Chapter 3
September 9, 1996
The Daily Prophet
POTTER’S BEST FRIENDS BREAK THEIR SILENCE!
More reasons why the Chosen One fled the country
Diane Simmons, reporter
I had sent out a request to Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley shortly after I’d put my previous article to bed, hoping that I could get their perspective on why Harry Potter would refuse to continue his Hogwarts education. After the information that Lord Longbottom and his friends had given this paper two days ago, I was hoping for something from the other side of the coin, as it were. I hadn’t heard from them yesterday, and thought they’d ignore my request, which left me with a problem. How do I continue examining the issues surrounding Harry Potter’s life without input from those who were closest to him: his best friends? When I came into the office this morning, there was a Hogwarts school owl sitting on my desk, with the other two thirds of the Golden Trio agreeing to an interview. They informed me that they were bringing along others who knew Potter, and, I’ll admit, I was fairly frothing at the mouth in anticipation. Let me just say that I wasn’t disappointed, and I daresay you won’t be, either.
DS: Thank you for coming in to speak with me. Could you please introduce yourselves for our readers?
HG: Of course. My name is Hermione Jane Granger, and with me are Ronald Bilius Weasley, Ginevra Molly Weasley, Seamus Ian Finnigan, Zacharias Xavier Smith, Colin Christopher Creevey and Dennis Duncan Creevey.
DS: There seem to be a lot of Gryffindors in your group. Why is that?
RW: Because we Gryffindors are the only ones who really know Harry. He was in our house since first year, and anyone else who claims to be friends with him is only trying to profit from being known as a friend of the Chosen One.
ZS: Let’s get this straight. I am not a Gryffindor; I am a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, and I’m here because I can tell you some uncomfortable truths about the alleged Boy Who Lived.
DS: Really, Mr. Smith. Do tell.
ZS: He’s an arrogant, entitled bully who threw his celebrity around to get whatever he wanted. It’s only because he was the Savior that he was allowed to join the quidditch team at eleven, when we’re not even allowed brooms in first year.
RW: To be fair, Harry earned that spot, Zach. If Malfoy hadn’t taken Neville’s remembrall and threatened to dispose of it, Harry wouldn’t have had to go after him. Professor McGonagall saw Potter flying after the ferret, and knew instantly that he’d be the best seeker Gryffindor ever had, and she wasn’t wrong, either.
ZS: (The teen sniffed and wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something foul. I must say, I was slightly offended by his smug behavior.) Be that as it may, the headmaster shouldn’t have gone along with it. There were rules in place for a reason, and everyone flouted them for poor, pitiful Potter. He was a substandard student whose only skills were being the brawn for the two of you. I will admit that he was the reason that many of us received the highest recorded scores on our Defense OWLs last year, but that’s all he’s good for. He has a sacred, honor-bound duty to defend our world from He Who Must Not Be Named, and he’s run away like the coward he is.
And all this poppycock about him being abused! As if the Ministry or headmaster Dumbledore would ever allow that to happen. I’ll just bet he’s complaining so that he can get more sympathy, to which he obviously isn’t entitled, and have everyone fall at his feet, apologizing for ‘neglecting’ him. The headmaster has told the professors that Harry grew up loved and pampered; that he was taught everything he needed to know to navigate the wizarding world. Yet, when he gets here, he acts like an uneducated lout. That’s all it is; an act to garner more followers and acolytes. Potter doesn’t deserve the fame he has; it would have been better served with someone else.
DS: That’s a rather scathing indictment for someone who was actually abused, neglected and unaware of the wizarding world. (Smith opened his mouth, perhaps to continue arguing his point, but I wasn’t finished yet.) I went to the place where he grew up, and I found all sorts of evidence and documentation about his abuse. There were hospital records of broken bones and torn muscles; the kinds of injuries you don’t get by playing tag. There was no love for that child in that muggle home. His relatives are worse than Potter said; I can’t help but think that he downplayed much of the abuse because he was taught not to complain or he’d get punished.
HG: Zack doesn’t speak for the rest of us. We grew up with Harry, and we know who he really is. I’m not exactly sure why Smith came with us; I just thought he’d be moral support for what we had to say. (She turned to the young man and glared something awful at him. It was amusing to see the young man shrink into himself, mouth pinched closed. I’d love to learn how to cow people like that.) Harry had a very hard life from the moment his parents were murdered, but that is no excuse to shirk his fate-sworn duty to the magical world of Great Britain. If he doesn’t do what he’s supposed to and defeat You Know Who, then that nastiness will spread beyond our borders and into the muggle world.
He needs to come back here and face his responsibilities like a man, and not cower like a baby. His only job in this life is to protect the helpless against the coming evil, and it’s my job to make sure he does that. Headmaster Dumbledore picked me to guide the Chosen One to his destiny, and I’ll be damned if a childish temper tantrum takes away my shot at becoming the first muggleborn Minister of Magic.
DS: That’s actually not true. In 1962, muggleborn Nobby Leach was elected Minister of Magic, and he lasted until 1968. Of course, the purebloods didn’t like it, so many of them left the government in protest. He finally had to step down when he contracted a mysterious illness that was believed to be part of a plot against him and suspected to be masterminded by Abraxas Malfoy. Now, explain to me why it’s Harry Potter’s responsibility to go up against You Know Who. Shouldn’t we all shoulder some of the responsibility for that?
GW: Harry is the Savior of the wizarding world; the Chosen One; the Boy Who Lived. He is the only one who can defeat He Who Must Not Be Named, and he needs to come home so that we can get married.
RW: That’s right. He’s meant to marry my sister and really become part of my family. Mum has been planning their bonding ceremony since second year, when he rescued Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets and defeated Slytherin’s monster. That was exactly how King Arthur won the hand of Guinevere; by slaying a dragon for her.
DS: She was eleven and he was twelve at the time. Isn’t that a little young to be planning a wedding?
SF: We’re getting a little off-topic here. We want to tell Harry that he needs to come home and protect us. He’s always been a liar and a cheat, and this time is no different. That letter he wrote to the Prophet? All fake. There weren’t any ‘adventures’ in the school. That was just Potter’s way of making sure all the attention was on him at all times. My mam told me that she knew someone just like him when she went to school, and that you should never believe anything the papers say.
HG: If that’s true, Seamus, then why did you believe all of the Prophet’s lies about Harry in fifth year? Why did you go after him for telling everyone that You Know Who was back? Especially when it was proven at the end of that year that he was back.
SF: Me mam has never lied to me. (The boy sounded angrier than he should have at Granger’s questions. It makes me wonder what his mother had lied about, either to her son or her husband.) Just because she fibbed a little to me da doesn’t mean she’s a liar.
CC: You accused him of killing Cedric Diggory after the tournament! You told us that your mum and the Prophet were right; that Harry was a delusional liar and a murderer. Even after there was solid proof that the Noseless One was back, you never apologized for accusing him of killing another student. Both you and your mum owe him multiple apologies for all the trouble you caused in Gryffindor!
DC: My brother and I have always believed in Harry. Sure, at first it was a sort of hero-worship. I mean, when in your lifetime would you ever meet an honest to Merlin hero? I...ah...I may have annoyed Harry a little with my constant picture-taking, but he never lost his temper with me. I know he didn’t like it, but he never told me to stop. I just...I just wanted my parents to see the Boy Who Lived, since they’re in the muggle world all the time. They’ve never met a hero, either, and I thought I’d give them the opportunity, even though it was only through letters and pictures.
DS: I see that you’re mirroring your hero by calling He Who Must Not Be Named the Noseless One.
CC: Harry’s just about the only person, besides Dumbledore, that will call the Noseless One by his feared name. We were all informed that he’d put a taboo on it, and saying it would bring his Death Eaters right to us. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to apparate straight into the school, but if we slip at home... So we started using Harry’s monniker for the man, so that we wouldn’t slip up when we’re at home. This way, everyone knows who we’re talking about. I mean, we use ‘you know who’ in the muggle world all the time when we want to talk about someone but don’t want to mention names. It gets really confusing when it’s bandied about here, and it’s used for only one single person.
There’ve been times when I was talking to someone in another house and I said ‘you know who said that...’ and the other person would look at me with a little bit of fear, thinking that the Noseless One had been talking to someone we all knew. Frankly, it’s stupid to be afraid of saying a name, but with magic, you can never be too careful.
HG: We have gotten way off topic, here. I wanted to put it out in the papers that Harry James Potter needs to drag his sorry arse back here pronto. He needs to do what’s expected of him, and protect us from He Who Must Not Be Named. If he doesn’t show up immediately, then he can consider our friendship over!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 15, 1996
The Daily Prophet
MINISTRY TO INVESTIGATE HOGWARTS!
Headmaster under fire for putting children in danger!
Amy Townsend, reporter
In a shocking move by the Ministry, Rufus Scrimgeour has sent investigators to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to examine how the school has been operating over the last several years. As you all know, once the announcement of You Know Who’s return reached the public, Cornelius Fudge was driven from office, and Rufus Scrimgeour had taken his place. Based on the information released in the letter from the Boy Who Lived, Scrimgeour sent Aurors to investigate, led by Pius Thicknesse. It is believed that Albus Dumbledore may be in league with He Who Must Not Be Named, since each one of the incidents resulted in Harry Potter vanquishing the spirit of You Know Who.
The students and professors will also be interviewed, to determine if anyone else was in danger from the assorted happenings in the school. During the investigation, the castle will be locked down to prevent apparition into or out of the building. Portkeys will also be inactive, and Fawkes, the phoenix who made himself Dumbledore’s companion, will be fitted with a collar that will restrict his ability to transport people to and from the school. As soon as we have information on the investigation, we will update you.