both he and David then found themselves in Martha's tight embrace.
"You saved her! Just how did you do it?"
I think we'd all like to know that." McGonagall said weakly.
Martha had let go of Arthur, who looked at everyone before he walked over to the desk and placed both the Sorting Hat and the ruby encrusted sword. Even what remained of Riddle's diary.
He then started to explain pretty much everything. The whole thing lasted for roughly a quarter of an hour, about how he heard a disembodied voice, that Chrys finally put together that it was a Basilisk in the pipes, how he and David followed the spiders into the Forbidden Forest and that Aragog explained where the last victim of the Basilisk died, making them guess it was Moaning Myrtle, and how the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was in her bathroom….
"Very well…" McGonagall prompted him when he paused. "...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, Pendergast?"
With his voice growing hoarse, he went on to explain how Fawkes had arrived in time with the Sorting Hat, which gave him the sword. He didn't know whether or not to explain about the diary and how it possessed Mary as he saw standing, curled up next to her mother, tears silently coursing down her cheeks. Ultimately, he looked over at Dumbledore, being the all knowing man, who smiled faintly in the firelight, glancing off his moon spectacles.
"What interests me most…" He said gently. "...is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Mary, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."
Arthur felt relief as he didn't have to be the one to explain to Mary's parents.
"What? Voldemort enchanted our daughter? But… how?" Ben questioned, wanting to understand better as his wife was wide eyed in horror.
"The diary." Arthur said, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle, or Voldemort, wrote in it when he was sixteen and as a student."
Dumbledore took the diary and peered at its burnt and soggy pages down his long and crooked nose.
"Brilliant." He softly said. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He then turned to the Merlons, who were all stunned.
"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 the school… travelled 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 recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."
"But what does Mary have to do with him?" Martha demanded an answer.
"His diary!" Mary cried out. "I've been writing in it and he wrote back all year."
"Mary!" Ben shouted, horrified. "I thought I taught you better! I've always said that you should never trust anything that can think for itself if you don't know where it keeps its brain! Why didn't you show the diary to me when you first got it? Something that suspicious is clearly full of dark magic!"
"I'm sorry! It was with my books at Diagon Alley! I didn't know how it got there!" Mary sobbed hard. Arthur and David looked at each other, deciding to tell Ben that it was Lucius that gave her the diary later on.
"Miss Merlon should go up to the hospital wing straight away." Dumbledore firmly told the two parents. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He then strode to 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 with a kind twinkle down at her. "You will find Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice. I dare say the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."
"Then Chrys is okay?" David asked, sounding cheerful.
"There has been no lasting harm done." Dumbledore said.
Both parents led Mary out, who looked over to Arthur and he nodded back, saying that she had to tell them of her insecurities and feelings.
"You know, Minerva…" Dumbledore then said thoughtfully. "...I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"
"Right." She said crisply, moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with Pendergast and Merlon, shall I?"
"Certainly."
She then left, leaving the two boys to look at Dumbledore, slightly uncertain. What had she meant by deal with them?
"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules." He told them, which had them have chills go up their spines in fear.
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat out words." Dumbledore smiled. "You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and… let me see… yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."
Both boys felt so much joy hearing this.
"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure." He added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"
Arthur had completely forgotten Lockhart as he looked and saw him standing in a corner of the room with his vague smile. In fact, when he was addressed by Dumbledore, he looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.
"You see, Professor, when we went to get his help, we learned that he was a fraud, taking credit from other wizards, using Memory Charms to keep them from revealing the truth. He then tried using a Memory Charm on us and because he used my wand, it backfired." David took his chance to explain.
"Dear me." Dumbledore said, shaking his head, making his long silver moustache quiver. "Impaled upon your own sword Gilderoy!"
So he knew all along he was a fraud.
"Sword?" Lockhart dimly said. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He pointed at Arthur. "He'll lend you one."
"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the hospital wing, too?" Dumbledore requested from David. "I'd like a few more words with Arthur…."
And so Lockhart was led out by David, who threw a curious look at Dumbledore and Arthur when he closed the door.
Dumbledore then crossed to one of the chairs by the fire.
"Sit down, Arthur."
The boy said, feeling a bit nervous.
"First of all, Arthur, I want to thank you." He said, eyes twinkling once more. "You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."
He stroked said phoenix, which had fluttered onto his knee. Arthur grinned as Dumbledore watched him.
"And so you met Tom Riddle. I imagine he was most interested in you…." He then said thoughtfully.
That caused what Riddle said to come back into his mind and felt like he needed to talk about it.
"He was… in fact, he mentioned certain likenesses between the two of us." Arthur told him.
"Did he, now? And what do you think, Arthur?"
"I'm nothing like him. Despite the similarities, they're just surface level stuff." Arthur spat as he then remembered what the Sorting Hat said.
"But, Professor… the Sorting Hat said that I'd have done well in Slytherin and of course everyone thought I was the heir of Slytherin for a while… all because I could speak Parseltongue."
"You can speak Parseltongue, Arthur…" Dumbledore said calmly. "...because Lord Voldemort, who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin, can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure…."
"He actually put a bit of himself in me?" Arthur said, feeling dirty with this knowledge.
"It certainly seems so."
"Then… that would mean that I should be in Slytherin." Arthur then said, sounding wounded. "The Hat saw Slytherin's powers in me and -"
"It put you in Gryffindor." Dumbledore calmly interrupted him. "Listen to me, Arthur. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue… resourcefulness… determination… a certain disregard for the rules. Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."
"Because… I demanded it didn't place me in Slytherin." Arthur said as he realised what Dumbledore was trying to make him understand.
"Exactly." Dumbledore beamed. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Arthur, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Arthur sat there, soaking in these words of wisdom and how they make all the difference. Then he remembered the whole thing with the sword.
"Sir… when I pulled that sword out of the hat, I saw that it looked exactly like the swords that two of my ancestors had when I looked into the Mirror of Erised. And the Sorting Hat told me that I would do just as well in Gryffindor, just like my ancestors. Do you know what any of this means?"
Dumbledore smiled as though he was asked a question he wanted to answer.
"I suggest you look more closely at the sword." He said, reaching across McGonagall's desk and picked up the blood stained silver sword, handing it to Arthur. The boy then turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight and he saw a name engraved just below the hilt.
GODRIC GRYFFINDOR
"Not only would a true Gryffidnor pull that out of the Hat, but so would his descendants."
These words caused his brain to shut down for a split second before it activated with too many questions to ask. He couldn't believe it… if Dumbledore was right, then Arthur is the heir of Gryffindor.
"Then… who's the other ancestor with the sword?" He finally asked after a long silence.
"Think, Arthur… what famous figure is famous for wielding a sword? And for having a wizard by his side?" Dumbledore hinted.
Hearing that, Arthur's jaw dropped as he knew right away.
"King Arthur…." He gasped in shock.
"Yes, Arthur. You're a descendant of both Godric Gryffindor and Arthur Pendragon. This is because Pendragon's family started when Gryffindor fell in love with a Muggle who he saved. And ever since, the family continued on through the centuries until the name Pendragon was changed to Pendergast."
This left the two of them not saying a word for a whole minute. Arthur was mainly silent as he tried wrapping his head around the fact that he's currently holding the sword that was otherwise known as Excalibur.
Eventually, Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in McGonagall's desk and took out both a quill and a bottle of ink.
"What you need, Arthur, is some food and sleep. I suggest you go down to the feast, while I write to Azkaban, we need our gamekeeper back. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too." He added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"
Arthur had gotten up and crossed to the door. But as he reached for the handle, the door burst open so violently that it bounced off the wall.
Arthur frowned as Lucius Malfoy stood there with fury present in his face. Then cowering under his arm, heavily wrapped in bandages was Dobby.
Arthur's anger at the house elf was now instantly replaced with sympathy and sorrow now that he saw that his master was the very one that started all of this business with the Chamber. No wonder he wanted to be freed from the Malfoy family.
"Good evening, Lucius." Dumbledore greeted the man pleasantly.
Lucius almost knocked Arthur over when he swept into the room. Dobby scurried in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak with a look of terror on his face.
"So!" Lucius said as his cold eyes fixed on the Headmaster. "You've come back The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."
"Well, you see, Lucius…" Dumbledore smiled 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 Benjamin Merlon's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think that 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."
Arthur held back a growl hearing this, seeing that Lucius would go to any length to get Dumbledore out of the picture.
And Lucius went even more pale while his eyes were still slits of fury.
"So, have you stopped the attacks yet? Have you caught the culprit?" He sneered.
"We have?" Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Well? Who is it?" Lucius then said sharply.
"The same person as last time, Lucius. But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary." He held up the small black book that had the large hole through the centre, watching Lucius closely.
Arthur watched Dobby, whose eyes fixed meaningfully on him, pointing at the diary and then at Lucius before hitting his own head hard with a fist. Even Dobby confirmed his idea that Lucius planted the diary with Mary.
"I see..." Lucius said slowly, trying to look innocent and clueless.
"A clever plan." Dumbledore said with a level voice, staring Lucius straight in the eye. "Because if Arthur here…" Lucius shot Arthur a swift and sharp look, getting a glare in response from the boy. "...and his friend David hadn't discovered this book, why, Mary Merlon might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will…."
Lucius said nothing, his face becoming mask-like, seeing that his plan had failed.
"And imagine what might have happened then…. The Merlons are one of our most prominent wizarding families. Imagine the effect on their family friend, Gideon Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if their daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggle-Borns. Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise…."
"Very fortunate." Lucius said stiffly, forcing himself to speak.
Still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing to the diary and to Lucius as he punched his head. Arthur nodded, telling the poor guy that he understood what he meant.
"And I know how Mary got hold of the diary." He said, getting the attention of Lucius.
"How so?" He rounded on him.
"You're the one who gave it to her by slipping it alongside her Transfiguration book when we first met at Flourish and Blotts. I saw it with my own eyes." Arthur spat with real loathing. This made Lucius' white hands clench and then unclench.
"I would advise you, Lucius, to not give out anymore of Voldemort's old school things. If anymore of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Benjamin Merlon, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…." Dumbledore warned him.
Lucius stood there for a moment, Arthur seeing his right hand twitch as though he was wanting to reach for his wand. But instead, he turned to his house elf.
"We're going, Dobby!"
He opened the door and when Dobby hurried up to him, he kicked him through it. Dobby's painful squealing can be heard all the way along the corridor.
Arthur stood, thinking of a way to help the poor house elf. That's when an idea came into mind.
"Professor, is it alright if I give him back the diary?" He hurriedly asked.
"Certainly, Arthur. But hurry. The feast, remember.
Arthur snatched the diary and shot out of the office. He can still hear Dobby's squeals of pain, though they receded around the corner.
Quickly, hoping this plan works, he took off one of his shoes and pulled off his slimy and filthy sock and wrapped the diary with it. He then rushed down the dark corridor.
He had caught up with them by the top of the stairs.
"Oi, Malfoy!" He shouted, coming to a halt. "You forgot something!"
He shoved the smelly sock into Lucius' hand.
"What the -?" He ripped the sock off the diary, tossing it aside and looked furiously at Arthur from the wrecked book.
"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Arthur Pendergast. They were meddlesome fools, too." He said softly before he turned to go.
"Come, Dobby. I said, Come!"
Dobby hadn't moved. Instead, he held up Arthur's disgusting sock, looking at it as though it was a priceless artefact.
"Master has given Dobby a sock. Master gave it to Dobby." He said in wonderment.
"What's that? What did you say?" Lucius spat.
"Dobby has got a sock." Dobby said in disbelief. "Master threw it and Dobby caught it, and Dobby… Dobby is free."
The adult Malfoy stood there, frozen, staring at the elf before he looked at Arthur.
"You've lost me my servant, boy!" He roared, grabbing the top of his walking stick and pulled it out, revealing his wand.
"You shall not harm Arthur Pendergast!" Dobby shouted, standing in front of Arthur.
Then a loud bang rang in the air. Arthur saw that Lucius was thrown backwards, having crashed down the stairs, three at a time. He eventually landed in a crumpled heap on the landing below. He then got up, his face livid and pointed his wand, though Dobby raised a long and threatening finger.
"You shall go now. You shall not touch Arthur Pendergast. You shall go now." He said fiercely, pointing at him.
With no choice, Lucius swung his cloak around him and hurried off after making one last incensed stare at them.
"Arthur Pendergast freed Dobby! The house elf then shrilly said, gazing up at him with the moonlight from the nearest window reflecting in his orb-like eyes. "Arthur Pendergast set Dobby free!"
"I had to, Dobby. It was fair that I tried to help you." Arthur smiled down at him. "Just… promise not to try and save my life again."
Dobby's brown face split into a wide and toothy smile.
"Just one question." Arthur then said as Dobby pulled on Arthur's sock with shaking hands. "You said that this all had nothing to do with He Who Must Not Be Named. And yet -"
"It was a clue, sir." Dobby answered, eyes widening as though it were obvious. "Dobby was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely be named, you see?"
"I wouldn't have known without some other clues." Arthur told him gently. "Anyway, I'd better go. There's a feast and Chrys, my friend, should be awake now."
Dobby then threw his arms around Arthur's middle, hugging him. Arthur patted the top of his head with a smile.
"Arthur Pendergast is greater by far than Dobby knew!" He sobbed. "Farewell, Arthur Pendergast!"
And with a final loud crack, he disappeared.
Even though Arthur had been to other Hogwarts feasts, none were like this.
Everyone in the Great Hall were in their pyjamas and the celebrations ended up lasting all night. There were many moments that Arthur tried figuring out which was the best of them.
There was Chrys running to him, screaming "You did it!", Justin hurrying over and apologised endlessly for even suspecting him, Hagrid arriving at half past three, cuffing both Arthur and David so hard on the shoulders that they got knocked into their plates of trifle and how the four hundred the two boys secured for Gryffindor the win for the House Cup two times in a row. There was even McGonagall explaining how all exams are cancelled as a school treat (Chrys being slightly bummed out) and Dumbledore announcing that Lockhart won't return next year as he needed to go away and get his memory back. A few of the teachers even joined in cheering at this news.
"So he's apparently a fraud?" Chrys asked with a smile to David, who stuffed his mouth with a jam doughnut.
The rest of the summer term proved to be nothing but fun under the blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was now back to normal, though with some differences: the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes got cancelled ("of course, we've got some practice at that." David told an amused Chrys) and Lucius Malfoy was sacked as a school governor, resulting in Draco no longer strutting around as though he owned the place, in fact, he looked resentful and sulky.
Mary, on the other hand, was now back to her fun and bubbly self, which was welcomed. She indeed did tell her parents about her insecurities and she said that things will start changing for the better.
And, of course, Arthur revealed to Chrys, the Merlons and Michael McGonagall that he's the heir of Gryffindor and a descendant of Arthur Pendragon. Arthur laughed his ass off when all of the Merlons fainted in shock.
The time to leave Hogwarts came too soon as they were all now on the Hogwarts Express. Arthur, Chrys and the Merlons (excluding Sam) all got a compartment to themselves, making the most of the few hours left that they can do magic before the holidays. They would play Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Jack and Kevin's Filibuster Fireworks and even practised disarming each other by magic. This proved to be something Arthur was great at.
When they nearly reached King's Cross, Arthur remembered something.
"Hey, Mary, what exactly did you see Sam doing that he didn't want you telling anyone?" His question made her make a cute giggle.
"That Penelope Clearwater's his girlfriend."
This revelation made the twins so shocked that they dropped their books onto their feet.
"Are you kidding me?" They asked in unison.
"It's true. She was who he was writing to all summer. He'd meet her all over the school in secret. I ended up walking in on them in an empty classroom, kissing. It's why he was upset when she was attacked." She explained.
"Wow…." Jack shook his head in amazement.
The Hogwarts Express eventually came to slow stop.
Arthur then pulled out his quill and a piece of parchment, turning to David and Chrys.
"This is a telephone number." He told David as he scribbled it twice, tearing the parchment in two and handed them to his friends. "I saw that you have a phone at your home. You two can call me at the Dentleys. No contact from you guys during the summer was unbearable."
"I'm sure they'll be proud of you when they know what you've done." Chrys said as they all got off the train and joined the crowd, heading to the enchanted barrier.
"They'll be more than proud, I'm sure of it." Arthur grinned proudly.
And then together, they walked through the gateway and entered the Muggle world.
There you have it, Arthur is a descendant of both Godric Gryffindor and Arthur Pendragon.
My canon for this series is that Arthur and Uther (his father) Pendragon were wizards and descended from Gryffindor himself and were students at Hogwarts. Merlin ended up being a teacher at Hogwarts and heard a prophecy that he learned connected his fate with Arthur's. So after Arthur graduated, he retired being a teacher and would be by Arthur's side.
