There
was little excitement at the End-of-Year Feast. Hufflepuff had won the house cup
and the hall had been decked with the Hufflepuff colours but there was no
celebrating. Prof. Dumbledore didn’t even award the cup to the house. The only
person who seemed to be in a good mood was Malfoy. He was talking and laughing
with Crabbe and Goyle – the only people who would listen to him. Harry had a
strong urge to punch Malfoy in the face but soon thought better of it.
The
house-elves seemed to be just as depressed. The feast was nothing compared to
what it usually was and not much of it was eaten. At the end of the feast
Dumbledore got up to say a few words.
‘We
have suffered terrible, terrible losses this year,’ Dumbledore started, ‘but
we must move on. It does not do good to dwell on the past. We have shown our
strength many times before. I ask you to, please, show it once more. You cannot
let Lord Voldemort win. Power never succeeds over love. Love is the strongest
and you must prove it is.
‘Our
friends will never be forgotten as long as this school lives on. Their memories
shall stay in our hearts until the end of time. Never shall anyone replace them
and win such a place in our hearts.’
After
his speech, everyone filed out of the Great Hall. When Harry was at the door
Dumbledore came over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Harry,
may I have a word for a moment,’ he asked.
‘Yeh,
sure,’ said Harry and then he turned to Ron, Hermione and Ginny. ‘See you in
the common room.’
Harry
followed Dumbledore into a room off the Great Hall wondering what Dumbledore
wanted to speak to him about. Dumbledore sat down on a large armchair beside a
roaring fire and beckoned Harry to sit on the armchair opposite him. The fire
was unneeded as it was the start of summer and it had been a warm day but Harry
didn’t really notice it – he was too concerned about what Dumbledore wanted
to speak to him about.
‘Molly
Weasley has been speaking to me recently,’ started Dumbledore. ‘She has been
pleading with me to allow you to stay with them this summer. She feels it is
only right after what has happened to you and Ron this year. She feels you both
need each other’s company. And I’m sure you know Molly can be a very
persuasive woman. It is difficult to say no to her!’
There was a glint in his eye and he smiled at Harry.
‘Thus,’
he continued, ‘you are to join the Weasleys for the summer in a week or two.
But first I must arrange a few things before you leave the Dursleys.’
‘Thanks,’
said Harry ecstatically. ‘But what have you got to organise?’
‘For
starters,’ Dumbledore answered, ‘you can’t just leave the Dursleys without
any notice. Even if they aren’t the nicest of people! Also, I made measures to
ensure that you would be in the safest state possible when staying with the
Dursleys. Arebbela Figg became your protector and guardian the day you were
brought to the Dursleys and she has been ever since. New measures will need to
be thought of to keep you just as safe at Weasleys.
The Weasleysmay be great wizards but they are nowhere near as great as Arebbela.
‘There
is something else, Harry,’ continued Dumbledore. ‘Since the start of the
year I have sensed something on your mind. I can see it in your eyes every time
I see you. You may not realise it is bothering you but I know it is. Tell me,
what is it.’
Harry
was taken aback by this. There had been something on his mind and it had been
there since the night of Voldemort’s rebirth and it continued to lie there in
a silent state.
‘Last
year,’ said Harry, ‘when Voldemort got his body back, I had to tell you what
happened. When I told you Wormtail had added my blood to the potion your
attitude changed. You seemed almost happy. How could you be happy after what had
just happened.’
‘Harry,’
said Dumbledore seriously, ‘believe me I was not happy. But obviously I did
not hide my feelings well enough! You had just told me something that could well
lead to the killing of Voldemort. You see, Wormtail took your blood, the blood
of a mortal and Voldemort’s body was made from that blood. Voldemort has the
blood of a mortal in him now and so, is now part mortal himself. This means he
can be killed. There is hope.’
‘Well
why doesn’t the Order just kill him now then,’ asked Harry.
‘Voldemort
is still partially immortal,’ said Dumbledore. ‘It would take a lot more
magic than some witches and wizards to kill him.’
‘What
will it take?’ asked Harry impatiently.
‘I
hope to be able to answer all your questions by September,’ said Dumbledore.
‘But now I think it is time you went up to your common room. It is the last
night of term after all and I’m sure the Weasley twins have some great
mischief planned!’
Dumbledore
was right. Fred and George had plenty of pranks hidden in every little corner of
the common room. Harry and Ron were afraid to touch anything in case it would do
something to them. Neville seemed to have been caught out by every single one.
The best was when Neville sat down in an armchair beside the fire after being
covered in floo powder by George. The armchair spat the unsuspecting Neville
into the fire. There was a flash of green flames as Neville screamed and then he
disappeared.
‘Neville,’
screamed Hermione. ‘George, where has he gone? What happened to Neville?’
George
couldn’t answer. He was in hysterics with Fred and most of the rest of the
common room. Hermione, however, was panicking.
‘He
could be anywhere,’ she said. ‘He could be hurt.’
She
tried to make Ginny understand but Ginny was laughing the hardest of the lot.
After
an hour the fire became a great green flame again and Neville fell out, covered
in soot. Everyone burst out laughing and cheered.
‘What
happened?’ asked Hermione. ‘Where did the fire bring you? Are you all
right?’
‘It
brought me home,’ said Neville as if the worst had happened. ‘Gran wasn’t
too impressed. I tried to go to my room but she wouldn’t stop giving out to
me. She then made me come back here. I told her there was no point – that I
was coming home but she wouldn’t listen. She said I should have thought about
that before covering myself in floo powder and then jumping into a fire.’
Everyone
burst out laughing again. Everyone agreed that it had been one of the best
pranks the twins had come up with.
***
On
the morning of the final day Harry was almost back to his usual self. He still
thought about Hagrid a lot especially when it was quiet but he was able to enjoy
his last morning. The carriages were to pick them up outside the front door at
eleven o’clock, which gave them time to do a bit of last minute packing and
have a bit of fun before they left.
After
putting Hedwig in her cage and packing his Firebolt into his trunk, Harry
searched the dorm for anything he might have overlooked. He found some smelly
socks and something that brought a lot of memories back to him under his bed. It
was the flute Hagrid had given Harry in first year. Hagrid had whittled it
himself out of wood. Harry sat on his bed for at least twenty minutes just
staring at it. It still smelled like Hagrid’s cabin. Harry was almost tempted
to play it, just to hear the owl-like sound that came from it but Ron walked in
just at that moment.
‘What
are you doing up here?’ asked Ron as Harry quickly hid the flute in the trunk.
‘Everyone else has headed down to breakfast.
‘Oh,
nothing,’ said Harry vaguely. ‘Just thinking.’
‘Come
on,’ said Ron sympathetically. ‘Let’s go down for some grub.’
They
left the dorm and headed to the Great Hall. The whole school was there and the
tables were decked with bacon, sausages, eggs, black and white pudding, cereals
and toast. Harry and Ron sat down beside Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. The
twins had a big smile on their face and Ginny was giggling uncontrollably.
Hermione was forcing back laughter while trying to look disapprovingly at the
twins.
‘What
did you two do?’ asked Ron.
‘We
wanted to leave something for the school to remember us by,’ said Fred.
‘So
we jinxed all the toilets to talk to you while you use them!’ said George.
‘They’re
not too polite, either,’ said Fred. They all had a good laugh at this.
‘Filch
won’t be too happy about that,’ said Hermione.
‘It
doesn’t matter,’ said George. ‘We won’t be here to be punished. Today is
our last day in this school.’
‘It’ll
be a shame to leave this place,’ said Fred. ‘So many happy memories.’
‘Not
forgetting bad ones,’ added George. ‘But I really will miss this place.’
‘And
I’m sure it will miss you too,’ said Harry. Fred and George both pretended
to wipe a tear from their eyes and then fell onto each other’s arms pretending
to cry heavily. The whole hall turned to look at them.
After
breakfast they headed back up to the common room and the six of them played
exploding snap. It wasn’t until it was five minutes to eleven that anyone
noticed the time.
‘We’ve
only got five minutes to get to the carriages,’ said Hermione jumping up.
‘We wont make it.’
‘Yes
we will,’ said George casually as the pile of cards exploded in his face.
‘We’ll just have to hurry.’
All
six of them ran straight to their dorms to grab their trunks. Harry shut his
trunk and picked it up off the bed and he and Ron headed back to the common room
just as Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George arrived as well.
‘Come
on,’ said Harry. ‘Let’s go.’
They
jumped out of the portrait hole and sprinted down the corridor. It was difficult
to run while dragging their large trunks but somehow they managed. They
practically jumped down flights of stairs. As they came to the Entrance Hall
they found McGonagall waiting for them.
‘Where
have you been?’ she asked sternly. ‘The last carriage is about to leave.’
They
all piled into the final carriage which was waiting outside the door. It was a
bit of a squash seeing as the carriage was only made for, at most, four people
without much luggage. There were six of them each with a large trunk.
‘Bye,
McGonagall,’ cried Fred. ‘Come give us a kiss good-bye!’
‘We
will all miss the pair of you,’ said Prof. McGonagall. ‘But I’m afraid not
that much!’
‘That’s
a shame,’ said George. ‘We’d really grown to like you over the years we
spent in your office!’
‘Good-bye,
the lot of you,’ said Prof. McGonagall and the carriage started moving down
the drive towards the gates. It seemed to struggle under the weight and went
slowly at first but once they got to the gates the carriage was able to free
wheel down the hill to Hogsmeade. They arrived at the station with only moments
until the train left.
They
hopped onto the train and Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione found their own
compartment near the front of the train. The train journey got under way almost
immediately. It was stifling hot in the compartment. Harry opened the window but
it didn’t help matters much so Hermione conjured up a fan out of thin air.
At
lunch time the lunch lady came but they were too hot to eat. They were happy
just talking the way they were. Ginny was lying on the seat leaning against and
talking to Harry. Hermione and Ron were doing the same on the other seat. All of
a sudden Harry got up and reached into his trunk, which was on the rack above
his head.
‘What
are you doing?’ asked Hermione.
‘I’m
ready to read my OWL results,’ said Harry happily.
‘Brilliant,’
said Hermione sitting up, as did Ginny.
When
Harry had retrieved the envelope he sat down on the seat again and began opening
it. Ginny looked over his shoulder. He took out the piece of paper that was
inside the envelope.
‘Well
done!’ said Ginny gleefully, reading the piece of paper while she hugged him.
Harry couldn’t believe it.
Name:
Harry James Potter
School: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Mr.
Potter,
You
have received an OWL in the following subjects:
Care
of Magical Creatures
Charms
Herbology
History
of Magic
Transfiguration
You
have now qualified to sit the NEWTs.
‘So
what did you get?’ asked Hermione. Harry handed her the letter smiling
broadly.
‘Oh,
Harry!’ cried Hermione jumping up and hugging Harry. ‘Well done!’
***
When
they finally arrived in Kings Cross Station Harry didn’t want to go back to
the Muggle world. His longing to stay among the witches and wizards he had come
to know so well was more than it had been at the end of any other year.
Harry
gave Ginny a kiss good-bye before leaving Platform nine and three quarters. The
thing he wanted least was for the Dursleys to see Harry with Ginny. He would
never hear the end of it.
Harry,
Ron, Hermione and Ginny all headed into the Muggle world together. Uncle Vernon
was their waiting but he had a strange, transfixed look on his face. He was
staring at the where the Weasleys were standing. Mrs. and Mr. Weasley were there
and so was Bill. Harry then realised why Uncle Vernon was mesmerized. The most
beautiful girl accompanied Bill. She had long silvery blonde hair that reached
almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and pearly white, even
teeth. Harry recognised her almost immediately. It was Fleur Delacour. As soon
as she saw Harry she ran over and hugged him.
‘’Arry,
I am so glad to see you,’ she said happily.
‘What
are you doing here?’ asked Harry shocked to find her in London.
‘I
met Bill when I was visiting Egypt,’ she said. ‘We are now, how do you say,
courting. I will see you in ze Weezley’s soon, I hope.’
All
of a sudden Mrs. Weasley came and gave Harry a big hug.
‘Dumbledore
said you could come and visit us in two weeks,’ she said happily. ‘We’ll
come and collect you when its time. We’ll let you know before - give you time
to say good-bye to your aunt and uncle.’
‘Oh
I don’t need to say good-bye to them,’ said Harry casually.
‘Don’t
be silly,’ said Mrs. Weasley. ‘Of course you do. Now, you better go. Your
uncle is waiting for you. Is he alright?’
‘He’s
grand,’ said Harry. ‘Just pleased to see me, I’d say! See you in two
weeks, Ron, Fred, George. See you sometime soon I hope Hermione.’
‘Bye,’
coursed Fred, Ron and George. Hermione ran over to him and gave him a big hug.
‘Bye,
Harry,’ she whispered in his ear. ‘I’ll see you soon. Just keep in mind
your going to the Weasleys soon.’ Then it was Ginny’s turn to hug him. She
didn’t say anything. She just hugged him tightly.
Harry
turned and left with Uncle Vernon. Harry felt he was with an old person who had
lost their mind as he helped him to the car.
‘Nice
girl there with the red heads,’ said Uncle Vernon. ‘Don’t suppose you have
a phone-number for her?’
‘Sorry,
no,’ said Harry trying to hold back a laugh.
‘Did
you have a nice year,’ said Uncle Vernon still sounding very dazed.
‘Yeh
it was great,’ said Harry. ‘We learnt all types of new magical spells.’
The
‘m’ word seemed to have woken Uncle Vernon from his trance.
‘What
have I told you about using that word?’ he shouted, ‘especially in public.
Do you want no meals for a week?’
Harry
left Kings Cross station with two things in his mind. He’d be leaving the
Dursleys in two weeks and something Dumbledore had said. These two weeks he knew
he wouldn’t really be alone. This summer he knew he had his parents with him.
THE
END
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