Chapter 45 - End of the term (1/2)

When Neal was returning with Ginny, he met Prof. Flitwick, Prof. McGonagall, and Harry in the dark tunnel. Upon seeing him, Prof. Flitwick asked, ”what happened, Neal? We saw Prof. Dumbledore is being carried unconscious by his Phoenix on our way”.

Neal looked at Harry who is only staring at the floating Ginny in a worry. He replied, ”let's leave, for now, Professor. It's better if Prof. Dumbledore will explain to you about it after he wakes up”. Prof. McGonagall frowned hearing it but still nodded as she thought Dumbledore probably instructed him to do so.

After coming of out the pipe with levitation spell on themselves, Neal handed Ginny to Harry and went with Prof. McGonagall to the headmaster's office while Prof. Flitwick went to the Ravenclaw tower.

As they entered his office, they saw Prof. Snape standing before Dumbledore who was sitting on his bed in a weak state. Prof. McGonagall and Neal walked upstairs while ignoring the previous Headmasters' ramblings to talk to him.

Upon seeing Neal, Dumbledore asked, ”what about Tom?”. Neal replied, ”dead by now”. When Prof. McGonagall demanded an explanation, Dumbledore explained, ”well, Tom Riddle came back to life. It's thanks to the young Neal that he was dead again. No need to worry about me. I'm alright now, thanks to Prof. Snape”.

Neal was surprised at first that he wasn't asked for any explanation about his act, but then seeing Prof. Snape, Neal thought, ”well, Prof. Dumbledore must have already known about the venom from Prof. Snape. Since they aren't speaking about it, I guess they want to keep it as a secret from Prof. McGonagall. Well, that works for me, even better”.

Then, he asked, ”Professor, I'm curious about one thing. During the battle, you said he's just a Horcrux, a fragment of the real Voldemort. What do you mean by that?”. Hearing that name made McGonagall shiver a bit before calming herself down. She looked at him sternly, ”don't speak out his name”.

Dumbledore replied, ”why not, Minerva? He has a name and it's Lord Voldemort. If it's too much, you can also call him Tom Riddle. There's no need to spread the fear of him, even to the future generations”.

Seeing that he wouldn't be getting an answer, Neal decided to wait as Dumbledore kept Isle's secret. After all, basing on Isle's venom deadly effects, if it gets out, she will be treated as XXXXX magic creature, the ones which Ministry of Magic consider as extremely dangerous and won't allow living in human settlements.

Later, the news of Neal rescuing Ginny from a dangerous cursed item that possessed her and dragged her into the chamber of secrets was being passed all over the school covering the fact that it was Voldemort. While Ginny was admitted into the hospital wing, the Weasleys thanked Neal for saving her. Even Ron put aside his grudge on him for a second and thanked him.

Ron still ended up in a verbal fight with Malfoy when he brought up her name before him though. On the other hand, without feeling an ounce of pity, Snape took off 100 points from Gryffindor stating that Ginny still broke the rules by entering Slytherin's dormitory in a disguise and stealing the diary from Neal's room.

Quickly, Hogwarts Annual Festival once again started 10 weeks before the final exams. Neal participated in only Mini Quidditch and dueling this time. He single-handedly won the Mini Quidditch as everyone expected.

As for the dueling, it was a total mess that attracted all the upper-class students and even including the Professors like Prof. McGonagall and Prof. Flitwick.

After Draco, Daphne and Tracey's chances are over, Neal immediately challenged the third year who just won against Tracey and broke her 5 winning streaks. From then, he refused to budge even after defeating 40 students consecutively breaking down everyone's courage.

Only after Prof. McGonagall came to the hall and created a rule that one will have to step down from the platform when he reaches 50 winning streak mark.

Then, a few weeks later, Quidditch finals became a tie between Slytherin and Gryffindor with 200-200. They both shared the cup and House points with it. As the final examinations are over, everyone is having their last breakfast in the term.

Dumbledore rose from his seat and spoke, ”another wonderful year has been passed. Of course, before you go, you have to see the results of the House Championship”. Then, he gave personal points to Neal three times along with a few people from the seventh and sixth years.