"Does it still hurt?" asked Hermione.

"A little, but it's okay," said Ron, as he shoved a third tuna salad sandwich too far into his mouth causing the mayonnaise to squeeze out and dribble down his chin.

"Here, try one of these," said Hermione. "They're called 'napkins'."

"Thanks, sweetie," said Ron. "Ginny, you're the one who really got zonked. How's your shoulder feeling?"

"Who cares about my shoulder?" said Ginny, grinning from ear to ear.

"I guess setting the Hogwarts record for scoring the most goals ever in a single game can soothe a lot of pain."

"You bet it can!" said Ginny.

Ginny had not stopped grinning since the afternoon before. Even after she got clobbered from behind by the bludger as she flung the quaffle at a Ravenclaw goal hoop, the grin never left her face. As she fell off her broom and came crashing to the ground on her right shoulder, the quaffle had gone through the hoop, scoring Ginny her final goal of the game and giving her the school record for the most goals ever scored. She had played a simply tremendous game. It was like she was in a zone. No one on the Ravenclaw team could stop her.

All three of them had played great games. Ron had stopped almost every attempt the Ravenclaw Chasers had made to score a goal. They scored only three goals the entire game. The first one was scored when Ron was waving to Hermione sitting in the stands. The second was scored while Ron was blowing a kiss to her. And the third was scored while he was looking at Hermione's hair and admiring it. Finally, Harry had yelled at Ron in exasperation. "Ron, she'll still be there when the match is over! Now keep your eyes in the boat and play some Quidditch!" But aside from those three moments of distraction, Ron had played his best game ever.

And to top it all off, Harry got the golden snitch. By the time he got it, Gryffindor was winning by so many points that there was no way Ravenclaw could possibly have caught up anyway, but it was still fun. First, Harry had executed a perfect Wronski Feint, just for the fun of it, sending the Ravenclaw Seeker to the hospital wing. Then, a few minutes after Ginny scored her final goal, he had spotted the snitch floating just over Ginny's head in the middle of the pitch. Feeling in the mood to show off, he had motioned to Ginny to stay perfectly still. With Ginny sitting on her broomstick in the middle of the pitch and the snitch floating just inches above her head, Harry took his broom into a steep climb almost vertically high above the Quidditch pitch. Then, he turned the tip of his broomstick to face the ground and dove at full speed straight down toward the ground several feet in front of Ginny. As he was about to pass her, he turned his broomstick up again sharply looking as if he was going to crash into her but instead flew at full speed several inches over her head grabbing the snitch as he went by. Holding the snitch in his hand over his head, he flew celebratory laps around the pitch, flew back to Ginny, bowed to her, and gave her a kiss. "Big show off," she said, smiling.

The Gryffindors had carried Ginny back to the castle on their shoulders singing "Weasley is our queen," and they partied late into the night in the Gryffindor common room. The next morning, everyone slept so late that they missed breakfast. Instead of eating lunch in the Great Hall, the four friends had decided to grab some food, and have a picnic down by the lake.

For a while, all they could talk about was yesterday's Quidditch match. Hermione listened for what seemed like hours as Ginny recounted the details of every single goal she had scored, and Ron described every time he stopped the Ravenclaw's quaffle. Hermione interrupted Ron at one point to ask, "Was your job supposed to be to stop the Ravenclaw's quaffle?"

"Of course it was," said Ron. "Don't you know anything at all about Quidditch?"

"I guess I must not," said Hermione sweetly. "Watching you, it seemed to me that your job was to sit on your broomstick staring at me."

Ron ignored her, shoveled some more food into his mouth, and started talking about the backhand stop he had made with his left hand, while hanging from his broom holding it with his right hand.

Finally, Hermione had enough. "Guys," she said. "It was great. It was fun to watch. You played amazing Quidditch games. You are all stars. I am proud to know such amazing Quidditch players as all of you are. Really. I am. But…can we please talk about something other than Quidditch for just a few minutes. Please?"

"Sure," said Harry. "What do you want to talk about?"

"The Chamber of Secrets," she said. "Have you guys been thinking about it?"

"Sure," said Harry, "but what's there to think about? It seems as if someone is playing a practical joke. Both doors say 'Try the other one.' It just leads to a circle."

"Is it possible that it was the same door both times?" asked Ginny.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"I mean, is it possible we went through the same tunnel both times? The second time we took the right tunnel because we thought we took the left tunnel the first time. Maybe we got confused, and really took the right tunnel both times?"

"And all four of us remembered it wrong? That doesn't seem very likely," said Ron. "Do you remember taking the left tunnel the first time, Ginny?"

"Well, yeah," said Ginny.

"How about you guys?" Ron asked.

Harry and Hermione both nodded.

"So do I. I remember it as clear as day. I don't think all four of us would remember it wrong, Gin. There must be another answer."

"But who could be playing a practical joke?" asked Harry. "No one's ever been down there except for Salazar Slytherin, Tom Riddle, and us? I can't imagine Slytherin would have written those things on the door as a joke."

"If it's not a joke," said Hermione, "then it's a mystery. Like a treasure hunt. We need to figure it out."

"With a treasure hunt, you just follow the clues," said Harry.

"Okay," said Hermione. "Let's follow them. The first clue said, 'Try the other one.' The other what?"

"The other door," said Ron. "We did that."

"Okay," said Hermione. "Let's assume 'the other one' meant the other door, or the other tunnel. So we did that. What did the second clue say?"

"It said the exact same thing," said Ron.

"Precisely," said Hermione. "But we didn't follow the second clue."

"What do you mean?" said Harry.

"When we read the second clue, we got so frustrated that we gave up and went to bed. Do you think maybe we should have just followed it?"

"You mean we should have gone back to the first door?"

"The clue said 'try the other one'. Maybe we should have just done that instead of giving up. If it's a treasure hunt, you need to follow all the clues," said Hermione.

"So let's go back tonight and try it," said Ginny.

"I really, really, can't tonight," said Hermione. "I have way too much to do to prepare for my classes this coming week. And I need to get some sleep tonight. Especially after last night's party for my three heroes. I can't stand in front of all my classes yawning."

Ginny looked disappointed. "Don't worry," said Hermione, "I promise we'll go again really soon."

"You know, guys," said Harry. "We haven't really talked to Hagrid since that day we were in his hut, and tried to peak through his window."

"Or since the night he sang that awful song," said Hermione.

"Right. I feel a little bad. Why don't we go down to his hut and visit him again?" said Harry.

Since everyone had finished their lunch, they all got up and strolled down the path to Hagrid's hut. When they got there, Harry knocked on the door.

Wha… who… wait…hold on a sec…" The four of them heard the thumping sound of Hagrid scurrying inside the hut.

"It's us, Hagrid," called Hermione.

"Oh…wait…" They heard more scurrying.

"Er… come on in then… What are you waiting for?" said Hagrid.

Hermione opened the door, and they all walked in to find Hagrid sitting in his enormous chair at his table holding a cup of tea. Hagrid kept trying not to look at the even larger pile of old blankets in the corner of the room. But the more he tried not to look at them, the more he looked at them. They pretended they didn't notice.

"I'm jus havin myself a nice cup a' tea. Yup. Jus havin some tea. Would the lot a ya like to join me for a spot of tea?"

They gathered around the table for tea and treacle fudge.

"Where's Grawpy?" asked Hermione.

"Out playing with Fluffy," said Hagrid, looking nervously at the pile of blankets.

"Fluffy? Don't you mean Fang?" asked Hermione.

"Fluffy? Did I say Fluffy? No Fang, not Fluffy," said Hagrid. "Sometimes I say names wrong. You know how they both start with an "F" and they're both dogs and whatnot."

"Hagrid, are you nervous about something?" asked Hermione.

"Nervous…me…nah…everything is just fine," said Hagrid. "Just fine."

All of a sudden, there was a thunderous banging sound outside the hut.

"Ah, that'll be Grawpy and Fang coming back. It's just about time for Fang's afternoon nap."

The door opened. All they could see were the bottoms of Grawp's massive legs in the doorway. Then Fang came bounding in, jumped on Harry almost knocking his chair over, and then started to lick Harry's face with long wet strokes.

"Hi, Fang," said Harry, patting Fang on the head, and picking up a towel to dry off his soaking face. "There, go give the others some loving."

Fang immediately moved to Hermione, covered her shoulders with his massive paws and started licking her face. Pretty soon, Ginny and Ron were also soaking wet, and Fang trotted over to the fireplace looking tired and satisfied. He spun around a few times, lay down, gave himself one good long stretch, and fell asleep snoring on the floor.

"How's your Magical Care class going, Hagrid?" asked Ginny.

"Well, for the first week, it was pretty rough," said Hagrid. "The first years hadn't learned a thing about caring for magical creatures all year long. All they learned was that Death Eater garbage about how magical creatures are inferior, how they're dangerous, how they shouldn't be allowed to live near witches and wizards. Ridiculous stuff like that. At first, the first years were so scared of magical creatures that I couldn't even get them to pet a puffskein. But after I explained stuff to them for a while, they started to relax. Now that Buckbeak is back, I think I may start them on hippogriffs tomorrow."

The kids all looked at each other nervously. "Don't yeh all worry about it," said Hagrid. "That Malfoy boy is the only one who would be dumb enough to insult a hippogriff. These first years are a bunch of good kids with level heads. And they really listen to me. Buckbeak's not going to hurt anyone."

"Harry," Hagrid continued. "Do you realize that you are already a legend in the Hogwarts faculty. Nobody, no one, ever accomplished what you did. The other professors can't stop talking about it. Sending 70 students to the hospital wing in one class! Not even ole Hagrid ever managed to do that. And you know I've tried pretty hard," Hagrid laughed.

"Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself," said Harry with a smile.

"And what about our little Hermione," said Hagrid with a twinkle in his eye. "Everybody is talking about those French fries. People are teasing Professor McGonagall. Saying that you're a better Transfiguration teacher than she is."

"Uhm, what did McGonagall say about that?" said Hermione nervously. She loved Professor McGonagall, and thought McGonagall was the best teacher she had ever had. The last thing she wanted was for McGonagall to have bad feelings about her.

"Don't worry, Hermione," said Hagrid. "The headmistress is extremely fond of you. All she says to people is, 'Ms. Granger is the finest student I ever knew, and I expected her to be the finest teacher. Nothing can make a teacher prouder than to see her own student surpass her.'"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then an owl flew through the window and dropped a note on the table between Ron and Ginny. It was addressed to "Ron and Ginny Weasley". They both reached for it at the same time. Ginny was faster, and she tore it open.

"It's George!" cried Ginny. "He says that since we didn't send him any owls" - Ginny and Ron looked at each other with a guilty expression. They had really meant to write to George. They had just forgotten to – "he's coming to visit. He says to ask McGonagall to drop the protective charms at 8 o'clock tonight after dinner so he can apparate into our common room. Do you think she'd do that?"

"Don't worry, Ginny," said Hermione. "McGonagall may not totally approve of his methods, but she has a soft spot for him. And she was really proud of how he and Fred stood up to Umbridge. I once heard her say to Flitwick that she's got to ask George Weasley how to make a Portable Swamp. I'm sure she'll let him visit."

At eight o'clock, Ginny and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor common room waiting for George. Ron was playing Wizard Brickbreaker and Ginny was busy with her latest hobby, knitting. At first, Harry had been amazed when Ginny took up knitting.

"You have so much energy. How can you just sit still and knit?" Harry had asked.

"That's why I knit," said Ginny. "It's usually hard for me to sit still, but knitting is fun, and its relaxing, and it gives me a chance to just sit still and think about stuff. I really like it. Anyway, my mum does it, and someone needs to keep up the Weasley family tradition."

"But your mum uses magic," said Harry. "You're knitting with your hands like a Muggle."

"It's more relaxing this way."

Harry had stared quizzically at the unusually shaped lump of red yarn that was emerging from Ginny's rapidly moving needles. "So what exactly do you call this first knitting project of yours?" Harry had asked. "I've never seen anything quite like it."

"I call it a beautiful sweater that I'm knitting for my boyfriend," said Ginny. "And when it's done he's going to tell me how beautiful it is and wear it all the time proudly."

"Oh," said Harry. "Where does my head go?"

"Right there," said Ginny, pointing to a tiny whole in the lump of yarn about the size of a lemon.

"I see," said Harry. "And what are those two tiny little tubes that look sort of like straws?"

"Those are the holes for your arms," said Ginny indignantly.

"Mmm…" said Harry, peering at the sweater.

"Don't you make fun of me Harry Potter," squealed Ginny. "I'm working very hard on this sweater for you. We'll find a way to squeeze your arms into those things even if we have to chop off a bit of your arms here and there to make them fit!"

"Mmm…I have a better idea," said Harry. "What about this?" Harry waved his wand, and all of a sudden, there was a perfect, red sweater sitting in Ginny's arm.

"No!" cried Ginny. "The whole point is that I want to do it myself, without magic. With my own hands. Now put it back!"

"Okay," said Harry, waving his wand again. The lump of red yarn was back in Ginny's arms. "I'm sure it will be great."

When the first "sweater" was finished, Ginny didn't actually make Harry wear it. But she practiced and practiced and now she could actually knit wearable things. She was sitting on a couch in the common room knitting a red wand cover for George's wand, when there was a loud crack and George appeared.

Ginny and Ron leapt to their feet, and the three of them gave each other a long hug.

"Where's the rest of my welcome party?" asked George.

"Harry and Hermione don't have much free time these days," said Ginny. "McGonagall turned them both into teachers."

"Wow!" said George. "Could you imagine if Fred and I had become teachers. We could have probably sent our entire class to the hospital wing in one day!"

"Well, actually…," Ron started to say, and he burst out laughing.

"You serious?" asked George.

Ron nodded.

"His entire class?"

"70 kids in one day. It was quite spectacular."

"Harry Potter," said George. "I always knew there was something I liked about that kid."

"So how are things at the shop?" asked Ginny.

"Well, they'll never be the same, but they're okay," said George. "Angelina Johnson was looking for a job, so I hired her. She's lots of fun, and we goof around a lot. She even came up with an idea for a gag we're already selling."

"What does it do?" asked Ron.

"It looks just like an extendible ear, but you can make it say anything you want. So let's say there's someone you want to trick. You leave it lying around so they find it. Then when they use it to spy on you, instead of hearing what you're really saying they hear your voice saying, 'Nice try. It's not nice to try to spy on people.' We're selling a lot of them."

"What do you call it?" asked Ginny.

"An Extendible Ear Spy Zapper."

"Nice name," said Ron.

"How are mum and dad?" asked Ginny.

"They're okay," said George, "but they're still pretty sad. Mum pops into the store every few days at lunch time with a picnic basket and we have lunch in the shop. I think she's pretty lonely back at the Burrow."

"You get to have mum's cooking every few days!?" said Ron.

"Yup. But don't complain. You've been eating pretty well back here at Hogwarts."

"Sure, but it's not like mum's cooking," said Ron.

"Forget about food for a second, Ron," said George. "Let's talk Quidditch. I hear our baby sister is a superstar. There was a whole article about the game in the Daily Prophet. I guess stealing our broomsticks from the shed when you were little really paid off for you, Ginny. How's that old shoulder?" George poked Ginny in the shoulder. Ginny winced in pain. "Wow," said George, "you really took one for the team. Why don't you go to Madame Pomfrey and have her take care of it?"

"Nah," said Ginny. "I don't mind the pain. It reminds me of the big game."

"Ron, we have one tough little sister. And I hear you played a pretty spectacular game yourself. Except I hear you got distracted a few times. Do we need to tell Hermione to stop going to your Quidditch matches?"

Ron laughed. Then he and Ginny told George about the writing on the doors in the Chamber of Secrets and the pile of blankets in Hagrid's hut.

"I see you found yourselves some mysteries. So this is what Harry meant when he said he'd make sure Ginny didn't get into any trouble?" said George. "Wait till I get my hands on him. I'll pat him on the back and tell him I'm proud of him. Where is that boyfriend of yours anyway?" he asked, looking at Ginny. "And your girlfriend?" he added, looking at Ron.

"They're probably in the library preparing their lessons for tomorrow," said Ginny.

"Well, I need to get back to Diagon Alley," said George. "I promised Angelina I'd go to a movie with her tonight. Tell Harry and Hermione I'll catch them next time I'm in town." And with a loud crack, George was gone.