29th Of May, 1993
For a moment, there was silence as Ignotus, Harry, Arcturus, Weasley, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime. 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.
"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?" Mrs. Weasley asked them while she was hugging Harry. "I think we’d all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.
Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry. 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 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 and broke 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 his uncle's timely arrival . But then he faltered. He had so far avoided mentioning Riddle’s diary or Weasley's. She was standing with her head against Mrs. Weasley’s shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks.
After hearing the whole story, the ministry decided to give them all a special award for their school services.
30th Of June, 1993
Harry had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Harry didn’t know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward them, screaming, "You solved it!" or Justin rushing over from the Hufflepuff table to wring his hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him.
Or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), 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 Arcturus, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."
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A Different Story
FanfictionRather than growing up with his muggle aunt and uncle as Dumbledore wanted, Harry lived with his magical uncle and aunt, already knowing about magic and Hogwarts and the truth about his parents, as everyone believes in the wizarding world that the D...
