Chapter 27 A/N I don't own Harry Potter, sentences taken verbatim are not mine
Harry knocked and pushed the door open.
For a moment there was silence as Harry, Ron, Ginny, Merlin, Cassie and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Cassie and Harry's case) blood. Then there was a scream.
"Ginny!" It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter, and by extension Cassie who had still been holding her hand.
Harry, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. Fawkes went whooshing past Harry's ear and settled on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as Harry found himself, Merlin and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasley's tight embrace.
"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"
"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.
Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, who hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat, the ruby-encrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle's diary.
Then he started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour he spoke into the rapt silence: He told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom…"
"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted as she 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 alive, Potter?"
So Harry, his voice now growing hoarse from all this talking, told them about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. But then he faltered. He had so far avoided mentioning Riddle's diary - or Ginny. She was standing with her head against Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they expelled her? Harry thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore... How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all?
"The diary was cursed." Merlin provided.
"Yeah, Dark horrendous magic that should have never been invented." Cassie agreed in a small voice. "I-I realized yesterday, or earlier today, or whenever, what it really was and wrote Professor Dumbledore, immediately. I didn't know if he received it though, so I didn't have much hope. Figuring out everything was similar for me." Cassie said quietly before anyone could talk again, taking a deep breath. "I've been seeing Riddle's face in my dreams since the moment I got here in September. He was in a green-ish, dark wet dungeon and there was a red weasel on the floor, motionless. I ne-never thought it would be one of you." Cassie said, looking at Ginny and Ron. "And then I started sleepwalking, and what I wrote down those two times, I think I've known all along that it was a basilisk and that Riddle was the one opening it. You know, the toad and the chicken and 'the red cockadoodle chirp is effluved by the weasel's' or whatever. Although, I still don't understand more than the rooster in that. And the library and what I saw with Hermione and Penelope, they'd seen a great snake, but I don't know why I didn't put it together sooner, or tell one of you when I did figure it out. It all happened so fast. And then when we heard about Ginny in the staff room, I knew there was nothing else to do but go down, even if it was alone, I-"
"Cassie, your rambling in French again." Merlin said, interrupting her.
"Oh, sorry." Cassie said, looking down at the floor and blushing.
"I did indeed get your letter, or note. What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."
Relief - warm, sweeping, glorious relief - swept over Harry. "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," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen..."
Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.
"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.
"Brilliant?" Cassie repeated to herself, feeling sick to her stomach at his reaction
"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... traveled 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 recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."
"But, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with - 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!"
"Well, we trust Merlin." Cassie said loud enough for said boy, Harry and the Professors to hear, making them give a short laugh.
"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 in there and forgotten about it-"
"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "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 strode over 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, eyes twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice - I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."
"Ask for spiced orange mocha hot chocolate! It's delicious! Hermione likes it too!" Cassie told her.
"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.
"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny," said Dumbledore.
Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.
"You know, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"
"Right," said Professor McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with them four, shall I?"
"Certainly," said Dumbledore.
She left, and Harry and Ron gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore, while Cassie and Merlin looked at him calmly. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant, deal with them? Surely - surely - they weren't about to be punished?
"I seem to remember telling you that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore.
Ron opened his mouth in horror.
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "You will each receive Special Awards for Services to the School and - let me see - yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."
Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers and closed his mouth again.
"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"
Harry gave a start. He had completely forgotten about Lockhart. He turned and saw that Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.
"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "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 Dumbledore.
"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver mustache quivering. "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 mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Cassie, Merlin and Harry..."
Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at them all as he closed the door.
Dumbledore crossed to one of the chairs by the fire.
"Would you two wait outside, please. Sit down, Harry," he said, and Harry sat, feeling unaccountably nervous while Merlin and Cassie turned to leave the room.
"They can stay. Really, I trust them." he said.
"Very well. First of all, Harry, I want to thank you," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again as Cassie and Merlin took seats on either arm of his chair. "You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."
He stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down onto his knee. Harry grinned awkwardly as Dumbledore watched him.
"And so you met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you..."
Suddenly, something that was nagging at Harry came tumbling out of his mouth.
"Professor Dumbledore... Riddle said I'm like him. Strange likenesses, he said...
"Did he, now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Harry from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think, Harry?"
"I don't think I'm like him!" said Harry, more loudly than he'd intended. "I mean, I'm - I'm in Gryffindor, I'm..."
But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind.
"Professor," he started again after a moment. "The Sorting Hat told me I'd - I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while... because I can speak Parseltongue ..."
"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort - who is the last remaining ancestor 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..."
"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry said, thunderstruck.
"It certainly seems so."
"So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it-"
"Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. 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 rules," he added, his mustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."
"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin..."
"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned. "If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."
Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt.
"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry," said Dumbledore simply.
"Merlin said the same thing." Harry whispered in awe as he held the sword.
"Came across it in a book while trying to figure out the Chamber and everything." he said, swaying a bit in exhaustion.
"You look terrible." Cassie noted softly, looking at him worriedly.
"Too much fright?" he offered with a goofy smile, keeping the fake memories at the forefront for Dumbledore to see.
"Makes sense," Cassie said with a small smile and a shrug.
"As for you two, I seem to have been told you were asleep in your dorm."
"That was all Cassie!" Merlin said, raising his hands and pointing at her immediately.
"Coward!" she said, mock offended.
"I've been called worse," he said back.
"She transfigured the pillows to look like us and did some charm to make it seem like we were breathing, even left a bottle of dreamless sleep on our bedside so they would think we'd taken it. And then she put a disillusionment charm on both of us, wordless!" Merlin said, singing her praises and putting the true memories for Dumbledore to see, in case he was looking.
"Impressive! I think another fifty points to Hufflepuff, for your extraordinary talent. Not even I was able to disillusion myself wordlessly in my second year." Dumbledore said appreciatively.
For a minute, none of them spoke. Then Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in Professor McGonagall's desk and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.
"What you need 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 Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"
Harry, Cassie and Merlin got up and crossed to the door. Harry had just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.
Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.
"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly.
Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.
The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoy's shoes. Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was disheveled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore.
"So!" he said "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."
"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling 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 Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think 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."
Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury.
"So - have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"
"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.
"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"
"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."
He held up the small black book with the large hole through the center, watching Mr. Malfoy closely. Harry, however, was watching Dobby.
The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed meaningfully on Harry, he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist.
"I see..." said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.
"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Harry, Cassie, Merlin here -" Mr. Malfoy shot Harry a swift, sharp look "and their friend Ron hadn't discovered this book, why - Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will..."
Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly masklike.
"And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "what might have happened then... The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own 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..."
Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak.
"Very fortunate," he said stiffly.
And still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.
And Harry suddenly understood. He nodded at Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.
"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" said Harry.
Lucius Malfoy rounded on him, glancing in disdain at Cassie before his eyes swiveled back to him.
"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.
"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?"
He saw Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench.
"Prove it," he hissed.
"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you..."
Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Cassie distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to his house-elf. "We're going, Dobby!"
He wrenched open the door and as the elf came hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it. They could hear Dobby squealing with pain all the way along the corridor. Harry stood for a moment, thinking hard. Then it came to him-
"Do it, Harry." Cassie whispered to him, having the same thoughts.
"Professor Dumbledore," he said hurriedly. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"
"Certainly, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember…" Harry grabbed the diary and dashed out of the office, Cassie and Merlin following. They could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry took off one of his shoes, pulled off his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed the diary into it. Then he ran down the dark corridor.
He caught up with them at the top of the stairs.
"Mr. Malfoy," he gasped, skidding to a halt, "I've got something for you-"
And he forced the smelly sock into Lucius Malfoy's hand.
"What the -?"
Mr. Malfoy ripped the sock off the diary, threw it aside, then looked furiously from the ruined book to Harry. "You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Harry Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too."
He turned to go.
"Come, Dobby. I said, come."
But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Harry's disgusting, slimy sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure.
"Master has given a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave it to Dobby."
"What's that?" spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"
"Got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw it, and Dobby caught it, and Dobby - Dobby is free."
Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf, then he lunged at Harry.
"You've lost me my servant, boy!"
But Dobby shouted, "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"
There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing below. He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger.
"You shall go now," he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy. "You shall not touch Harry Potter. You shall go now."
Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the lot of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.
"Harry Potter freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at Harry, moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb-like eyes. "Harry Potter set Dobby free!"
"Least I could do, Dobby," said Harry, grinning. "Just promise never to try and save my life again."
The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile.
"I've just got one question, Dobby," said Harry as Dobby pulled on Harry's sock with shaking hands. "You told me all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well-"
"It was a clue, sir," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?"
"That's clever!" Cassie said, smiling widely. "Shame you gave it to this clueless dolt." She said teasingly, laughing at the look on Harry's face.
"Right," said Harry weakly, a small smile tugging at his lips at her words. "Well, I'd better go. There's a feast, and my friend Hermione should be awake by now..."
Dobby threw his arms around Harry's middle and hugged him.
"Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed. "Farewell, Harry Potter!"
And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.
"I'm going to wash up! No way is everyone seeing me like this!" Cassie said, turning to go down to the basement. She was stopped however by Harry and Merlin hooking their arms with hers and dragging her down to the Great Hall.
"No! I don't want to! Everyone will see me all slimy and gross!" Cassie cried, trying her hardest to get away from them.
"Nope, you are going like this and you will sit and eat fatty, greasy foods!" Merlin said, dragging her through the door and to the Hufflepuff table, Harry broke away to sit at the Gryffindor table after sitting her down next to Tommy. "You two are going to talk!" Merlin said with a warning finger pointed at the two of them before he sat down and started talking to the nearest Hufflepuff.
"Are all Hogwarts feasts like this?" Cassie asked, not wanting to talk about anything else.
"No! We're certainly not in our pyjamas!" Tommy said, choosing to respect her wishes and not talk about what happened earlier that night. About an hour later, and some tense conversation, Hermione and the others came running into the room, hugging their friends. Cassie got up and practically tackled her, hugging each other tightly. She left to hug Harry and Ron screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" What was most hilarious was Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring Harry's hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him. Although Hagrid, turning up at half past three and cuffing Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, was equally as funny. Thanks to Harry's and Ron's four hundred points for Gryffindor they won the House Cup for the second year running-Hufflepuff got second place thanks to Merlin and Cassie's four hundred and fifty points, but they were farther behind in the points anyways. The worst part, in Cassie and Hermione's opinions, was when Professor McGonagall stood up to tell them all that the exams had been cancelled as a school treat, Dumbledore announced that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news-Professor Snape included.
"Shame," said Cassie, nibbling some cake, "He was starting to grow on me."
"Yeah, right. You'd planned on changing his robes to that nauseating green again." Tommy said, bumping her shoulder gently, and receiving a small smile for it.
The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences - Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled ("but we've had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned the place. On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the other hand, Ginny Weasley was perfectly happy again, chattering away with Cassie and Merlin in the Gryffindor common room.
Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. Harry was getting very good at it.
"You know Expelliarmus really shouldn't be the spell you rely on the most, Harry." Cassie said, popping her head into their compartment.
"Leave him be, Cassie." Merlin said, doing the same. "Not every second year can do the magic you've done. I wanted to ask if you guys would like to go camping over summer? Cassie and her friends from France will be coming along and your parents can come too, if they'd like. So?" Merlin asked, somewhat nervously. "D-do you want to come?"
"Sure!" Hermione said first, later followed by the assent of every other person in the compartment.
"Great! We'll send you an owl to let you know when!" Merlin said, and then left again to go back to the compartment they'd been sharing with the other Hufflepuffs. Cassie stayed and sat down across from Hermione.
They were almost at King's Cross when Harry remembered something.
"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. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was - you know - attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.
"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.
"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.
"Liars." Cassie mumbled with a small smile.
The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped. Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Cassie, Ron and Hermione.
"This is called a telephone number," he told Ron, scribbling it thrice, tearing the parchment in three, and handing it to them. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer - he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to..."
"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?"
"Proud?" said Harry. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious..."
"Harry!" Cassie said, a small smile on her face, she pulled him in for a hug before leaving to get her things. "I'll see you! Bye! Come on, Merlin! I want you to meet the Delacours, well, Claude. Apolline went to pick up the girls." Cassie said once she had all her belongings on a trolley.
And together they walked-well, Cassie dragged Merlin back through the gateway to the Muggle world. She stood on her tiptoes, looking over the heads of the people until she found Claude, standing just over to the left of the big Weasley family that was saying their tearful hello. Again.
"Claude!" Cassie called out, pushing the trolley over to him and giving him a great hug.
"Cassie!" How was your year? Arthur wrote to us, told us what's been happening at school. You should have said something! It was too dangerous and reckless of you not to." he said, returning the hug tightly and shaking his head.
"We got the bad guy in the end. No one was really hurt." Cassie said, letting him go and looking up at him. "This is my friend Merlin!" Cassie said, introducing them.
"Well, I should say congratulations! I've never known Cassie to willingly go camping! She's usually more of a city girl."
"I noticed, but you'll love camping! Especially the way I do it. I figured we should camp somewhere in France, less travel back and forth for you, sir." he said politely.
"We'd love it! Are you going to find your way to France, or would you like to come with us? There's plenty of space at our home." Claude offered.
"I really should stop by my home, first. I can find my own way, but thanks for the invitation." Merlin said, shaking his hand amiably.
"Is there someplace we can drop you off? We have to apparate anyways."
"I was just going to floo in from the Leaky Cauldron. But thank you for the offer. I'll see you next week! Bye Cassie!" Merlin said, taking his trunk off the trolley and walking away.
"Excuse me? Are you her father? We'd like to thank her once again for saving Ginny." Molly and Arthur Weasley said, coming up to them and giving her a kiss on the cheek, making her blush furiously at their praise.
"I'm her friend's father, Claude Delacour. And what's this I hear of you saving someone?" he asked, looking at the girl astonished.
"Remember Easter how I told you all about the Chamber? Well, Ginny was taken in by Volde-
"Don't say his name!" Claude said, his voice shaking a little.
"Sorry, by You-Know-Who, and he almost came back, but Merlin, Harry, Ron and I stopped him."
"Didn't do much!" Ron said, his ear ringing with pink.
"Ron, you're the one who realized where the entrance to the Chamber was." Cassie said, "Anyways, that's pretty much the gist of what happened." Cassie said, slightly embarrassed by having to tell them.
"Cassie." he said worriedly pulling her in for a hug, "Sometimes you are too foolishly brave for your own good."
"Yes, we've been telling Ron that for two years!" Mrs. Weasley said, looking at her son. "We just wanted to thank you once again, dear. You're welcome at our home anytime." she said kindly.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley!" Cassie said with a shy smile.
"Well, we'll leave you now, dear. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Delacour." Mrs. Weasley said, shaking Claude's hand and giving her a quick kiss.
"Bye, Cassie!" The Weasleys boys all said together, following after their mother.
"Thank you. Really, Cassie." Mr. Weasley said, tears shining in his eyes once more before he, too, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left after his family.
"Nice people." Claude commented.
"The best!" Cassie said, "The twins are the ones I was telling you about. With the pranks." Cassie said, smiling at his look of pity.
"That mother has enough on her plate without adding pranking teens to it!" he said in admiration. "I can barely handle Fleur and Gabrielle!"
"Come, on! I can't wait to see them! I miss them terribly." Cassie said, taking his arm and pulling her trunk behind her while Claude pulled the other trunk and her garment bag.
"Apolline and I were thinking," Claude said after they'd walked to the end of an alley to apparate where they needed to go, "Since you'll be staying with us over summer holidays, would you like your own room? You're hardly a guest, now." Claude said, looking at her expectantly.
"I would love that! Thank you so much, Calude!" Cassie said with fresh tears shining in her eyes. Claude turned on the spot, making sure he brought her luggage along with him and Cassie, and apparated in front of a ministry official.
"Mr. Delacour and Miss Gratien?" he asked when they greeted him.
"Yes, sir." Claude said.
"Going to France, yes?"
"Yes, correct."
"Your portkey." he told them, handing them a tattered book. "Today is always the busiest day, would you two mind stepping aside for the next person?" he said, motioning behind them at the line that had formed.
"It wasn't like this on Easter." Cassie said.
"It's because this is the end-of-year holiday, Cassie. Most people like to travel. We always do so by muggle means, but I really hate airplanes." he said, showing his distaste for the big metal flying contraptions on his face.
"I've only flown once, and I prefer the portkey. That's saying enough."
"You understand me, Apolline doesn't. We had to take an airplane for our honeymoon, we missed the portkey to the Azores, so we had to go by plane. It was horrible."
At that moment the book had started glowing and the hooking sensation behind her navel pulled her up, landing hard in a second just outside the boundary to the Delacour's house.
"Welcome home, Cassie." he said, using his wand to send her luggage up to her room.
"Thanks, Claude." Cassie said, content to sit in the drawing room and read a while.
