บท 16: 16
I didn't get any sleep.
Of course, the Ravenclaws were decent people, but it was an extraordinary case.
First, Henry was suitably tortured in Madame Pomfrey's infirmary, tested for everything, including curses, then returned to the Ravenclaw tower - and there, his classmates took charge of him.
Politely, politely, with the Dean in charge.
- Henry, please tell us what happened.
I had to.
Anyway, the guys were walking. I got interested, I went, I saw... and I won.
No, I don't think it was clever. I just got curious.
Traps?
They were all unloaded. The boys did it before me. Gryffindors, what can I say?
Voldemort?
So he confessed. He came from the back of Quirrell's head and said he was reborn. Almost.
What happened to him?
I don't know. I didn't have time to find out - what if he woke up? Anyway, the headmaster, he's a great wizard, victor of all that didn't escape in time; what's a scarecrow to him?
Yeah, a scarecrow.
If I'd been reborn looking like that, I'd have died the moment I looked in the mirror myself. Maybe that's why he's dead. Who knows...
The Ravenclaws didn't have enough of that, but then it was time to go to breakfast. And it was there that Henry realized that his department has amiable, polite and delicate people. Because when the whole horde of ruffians attacked him, the only thing Henry could do was duck behind the headmaster's back.
- Can I get that.... back in the tower?!
Too late. Surrounded by all the rules and on all sides. You bet Neville and Ron certainly didn't keep quiet. And what they might have said... brrrrr!
- Henry, was Voldemort really there?!
- Henry, he's alive!?
- Potter, are you out of your mind?!
Henry honestly wanted to answer that last question with a straight punch in the nose, but then a VOICE rang out over the crowd.
- Potter!!! Report to the Headmaster at once!!!
Henry turned around - and threw himself on Snape's neck as if he were his own.
- Professor! Get me out of here!!!
Snape lunged so hard that he knocked down a couple of students. The nearby Weasley twins seemed hurt, but the Potter didn't notice.
- Potter! Get off me!!!
- Professor!!!! Take me away!!! I want to see the headmaster!!!
Henry rightly reasoned that better for one headmaster than a herd of sheep a la Hogwarts. In fact, let him do the official version later; he's supposed to.
Snape cursed - and dragged Henry after him like a black icebreaker breaking his way through the crowd. For once, Henry felt sympathy for him.
****
Dumbledore was sitting at his desk. The phoenix was dozing on a perch.
There was a kettle of tea and lemon wedges on the table. Henry almost cursed himself. Ain't he a bugger, eh? The child had been out all night; he was hungry and needed a proper breakfast, not sweets. Especially something so... sour. It'll make him sick to his stomach...
- My boy, come and sit down.
- Yes, Professor Dumbleworth!
- Dumbledore, Henry.
- Sorry, I got confused.
- Have a seat, Henry. I'd like to hear from you; what happened in the dungeon tonight?
- You were there, weren't you?
- Yes. But...
- Did Quirrell die?
- Henry!
- What, no!? But at least Voldemort's dead?!
- Henry, you can't talk about adults like that!
- Professor, is it okay to kill children?
- Henry!?
- If it wasn't for the two of them trying to kill me, I'd be dead. But I'm dead! Good riddance," Henry reasoned.
- My boy...
- Yes, Professor Dumbleweed?
- Henry!
- I'm sorry, I'm just nervous. You don't see that every day.
- Tell me, Henry, what did you see in the dungeon?
- Shall I tell you about the traps?
- Erm...
- They were discharged before me, so I can't tell you much. They were, that's for sure. But where Gryffindor's gone, war elephants have no business.
- Henry, don't talk about your comrades like that, will you?
Snape, standing quietly in the corner, stifled a chuckle. Obviously.
- What's the big deal? I wasn't the one who broke the traps. I walked behind them, and Hermione stood in front of her, with Quirrell claiming to be the one... I told him honestly, no questions asked, I'd take Hermione and leave, but he wouldn't do it.
- Did you?
- I slipped, a rat fell out of my pocket, I pushed Hermione, and she pushed Voldemort...
- What rat!?
- Well... ...a common one with a long tail. Why?
- Why do you have a rat in your pocket?
- Did I come with a rat, professor?
And the fact that it's the wrong rat... that's the details. No need for such great personalities, or they'll get in trouble for Weasel's rat.
- Well... it fell out, you reached for it...
- I pushed Hermione, and she made Voldemort, and he flew into the mirror. And it shorted out. Lightning flashes, sparks everywhere... Professor, how many volts were there?
- Volts?!
- It was life, wasn't it?
- "Under magic, Potter," Snape grumbled familiarly.
- Very well, professor. Magic.
Henry was too sleepy to elaborate. On the other hand...
- What was this Voldemort doing here?
- The Philosopher's Stone, Henry. He wanted the Philosopher's Stone.
- Yeah, well, we have the coolest safes in school," Henry agreed. Dumbledore looked at him, his eyes twinkling from under his half glasses.
- 'Henry, I'm proud of you.
Oops!?
- My boy, you didn't chicken out in the face of danger; you proved yourself a true hero...
- Chickened out. If I'd had five minutes more, I would have run away. They just wouldn't let me go.
- You underestimate yourself, Henry!
Snape rolled his eyes. So did Henry...
Dumbledore choked on another batch of pathetic nonsense.
- Henry, we are all proud of you.
- Do I get a bonus for that?!
- Potter, do you want a bonus too? - Snape couldn't take it anymore.
Henry looked up with innocent eyes.
- Why? By the way, it's not every day Voldemort gets killed here. The second time, by the way. Could you draw a double asterisk on the bed?
- What asterisk?
- For shooting down Voldemort.
- Potter!!!
Snape was the first to rush out into the corridor, and strange noises were heard. Either the Potter was throwing up. Or maybe he was trying not to laugh out loud. Dumbledore turned out to be more challenging.
- Poppy says you are fully recovered now, my boy. So you can go to the general banquet now.
- A wake for Voldemort?
- No, a celebration to mark the end of the school year.
- What about a wake?
Dumbledore sighed mournfully.
- Go on, Henry.
- Yes, sir.
Henry walked out of the study. He shrugged.
- Well, at least they didn't ask for money for the mirror - that was bread enough. He wondered if they gave him a license to shoot Voldemort, and if so, where?
****
The Great Hall was cheerful and noisy.
The hall was decorated in the green and silver colours of Slytherin, having won the School Cup for the seventh time in a row. The wall behind the Main Table was decorated with a giant tapestry depicting a Slytherin snake.
As Henry entered, a commotion erupted; the students began to talk animatedly. He waved to everyone and sat down next to Padma Patil.
Following him, Dumbledore appeared. The hubbub subsided.
- Another school year has passed! - Dumbledore began cheerfully. - And, before we sink our teeth into our treats, I shall disturb you with idle senile chatter. What a year it's been! I hope your heads have grown a little heavier... but you've got all summer to empty them by the time school starts...
So, it's time to announce the winner. The places were distributed as follows: fourth, Gryffindor, three hundred and twelve points; third, Hufflepuff, three hundred and fifty-two; second, Ravenclaw, four hundred and twenty-six; and finally, Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two.
The Slytherin table exploded with triumphant cheers and loud stomping. Harry saw Draco Malfoy pounding the table with his goblet and saluted him. Draco smiled back.
- 'Yes, yes, bravo, Slytherin,' Dumbledore nodded. - And yet, recent events must also be taken into account...
There was complete silence in the hall. The Slytherins' smiles faded.
- Ahem," Dumbledore coughed. - Only some have received their deserved points. Let me think about it. Well, well... First off, to Mr Ronald Weasley...
...Ron turned red and resembled a sunburnt radish...
- ...for the best chess game Hogwarts had ever seen, Gryffindor House gets fifty points.
The enchanted ceiling nearly collapsed with the rapturous cries of the Gryffindors; even the stars on it seemed to tremble. Percy announced at the top of his voice to the other prefects:
- It's my brother! My little brother! He won at McGonagall's enchanted chess!
Finally, everyone calmed down.
- To Mr. Neville Longbottom, fifty points for his extensive knowledge of herbology!
Neville blushed like a tomato and snorted. The Gryffindor boys cheered enthusiastically.
- Next up, Miss Hermione Granger... for her cold-blooded application of logic in the face of a blazing flame - fifty points to Gryffindor House.
Hermione hid her face in her palms, and Harry strongly suspected she was bursting into tears. The Gryffindors were out of breath - they were already up a hundred and fifty points.
- And finally, to Mr. Henry Potter..." Dumbledore continued. There was a dead silence. - I award House Ravenclaw sixty points for his extraordinary composure and exceptional courage.
Henry took precisely one second.
It was wildly unfair from his point of view. Friends might be offended, or they might...
- I'm against it!!!
The shriek was such that the nearly Headless Nick rippled in the air with a dirty rag.
- Potter! - Snape muttered.
- Harry? - Dumbledore gasped.
The sapphires in Ravenclaw's watch stopped shimmering.
- I think we should get our ears kicked in for this stupid behaviour," Henry announced to the room. - Four clubbers meddling in the wrong places, fighting with the wrong people, wrecking the magic mirror - and they're still getting rewarded? As you wish, headmaster, but it's not pedagogical.
Henry got the last word from Liz.
- Erm... Henry," Dumbledore coughed.
- I agree entirely with my student," Flitwick interjected. - The school cup rightfully belongs to Slytherin. And this kind of stimulation of irregularities will not do any good.
Dumbledore blushed, but there was no cover. And like a seasoned politician, he threw up his hands.
- Well, Henry. It's nice to see such modesty at such a young age...
Dumbledore went on at length about the pure and high.
Henry furtively glanced around his desk.
Flitwick looked approvingly; no need for such a freebie. Fellow students, sympathetically. Slytherins, respectfully. Gryffindors... Oh, there was a distinct dislike. The heroes were put down. Except Neville looked sympathetically and almost nodded. It seemed all was not yet lost for the lad. Too bad he didn't get into Hufflepuff... well, it wasn't evening yet.
Snape accepted the school's trophy - and looked at Henry for the first time without animosity.
Dumbledore sighed but didn't argue with the majority.
Then the results of the exams were announced.
Henry got excellent marks and rejoiced - Liz would be pleased. Though what it cost him to get an 'A' in Potions - who knew? But Snape, for once, wasn't nagging. Oddly enough.
And then, all of a sudden, the cupboards were emptied, the chests were packed; all the students were given notices forbidding the use of magic during the holidays ("I forever hope they forget about them," sighed Fred Weasley disappointedly); Hagrid took them to the flotilla of boats and ferried them across the lake; here they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; laughing and chatting, and the countryside outside the window was turning green and getting tidier.
The table was alive, and well, so it was fed a bunch of sugary goodies like all-you-can-eat jelly beans as the train rushed past the Muggle towns; they took off their school robes, put on their coats and jackets, and finally arrived at King's Cross Station, platform nine and three-quarters.
But it was only a short time before they left the platform. An elderly caretaker with a wrinkled face, standing near the cast-iron archway, let them out two and three at a time so that they would not attract the attention of the Muggles, the whole crowd piling out of the solid wall.
Some called out to Henry:
- Bye, Henry!
- So long, Potter!
- Famous," Draco teased him with a smirk.
- Not where I'm going, that's for sure," Henry assured him.
- There he is, Mum, there he is, look!
It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister, but she wasn't pointing at her brother.
- Harry Potter! - She shrieked shrilly. - There he is, Mum, I can see him...
- Calm down, Ginny, and pointing the finger is not lovely.
- Weasley," snorted Malfoy. - 'Potter, will you come to visit me over the holidays?
- If you invite me.
- Consider it an invitation.
- You've got yourself a deal.
- Well, are you ready?
It was Uncle Vernon, invariably scarlet-faced, moustachioed and furious at Henry's very appearance. Aunt Petunia and Dudley stomped behind Uncle with similarly pleasant expressions.
- See you later, Henry. - Malfoy hurriedly retreated, not wanting to meet the Dursleys.
- Hurry up, boy," Uncle Vernon muttered. - I'm not going to hang around here all day.
- I'm ready," Henry replied, a wide grin slowly spreading.
Chemistry plus magic?
I wish you'd all just hanged yourselves... r-relatives.
****
Liz greeted Henry with an excited shriek, kissing him hard on the nose and pulling him away.
- You've really grown up! You'll soon outrun me!
- I'm trying! What are we going to do over the holidays?
- Try to take over the world. Can you please?
- I'm up for it.
- Then, I have an extensive program. We owe it to ourselves to go see Star Wars; that's one. I've got some fantastic fusion schemes; that's two. We'll go to Diagon Alley and buy some stuff, that's three.
- Liz, we had this thing in high school... I didn't get a chance to tell you.
Liz shook her head after the story about Voldemort sneaking into the school and the headmaster awarding points for breaking the rules.
- Henry, that's not good.
- I think so, too.
- And who's even worse. Instead of nailing you right away, one makes a speech like a cartoon character.
- He's the villain he's supposed to be.
- Yeah, but in cartoons. In real life, they shoot first, you know.
Henry understood.
- The other one's trying to get you in a fight with half the school.
- Yeah. Slytherin would pout at me...
- And the only people sulking at you... that's about a quarter of the school?
- They'll have forgotten by the fall," Henry snorted.
- Wasn't it a shame about the points?
- I don't think so. I wish they'd given me money.
- I don't like this school of yours. But all right. The study, my son; you'll be an alchemist!
- A chemist and an alchemist are power.
- That's at least a Nobel Prize! Better two, for you and me. So, pizza and a lab?
Henry smiled happily.
He was home.
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