HP • Legilimency | 𝐍. 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐘

𝐈'𝐦 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞

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When Harry, Astria, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart emerged at the door, covered in dirt and slime, with Astria and Harry covered in blood from head to toe, a brief silence fell over the room. Then, the anguished cry of Lady Black calling Astria's name and her arms wrapping tightly around her until she couldn't breathe.

"Good heavens, I thought that..." She could hardly finish, choked up by tears. "Never again, never do such a thing!"

"Ginny!" It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting and crying in front of the fireplace. She jumped up, followed closely by Mr. Weasley, and they both rushed to their daughter.

Astria stepped back a little and noticed that Lady Black's cheeks were stained with tears as well, just like those of the other red-haired woman. Lady Black seemed ridiculously pale, feeling around for injuries. Her eyes, in panic, fixed on Astria's blood-covered face.

But her gaze shifted a little further ahead, where Dumbledore stood by the fireplace console, smiling, next to Professor McGonagall, who breathed deeply, her hands on her chest as if she could finally breathe.

Why is the old man smiling? They nearly died.

"Draco came to me - then Ginevra Wesley disappeared, and there was the message on the wall ─ 'her bones will forever rot in the chamber.' ─ We didn't know which one of you... I was so worried! I feared that..." Lady Black sobbed, and Astria panicked seeing her so shaken.

"Sorry -" she managed to say with a strained voice because the older woman was squeezing her in a tight hug.

Fawkes flew past Astria's ear and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as someone moved Lady Black a bit, and Astria, Harry, and Ron found themselves enveloped in Mrs. Weasley's tight embrace.

"You saved my daughter! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know," Professor McGonagall said weakly.

Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry and looked at Astria strangely, both fearful and grateful at the same time.

Harry hesitated for a moment, walked over to the desk, and placed Tom Riddle's diary on it.

Astria walked nervously with the looks and placed the sword and hat on the table. Then she began to tell everything. For fifteen minutes, she spoke, surrounded by attention and silence: she mentioned the invisible voice she had heard, how she discovered she was a Parselmouth and began researching it, how she found out what kind of monster was in the chamber, Riddle's diary and how he tried to deceive her, and how she deduced the location of the entrance and went to check it.

Harry shared how he and Ron followed the spiders into the Forbidden Forest, where they found a giant named Aragog, and told where the Heir's last victim died and how they found the clue Draco left with Hermione. He also explained that he knew his friends hadn't been clear because they were upset about the suspicion from them and the other two Gryffindors.

When they finished explaining everything, Lady Black's paleness gave way to a flush of anger. Astria nervously bit her lower lip.

"Well done," Professor McGonagall encouraged them when Harry stopped telling his version. "You found where the entrance was, and I would add that you trampled over about a hundred rules of our regulations, but, by Merlin, how did you manage to get out of there alive?"

With a hoarse voice from so much talking, Astria then told about the providential arrival of Fawkes and the Sorting Hat with the sword inside. However, at this point, she found herself speechless. Until that moment, she had avoided mentioning Riddle's diary and that the basilisk obeyed her or about Ginny. The girl stood, her head resting on Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, tears still silently streaming down her face.