Harry and Ron stood lost and awkward outside the office door for more than an hour.
They had no idea what punishment awaited them—surely, with summer holidays just two days away, they wouldn't be made to copy out textbooks by hand?
During that time, Filch strolled past several times—whether by accident or design—each time giving them a strange, gloating grin.
Inside the office, the last of the students finished marking the exam papers.
With a sharp snap of his fingers, Douglas caused a cabinet in the corner to swing open. Dozens of neatly wrapped little gifts soared out, landing with perfect precision in every student's hands.
Douglas smiled warmly.
"You're all as industrious as bees—true helpers to the staff. You're the warm sun, serving your classmates without complaint. Everyone has noticed your hard work and is moved by it.
You're the very best class representatives. These little gifts are tokens of my appreciation, and each of you earns thirty points for your House.
Of course, George and Fred, you two only get ten points each—the other twenty should go to Angelina."
Laughter rang out among the class reps. George and Fred exchanged exaggerated winks, hamming it up for the crowd.
At last, Douglas asked Hermione to stay behind; the others were free to leave.
Hermione was baffled—had she made a mistake on her exam?
When the class reps filed out and saw Harry and Ron still standing at the door, they were shocked. Exams were over, yet these two were still caught in trouble?
Harry and Ron wished they could sink into the floor.
The Slytherins snickered. If it weren't for the Gryffindors trailing behind, Draco would have started mocking them on the spot.
Everyone slowed down, eager to eavesdrop on what fresh chaos these two—last year's end-of-term troublemakers—had caused this time.
Ginny asked, puzzled,
"What happened?"
Ron snapped,
"Mind your own business."
Ginny huffed. George and Fred slung their arms around Ron's neck, grinning,
"Look at you, Ronald! Bullying your little sister now, are you?"
"Yeah, you're really something. We didn't even dare sneak out at night this term…"
Harry edged away, giving Ginny an apologetic smile.
Just then, Douglas's voice rang out from the office,
"You two, get in here!"
The crowd parted. Ron wriggled free of his brothers' grip, and he and Harry, heads hanging, slipped into the office and shut the door behind them.
No sooner had they gone in than the students outside crowded to the door, pressing their ears to the wood, desperate to catch any hint of what was happening.
But with Filch's arrival, the corridor was swiftly cleared.
Inside, Hermione stared at Harry and Ron in surprise, a sinking feeling in her chest.
Douglas gave the boys a cold look.
"For your actions, Gryffindor should lose fifty points each. But since you didn't actually enter the forbidden area, you'll each lose thirty."
Harry and Ron stared intently at their shoes, silent.
Hermione's mouth fell open. All the Gryffindor class reps combined had just earned one hundred fifty points—now, sixty were gone in an instant.
"What did you do?" she whispered.
Douglas moved to the tea table and gestured for Hermione to sit.
"Have a seat. We have plenty of time to talk."
But Ron and Harry, still staring at the floor, missed the gesture. After standing for over an hour, their legs numb, they simply sat down by default. Hermione, already seated, was stunned to see them drag over chairs without a second thought.
In that moment, Hermione wished she could disown them both. She still didn't know what they'd done wrong, nor why she'd been made to stay.
Douglas's voice turned sharp.
"When did I say you could sit? Stand up and tell me what you did wrong."
The boys froze, then scrambled to their feet.
Harry gritted his teeth, then blurted out,
"Professor, I don't think I did anything wrong! It's been ages and you and the Headmaster still haven't dealt with the basilisk… and… and Voldemort might be in the Chamber—he could destroy Hogwarts!"
Hermione and Ron stared at Harry, stunned he'd dare say such things now.
Douglas met Harry's gaze, unflinching. Perhaps, he thought, because there'd been no basilisk attacks this year, Harry had forgotten the danger. Or maybe last year's lucky success had given him a dangerous confidence.
Douglas's lips curled in a mocking smile.
"I'm curious—what makes you think you can handle a basilisk, or Voldemort? Did you learn a few advanced spells and now think you're invincible?"
Harry glanced at Hermione, who shook her head furiously.
"Harry, I never told the Professor anything! You promised you wouldn't go after the basilisk until you finished your training plan—how could you…"
Harry wilted under her glare, stammering out an apology.
Douglas snorted.
"So now you know you were wrong?
The things you're worried about are for professors to handle. And we don't need to report our plans to you, do we?
What are you? Students. Your main job is to study, understand?
Always 'Voldemort this, Voldemort that'—what do you think we professors are for?
I have no interest in explaining further. Figure out for yourselves what you did wrong.
Now, let's look at your grades…"
With a flick of his wand, Douglas summoned their test papers. He scanned them, then paused, surprised—one had scored ninety-five, the other ninety-two.
Though these were only written scores, both had done well in the practicals. Overall: excellent.
Harry and Ron, seeing Douglas fall silent, looked at each other, puzzled—was something wrong with their marks?
Hermione, who'd marked their exams, felt a secondhand embarrassment for Douglas.
But Douglas simply set the papers aside and changed tack.
"A little success, and you're arrogant already? Did you forget the self-reflection I made you write at the start of term?
You really think you can repeat last year's 'heroics'? Is that something to be proud of? Not trusting your professors—hmph."
Harry's head spun under Douglas's relentless gaze.
Douglas wasn't using Legilimency; he was simply baffled. In the original timeline, it was Ginny's disappearance, Lockhart's blundering, and Dumbledore's absence that forced the trio's hand. But this year, none of those things had happened—so why had Harry still tried to break into the Chamber?
He thought back over their performance in class. Both Harry and Ron had grown more confident—perhaps too confident. Or maybe their rebellious streak had simply come early.
Still, since they hadn't actually broken in, it wasn't a real disaster. He didn't want to make a big deal of it, nor did he care about the true reason. "Admit your mistake once, but if you don't change, that's something everyone goes through at your age."
So Douglas kept the punishment simple.
"Hmph. You should count yourselves lucky you were too thick to open the door. If you'd gotten in, you'd be facing the Headmaster and all four Heads of House.
For the next two days, I want a full self-reflection on every mistake you've made since entering the wizarding world—no less than five feet long. Hermione, you'll supervise. Before you leave school, hand it in to Professor McGonagall."
Ron looked ready to cry—not only had they lost points, now they had homework, right after exams!
Harry tried to protest, but Hermione quickly pulled him away.
As they reached the door, Douglas called Harry back, rummaged in a drawer, and produced a battered old diary.
"Harry, take off a sock and stuff it in this book."
He tossed the diary over. Harry, baffled, handed it to Hermione and bent to remove a sock.
Hermione examined the cover, then her eyes widened in shock.
Harry, now holding his sock, took the diary and stuffed it in.
Seeing Hermione's expression, he asked,
"What's wrong?"
Hermione ignored him, her voice trembling as she turned to Douglas.
"This—is this You-Know-Who's?"
Harry quickly checked the cover, making out the faded letters—yes, it was Voldemort's diary.
He blurted,
"Professor, why—?"
Douglas waved his hand. The diary, sock and all, flew to the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
"Why so many questions? Can't I use your smelly sock to disgust Voldemort? It's late—off you go. Ask one more question, and your essay gets another foot added."
The words were barely out of Douglas's mouth before Ron vanished from the doorway in a flash.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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