Chapter 192: The End of Third Year

"Me? Summer plans?" Orli widened her eyes in surprise. She felt her cheeks heating up, unsure if it was due to the weather or something else.

"Of course, unless you have other arrangements..." Snape said with a relaxed expression, adding, "You'd better have some..."

"No, I don't. I don't have anything planned for the summer," Orli said, immediately tossing Ron's earlier mention of the Quidditch World Cup out of her mind.

"Are we staying at school together?" Orli asked.

"Oh, Orli, the school is closed during summer. You'll have to find somewhere else. Perhaps you could stay at Severus's place?" Dumbledore suggested.

"I absolutely will not take her to Spinner's End," Snape growled, his voice nearly breaking from his own biting tone.

"Maybe you could come to my house? I mean, the Waters Family's old manor—you've been there before, before I started school..." Orli stammered, her tongue feeling swollen as she spoke.

Snape let out an indistinct sound from his throat, then turned and walked away. Orli couldn't tell whether he had agreed or not.

"Looks like everything is settled," Dumbledore said. "Orli, have a pleasant summer holiday."

His tone remained unchanged, but Orli felt a hint of mischief in his voice. Her head felt swollen, her legs weak, and her heartbeat uncontrollable. Perhaps Lupin had added too much alcohol to her juice... She thought, though her mind quickly turned to more serious matters.

"Professor, do you remember that diary? Tom Riddle's diary," Orli asked.

Dumbledore's expression shifted subtly but was quickly concealed.

"Of course, Orli. It caused us quite a bit of trouble," Dumbledore replied.

"Did you destroy it?" Orli pressed.

"Yes. Not long ago, I destroyed it using Gryffindor's sword," Dumbledore nodded.

Orli felt a small sense of relief.

"Have you figured out how it works? I always felt that thing was very sinister. I'm worried Voldemort might have made more than one of them," Orli said.

"While I haven't fully deciphered its mechanisms, it's undoubtedly very evil," Dumbledore admitted, his brows furrowing. "In fact, such objects are exceedingly rare. If Voldemort created many of them, his mind and soul would surely be unable to withstand the strain."

"Perhaps," Orli said, reluctantly abandoning her plan to reveal the Horcrux clue.

"But please be cautious. If there are other similar objects, they will undoubtedly be even more dangerous. You know, that diary might have been Riddle's first experiment during his student days," Orli warned.

"I'll keep a close watch," Dumbledore said seriously.

---

The day of departure brought excellent weather and a cheerful atmosphere, though many students regretted Lupin's departure.

Fred and George barely scraped together a handful of O.W.Ls certificates, while Percy passed his N.E.W.Ts with exceptionally high marks. After the exams, he was almost inseparable from his girlfriend, Penelope.

The quartet passed all their exams, with Orli's Potions grade still an "O." During the final weeks, Snape's behavior had been unusually odd—Orli had thought he might give her a "T."

Meanwhile, Gryffindor House won the House Cup for the third consecutive year, largely thanks to their outstanding performance in Quidditch. This meant the end-of-term feast was decorated in scarlet and gold, and the Gryffindor table was particularly lively as everyone celebrated. Even Harry joined in the eating, drinking, and laughing, momentarily forgetting he'd have to return to the Dursleys the next day.

Hermione finally allowed herself to relax. She shared some surprising news with her friends:

"This morning, I went to see Professor McGonagall, just before breakfast. I've decided to drop Muggle Studies and Divination," Hermione announced.

"But your GPA is a whopping 400%!" Ron exclaimed.

"I know," Hermione sighed. "But I can't handle another year like this one. Dropping Muggle Studies and Divination will give me a normal schedule again."

Orli guessed Hermione had returned the Time-Turner to Professor McGonagall.

The next day, they boarded the Hogwarts Express to leave the station. Ron spent the trip talking endlessly about the summer's Quidditch World Cup, pitching the event like a ticket vendor:

"How about it? You can all come stay at my place beforehand, and we'll go to the matches together! My dad always gets tickets—they're really hard to come by."

"Sirius promised to take me. He said he'll come to the Dursleys to pick me up and check on how those Muggles treat me. Honestly, the Dursleys might be in for some bad luck—who knows?" Harry said with a mischievous grin.

"I'd love to go, but I'll have to ask my parents first," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"What about you, Orli?" Ron asked, looking at her expectantly.

"Sorry, but my summer is fully booked," Orli said, biting her lower lip, though she couldn't suppress a small smile.

"Two whole months?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Yes, two whole months," Orli replied, turning to look out the window as Hogwarts Castle disappeared behind a mountain. Her heart was filled with anticipation and joy, her lips curling into a constant smile.

She had never looked forward to a long summer holiday so much.

---

Author's Note:

In the original work, Hermione dropped Divination early, so her final GPA was 320%. In this book, Hermione took the Divination exam, and I added points for her.

The third year has ended—celebrations!

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