In Which Ginny Weasley Exposes Hermione Granger’s Greed
November 13, 1996
The Oracle
BREAKING NEWS!!
Hermione Granger’s betrayal revealed! Her rewards for betraying her best friend!
Betty Braithwaite, reporter
We’ve recently received a couple of pensieve memories outlining the depths to which the muggleborn was willing to descend in order to score herself a massive reward. And oh, what a reward it is!
According to the first memory, generated when Albus Dumbledore visited the muggleborn at her home when she was ten, she was promised a monthly stipend of one thousand galleons, or five thousand pounds British sterling. I’ve spoken with a few other muggleborns, just to get the amount of sudden wealth offered to her in perspective. According to my sources, five thousand pounds a month would go a very long way to improving one’s wardrobe or book collection. One thousand galleons a month in the wizarding world would ensure that she was able to get the best quality school supplies and the most current textbooks.
He offered her the money from the Savior’s vaults, to which he had full illegal access. According to the contacts I have in the Ministry, Albus Dumbledore petitioned for, and was granted full magical guardianship over the child, which included complete access to the boy’s inheritances. The illegal part comes with the wills, which had stated that Severus Snape be made the child’s magical guardian. Since the wills had never been unsealed, Mr. Potter being the only one able to open them, Albus Dumbledore violated the contract implied in the wills, which is against wizarding law. Add this to his blatant abandonment of a wizarding child in the muggle world, as well as theft, and you are beginning to get the full picture of the man to whom we looked for guidance and protection.
The second memory has him once again meeting with Miss Granger in her home. This was when she received her Hogwarts letter, and he had visited to ‘touch base’ with the girl, and reinforce her promise to him. By this time, she had decided that she wanted even bigger rewards. The money was all well and good, but it wouldn’t get her far. She had read everything she could about our Ministry, and was angered that muggleborns would never be considered for high stations within the administrative staff. So she bargained for a position as the right hand to the Minister when she graduated. She demanded that Albus Dumbledore use his not-inconsiderable influence when the time was right to make sure she was in charge of the comings and goings in the Minister of Magic’s office, with an eye to taking the position when things were aligned in the way she wanted.
This, good readers, is the type of person that the Savior had been manipulated into accepting into his circle of friends. This is the type of muggleborn that makes the others look bad. There is nothing wrong with ambition; what’s wrong is trying to change the system into something that would see our history and traditions completely disappear under muggle influences. We cannot let that happen.
“How the hell did that paper get that information?” Dumbledore bellowed as he threw the balled up newsprint into the fire. “Who is working against me so cleanly and silently? I have my allies working to make sure Harry remains my puppet martyr, but there are outside forces working to undo all of my carefully laid plans. I need to find them and stop them by whatever means necessary.” He stormed from the office to the hilarity of the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, who had been watching the disaster unfold with relish.
He fled his painting and went to the Ministry, where Lucius Malfoy held sway, and told him of the old man’s impotent fury in the face of the Fates working against him for a change. Lucius thanked the man and flooed to Severus Snape’s private quarters, where he fell into one of the armchairs and laughed until he cried.
“You have news, Lucius?” Severus drawled with a smirk, eyebrow riding his hairline in amusement at the Malfoy patriarch’s loss of control.
It took a few moments for the man to calm himself enough to explain, with frequent snorts and breathless laughter between. “It seems (huff huff) that our esteemed headmaster (snuffle snort) has received some rather distressing news (wheeze) via the Oracle.” The blond paused for a moment to get himself under better control before continuing. “Apparently there’s a wolf amongst the lambs, spilling secrets via pensieve memories to the papers, and exposing the headmaster’s sins for all to see.” He silently handed the paper to the Potions Master, who fell into his chair after reading a couple of lines. His eyes sped across the page as he devoured the article, before letting loose with a few chuckles of his own.
“I wonder which of Harry’s allies had found such damning evidence and made the astute decision to notify the paper,” he murmured thoughtfully. “I can only assume it’s one that is very close to the old man and can move about within his circle unnoticed.”
“Could be,” Lucius agreed softly. “It’s most likely someone who would fly under the radar because of age or gender. After all, the headmaster really doesn’t believe that anyone would go against him; especially children.”
“Hey Ron,” Harry said as he came up to the Gryffindor. They had decided to eat at the redhead’s table for the noon meal; with Harry were Draco, Blaise, Theo and Pansy.
“Hey, everyone,” the youngest Weasley male said cheerfully, waving them to the end of the table where there was space for all to sit. Once comfortable, and with plates loaded, Harry looked at his friend, considering. “What’s up, Harry?” the redhead asked, noticing the piercing gaze boring into his skull.
“Do you have any idea who leaked the pensieve memories to the paper?” he asked quietly, not wanting anyone else to overhear their conversation. Draco erected a barrier to protect the conversation to come almost on instinct.
“Nah; haven’t a clue,” Weasley responded with a puckered brow. “Why? What’s in it?” The raven silently handed over the paper and let Ron read it as the brunet began to eat. Several moments later the paper was placed, face down, in the center of the table. “That’s very interesting,” Ron murmured after much thought. “I’m not sure who it was, but I can almost guarantee that it was one of ours.”
“My question is, how did they get access to the memories?” Pansy asked. “I mean, that takes some high-level stealth to be able to sneak around an area that has to be heavily warded and remain unnoticed by either the protections or the headmaster.”
Ginny, who had been seated a couple of places down from Harry, slid closer, breaching the privacy barrier without breaking it. “That’s a borderline Dark spell you’ve just broken through,” Draco muttered, glaring at the redhead angrily. “No one can just slide through it without suffering some sort of pain or disrupting the shield.”
“I know,” Ginny replied with a sunny smile. “I’ve been doing research on a variety of Dark spells since I was ten, and I’ve been practicing them since I was twelve. I’ve learned so many stealth maneuvers and subterfuge that I could be a spy tomorrow, if I wanted. I was the one to get the memories to the paper.”
“How?” Theo asked, a combination of shock and admiration in his voice. Ginny blushed at the obvious approval, winking at Nott and making the boy blush in return.
“Dumbledore underestimates the Weasley family, and the women in particular,” she replied with a scowl. “He thinks that most women are vain, idiotic creatures, unable to string two thoughts together. It’s how Mum and I have been able to collect and save a great many bits of evidence proving Dumbledore’s many crimes. He just leaves things lying around for anyone to pick up, but most wizards think he shits sunshine and farts rainbows, so they don’t pay the slightest attention to what’s going on around them.
“Mum and I, however, have trained a very high level of situational awareness into ourselves, so that, should the opportunity come along of which we could take advantage, we’re quick to jump on it. You would not believe what we’ve been able to collect, but it will surely fry his wrinkled old arse but good.”
“I take it you’ve read the paper,” Harry said as he and his friends returned to Riddle Manor for the weekend.
“I have,” the Dark Lord intoned solemnly, “and it was a masterful stroke of genius to kill two birds with one stone. Now, those students in Hogwarts who are aware of the headmaster’s less than exemplary behavior will now be watching him that much closer. As a bonus, they’ll be more than happy to run interference between you and the muggleborn.”
“I hope so,” the raven groused with a frown. “It’s getting bloody difficult to ditch her so that I can spend time with my real friends. And I miss hanging out with Ron. He’s always sacrificing himself to keep her busy so that I can get away for a while. I want him to be able to join us, so that I don’t have to give him information secondhand, or repeat what I’ve already said.”
“I can understand that,” Blaise commiserated. “It’s hard trying to keep everything straight when not all of the players are present.”
“The problems with Granger should be put to rest after this,” Severus told everyone with a smile. “I’m sure that there will be enough children in the school who will do their level best to drive her away from you. The only thing we may have to worry about is the headmaster’s interference in all of this. I suspect Harry will be called for a great many ‘talks’ should her separation from you be successful.”