第 39 页

caught the culprit?"

"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.

"Well?"said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"

"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this

time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means

of this diary."

He held up the small black book with the large hole through the

center, watching Mr. Malfoy closely. Harry, however, was watching

Dobby.

The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed

meaningfully on Harry, he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr.

Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist.

"I see. . . " said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.

"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr.

Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Harry here" --Mr. Malfoy shot

Harry a swift, sharp look -- "and his friend Ron hadn't discovered

this book, why -- Ginny Weasley might have taken all

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*335*

the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't

acted of her own free will ......

Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly masklike.

"And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "what might have happened

then .... The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood

families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle

Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and

killing Muggle-borns .... Very fortunate the diary was discovered,

and Riddle's memories wiped from it. "Who knows what the

consequences might have been otherwise ......

Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak.

"Very fortunate," he said stiffly.

And still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary,

then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.

And Harry suddenly understood. He nodded at Dobby, and Dobby

backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr.

Malfoy?" said Harry.

Lucius Malfoy rounded on him.

"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.

"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. "In Flourish and Blotts.

You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary

inside it, didn't you?"

He saw Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench.

"Prove it," he hissed.

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at

Harry. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On

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*336*

the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any

more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find

their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will

make sure they are traced back to you ......

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry distinctly saw his right

hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead,

he turned to his house-elf

"We're going, Dobby!"

He wrenched open the door and as the elf came hurrying up to him,

he kicked him right through it. They could hear Dobby squealing with

pain all the way along the corridor. Harry stood for a moment,

thinking hard. Then it came to him

"Professor Dumbledore," he said hurriedly. "Can I give that diary

back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast,

remember ......

Harry grabbed the diary and dashed out of the office. He could hear

Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly,

wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry took off one of his

shoes, pulled off his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed the diary into it.

Then he ran down the dark corridor.

He caught up with them at the top of the stairs.

"Mr. Malfoy," he gasped, skidding to a halt, "I've got something for

you --"

And he forced the smelly sock into Lucius Malfoy's hand.

")What the --?"

Mr. Malfoy ripped the sock off the diary, threw it aside, then looked

furiously from the ruined book to Harry.

289

*',531*

You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days,

Harry Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too.

He turned to go.

"Come, Dobby. I said, come."

But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Harry's disgusting, slimy

sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure.

"Master has given a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave

it to Dobby."

"What's that?" spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"

"Got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw it, and Dobby

caught it, and Dobby -- Dobby is free. "

Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf Then he lunged at

Harry.

"You've lost me my servant, boy!"

But Dobby shouted, "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"

There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He

crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap

on the landing below. He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his

wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger.

"You shall go now," he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy.

"You shall not touch Harry Potter. You shall go now."

Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the pair

of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at Harry,

moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb-like eyes.

"Harry Potter set Dobby free!"

290

"Least I could do, Dobby," said Harry, grinning. "Just promise never

to try and save my life again."

The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile.

"I've just got one question, Dobby," said Harry as Dobby pulled on

Harry's sock with shaking hands. "You told me all this had nothing to

do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well --"

"It was a clue, sir," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was

obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed

his name, could be freely named, you see?"

"Right," said Harry weakly. "Well, Id better go. There's a feast, and

my friend Hermione should be awake by now .....

Dobby threw his arms around Harry's middle and hugged him.

"Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed.

"Farewell, Harry Potter!"

And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.

Harry had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like

this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all

night. Harry didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running

toward him, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin

hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring. his hand and

apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half

past three, cuffing Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they

were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his and Ron's four hundred

points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year

running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to

*339*

tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh,

no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately,

Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the

fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few

of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.

291

"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was

starting to grow on me."

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine.

Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled ("but we've

had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled

Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor.

Draco was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned

the place. On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the other

hand, Ginny Weasley was perfectly happy again.

Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to

themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they

were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding

Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks,

and practiced disarming each other by magic. Harry was getting very

good at it.

They were almost at King's Cross when Harry remembered

something.

"Ginny - what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell

anyone?"

*340*

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well - Percy's got a girlfriend." Fred

dropped a stack of books on George's head.

"What?"

"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?" she added anxiously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday

had come early.

292

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.

Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron

and Hermione.

"This is called a telephone number," he told Ron, scribbling it twice,

tearing the parchment in two, and handing it to them. "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 ......

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said

Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging

toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this

year?"

"Proud?" said Harry. "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. '

*341*

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