As they opened the door, they were greeted by the ear-splitting screams of both Mrs. Weasley and surprisingly, Professor McGonagall, who hugged Brooklyn tightly, after he set the still unconscious Lockhart down, shocking Harry and Ron into disbelief.

Brooklyn himself was astonished at McGonagall's gesture, trying his best to calm her and tell her that he was okay, but she wouldn't stop crying. Dumbledore was watching the scene with a small smile on his face.

"You saved him! How did you do it?" Mrs. Weasley gasped, being the most calm one, while Mr. Weasley managed to pull McGonagall gently away, causing Brooklyn to gasp for air, for she had him in a tight hug.

She sat down weakly. "I-I'd think we'd all like to know that story," she gasped.

Harry then went into explanation of the whole story, while Brooklyn stood to the side. He had put Lockhart down before McGonagall hugged him, and he looked downward, feeling shame like a lump in his throat. Still though, he was grateful that Voldemort was gone from inside him, hopefully for good.

Then other worries flooded him. Will they kick him out? Not even McGonagall knew the whole story of him being the one who attacked everybody.

When Harry finished, he looked instinctively at Dumbledore, who folded his hands together, and looked over at Brooklyn, who flapped his wings, still feeling nervous.

"What interests me most, is how Voldemort managed to enchant our gargoyle friend here, when my sources clearly tell me that Voldemort is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."

Mrs. Weasley looked startled and was still crying. "W-what? You-Know-Who enchanted Brooklyn? He's not—he hasn't, has he?"

Harry quickly pulled out the diary, which now had holes and was covered in dried ink. Brooklyn didn't even want to look at that horrid thing anymore, even if it was destroyed.

"Brilliant," murmured Dumbledore, gazing down at the diary with his half-moon spectacles. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen."

And he was a disgusting, manipulating bastard, Brooklyn thought, shutting his eyes, trying to block out the echoes of Voldemort's laughter.

"But, Brooklyn," McGonagall suddenly spoke, snapping him out of his moment. "What has he gotten to do with him?"

Now Brooklyn couldn't keep it in anymore.

"It was his diary!" He exclaimed, pointing to the book, his feelings spilling out in different emotions.

Her eyes grew wide. "I-I've been writing in that thing, and he was writing back to me. It seemed quite harmless enough at first, but—." McGonagall interrupted him by grabbing his arms, not too tightly, but she gave him a fierce look that made him look away in shame again.

"Brooklyn, now listen to what I have to say; never, ever, trust anything that could think for itself, if you can't see where it can put its brain. It was clearly full of Dark Magic! Why didn't you turn it in in the first place?"

He felt the tears come again. "I don't know! I found it in Flourish and Blotts after I stopped the fight between Lucius and Arthur, and just thought somebody dropped it. I didn't know it would almost kill me!" He then nearly yelled, causing McGonagall's face to soften a little, now realizing what Brooklyn must've gone through, tricked, and lied to by Tom Riddle to harm others.

Dumbledore looked solemn, eyes filled with sympathy for Brooklyn, who stood there, looking quite miserable.

"McGonagall, I think Brooklyn deserves a rest in the hospital wing. This has been a terrible ordeal for him. Older and wiser wizards have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort."

"Aren't you-you going to throw me out? I was supposed to protect the children here, not let some maniac mind control me and make me hurt them for his advantage!" Brooklyn pressed, anxiety throbbing. Dumbledore shook his head.

"There will be no punishment, my friend." He strode to the door and opened it, giving Brooklyn a cheerful smile. "I always find that bed rest always cheers me up. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will not mind having one more patient. She's just giving out the Mandrake juice. The Basilisk's petrified victims should be waking up at any moment. And I think this calls for a feast tonight!"

The young gargoyle's heart soared a little. That meant he could see Hermione and talk to her again!

"Right," McGonagall said, placing a gentle hand around Brooklyn, guiding him out along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, not before he turned, giving Dumbledore a pleading look, begging not to expel them. But he didn't respond as the door closed, Harry looking after him with worry.

Brooklyn remained quiet during their whole trip to the hospital wing, not looking at McGonagall, who still guided him by holding her arm around him. For he walked quite slowly.

"Everything will be okay," she murmured gently, almost motherly. But Brooklyn couldn't be sure. Only a piece of Voldemort's soul was destroyed. Who knows how many more were out there, manipulating other innocent victims, like him?

They reached the doors to the wing, and McGonagall knocked on it, answered immediately by Madam Pomfrey. Brooklyn was quite glad to see her.

"McGonagall! Is-is that Brooklyn? They found him?"

"Yes. He needs care, Poppy. He has been through a terrible ordeal this year. Will you take in one more?"

Pomfrey gazed over at Brooklyn, her heart going out to him, seeing this poor thing trembling from the stress and anxiety in the past hour. She couldn't say no.

"Come in, Dear," Pomfrey said softly, taking Brooklyn's hand and led him in.

She guided him to the most comforting thing Brooklyn was looking forward to: a soft bed all ready for him.

After settling him on the bed, Brooklyn realized how exhausted he was, from fighting Voldemort, to being controlled like a puppet. But he couldn't fall asleep, fear making him look around, thinking that he will come and control him again. Mrs. Weasley tried to comfort him, but it didn't do any good.

Pomfrey noticed and brought a goblet of purple potion to him.

"You need to sleep, Dear. This is a Dreamless Sleep potion to help."

He took the goblet without complaint, willing to do anything to forget Voldemort for a while. After only a few drinks, it took effect almost instantly, feeling himself going sleepy right away, the room becoming a gentle haze, Mrs. Weasley murmuring softly to him.

He sank into the warm mattress, Pomfrey adjusting his blankets. This was even better than his other blackouts; he wasn't alone this time and wouldn't have any more nightmares. He wanted to say something to Mrs. Weasley, but sleep won, and he was out like a light.

...

Later that evening, Brooklyn woke up, his body heavy from sleep, eventually wondering where he was. But he felt blankets over him, and he saw with relief that he was still in the hospital wing.

"Nice to see you finally up, Brook!"

He froze. That voice. It-it was...

Turning his head, his heart soared when he saw Hermione, sitting up in her bed next to his, looking quite happy.

"Hermione!" gasped Brooklyn in joy. He got up, giving her a big hug, one that he longed to do with her since she was petrified.

"I'm sorry, Hermione! I really am! I don't know if you can-"

But Hermione shushed him. "There's no harm, Brooklyn. I told the others that you had been under Voldemort's control, and they couldn't be mad at you. Just stop blaming yourself, okay? We have the feast pretty soon, and Pomfrey says we can all go!"

Brooklyn's heart felt lighter than it had been in months. He used to always look forward to the feasts before he picked up that diary. And he was looking forward to eating again without Tom Riddle looming over his shoulder as he got back into bed.

Harry suddenly came into the wing, while Pomfrey attended to Hermione, Brooklyn noticed he had unusual company with him: a strange little creature with bat-like ears, and eyes the size of large golf balls that wore a filthy pillowcase, and one large smelly sock.

"Hi, Brooklyn! How are you doing?" Harry asked, grinning.

The gargoyle shrugged. "Okay, I guess. It might be a while before I can really forget about him, though," he muttered.

Harry nodded in understanding. "Well, anyway, I brought a friend of mine. Remember the one I told you about in the start of the year, that house elf that got me in trouble? Well, this is Dobby. He had been the one who had closed the barrier, too."

Brooklyn was surprised at this revelation, studying the creature, and wondered how something so small and gangly had that much magic could pull this off.

"Don't get mad at him though, he was only trying to protect me. Plus, he had been under Mr. Malfoy's boots for years, and he abused Dobby, even making him hurt himself." Harry quickly said, seeing his brother's surprised face.

Brooklyn at that looked at Dobby again, who had tears in his eyes and was trembling. He felt something hit his heart, pity.

"I'm not mad at you, Dobby, if you were doing all that to protect him. But um, you should probably tone it down a bit when protecting others," he recommended. Dobby had a little smile on his face.

"Dobby is most grateful to you, Sir, for not getting mad at Dobby. Mr. Potter even freed Dobby, Sir. He is happy to be free!" He said in a sniffling voice. Brooklyn chuckled.

"There's no need to call me sir. Brooklyn is fine," the red gargoyle said, smiling slightly at being called sir.

The elf's eyes filled with tears. "Ah, Potter never told me how humble and polite you are, si-Brooklyn! Dobby hopes we can have more interactions in the future now that he's free!"

"Sure hope so!"

Harry smiled as well. "Me and Dobby also came to a compromise about trying to save me so much, too." He said, causing them to chuckle.

But Brooklyn had questions for Harry. "Harry, what did Dumbledore say to you and Ron? He didn't expel you?"

Harry shook his head. "Quite the opposite, actually. And I even figured out who put that diary into Ginny's cauldron before it fell out and you found it. It was Lucius Malfoy."

Brooklyn growled in surprise and fury. "It was him?" He yelled in anger, sitting up in his bed sharply. He just couldn't believe that Lucius had been the one that made him go through all this. One day... oh, one day he was gonna get payback, that's for sure!

"But Dumbledore chewed him out, making the old coward run away. And for a little revenge, I set his house elf free," Harry continued, smirking. Dobby smiled up at Harry.

"Just save some Lucius for me whenever I see him again," Brooklyn demanded, folding his arms.

"Definitely!"

....

They all went to the feast together that night, where Brooklyn saw everybody in their pjs, as they laughed and talked. He didn't know which part of this night was his favorite: Hermione running in, hugging Harry and Ron while screaming "You solved it! You solved it!," Colin coming up to Brooklyn and asking Harry to have a photo with him, Nearly Headless Nick appearing, looking better than the last time Brooklyn had seen him, Justin apologizing over and over to both him and Harry, Dumbledore announcing the cancellation of exams ("Oh no!" Hermione said,) and that they need a new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, or Hagrid running in, giving Brooklyn yet another bone crushing hug, sobbing and thanking him for proving his innocence.

But whatever it was, Brooklyn really started to feel like his old self again, Tom Riddle completely gone from his mind, as he stuffed himself at the table and sat in between his friends, and talking merrily with Ginny again, who sat across from him.

Eventually, Harry told Brooklyn about how he stabbed the Basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor, and Brooklyn himself was impressed. He also told as best he could about his inner struggle with Voldemort, and how the sword appeared in his subconscious, as well.

"But how? How could the sword appear to you as well as me?" Harry had asked.

"I really don't know. But it will be a mystery that we can figure out together eventually!" Brooklyn said, helping himself to a treacle tart.

The rest of the year passed by Brooklyn like the wind, as he made up for all the things he missed while being possessed by Riddle: his old walks outside in the sun, this time with Harry since there were no exams. And he smirked at Malfoy, who was looking sulky because his father was sacked as school governor, and not strutting the school anymore while giving Brooklyn an evil stare. But he didn't care.

Everything was now hopefully back to normal. Well, normal enough, since he was still trapped in this strange Wizarding World and time.

But Brooklyn hoped to make the most of next year with his brother, even if he couldn't go home yet. Next year, he vowed to never mess with any item that could mess with him in return.

They journeyed home on the Hogwarts Express once again, Brooklyn taking the time to relax, gazing out at the open fields turning into small towns while almost falling asleep to the rhythmic sounds of the train rails. Why he never took the time to appreciate the small things in life to enjoy sometimes, he would never know.

The train came to a halt, and the group of friends came out together to be greeted by the Weasleys.

Mrs. Weasley hugged Brooklyn tightly, thankfully not as strong as Hagrid's hugs.

"Oh, Brooklyn! We had to come that day when we heard you went missing! And-and-!" She broke down, and Mr. Weasley took over.

"What Molly was trying to say was that she was blaming herself for what happened. If she hadn't blamed you for that car, then you wouldn't have been taken."

Brooklyn shook his head. "It's really alright. Ron did take most of the blame, anyway. But I'm looking forward to resting at the Leaky Cauldron for most of the summer, maybe have a sundae at the ice cream parlor."

Then Mr. Weasley smiled. "Even better, we'd like you to be a summer guest of honor at the Burrow, Brooklyn. Ginny specifically requested it, even if Harry has to stay at the Dursley's again. We're gonna get him for the second half of the summer. I hope that's okay with you?"

The gargoyle's heart soared. This was even better! Another summer with the Weasley's sounded great! He nodded, grinning.

Harry came up to them, giving Ron a piece of paper. "This is called a telephone number, Ron. You and Brooklyn call me at the Dursley's, okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to."

"You count on it," Brooklyn promised. "And if things get messy, expect me to come in and take you to the Weasley's or the Leaky Cauldron, okay?"

Harry looked up at his brother gratefully as they walked out of the station into the Muggle World side by side, Brooklyn now wondering what the next year would bring for him in this strange world.