Wow, this is long... and this is it on this installment!

Snape used his terrifying glare and crooked a finger at Dobby, who immediately slunk into the room. "What is the meaning of this interruption?" His voice was low and dangerous.

"The King of the Sock Folk is wanting to talk with Harry's Weezy. They is thinking that he is the only one who will give them what they is needing," Dobby gulped and looked around. "They... they is wanting..."

"What?" Snape thundered, his voice echoing in the now silent chamber, broken only by the mutterings of Ron as he slept on. "What is it they want?" One of the Gryffindors near the door slipped behind the Sock Folk and ran for Dumbledore. "Are they aware they are interrupting my class?"

While all the students were cowering behind their cauldrons, the socks seemed strangely unperturbed. Maybe socks can't get perturbed. Maybe socks don't have faces and would make excellent poker players because they never give their emotions away. Maybe your author is now considering taking a sock to Vegas. Maybe your author is also considering admitting herself to some sort of "special home."

"They is saying that if they is not getting what they is wanting," Dobby rushed out in one long, frightened breath, "then they will be forced to be drastic."

"Idle threats," Snape almost purred and his students crouched lower. Except Ron, who began to snore. "What are they going to do? Clog up our lint traps?"

Snape's sarcasm was lost on the students, who were wondering what a lint trap was. Except for the Muggle-borns, who were wondering how Snape knew what a lint trap was.

"They is planning on eating anyone who is getting in their way," Dobby whispered.

Snape's face turned red. "I refuse to be eaten by a sock!" He searched for the appropriate response. "Twenty points from Gryffindor!"

Hermione leapt to her feet. "But, but, Professor Snape! We aren't responsible for the Sock Folk's desire to eat you."

"Silly girl!" he roared back. She knelt back down behind her cauldron gracefully. "It is YOUR fault they are animated, therefore it is your fault if they decide to eat me. For each sock that eats me, I will deduct an additional 20 points from Gryffindor." No one dared how he would do so from the inside of a sock.

"Actually, Severus," Dumbledore appeared in the doorway, "it isn't quite their fault that the socks were animated. If we must point fingers, we should probably point them at the Ministry for their law banning the warning labels that used to be attached to each pair of socks. Socks are highly volatile items and should not have any experimental charms placed upon them. But beyond pointing fingers, what are we to do with the socks now that they are here?"

"We could always feed the Gryffindors to them," Snape said with a sneer, clearly upset by his dark and gloomy bubble being popped. At the looks, he murmured, "I'm kidding. We should feed them the Hufflepuffs."

In the end, the school opted for a suggestion offered by Ronald Weasley, once he awoke from his deep, non-peppermint flavored sleep. A portion of the Forbidden Forest was cordoned off and donated to the SPIT cause. The socks were entered into a sort of capture and release program, and many of observers were surprised at how well the socks adapted to living in the highly dangerous Forest. Of course, they did keep the fireplace tools, which the Gryffindor house was only too happy to donate to the cause of getting the socks out of Hogwarts. For their part, the socks are happy and accept any visitors that come down to their patch of land. Dobby refuses to visit.

Draco is still afraid of marshmallows. He has temporarily forgotten his mad plot to take over as king of all pranks in the irrational fear that his pillow is actually a marshmallow in disguise. He is not getting much sleep.

Hermione has gotten over her deep and abiding fear of ending all of time and space and is once again confident in her role as "she who knows all things." She initially was very angry that Ron's idea beat out her own of trying to trick them all into going into the dryer. She argued, quite persuasively, that, "Socks disappear from the dryer all the time." Dumbledore felt it lacked a sense of good will and fair sportsmanship. Hermione thinks Dumbledore is jealous.

Harry is content in his role as undeclared leader and all around good guy. He somehow managed not to pop a blood vessel during this fic, although the author wonders how. She also suggests anger management courses. He continues to speak to Ginny whenever he wants, despite Ron's disgruntlement.

Ron visits the Wild Sock Reserve quite often and is viewed as a sort of hero. He enjoys this, except that it causes his ears to turn rather red. The red clashes badly with his still pink hair, which Madame Pomfrey and Snape argue will turn back any day now. Then they giggle.

No one really cares about the rest of the Gryffs at this time, although it is safe to tell you that we will all meet again someday. And maybe they will actually get more than one line a piece.