For a moment there was silence as Harry, Y/n, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and in Y/n 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.
Y/n watched them happily for a moment before he looked 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 Y/n and Harry found themselves and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasleys tight embrace.
"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?" Mrs Weasley cried in her shock and delight.
"I think we'd all like to know that." said Professor McGonagall weakly.
Mrs. Weasley let go of Y/n and then 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.
Harry turned to look at Y/n who just closed his eyes and nodded at Harry signalling he thought they would have to tell the truth of what happened.
So Harry, 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, Y/n and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died, how they 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 him as 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 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. Of Y/n duelling Riddle much to everyone else's shock and amazement.
But then Harry faltered. Y/n noticed 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? Y/n slightly worried. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore... How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all?
Instinctively, Harry looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half moon spectacles.
"What interests me." 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."
"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?"
"I'm afraid she was Mr Weasley." Y/n said now trying to give Ginny some small form of back up.
"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.
"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!"
"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..."
Y/n's brow furrowed at this for a moment.
"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, 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."
"So that means... Hermione is going to be okay..." Y/n said as he felt a huge weight lift off of his shoulders. Finally it was all over.
"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 Potter, Grindelwald and Weasley, shall I?"
"Certainly." said Dumbledore.
And so she left, and Harry, Y/n and Ron gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant, deal with them? Surely, surely, they weren't about to be punished?
"I seem to remember telling you three that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules." said Dumbledore.
Y/n just tilted his head slightly in disbelief, He and Harry had just saved the school had they not?
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words." Dumbledore went on, smiling. "You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and...let me see, yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."
Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers.
"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"
Y/n turned his head, he had completely forgotten about Lockhart. He 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?"
Y/n had to fight the urge to agree with him in front of Dumbledore.
"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 Harry and Y/n..."
Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at Dumbledore, Y/n and Harry as he closed the door.
Dumbledore crossed to two of the chairs by the fire. "Sit down, Y/n, Harry." he said, and both boys sat, feeling unaccountably nervous.
"First of all, Harry, I want to thank you." said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. "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 both met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you..."
Both boys looked at one another.
"Harry says that you duelled him Y/n." Dumbledore says now.
"I think 'duel' might be the wrong word sir." Y/n said truthfully now. "Riddle was far better at using magic than I could have ever imagined. He was on a far higher level than I could possibly achieve anytime soon. He merely played with my naivety like a owner does it's dog and tortured me with curses and mental fatigue."
Dumbledore looked at the young boy sat before with a deep gaze for a moment taking in his words.
"You are a talented wizard Mr Grindelwald. Not unlike you're great Uncle Gellert was at your age. I suspect Riddle showed his interest in you at first because of your relation to him. At that age Grindelwald was just about to reach his downfall. News of his power would have reached the ears of young Riddle who by then had already begun his own quest to acquire it."
"Is that why he sought out my parents? Because of our relation to him?" Y/n asked Dumbledore now.
Dumbledore looked at the boy with pity for a moment. "When he announced himself as Lord Voldemort there were many who joined him. Some out of loyalty, others out of fear...Some shared his ambitions for power and his ideals." He softly hinted.
Y/n just lowered his head with a nod of understanding. "I still was not strong enough to stop him though sir. Even if it was not Voldemort at his full strength, It was Harry stabbing the diary that saved us in the end." Y/n said looking down at his lap.
"It is as you say." Dumbledore said kindly. "Riddle was indeed a powerful wizard, even back then. But I think, that this only serves to prove the talent you yourself hold Y/n. There are many wizards and witches far older than yourself who would not have survived such an ordeal. To be able to survive even a one sided mocking duel with a young Voldemort...That kind of talent requires skill, knowledge, determination...and good amount of small luck."
Y/n felt a small beam of pride now. Professor Dumbledore was right. He had duelled the younger Voldemort to the best of his abilities and stayed alive. Not something most people could say.
"It is important however, that one remains level headed." Dumbledore said as if he could read Y/n's mind. "Plenty taste early glimpses of success and rush into tasks far beyond their current capability."
Y/n just nodded as he thought hard on Dumbledore's words.
"Professor Dumbledore..." Harry began now. "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 into Harry?" Y/n asked shocked.
"It certainly seems so." Dumbledore nodded.
"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 handpicked 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.
Godric Gryffindor
"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry." said Dumbledore simply.
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 both need, Harry, Y/n is some food and sleep. I suggest you both 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?"
"I only hope we can trust the next one to be competent." Y/n said to Harry as they got up and crossed to the door. He 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 a house elf.
"Good evening, Lucius." said Dumbledore pleasantly.
Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Y/n and Harry over as he swept into the room. The house elf 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. Malfoys 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 Weasleys 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.
Y/n and Harry, however, were watching the house elf. 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 neither Harry or Y/n here..." Mr. Malfoy shot the pair 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 mask like.
"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.
Y/n brow angrily furrowed now as he could understand the hints the house elf who still, behind Mr Malfoy pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.
"He gave Ginny the diary..." Y/n whispered to Harry who now also suddenly understood. He nodded at the house elf, and it backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.
"Do you not you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" Y/n asked now.
Lucius Malfoy rounded on him. "How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.
"Because you gave it to her." said Y/n simply. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, did you not?" 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 Y/n. "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 Y/n 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. Y/n quickly grabbed his shoe off and took off his sock and held it in his hand. Harry looked at Y/n confused for a moment before he remembered the house elf laws.
"Do you want to help him?" Y/n asked Harry.
Harry understanding quickly nodded at Y/n. "Professor Dumbledore." he said hurriedly. "Can we give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"
"Certainly, Harry." said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember..."
Harry grabbed the diary and both he and Y/n dashed out of the office.
They could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry opened the diary and Y/n placed his sock into the diary before they closed it again. Then they ran down the dark corridor and caught up with them at the top of the stairs.
"Mr. Malfoy." Harry gasped, skidding to a halt, "I've got something for you..."
And he forced the diary 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 Y/n's 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!"
Y/n went to draw his wand but before he could 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 three of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.
"Harry Potter and Y/n Grindelwald freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at the pair, moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb like eyes. "Harry Potter and Y/n Grindelwald set Dobby free!"
Y/n smiled as he watched the happy house elf.
"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 Y/n'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?"
"Right." said Harry weakly. "Well, We'd better go. There's a feast."
"Our friend Hermione should be just about to wake up now..." Y/n said and Dobby nodded. Dobby threw his arms around Harry's middle and hugged him first before doing the same to Y/n.
"Harry Potter and Y/n Grindelwald are greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed. "Farewell, Harry Potter and Y/n Grindelwald!"
And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.
Y/n had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night.
He, Harry and Ron settled down in their usual seats at the Gryffindor table. As he did he looked to see the seat beside him was still as vacant as it had been for weeks. But Y/n shook his head. Hermione would be cured soon. For now what he needed was good helping of his favourite foods to recover his energy. Something his stomach seemed to agree with as he felt it growl at the sight of food.
Y/n was in the middle of his second helpings when the doors to the great hall opened and he felt Harry nudge him in the side.
"What is it Harry?" Y/n asked.
"Look..." Harry said.
Y/n raised his head to see all the students who had been petrified were stood on the doorway. All of them looked as if nothing had happened to them. Hermione was stood amongst them and Y/n saw her now and his mouth opened slightly as he rose from his seat in shock.
Harry and Ron stood up as well now and Hermione caught sight of them as she grinned and immediately broke into a sprint.
"You solved it! You solved it!" Hermione beamed as she ran towards them finally reaching them.
Y/n couldn't help it as he felt a warmth spread throughout his body and he began to smile. "We could not have done it without your help Hermione...." He told her.
Hermione just opened her arms now and Y/n was the first to hug her. Next went Harry. Hermione then turned to Ron.
"Uh welcome back Hermione." Ron said awkwardly as he held out his hand and shook hers instead.
"Thanks." Hermione said as she and they all sat down now. "So, what happened exactly?" Hermione asked immediately wanting to know everything.
And so Harry began to tell Hermione about everything she had missed ranging from Lockhart's downfall to them stopping Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry didn't know whether the best bit of the feast was. Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring his hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Harry, Y/n and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his, Y/n and Ron's six hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat. Something Hermione seemed devastated to hear, or Dumbledore announcing 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.
"Shame." said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."
"I am glad to rid of him. I just want a competent teacher who knows what they are doing for once." Y/n said.
"I still can't believe Lockhart turned out to be a fraud! I feel like such a fool." Hermione said sounding disappointed and annoyed. "I'll have to get rid of his books straight away..."
"I am more than happy to offer my help in disposing them with you." Y/n said with a small satisfied smile to her as if he had finally heard the answer he'd been waiting months to hear from her.
That's when Harry realised what the best part of the festival was. It was seeing the smile that had returned to Y/n's face now that Hermione was back with them. That the four were together again.
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.
Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Y/n, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny who shared seats with the twins 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. Y/n had practically mastered it while Harry was getting very good at it.
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.
The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.
Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron, Y/n and Hermione. "This is called a telephone number." he told Ron and Y/n scribbling it three times, tearing the parchment in three, and handing it to them. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer Ron, he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to..."
"I still prefer using an owl, but I shall give it my best." Y/n told Harry as he looked at the seemingly random numbers.
"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..."
And together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world.