Chapter 4
When he was near the Great Hall, Harry saw a large number of reporters and Ministry officials. Among the officials Harry could make out some Death Eaters, such as Nott and Malfoy, and some members of the Order, such as Mad-Eye or Kingsley.
Harry had taken off his invisibility cloak two corridors ago, making sure no one saw him, so some of the reporters recognized Harry immediately and tried to approach him to get an exclusive.
Luckily, or unluckily, Ron and Hermione showed up just in time to defend Harry from the reporters and partially drag Harry to their seats in the Great Hall. Harry decided to let himself go, mainly because it was better to deal with his friends than the reporters, so he pretended to be sad again to avoid reproach for disappearing all morning. It didn't do much good.
Where have you been all morning, Harry? Ron came looking for you in your room because you hadn't come down for breakfast and he told me you weren't there; do you know how worried we were?'' Hermione shouted.
Harry didn't really feel like listening to Hermione's lectures today or ever, so he pretended to look down, looking depressed, and replied quietly.
``I just wanted to be alone for a while Hermione''.
Hermione was still angry, but she swallowed his act and let it go, joining Ron, who also had a sad look on his face, in patting Harry comfortingly.
Honestly, his friends weren't so bad after all, or at least that's what Harry thought at times like this, but then they did things like let him down out of jealousy of his fame, like Ron last year with the Triwizard Tournament, or Hermione saying she knew better and not believing Harry at the important times like, well, always.
So yes, as the saying goes, better alone than in bad company. If Harry thinks about it, he doesn't have a single person in his life who really cares about him and won't sell him out when the going gets tough, which is really sad.
As Harry pretended to be sad, Dumbledore entered the Great Dining Hall with a big smile on his face, accompanied by Minister Fudge and other Ministry workers, as well as the Hogwarts professors, who were already seated at the table waiting for their food. Even Umbridge was at the table in her ridiculous pink suit, criticizing Hogwarts and praising the Ministry's policies.
Or at least trying to defend them, because from what little Harry had seen of the newspaper on the table, the magical population was currently criticizing Fudge and demanding his resignation while praising Harry's bravery in defending himself against Voldemort and the sadness he must be suffering at the loss of his falsely framed godfather. What a bunch of hypocrites.
As Harry criticized the Ministry, Dumbledore sat back in his seat and picked up a crystal goblet, which he tapped lightly with a teaspoon to get the attention of those in the room.
``Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry to have called you here at short notice, but I am pleased to announce that Prime Minister Fudge here and I have a plan to defeat Voldemort once and for all´´
Dumbledore looked very pleased as he spoke and even Fudge straightened up in his seat and smiled as Dumbledore mentioned his name. At this great news everyone in the room began to murmur amongst themselves, some with great anticipation and others with suspicion, but they all fell silent as Dumbledore, with a slightly annoyed look on his face, tapped his goblet again for silence.