Hogwarts Diary: Snape Goes Crazy

Chapter 188: Chapter 187 — What Does Voldemort Know About Women?

# Chapter 187 — What Does Voldemort Know About Women?

The celebratory feast continued late into the night, and the House Cup was finally awarded. This year, Slytherin and Gryffindor finished in a tie.

Harry let out several long sighs of relief.

The Gryffindors, however, didn’t seem to mind. They were simply astonished that their House had managed to win the House Cup at all.

Students throughout Hogwarts were discussing Vesey and Harry’s achievements, marvelling at everything they had accomplished.

It turned out that Vesey and the others had experienced such an extraordinary year!

Justin and Ernie approached Harry together to apologise. Both felt terribly guilty about what had happened.

Although Harry accepted their apologies rather politely, without making a big deal of it, they were still delighted that he had forgiven them.

Hagrid returned at three o’clock in the morning.

The moment he saw Harry and the others, he rushed over, embraced them, and burst into tears.

”Thank you! Thank you, all of you! Thank goodness for you and Vesey. Otherwise, I might have died in Azkaban!”

Professor McGonagall also announced that, because of everything that had happened that year, the end-of-term examinations had been cancelled.

Those words finally made Hermione put down the book in her hands. She couldn’t help cheering.

Next, Dumbledore made an announcement concerning Lockhart.

He explained that something had gone wrong with Lockhart’s Memory Charm and that the professor would have to go to St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to have his memories restored.

The announcement was greeted with cheers from almost everyone in the school.

Even the professors applauded.

It was obvious that Lockhart had thoroughly annoyed everyone.

By the end of the year, he had completely lost whatever affection the Hogwarts staff and students had once felt for him.

During the final stretch of the semester, they didn’t have any more classes.

Every day, Harry and the others visited the hospital wing and stayed beside Vesey until nightfall, leaving only when Madam Pomfrey finally chased them away.

Even doing their homework beside Vesey made them happy.

There was more good news, too.

Lucius Malfoy had been removed from the Hogwarts Board of Governors.

He could no longer swagger around the school as though he owned the place.

For once, he had something to be unhappy about.

Ginny had returned to her usual lively, cheerful self. She now spent most of her time beside Vesey’s bed, chatting with Hermione or working on her homework.

Whenever Ginny came over, Ron would wink suggestively at Harry.

Strangely enough, Harry had once thought Ginny liked him. After all, she used to blush whenever she saw him.

Now, however, she no longer seemed nervous around him at all.

She greeted him openly and confidently, behaving almost as casually as Hermione.

Harry could only shake his head helplessly at Ron’s teasing.

Ginny definitely didn’t like him that way anymore.

Harry had noticed the change, but he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

In fact, he felt a little relieved.

He had absolutely no interest in romance at the moment.

Perhaps Voldemort had inadvertently taught Ginny that friendship was better than falling in love?

Remembering the things Voldemort had said about Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry shook his head helplessly.

Voldemort really was a terrible person. He had even spread rumours that Ginny liked Vesey!

What an absurd idea.

What did Voldemort know about women, anyway?

Two weeks later, Vesey finally woke up.

The moment she opened her eyes, she was greeted by simultaneous kisses from Ginny and Hermione.

Apparently, during the time Vesey had been asleep, the two girls had become good friends. They were no longer particularly embarrassed about kissing her at the same time, either.

Vesey was a little confused, but she was happy about it all the same.

And when she returned to the Slytherin common room, Cassandra hugged her for quite some time before suddenly letting go and running away with a flushed face.

Vesey couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

For a brief moment, she had thought Cassandra was about to kiss her.

*Perhaps I’ve been thinking about romance too much. I must be imagining things.*

When Vesey went to the Great Hall for dinner that evening, she received unprecedented attention.

Almost half the students in the school wanted to hug her or shake her hand.

Dumbledore even arranged for a band to perform a little celebration in her honour.

Hagrid lifted her onto his shoulders and ran all around the school with her, much to Vesey’s delight.

And then, almost before they knew it, the time came to board the Hogwarts Express and leave for the summer holidays.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George and Vesey occupied a compartment together.

Fred and George set off a spectacular firework display for them. Unfortunately, one of the fireworks nearly landed in Vesey’s lap, leaving Ginny and Hermione furious for quite some time.

Vesey had to intervene on the twins’ behalf.

Afterwards, Fred and George secretly told her that they suspected Ginny had learned how to get angry from their mother while she was under Voldemort’s control.

Ginny’s expression turned positively murderous.

As for Hermione, they joked that she must be going through menopause.

*Women are all terrifying!*

When the train arrived at King’s Cross Station, Ron suddenly seemed to remember something.

He turned to Ginny and asked, ”What was it you saw Percy doing that he didn’t want you to tell anyone about?”

Ginny glanced at Vesey before answering rather sheepishly.

”Well, it’s like this. Percy has a girlfriend.”

Fred immediately smacked George over the head with a book.

George, however, barely reacted.

”It’s Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect,” Ginny continued. ”I saw them kissing in an empty classroom downstairs...”

She looked embarrassed.

”He wrote to Penelope during the summer holidays last year. I always thought that was what he wanted to tell us, and now I feel really awkward about it... You’re not going to laugh at him, are you?”

”I would never dream of doing such a thing!” Fred exclaimed in mock innocence.

But his expression suggested that Christmas had arrived early.

As the Hogwarts Express approached the station, Harry took out some paper and a pen and hurriedly wrote down a few things.

”Here are my telephone number and address. If you miss me, just give me a call or invite me out somewhere. I can’t spend the entire summer talking to the Dursleys...”

When they finally walked out of the station, Hermione hesitated before saying, ”Your aunt and uncle will probably be delighted when they hear about all the outrageous things you’ve done at Hogwarts this year!”

Harry’s mouth twitched.

”Delighted? They’ll probably be disappointed that I didn’t die there!”

With that, he pulled Vesey through the barrier.

The moment Vesey emerged from the passage, Mrs Weasley rushed forward and embraced her.

”Oh, sweetheart! You’re finally back safely! Ginny keeps telling us you’re fine, but I’ve still been worried sick. Are you really all right?”

She waved her wand, casting several diagnostic charms over Vesey. Different-coloured lights shimmered around her, all indicating that she was healthy.

Mrs Weasley finally smiled.

”All right, then. I think it’s time for you to leave.”

At that moment, an angry voice sounded beside them.

Vesey looked up.

A stout man in smart, well-tailored clothes was glaring at them with obvious disgust.

He stared at Harry as though Harry were something evil.

”Hello. Are you Mr Dursley?”

Vesey had originally intended to meet the Dursleys the previous year, but the vampire incident had prevented her from doing so.

This year, she finally had the chance to speak to them properly.

”Who are you...?”

Vernon Dursley frowned at Vesey.

He had the strange feeling that he had seen this girl somewhere before.

But where?

At the Evans family’s home.

There had been photographs of this girl everywhere.

And then there was the woman he had met before marrying Petunia.

Lily Evans.

Petunia’s sister!

Of course, there were differences.

The girl standing before him was still very young, and she was actually even prettier than Lily had been. Her eyes were like a clear blue spring, bright and captivating whenever she looked at someone.

She must be Lily Evans’s daughter.

But then... who exactly was Harry Potter?

Surely that old fool hadn’t sent the wrong child to them?

This girl was the one they should have been raising. Had that old man somehow delivered the wrong child to their doorstep?