Don't Forget

Everything seemed back to normal. People still thought that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, but the hype had died down. Ginny had stopped writing in her diary all the time. All the excitement and worry had nearly disappeared. Until one day, Harry's dormitory was wrecked. Then, a few weeks later, another attack happened; Hermione was petrified.

All the rumors about Harry being the Heir of Slytherin dissolve quickly. Everyone knew he would never attack Hermione.

Due to the attack, Quidditch was cancelled and new time limits were set to be out of bounds. Teachers went with students to and from lessons. The common room became crowded, loud, and quickly boring. Ginny was back at her diary.

Finally, the Ministry stepped in, but did something entirely unexpected. Hagrid was taken to Azkaban and Dumbledore was removed from his position as Headmaster.

"Mum, why would they take Hagrid?" Andi asked.

"They had to do something," Estelle said. "We all know Hagrid wouldn't hurt a fly, but.... they just did all they knew to do, I guess."

"But he didn't do it!" Andi exclaimed.

"I know," Estelle said quietly.

"With Dumbledore gone none of the half-bloods stand a chance," Andi said.

"It does feel worse with Dumbledore gone, I know," Estelle hugged Andi. "I know you're worried, but for now, you've just got to go back to Gryffindor Tower and don't go out when you're not supposed to. I'll take you there."

The following morning, things didn't seem right to Andi at breakfast. Even Drew and Anthony had shut up, with no one to blame and talk about. It was only a few days before end of term exams and no one felt up to taking them.

"I have good news!" Professor McGonagall announced.

"Dumbledore's back!" several people yelled.

"You've caught the heir of Slytherin!" Elizabeth Manson, a first year Ravenclaw squealed.

"Quidditch is back on!" Oliver Wood roared from a few seats down.

McGonagall looked slightly annoyed, "Actually, Professor Sprout has told us that the Mandrakes have fully grown and a potion for the petrified is being made as we speak. Meaning, very soon, we may know who or what has attacked them!"

Ginny tapped Ron.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

Ginny said nothing and glanced around the room. Andi was starting to worry about her and had tried talking to her a few times, but she wouldn't talk about it.

"Well, spit it out!" Ron said.

"I've got to tell you something," she mumbled.

"What is it?" Harry asked from the other side of Ron.

"What?" Ron asked.

Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Andi watched Harry lean closer to Ron and Ginny. "Have you seen something odd? Do you know something about the--"

Percy strolled in, looking tired, "Ginny, if you're done eating, I'll take that seat. I'm starving and only just come off of patrol duty."

Ginny jumped up and quickly scurried out of the Great Hall.

Yawning, Percy sat down in the seat between Ron and Andi.

"Good job, Perce! She was about to tell us something important!" Ron exclaimed.

Percy nearly choked on his tea, "What sort of thing?"

"We asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she--"

"That-- has nothing to do with the Chamber," Percy said at once.

"How do you know?"

"Well--if you, er, must know, Ginny, um walked in on me the other day when I-- well, never mind. The point is, she spotted me doing something and I've asked her not to mention it... I must say, I thought she'd keep her word. It's nothing really--"

"What were you doing?"

Percy ignored Ron.

Later that afternoon, over the loudspeaker came the voice of McGonagall. "All students will report to their dormitories immediatly."

"Where's Ginny?" Andi asked, glancing over her shoulder.

Kendra shrugged.

"Let's go, she's probably just ahead of us," Misty said.

Gryffindor Tower was packed full and everyone was talking.

"What's going on?" Drew asked as he came in.

"Another attack, I bet," a third year said.

Andi sighed and leaned against the wall.

Fred came in a few moments later, and came over to Andi, looking as serious as she had ever seen him. "Ginny...she's been taken into the Chamber," he said gravely.

It had to be the worst day ever. Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Andi sat in a corner unable to say anything. Kendra had gone up the the dormitory crying. By sunset, Fred and George had gotten tired of sitting there. Fred gave Andi's shoulder a small squeeze before he left.

"Do you think there's a chance that..." Ron started, "Harry, we've got to tell Lockheart what we know. We can tell him where we think the Chamber is and that it might be a Basilisk."

"What?" Andi asked quietly.

"We'll explain when we come back," Harry said.

Before she let Harry go, she gave him a hug. Left with nothing else to do, Andi went to bed and cried.

A few hours later, Andi was being woken up. Everything was a blur and both Misty and Kendra were talking so fast it was hard to take it all in. Out of it all, she got;

Ginny's been rescued by Harry. The diary she was writing in contained Voldemort's soul or something and possessed Ginny. Ginny had been opening the Chamber of Secrets under the influence of Tom Riddle, Voldemort. Harry and Ron were going to tell Lockheart all they knew about the Chamber, but Lockheart was trying to leave. They cornered Lockheart just by using Expelliarmus. Lockheart lost his memory at some point. Harry stabbed the Basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor and now Dumbledore was back.

Andi looked at them as if they'd gone mad.

"It's true!" Misty exclaimed. "Come to the Great Hall! Everyone's been unpertified too!"

Andi lept out of bed, unsure of what to believe. She went along with Kendra and Misty and then rest of the Gryffindors leaving the common room.

It turned out the Great Hall was full with celebration. Everyone was in their night clothes, even most of the Professors. Andi spotted Ginny hugging George. She ran and skidded to a halt and pulled Ginny into a hug. Then, she saw Colin Creevey and even gave him a hug. Across the table, Hermione was giving Harry and hug and she reached across the table to shake her hand, along with Harry's and Ron's. Then, Fred swiped her up into a hug. Everyone continued to talk, asking Harry what happened.

Andi saw her mother coming towards them, quickly. She squoze Ginny's hand tightly, "It would be a hug, but I'm not supposed to have favorites," she whispered.

Then, she turned around and pulled Andi into a tight hug.

Andi felt tears in her eyes from all the happiness in the room. She hugged her mother tight.

"I better go up to the staff table so Dumbledore can speak," Estelle laughed a little, feeling relieved, and probably the best she had in years.

As Estelle took her seat. Dumbledore stood. Everyone began to settle into a seat.

"Attention, please," Dumbledore began, "I must ask for silence. I know that everyone is confused and has heard one rumor or another about what has happened tonight. We have caught the heir of Slytherin. Voldemort." The room burst into gasps and whispers. "Do not misunderstand, it was not the physical form of Voldemort, just the memory of his teenage self Tom Riddle. It is true that the monster in the Chamber was a basilisk--"

Just then, the doors opened. Hagrid came into the Great Hall. "Sorry I'm late. My release papers were sent by some ruddy bird called Errol."

Ron's face turned red.

Andi boarded the Hogwarts Express to return home feeling sort of glum. She sat with Kendra, Ginny, Colin, and Misty. They spoke excitedly about everything that had happened during the year.

"Colin, you think maybe next year you can not snap so many pictures all the time?" Andi asked.

Colin grinned sheepishly, "Yeah."

The summer was dull to come back to after all that had happened at school. Andi went to Kendra's the third week of July because she started to run out of things to tell Remus about Hogwarts. The Weasleys had made a trip to Egypt visit Bill because Mr. Weasley had won a lottery drawing, so visiting there was out. So, she sent Kendra an owl and they arranged a date and time.

Andi had a lot of fun with what were simple muggle concepts. She could understand why Mr. Weasley had a bit of a fascination with them now.

The two girls sat up at night gossiping.

"Did I tell you the good news?" Andi asked.

"What?" Kendra replied.

"Moony, my...you know, mum's best friend who lives with us, is going to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Andi smiled.

"Oh, that's nice...to have both your parents around."

Andi's face fell. "That wasn't really...the good part. I mean, he should be a really great teacher," Andi said. She hadn't thought about that. "He did a lot of fighting against Voldemort's lot."

"Can you not say his name?" Kendra said in a pleading voice.

"Honestly..." Andi murmured.

"Well, any one's better than Lockheart, I reckon," Kendra said. "You'd have thought he'd have been alright. I guess since he hadn't really written all those books..."

Andi smiled, "Most girls bought it because he was so charming. You weren't one of them, were you?"

Kendra blushed, "Oh, shut up."

Laughing, Andi ran her hand along her wand. "Fred said he always knew Lockheart was a fraud."

"Fred says a lot of things."

"Yeah."

"How long have you know the Weasleys?"

"As long as I can remember," Andi said. "My mum claims she can remember babysitting them before I was born."

"Oh, family friends then?"

"Basically just family," Andi lied on her back. "They're all so nice. Well, Percy can be a git, but he's still alright."

"Just because he's a Prefect and you like to cause trouble--"

"Me? Cause trouble?" Andi laughed.

"Let's go to the crime scene. Let's sneak off after hours. Let's steal food from the kitchens--"

"The house elves were happy to give it away!"

"Insult Slytherins, scout out the school. Honestly, I think you have been around Fred and George too much."

Andi laughed. Maybe Kendra was right.