Daisy Potter and the Heir of Slytherin (Book 2, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 17 - Dobby and the Kiss

Harry pushed the door open. For a moment, there was silence as Harry, Ron, Draco, the twins, Lockhart, Terry, and I stood in the doorway, covered in muck, slime, and in my case, ink and blood.

Then there was a scream.

"DAISY!" Aunt Petunia, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire, leapt to her feet, followed closely by Dudley.

Uncle Vernon gave one last glance of disgust around at all the magical artefacts and jumped up too.

Terry set me down on my feet gently. I swayed slightly, then my three family members flung themselves on me.

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 us and settled on Dumbledore's shoulder.

"How did you do it?" Dudley asked, astounded. "I don't even fully understand the Chamber of Thingy story, how you got out of there alive is a whole different thing."

Harry started telling them all about his side of the story, leaving out about the diary. He explained to us about hearing the voices, about Hermione realising that it was a Basilisk, how he and Ron had followed the spiders into the Forest, how we worked out the mystery ...

"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 told them all about Fawkes and I about the sword coming out of the Sorting Hat.

Harry and I glanced nervously at each other. With the diary destroyed, how could we prove that it was Riddle who made me do all those things?

"What interests ME most," Dumbledore said gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Daisy, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

Relief - warm, sweeping, glorious relief - swept over me. But I felt the tears running down my cheeks. I was KIDNAPPED by him. I was USED by him. I was CONTROLLED by him. I felt violated ... dirty.

"W-what's that?" Aunt Petunia said in a stunned voice. "That wizard terrorist? En-enchant DAISY? But Daisy's not ... Daisy hasn't been ... has she?"

"It was this diary." Harry said 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. 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 ... travelled 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 recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But Daisy," Uncle Vernon said, "what's our Daisy got to do with - with - HIM?"

"His d-diary!" I sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year -"

"But Daisy!" George said. "We told you that you shouldn't talk to it anymore, that it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"

"Told you so!" Fred said, and stuck his tongue out at me.

"I - he just s-seemed so nice." I laughed and wiped my eyes. "I found it in my trunk after I had v-visited my friends over the h-holidays."

"I know what shall cheer you up, Daisy. Madam Pomfrey is giving out Mandrake Juice - I dare say the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment." Dumbledore said.