Proliferated Petrification

3- You Need Counseling

David and Jane looked at each other worriedly. Notwithstanding how horrifying that sounded, this wasn't like their daughter at all.

"Um, are you sure you're okay, Hermione?" David asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, you seem awfully calm about this whole thing."

"That's because they gave me a Calming Draught after I fainted when Harry told me the school was closed for the rest of term."

Hermione's parents laughed in spite of themselves. "Okay, now that's our Hermione," her mother said. "So how were you attacked by a…a giant snake?"

"It's a very long story, Mum," she said.

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David and Jane listened with rapt attention in a small, private side room as Hermione explained the goings on this past year with all the diligence and evenness of a documentarian. They of course demanded to know why she hadn't told them about the attacks from the start, to which she replied with only a little hesitation that she was afraid they would withdraw her from school. It was then that they learnt that scolding a girl who was under the influence of a Calming Draught was…not ineffective, per se, but definitely awkward. With her muted emotions, Hermione simply accepted the chastisement, apologised and moved on, so that they weren't entirely certain whether it had taken hold.

Then, as if the giant snake weren't enough, she explained that it was also classified as a weapon of mass destruction and had triggered the massive search of the school that was going on now. That was the greatest consolation of the whole affair  that Hogwarts would be made thoroughly safe for the students by the next school year.

"That's good to hear," David said. "We really wouldn't want to send you back next autumn if it weren't certified to be safe. It's good that at least the law enforcement is competent around here. I'm not so sure about that Headmaster of yours."

"Yes, we're still not sure why he missed it," she said. "Of course, the Board of Governors sacked him after I was attacked. But he came back today, and Harry says he was acting perfectly responsible and by-the-book when he found out. I agree with you about the security. Honestly, I think I would have come home at Christmas and tried to switch schools if it weren't for my friends. I was really scared since muggle-borns were being targeted."

"Oh, Hermione." Her mother hugged her again, and she still found Hermione's lack of a reaction really unsettling. "Well, the…the Healers say you're alright. Are you ready to come home?"

"I'd like to say goodbye to my friends first, please. With the school and Harry's home life in flux, I don't know when I'll be able to see them again."

"Um, okay, that's fine. Let's see if they're back in the waiting room again."

They didn't see Harry in the waiting room, and the Welcome Witch told them he was still being checked over. However, they did see a wreck of a man stumbling in the door, supported by an Auror. The man had a long, black uncombed beard and was wearing rags with black and white stripes on them. Everyone stared as he was dragged to the front desk.

Sirius Black still couldn't believe his ears as he was led, stumbling and squinting in the light, into St. Mungo's. "In light of new evidence, all charges against you have been dropped," the Aurors had said. He was sure he had finally gone insane. No trial, even? Just let him off? Surely, they had long forgotten that he was never tried in the first place, and surely, the Ministry was too stubborn to ever admit its mistake and call a retrial. And yet, here he was.

"Merlin's Beard, what happened to him?" the Welcome Witch said.

"Eleven years of dementor exposure," the Auror replied gruffly.