*
The rest of the week was surprisingly calm. Now that the aftermath of the Ministry fiasco had quietened down, Tom enjoyed relaxing with his friends and reflecting on the year they’d had.
No one saw her, but it was said that Dumbridge had been recovered from the centaurs and was now in St. Mungo’s, suffering from trauma. With her out the picture, Hogwash returned to its former self. Her security team were all put in detention and the house elves put on a feast to celebrate. It turned out that Dumbridge had been particularly evil towards them. She’d forced them to work for 20 hours without a break, punished any of them who didn’t look right in her opinion and stopped them all from cleaning Gryffinchair tower to spite both house elves and the Gryffinchair students.
At the end of term feast, Tom sat with his Quidditch team, with Amber on one side and Cho on the other. They eat as much as they could. Chicken legs, pulled pork sandwiches, steak, chips and so on. They laughed and cheered a lot, as did everyone. For that glorious hour, no one in the room thought of anything other than the meal they were eating and the people they were with. It was almost as if all the news of death and violence had never existed.
Once the meal was over, Dumby got up to give his end of year speech. Everyone became silent within seconds and Dumby began. “As this year comes to an end, I would like to first congratulate you all on getting through it. It had not been an easy year by any means.” There were a few chuckles and murmurs of agreement. “As you are all aware by now, Moldywart has returned. Our very own Tom Collivander confronted him and protected his fellow school mates. He showed the courage and determination that we all need to aim for in the years to come. For this, I award Ravensnore house 70 points and I give Tom my upmost thanks.”
Tom received a round of applause and he asked Amber, “Does he usually do this?”
“Every year. He normally gives hundreds of points to Gryffinchair to make sure they win but thanks to you, things might be different this year.”
The clapping ceased and Dumby continued. “Next, I wish to thank Luna Loveydovey, Ginny and Ron Weaselby, Hermione Danger, Neville Shortstop and Harry Trotter. They were also present at the Ministry and showed similar levels of courage. I award them all 30 points each.”
“Maybe not,” whispered Amber and Tom laughed.
“Finally, I want to say that whatever you all do this summer, stay safe and stick together. Friends are the most underrated resource we possess. Look out for each other and I expect to see you all back here in September, ready for some more learning.” There was another round of applause, albeit a quieter one. “Now that’s out of the way, let’s see who’s won the house cup.” He turned to look at the giant hourglasses and lifted the cover off it. The whole hall reeled in surprise. “It looks like this year’s winners are Hufflesnuff,” he said, unconfidently. The Hufflesnuff table erupted with cheers and they all jumped up as Dumby changed the flags in the hall to the Hufflesnuff house crest.
It had been so long since Hufflesnuff last won, no one knew when it last was. The other three tables couldn’t understand how Hufflesnuff had won. Dumby had just given points to Ravensnore and Gryffinchair, Dumbridge gave loads of points to Slytherdin and yet Hufflesnuff outshone them all. After the initial shock was over, the rest of the hall clapped. No one could be made at Hufflesnuff.
Tom saw Dumby still looking confused and then he saw Professor Sprout, who appeared to have a slightly evil grin on her face. Tom assumed she had won it for them by giving Hufflesnuff students a load of points in secret and burst out laughing. He looked over at the Hufflesnuff table and saw Clara and Isabelle amongst the cheering. He saw their happiness at winning and privately, he applauded Professor Parsnip for brining cheer to them. Tom personally wasn’t bothered about winning the house cup and so was happy that it went to the people who would appreciate it most.
He decided not to mention his suspicion to anyone else as he wasn’t sure how people would react. Tom thought most students took the house cup too seriously and besides, Professor Parsnip had only done what other teachers had done for the other houses.
Back in his room, Tom packed up all his possessions, which took a surprisingly short amount of time. Tom’s family were fairly wealthy, just like all the pure blood families, but he didn’t particularly care for material possession. Hence he packed everything he owned into two bags, put them in the corner of his room and went to find Amber. He found her in her room where she was still packing. She had significantly more stuff than Tom but that’s as expected.
Tom helped her pack as they talked. “You better keep in touch this summer,” she said.
“That’s what a phone is for,” Tom replied.
“I’ll want to see you though. It was a nice present, but to be honest, I’m not a fan of these phones. How’s that internet connection thing going?”
“Badly. I can’t work out how to do it at all. Don’t change the subject though… You know where to find me and you can apparate now so it’s easy enough for you to come and see me this summer.”
“I’ll make sure I tell you when I’m coming to Diagonal alley,” she said brightly.
“You better… Hey I just thought, I don’t know where you live.”
“In Cornwall, down by the coast.”
“I’m coming to you then. When the weather is good, we should go surfing!”
She laughed, “Yeah, that’d be fun. I’ll get to beat you at something for a change. There’s also the added bonus of seeing you make a fool of yourself.”
They finished packing and then Tom made his own personal goodbye, before they went to the common room to prepare for Mark and Ryan’s surprise party that the rest of the Quidditch team had planned. They were both 7th years and so leaving Hogwash forever. Boris, Natalie and Cho had already started when they arrived. As they decorated, other students realised what they were doing and joined in. Mark and Ryan were known by everyone and so they were all sad to see them go. Once the common room was decorated and filled up with people, Natalie went to fetch them.
Tom had been planning to prank them to get them back for what they did to him after the Slytherdin Quidditch match, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The looks of sadness on their faces put him off entirely. He didn’t know when he’d see them again and so he didn’t want their final memory of him to be of annoyance.
The party helped everyone’s spirits a bit. It was low key, just some music and talking but it was enjoyable all the same. However, before long, people started saying goodbye to each other and went to bed. Tom said his own personal goodbyes to Mark and Ryan, inviting them to come by the shop any time. Then he too, went to bed.
The journey back to king’s cross was not that enjoyable for Tom as he knew it marked the start of holiday working in a shop. He had a good time with the Quidditch team in a compartment but before he knew it, they were rolling up to the platform.
As he left the train, he found the triple threat waiting for him. They led him over to where members of the order were standing, in a corner. “Here they come,” said Fred to the group, which contained George, Arthur, Black Eye and Conks. Tom reached them first and shook hands with everyone.
“We’ve got a busy summer ahead,” said Rudy.
“How so?” asked Tom in surprise.
“After the mess up at the Ministry, we’ve got death munchers all over the country losing their heads, attacking at will.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry boy. It gives me something to do, it’s what I live for.”
Tom looked at the others for reassurance. “Black Eye’s a special case,” said Conks. They all chuckled.
Tom then felt someone prodding his back. He turned round to see Amber staring up at him. “I thought you’d gone,” he said.
“I just wanted to tell you something before I left.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear. “I love you, always.”
She then kissed him and Tom whispered, “I love you too,” and then she left, for re
al this time.
Feeling embarrassed, Tom turned round to see the entire group smirking at him. “Shut up,” he said jokily.
“We didn’t say anything,” said George, still smirking.
Rudy quickly became disinterested and said, “Times catching up on us, we better go.”
Hermione hugged Tom and said, “I’ll see you soon.”
Ron asked, “How are you getting home?”
“Tube,” Tom replied. Arthur jumped at the mention of the underground trains and was aching to go with Tom but thought better of it.
Tom said goodbye to all of them and then pulled Harry aside. “Listen mate. I’m sure others have already told you this, but be careful. You know better than me what Moldywart is capable of and from the little I understood back in Dumby’s office about the prophecy and stuff, we need you. You’re the key to everything.”
“Don’t worry about me Tom, I’ll be fine.”
They man hugged and then Tom left them, heading for the tube terminals. As he walked off on his own, he remembered he’d forgotten to say goodbye to Lyrotth and so left platform 10 2/7th feeling guilty. As he re-joined the muggle world, he looked around at the people who knew nothing of magic or dragons and pitied them.
The End
###
I hope you enjoyed Tom’s adventures in his 5th year. I enjoyed writing them and I’m currently working on his 6th year. Any feedback would be welcome. I’d love to hear what you think.
I also want to thank J.K Rowling for creating the world of Harry Potter. This book owes itself to her ideas.
I am just someone who grew up reading her books and wanted to put my own twists on them. I am in no way trying to make any money for myself or devalue the original Harry Potter franchise.
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