HORRAY, I've never posted twice in a day before. Well, twice in 24 hours.
I made a cake. ~Maddie
.......... Reader's Point of View ..........
"Okay, but what if Hermione can actually hear us? Can she hear us? If I were to talk directly at her face, would her ears pick up on it? Heyyy, Hermione, what's it like being a statue?" I slurred from the bed I was laying on. That potion thingy was really... strange.
"HAVE I BEEN POISONED?!" I yelled, accidentally louder than I wanted to.
"No, Ms (y/n)." Madam Pomfrey sighed, clearly annoyed. She bustled around, tending to other people. "Go back to sleep."
"Right-o!" I shouted before promptly passing out again.
.......... Harry's Point of View ..........
Of course, when I think about one Malfoy, the Senior Malfoy has to show up like he owns the place. Disgusting.
That's when my eye caught a small figure peeking behind Lushiz Malfoy. It was looking nervously from its master to Dumbledore and was wearing a familiar pillowcase...
"Dobby...? So this is your master! The family you serve is the Malfoys!"
Dobby winced when I recognized him, looking up fearfully at Malfoy #2. Malfoy muttered out something along the lines of: "I will deal with you later."
I actually feel really bad now; maybe I should've pretended I didn't know Dobby? He risked his life (probably) to warn me about the snake. I should've kept it a secret... And Lushiz Malfoy is a terrible person. Dobby ironed his hands because of him?? Dobby's being abused! That's not right at all!
In a way... it sort of reminds me of myself a bit. Not at much of the physical bit, but I know that when I was younger, I would've given anything to have an escape like Hogwarts. Sometimes I wonder if I'm in a dream and that I'll wake up to Aunt Petunia yelling at me, telling me to get breakfast ready.
Sometimes it does seem a little too good to be true...
Okay, screw Malfoy. I'm gonna save Dobby. How, though? Wait- didn't Dobby say that if he were to be given clothing, he would be freed?
I was broken from thoughts when I realised Mr Malfoy had strutted up to Dumbledore's desk, Dobby following behind him, and he had used his fancy cane thing to push me out of his way. I took a deep breath to resist smacking him. How rude can he possibly get?
"So, it's true; you have returned." Malfoy Sr began.
"When the governors learned that Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the chamber, they saw fit to summon me back." Dumbledore gave Malfoy Sr a knowing look as he turned his head away in anger.
It was a really strange sort of reaction, actually. Why would he be that angry? I mean, I get that he doesn't like Dumbledore, but why this much?
"Curiously," Dumbledore said, not waiting for Malfoy Sr's reply, "Several of them were under the impression that you would curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."
"How dare you," Malfoy Sr growled, but he seemed just a little panicked.
So Malfoy Sr had been planning on getting Dumbledore out of the picture all along. But he could've used that threat before now, so... the question is, why did he decide to suspend Dumbledore now? Surely, if he really disliked him, then he could've been rid of him before his son came to Hogwarts.
Unless he was waiting for the right moment... He knew about the Chamber!
A faint flash of memory swept across my eyes. We were back at Diagon Alley and he'd just picked up Ginny's books out of her cauldron. After demeaning them (with the usual Malfoy charm, of course), he'd set them back.
Why was I remembering this particular moment?
... Didn't Ginny have fewer books than th-
Diary!
I KNEW IT. HE'S A B-
"-and, of course, its students." Malfoy Sr turned to sneer to-very-subtly at me. He stared me right in the eye and I was seriously resisting the urge to laugh at his audacity. He didn't care about the students at all; he was a dark wizard!
Mr Malfoy turned away from me. "The culprit has been identified, I presume?"
"Oh, yes," Dumbledore obviously wasn't taking any of Malfoy's bait as he stared Mr Malfoy down. Go you, Dumbledore.
"...And? Who was it?" he replied, a little anxiously.
Obviously you, you idiot. Dumbledore and I exchanged a knowing glance.
"Voldemort."
"A-Ah," Mr Malfoy seemed just a little too relieved. If I hadn't figured out he was actually the one that put the diary in Ginny's cauldron, I wouldn't've noticed, but it was just TOO obvious now.
"Only this time he chose to act through somebody else... by means of this," Dumbledore abruptly continued and Malfoy tensed up all over again when Dumbledore held up Tom Riddle's Diary, the puncture through the leather right in front of his face.
This is actually sort of hilarious to watch. Shouldn't I have been asked to leave yet? I guess Mr Malfoy doesn't really think 'stupid children' are a threat.
Try me. I've beaten Voldemort twice already.
Dobby grabbed at my sleeve gently and I flicked my eyes down to him. He gestured in a meaningful way towards Malfoy and I just smiled and nodded as discreetly as I possibly could, so Malfoy didn't notice.
"I see," Mr Malfoy said, calm as you please, but the fear in his eyes gave him away.
"Fortunately, our Mr Potter discovered it. One hopes that no more of Voldemort's school things should find their way into... innocent hands. The consequences for the one responsible would be... severe."
Malfoy shifted uncomfortably at the very subtle scolding but put on a brave face anyway. "Well, let us hope that Mr Potter will always be there to save the day."
Yeah, just give me all the responsibility. I'm literally twelve. Not my fault this keeps happening to me. Can't I just have ONE year without Voldemort involved? It's getting kind of exhausting.
But I had to rile the guy up a bit so I said, "Don't worry, I will be."
It definitely got the desired reaction. His chest puffed up like we just two seconds away from reprimanding me for my 'cheekiness,' but then he seemed to remember that Dumbledore was that.
I feel delightfully evil, except not Voldemort-y.
Malfoy Sr then nodded to Dumbledore in a way of saying goodbye, which Dumbledore returned. Dramatically flipped his robes out of the way, he stalked out of the room with Dobby. On his way toward the door, he kicked Dobby across the room and Dobby wailed in pain, falling harshly onto the floor.
OKAY, FIGHT ME. FIGHT ME, LUSHIZ. RIGHT HERE-
Just barely concealing my anger, I set down the Sword of Gryffindor as gently as possible before asking quickly, gesturing toward Riddle's Diary, "Sir, could I borrow that?"
.......... Reader's Point of View ..........
"I should just give her a knock-out potion, for Merlin's sake." Madam Pomfrey muttered peevishly as I started ranting about the fanfiction Snape and I were writing.
"It all started on a dark and stormy night, except the night wasn't actually that dark and it wasn't actually stormy, just drizzling a bit."
I seemed to have gotten the attention of some other people. One of them was watching me with a bored expression. Obviously, they don't have good taste. Another was trying to block me out with their pillow, shoving their head underneath the fluffiest one. (Madam Pomfrey had given it to them when prompted, shooting a strange glance my way. Their loss.)
"Hey, (y/n)!" Ron's voice called and I abruptly shut up.
"Ronnnn! What took you so long?! Did you get the money?"
He gave me a confused look, sitting on the edge of my bed. "What money?"
"You know, the points."
"... Points?"
"HOUSE POINTS, RON."
"Oh. No, not yet. He'll probably do that during the feast like last year. For dramatic effect. Harry's taking a while, though. Maybe they're having some sort of secret conversation that I'm not allowed to hear..."
"What kind of 'secret conversation'?"
.......... Harry's Point of View ..........
I relished the look on Malfoy Sr's face as I handed him the diary. More like shoved it, but whatever.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mr Malfoy said, looking a little annoyed.
"You do, sir," I said earnestly, "I think you slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron that day at Diagon Alley."
"You do? Why don't you prove it," he asked, eyebrow quirking. I didn't respond.
He was obviously already bored with the conversation, and I was only doing this for Dobby, so I don't really care what he says. Well, unless he cursed me, then I would care a little.
Only a little because I'm already cursed with the burden of my own existence.
He handed the diary over to Dobby and I was trying very hard not to jump for joy. I'm so smart! I restrained myself from imagining Malfoy's face when he sees.
I gestured for Dobby to open it. With a look of confusion, he did and his eyes widened when he saw the sock wedged between the pages in the middle. My sock.
"Dobby?" Malfoy called, but Dobby didn't move from his place next to me. He was staring at the (somewhat sweaty) sock as if it was the Holy Grail.
"Master has given Dobby a sock!" Dobby exclaimed excitedly. Malfoy whipped around, eyes narrowing.
"What? I didn't g-" he stopped when he saw my sock in the book, his entire face the epitome of 'oh no'.
I fought the urge to snort.
Revenge is too sweet sometimes.
"Master has presented Dobby with clothes! Dobby is free!" Dobby enthused, daring to touch the sock with the tips of his fingers before taking it in his hands and letting to diary fall to the floor softly.
It sort of saddened me a bit when he acted as if he'd never even seen a sock before, but I reminded myself that he'll get a lot more clothes now that he's free.
When Mr Malfoy looked over at me, I lifted the pant leg to show the foot that was missing a sock and he completely lost it.
"You lost me my servant!" he yelled, removing something from his cane, which turned out to be his wand. That's a sort of weird place to keep your wand, not very convenient.
I started to panic just a little bit when he pointed it directly at me, walking quickly in my direction.
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!" Dobby said, standing in front of me.
Dobby. Dobby, you're so small. How are you going to be able to help m-
In the middle of Malfoy's spell (I didn't really recognize it, but then again, I only heard a small bit of it), Dobby moved his hand in Malfoy's direction, sending a burst of magic right into him, and it sent him flying across the room. He fell heavily to the floor, the wind knocked out of him.
Dobby looked very smug about it and so did I. See how it feels, Mr Malfoy?! How do you like being 'kicked' across the room?
Malfoy stumbled up, trying to retain his dignity, and then he said some drivel about my parents. It was a really Malfoy thing to do, really, and it didn't really bother me too much because it just sounded like the smaller Malfoy.
"Mark my words, Potter, one day you'll meet the same sticky end," he said (dramatically) before turning and disappearing down the hall, muttering darkly.
Then Dobby and I celebrated. I gave Dobby my other sock as a congratulations-for-becoming-free kind of thing. He almost didn't take it, but couldn't resist and took it after weeping a bit.
I mean, he had to have a matching set, right?
(A/N) - ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO... I think... Yay :) ~Maddie