Reading the books- Marauders era

Dobby's Reward

"Dobby's reward."

Sirius raised an eyebrow inquistively. This chapter was going to be interesting, it seemed.

For a moment there was silence as Harry, Hermione,  Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry and Hermione's cases) 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.

"Family reunion," Tristan said, sniffing emotionally.

Harry, however, was looking 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 Harry found himself, Hermione and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasley's tight embrace.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"Nothing much," James said, shrugging, "but, Hermione almost got killed."

"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.

Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry and Hermione. The twins 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.

Then they started telling them everything, one by one. For nearly a quarter of an hour the twins spoke into the rapt silence.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted Harry 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 Hermione (as it was her turn now) told them about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving her the sword. But then she faltered. She 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? Hermione thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore. . . . How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all?

"It's nothing but just Hermione and her constant worrying about people, or herself, being expelled." Peter sighed.

Instinctively, Hermione looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," 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."

Relief — warm, sweeping, glorious relief — swept over Hermione.

"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?"

"It was this diary," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen. . . ."

"Ginny proof-read it and the diary is so horrendous that it doesn't deserve to be published." Barty said, in a joking tone.

Molly glared at him.

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.