Hermione Granger and the Chamber of Secrets (Completed)

Chapter 13 - The Feast

Dedicated to fregjajtea123

Hermione woke up in the hospital. Her breathing was fast. The image of that eye was seared into her mind

She realised that the book page was gone. She hoped that it was found by the right people. Maybe Professor Dumbledore found it, or Professor McGonagall. They would be able to do something about it

Hermione watched as Madam Pomfrey gave several drops of something to Colin Creevey, and he instantly reanimated. She saw the Ravenclaw prefect watching her, and she returned her smile
"I didn't introduce myself before" the girl said "I'm Penelope Clearwater"
"Hermione Granger" Hermione said, grinning
"Do you still have that piece of paper?" Penelope asked. Hermione shook her head anxiously
"Well, the teachers have been the only people in here, haven't they?" Penelope said reasonably "one of them must have picked it up"

Hermione lay back in her bed, feeling more relaxed. However, she sat back up straight when Professor McGonagall strode into the room. She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention
"I have an announcement" she said "the Chamber of Secrets has been closed. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley went down with Professor Lockhart and killed the monster inside"
"But, Professor, what about Ginny Weasley-" Madam Pomfrey began
"They found Miss Weasley down there as well" Professor McGonagall said "she is fine. In celebration, there will be a feast in the Great Hall commencing in several minutes"
Hermione heartily joined in with the cheering at that news

Madam Pomfrey decided that they were all well enough to go to the feast, and as soon as she was discharged Hermione ran all the way to the Great Hall. The feast looked very strange. It must have been the evening, as everyone was in their pyjamas. Ron and Harry were easily distinguishable, as they were the only ones in their Hogwarts uniform
“You solved it! You solved it!” she shrieked, running over and sitting next to them. They both beamed at the sight of her
"We wouldn't have been able to do it without you, Hermione" Ron said
"Yeah, you did all the hard work" said Harry "you were right, by the way. It was a Basilisk down there"

She was right about everything else as well. It turned out that the girl who was killed was Moaning Myrtle, and the entrance was in her bathroom. Harry had apparently killed the Basilisk with Godric Gryffindor's sword, which generally resided in Professor Dumbledore's office. Hermione had believed Ron's account of things: that Harry had heroically fought the Basilisk with one hand while duelling the Heir of Slytherin with the other, before Harry had informed her that Ron hadn't even been there, and he had nearly died
"If it hadn't been for Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix" he said humbly "I would've died"

Curiously, they had left one important piece of information strangely blank
"Who was it, then?" Hermione asked eagerly "who opened the Chamber of Secrets"
Harry lowered his voice
"It was Ginny"
"What?!" Hermione shouted
"Calm down!" Ron snapped
"Ginny was being possessed by Tom Riddle, from the diary" Harry explained "Tom Riddle was Voldemort's real name. Voldemort was the Heir of Slytherin"
Hermione looked over at Ginny. She looked a little shaken, but otherwise okay
"But she's not anymore?" she asked uncertainly
"No" said Ron "Harry destroyed the diary, and the piece of You-Know-Who within it"
Ginny noticed Hermione watching her and smiled weakly at her. Hermione grinned back

She looked at the teachers table and noticed something very odd
"Where's Professor Lockhart?" she asked "I thought he went into the Chamber with you two"
"Ah, well" Harry said "it turns out Lockhart’s a fraud"
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, her heart sinking
"He's been taking credit for other people's achievements for years" said Ron triumphantly "and erasing their memories. He tried to wipe mine and Harry's, 'cause he was too cowardly to try and save Ginny's life"
"Then how are you two alright?"
"Well" Harry said, grinning "It seemed that Ron's wand did come in useful for something. The memory charm that he used backfired onto him. He has no idea who he is!"

Professor Dumbledore stood up. The whole room shut up
"Today is a great day in this year" he said "the Chamber of Secrets has been closed, and will never be reopened"
The whole school burst into cheers
"All its victims have been revived, and to them we say welcome back"
It was odd knowing that so much time had passed. It felt to Hermione that she had only seen the Basilisk about an hour ago!

Professor McGonagall now stood up
"As a school treat" she announced "all exams are cancelled"
Hermione did not join in the cheering at that notice
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. She heard Ron laughing next to her and smiled
"And, as a final notice" Professor Dumbledore said "Unfortunately, Professor Lockhart will not be returning next year, as he needs to go away for quite some time to get his memory back"
The cheers and clapping started up again and, this time, Hermione joined in

The short amount of time they had left of the term was the best they had had all year. Ginny looked bright and sunny again, and grinned whenever Hermione passed. Defence Against the Dark Arts was cancelled, obviously, and as Hermione read through Lockhart’s books again, she noticed several mistakes. For example, a quick check in the library showed her that the Homorphus Charm did not exist, so there was no way Lockhart could have defeated the Wagga Wagga Werewolf in the manner depicted in his books. Hermione now felt rather embarrassed about having a crush on him, but thankfully Ron didn't tease her too much

Soon they were all sitting on the train to the muggle world. Hermione was sharing a compartment with Ron, Ginny, Harry and the Weasley twins. They were making the most of the limited time they had to use magic, playing Exploding Snap and practicing the Disarming Charm that Snape had used. Harry was getting very good at it
“Ginny" he said as the train neared the station "what did you see Percy doing, that he didn’t want you to tell anyone?”
Ginny giggled
“Oh, that” she said “Well — Percy’s got a girlfriend”
“What?!” Fred exclaimed, dropping the books he was carrying onto George
“It’s that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater” said Ginny “That’s who he was writing to all last summer. He’s been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won’t tease him, will you?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” said Fred, beaming at his twin
“Definitely not” said George, sniggering and grinning back

The Hogwarts Express finally stopped. Harry wrote down a telephone number on two bits of parchment and gave them to Hermione and Ron
“This is called a telephone number” he explained to Ron “I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer — he’ll know. Call me at the Dursleys’, okay? I can’t stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to...”
They got off the train and joined the crowd hurrying towards the magical barrier
“Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won’t they?” said Hermione “When they hear what you did this year?
“Proud?” said Harry, grinning “Are you crazy? All those times I could’ve died, and I didn’t manage it? They’ll be furious...”
And together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world