"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully to the crowd of students in the Great Hall. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts....
"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy- two."
A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. I could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.
"Yes. Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...
"First— to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."
Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.
"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house twenty-five points."
Gryffindor's cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"
At last there was silence again.
"Second— to Miss Hermione Granger... for the use of swift reasoning in the face of fear and terror, I award Gryffindor house twenty-five points."
Hermione buried her face in her arms; I strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves— we were fifty points up.
"Third— to Miss Maisey Howell... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire and showing pure nerve, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
I pull up the collar of my robe to cover my ear and half my face from the stares of the people around me. Leaning into Hermione, I heard her actual tears and new my speculation was correct.
"Finally— to Mr. Harry Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."
The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points — exactly the same as Slytherin. We had tied for the house cup— if only Dumbledore had given one of us just one more point.
Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.
"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I, therefore, award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."
Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged me in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him.
"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."
He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. I saw that Snape caught Harry's eye and I knew at once that Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed one jot. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.
I had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To my great surprise, both Harry and Ron passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years, beating me by one point. Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. I had hoped that either Crabbe or Goyle, who were almost as stupid as they were mean, might be thrown out, but they had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.
And suddenly, our wardrobes were empty, our trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning us not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take us down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; we were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as we sped past Muggle towns; pulling off our wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.
It took quite a while for us all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting us go through the gate in twos and threes so we didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.
"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "all three of you— I'll send you an owl."
"Thanks," said Harry, "I'll need something to look forward to." People jostled us as we moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:
"Bye, Harry!"
"See you, Potter!"
"Still famous," I said, grinning at him.
"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.
He, Ron, Hermione, and I passed through the gateway together. "There he is, Mom, there he is, look!"
It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.
"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see—"
"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point," Mrs. Weasley smiled down at us.
"Busy year?" she said.
"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."
"Oh, it was nothing, dear."
"Ready, are you?" a ruff voice said.
He was looking at angry, all purple-faced and furious. Behind him stood a tall, thin woman and a squat looking boy, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry.
"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs. Weasley.
"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.
Harry hung back for a last word with Ron, Hermione, and me.
"See you over the summer, then."
"See you soon?" Hermione said in more of a question.
"Hope you have— er— a good holiday," I said, looking uncertainly after the purple man, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.
"Oh, I will," said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer!"
Harry ran off towards the odd family while Hermione and I waited around with Ron for Lupin.
"And who might you be, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley with a large smile.
"Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Maisey Howell," I smiled.
"You look so family, do I know your mother? You remind me of a girl I knew a long time ago," she said nostalgically.
My smile faltered at her question, but before I could answer, there was a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Lupin smiling down at me and looking up at Mrs. Weasley. It looked as if they knew of each other, but I wasn't sure.
"Ready to go home, kiddo?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," I sighed.
I gave Ron and Hermione one last smile before following Lupin out of the train station. Mrs. Weasley gave me a calculating look, but only waved goodbye.
"So now, what is this I hear about..."