At lunch, Luna approached Harry. “Madam Pomfrey said that Ginny was magically exhausted. She questioned us about what Ginny was doing. I managed to get away without saying much, but Madam Pomphrey has reported it to the headmaster.”
Harry nodded, “Thank you, Luna.”
Harry thought for a moment, “If the headmaster sends for you, please get someone to tell me. I don’t want you to face him on your own.”
“OK, Harry. I’ll try.”
They didn’t have to wait long. A Ravenclaw prefect approached Luna and Su Li before lunch was finished. Slytherin prefects also collected Daphne and Tracey. The group were taken to the gargoyle, which guarded the entrance to the headmaster’s office. Harry disillusioned himself and joined the group.
The prefects were told they could leave as Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape were already waiting for the group to arrive. Professor Snape stood in his usual corner, and Professor Flitwick stood next to the headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore had conjured two couches for the girls to sit on.
Dumbledore made his usual opening ploy, “Would you care for a lemon drop?”
“No, thank you, headmaster!” came the reply in unison.
Dumbledore paused and stared at Harry. Harry knew his disillusionment charm would not fool the headmaster, particularly in his office. Harry cancelled the spell.
“Mister Potter has come along as well! You were not invited, Mister Potter. Why are you here?”
“Headmaster, I know what happened this morning, and I am certain I can tell you more about what happened than anyone else can.”
“Very well, Mister Potter, you may join the young ladies.”
Harry stepped forward but did not sit. “I prefer to stay standing, headmaster.”
Dumbledore's eyes were not twinkling. “Now! I want the whole story, and I want the truth.”
Harry began, “The story begins with a former student at this school named Tom Marvolo Riddle.”
Dumbledore glared at Harry. Professor Flitwick gave a high-pitched moan and turned to stare at Dumbledore. Severus Snape said nothing but continued to stare at Harry.
Harry continued. “While at this school, Tom obtained an ordinary diary for a specific purpose. He wanted to turn it into a Horcrux. At the same time, Tom gathered followers and forged a new identity. He became Lord Voldemort, and his followers were the first Death Eaters.”
Dumbledore didn’t say anything. Flitwick shouted out, “How do you know this, Harry?”
Harry held up his hand, “Professors! Please remember that I spent more than nine years in a cell at Azkaban. Voldemort’s most loyal Death Eaters occupied the cells closest to me. They instructed me every day. They taught me magic and tried to fill my head with details of Lord Voldemort's life.”
Dumbledore glared at Harry. Harry met the headmaster’s gaze, but he felt no attempt at legilimency.
“I think, headmaster, that both you and Professor Snape have in the past attempted to obtain my thoughts using legilimency.”
Flitwick growled, “Albus! I will not support you if anything of that nature is done to these students.”
Dumbledore turned to the diminutive professor, “Filius! This is not a matter of discussion. Seeing as Mister Potter has raised the issue, I can assure you that no mind magic is being used.”
Harry sighed, “At the moment.”
After a short silence, Harry continued, “But there have been incidents where you have attempted to see my thoughts. I have been instructed and trained in Occlumency and Legilimency by Augustus Rookwood. He and Professor Snape were the only Death Eaters strong enough to resist Lord Voldemort’s attacks. Voldemort used to amuse himself by attacking them. He was not concerned about their loyalty. He commanded their obedience by other means.”
Snape moved uneasily; Flitwick gave Harry a worried look; Dumbledore motioned to Harry to continue.
Harry said again, “I don’t have any proof for what I will say happened to the diary. According to my informants, Voldemort made the diary into a Horcrux while still a student here at Hogwarts. That means he murdered someone when he was sixteen or seventeen, intending to use that murder to make a Horcrux. Later, Lucius Malfoy joined the ranks of the Death Eaters, and Voldemort gave Lucius the diary. Lucius was instructed to keep it safe at Malfoy Manor.”
Harry waited for a reaction, but none came. “The diary did not appear again until I saw it in the hands of Ginevra Weasley while we were travelling on the Hogwarts Express. I don’t have proof, but I suspect Lucius Malfoy slipped the diary into Ginny’s books during an incident in Diagon Alley.”
Dumbledore motioned to Harry to stop, “How did you recognize the diary?”
“I had a detailed description of it,” Harry responded.
“Also, I sensed it. I can sense many things through my magic. I have been examined by healers and unspeakables. They have concluded that I have developed my magical sense since I was almost blinded by the magical outburst at Privet Drive. I use my magic to sense things rather than see them.”
There were no other questions.
“I didn’t have anything that I could prove about the diary. The diary was very dangerous. If Ginny had written in the diary and the diary responded to her, she could have been influenced by it. If someone in authority confiscated the diary, she could have been damaged in her mind and magic.”
Dumbledore reacted. ”That is not something for you to decide! A teacher should have been informed! You should have stayed out of it!”
Harry pursed his lips. “Headmaster, you have not convinced me you can be relied on in such situations. Any teacher would have reported this matter to you. That is something I could not risk.”
“What happened this morning? Tell me the truth!” Dumbledore demanded.
Harry sighed.
“Luna reported to me that Ginny was in trouble. The diary was open in front of her, on her desk. But Ginny held on to the edge of the desk and wouldn’t respond to Luna. I sent Luna, Su Li, Daphne, and Tracey to get the diary and bring it to me. I guessed that Ginny was fighting against the diary. It was a guess, and it seemed that I was right. The diary was removed from the room, and Ginny collapsed from magical exhaustion. She had been fighting against the diary as it tried to control her.”
“Where is the diary now?” Dumbledore demanded.
Harry smiled. “In a safe place; it isn’t in Hogwarts now.”
“You have given it to someone outside of the school! How? Who?” Dumbledore was now getting a Weasley-like red colour to his face.
“How! I summoned one of my house elves, who delivered the diary to Lord Greengrass.”
Dumbledore thumped the desk in front of him. “Greengrass! One of the most dangerous dark wizards alive! You gave it to him! I have a good mind to send you back to Azkaban, Potter!”
Severus Snape stepped forward. “Headmaster! May I remind you that Miss Greengrass is sitting in this room? I must also remind you that Lord Greengrass is not now, or ever has been, an ally to the Dark Lord or any Death Eater. In the Blood War, he and his allies caused more damage to the Dark Lord’s forces than the Order of the Phoenix.”
Dumbledore glared at Snape. “Very well!”
Dumbledore turned to Harry. “How do you have the service of a house elf?”
Harry shrugged. “I have a Bones house elf assigned to me. The Potter Manor elves are also answering my call.”
Dumbledore suddenly went pale. “What do you mean, Potter Manor elves? How do you know that?”
“Sirius always knew that Potter Manor was undamaged by the war. I called the Potter head elf and established a connection. They are now bonded to me.”
Dumbledore huffed and glared around the room.
“What is Lord Greengrass going to do with the diary?”
Harry paused to consider. He decided to remove one of Dumbledore’s illusions.
“He is putting it in a safe place, along with some other artefacts he and his allies are collecting. He has allies working with him on matters relating to Lord Voldemort. One of his allies happens to be Nicholas Flamel.”
Harry had the pleasure of seeing Albus Dumbledore reduced to stunned silence.
Then Dumbledore revived. He muttered, “I must write to Nicholas.”
Harry looked at Dumbledore, and he decided to open another line of attack on the headmaster.
“The subject of Potter Manor is another reason I don’t trust you, headmaster. You hid Potter Manor behind your own wards, and I can’t enter while your wards are in place. Wards can be broken, but I don’t know if you have linked those wards to the manor. I don’t want the manor damaged by breaking your wards.”
Dumbledore did not answer.
“There is another issue of perhaps greater magical significance. My father’s invisibility cloak was last seen in your possession. That cloak is a Potter heirloom. It is important to me, and I wish to have it back.”
Dumbledore was angry again. “That is all, Mister Potter! You may all leave. Severus! Filius! I want to see the House Heads after dinner.”
Harry waited as the girls left the office. He watched Dumbledore until the last one was out of the door and quickly followed.
-ooOOoo-
“Congratulations! That was well done! Dumbledore has had some cherished delusions destroyed while you sent the diary to safety. I say again! Well done!”
“Thanks, Tom; that leaves the Gaunt ring and Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem. The Li family team will soon collect the ring. The diadem is still a problem. Is it still where Voldemort hid it?”
“That’s the problem. The Room of Requirement is used by the house elves to store everything that doesn’t have a place somewhere else. The diadem could have been moved around many times.”
“The house elves are under Dumbledore’s control. If I ask them to find it, they could tell him. Dumbledore could hide it in another place, and we’ll never find it again.”
“Either that or he will try to use it. Which would be very foolish. He could try to destroy it himself, which he could. He is powerful enough, but his secrecy mania will prevent him from telling us. His compulsion to keep secrets has cost many lives and delayed dealing with Voldemort.”
“We need a plan. Any ideas?”
“Nope.”
-ooOOoo-
The Weasley parents were called to Hogwarts. Ginny stayed in the Infirmary until the next day. Professor Flitwick, Headmaster Dumbledore and Madam Pomphrey questioned her. When she arrived in the Great Hall for dinner, she had no explanation for what happened other than she had magical exhaustion. The cause was unknown. She told Luna that she had opened her diary to make a note. She then felt something pushing at her mind. She pushed back as hard as possible and then woke up in the Infirmary. Harry didn’t tell her how close she came to being another victim of the Dark Lord.
One day, when the threat was gone, Harry would tell her that her strength of mind and character had saved her and possibly many others.
-ooOOoo-
Life resumed at Hogwarts with days of uneasy tension continuing between Harry and the headmaster.
Breakfast progressed in the usual way until the mail owls arrived. Students and staff opened their copies of The Daily Prophet, and soon, the noise level grew to an unusual level.
Harry never worried about the wizarding newspaper. He knew that a significant percentage of the stories reported in it were fiction. This time, many mentions of his name were heard around the hall.
Daphne pushed in beside Harry and placed the newspaper in front of him. The article of interest was plain to see.
Why is Harry Potter at Hogwarts?
By Rita Skeeter
A scandal has been uncovered by your fearless reporter.
Harry Potter, the so-called saviour of the wizarding world, has a record of being dangerously unstable. It is officially on record that he caused the deaths of three people.
Harry Potter was indeed orphaned when his parents were murdered by ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’. Chief Warlock Dumbledore told us that the Dark Lord was destroyed when he failed to murder Harry Potter with the killing curse. This earned Harry Potter the title ‘The Boy Who Lived’.
Then, Harry Potter disappeared from our world without a trace.
We were told by Chief Warlock Dumbledore that Harry Potter was being cared for by his family. The Chief Warlock repeatedly assured us that Harry Potter was safe and well.
The scandal now unfolds. In fact, Harry Potter was being held in the highest security cells in Azkaban. Harry Potter was placed there because he was the cause of a dangerous outburst of uncontrolled magic, which killed the family caring for him.
What happened to Harry Potter in Azkaban? Other children have been held there because they had dangerous outbursts of uncontrolled magic. These children almost always quickly passed away.
Not Harry Potter; he survived with the help of his fellow prisoners, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Augustus Rookwood, and Sirus Black.
The Wizengamot has cleared Sirius Black of the charges against him. However, the others are all confirmed Death Eaters, murderers, and torturers.
Harry Potter has been trained and tutored by the Dark Lords' most skilled and vicious servants for over nine years. Reports from students at Hogwarts confirm that Harry Potter arrived at Hogwarts already skilled in a wide range of magic. The knowledge and training can only have been given to him by ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’ most fanatical servants.
Hogwarts students are concerned about Harry Potter. Here are some statements from his classmates about his behaviour.
The son of a Ministry official, Ronald Weasley, said, “Potter is a Dark Wizard. Everything that he does smells of Dark Magic.”
Last year, there was an incident when a troll got loose inside Hogwarts.
After that incident, the best student in Harry Potter’s year, Hermione Granger, said, “Dark Lord Potter let the troll in. He set it up. It was all controlled by him.”
Pansy Parkinson, daughter of the prominent citizen Lord Percival Parkinson, said, “Potter is creepy. He doesn’t talk much and stares at people until they are frightened.”
Draco Malfoy, son of the well-known philanthropist Lord Lucius Malfoy, said, “Potter makes wild and untrue claims about himself. Then, he threatens anyone who disagrees with him. He has a bunch of weak-willed people who follow him around. They can’t see what a dangerous phoney he is.”
Your reporter has questions that need to be answered.
How can we be sure that Harry Potter has not been trained to use the darkest spells by his Azkaban cellmates?
How can parents be confident that their children are safe at Hogwarts with this potentially unstable person attending there?
How did it happen that Harry Potter was released from Azkaban and then weeks later started as a first-year student at Hogwarts?
What answers can Headmaster Dumbledore give to the worried parents of Hogwarts students?
Your intrepid reporter has asked Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Fudge to answer my questions, but they have not responded.
211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKB4G880UJ
Harry read the article. He looked up at the others at the table and said, “It looks like the hounds have been unleashed.”
Professor McGonagall jumped up and hurried to Harry. “Mister Potter, Headmaster Dumbledore is away today. Please come to my office after breakfast. I must form a response to this article, and I want your opinion.”
Harry nodded.
Harry finished his breakfast and started to walk towards the Great Hall doors. He was intercepted by Professor Snape.
“Where are you going, Potter?”
“Professor McGonagall asked to see me.”
“Very well, I shall go with you.” Snape walked beside Harry.
As they approached the Deputy Headmistress’ office, Snape asked, “Did you know this was going to happen?”
“I’ve expected it since my first day here, but I didn’t know that this article was being published today.”
Harry knocked at the door. Professor McGonagall responded, “Enter!”
Harry and Professor Snape went in.
“Harry, Severus, I’m glad you came, Severus. Please be seated.”
Professor McGonagall was obviously tense. “Harry! Did you know that this story was coming out today?”
“I had no hint that it was coming out today. I’ve been expecting something like this since I started at Hogwarts. I am surprised that it took so long. The Minister must have pressured The Daily Prophet to stop them from mentioning my time in Azkaban until now.”
The professor frowned. “Do you know why the Minister suppressed the story?”
Harry shrugged. “Amelia Bones and Cyrus Greengrass are certain that Fudge wanted to use me to shore up his political support. Suppose The Daily Prophet had been more sympathetic to me. In that case, public opinion may have swung against him because of his lack of action to rescue me. He wanted to show me off as a friend and supporter of him and the Ministry. The hostile and suspicious tone of the article suggests that the Minister has given up on enlisting me as a political supporter.”
McGonagall shook her head. “I’ve never had much to do with Fudge. I’m glad that I never took my seat in the Wizengamot. My proxy had been held for twenty years by James MacMillan.”
Snape spoke, “Harry, do your advisors have a plan for this situation?”
Harry shrugged. “We have been preparing for it. Director Bones has a set of statements ready to release that answer the questions about me regarding the DMLE. She has collected statements from St. Mungo’s healers that prove that I have not had any uncontrolled magic for the last ten years. She also has a statement from the DMLE showing that there have been no problems with me as far as the DMLE is concerned. She also has a statement covering the troll incident from last year, showing that I stopped the troll and that there is no evidence that I had anything to do with endangering Hogwarts students by letting the trolls into the school.”
“Will The Daily Prophet take any notice of those statements?” Snape asked.
“Who knows! The Daily Prophet seems to be doing what the Minister wants to be done, so the truth will probably be ignored again.” Harry was subdued, even by his own standards.
McGonagall squirmed in her chair and asked, “What about your fan club? Do they know the truth?”
Harry looked at the Professor and smiled, “The fan club may not be a problem. Every letter and card my mail team processed last year has been answered. We put at least two letters in each answer. One was for the kid who sent in fan mail, and the other was for their parents. The parents' letters said exactly what happened to me in plain words. The parents also got a carefully worded version of events here at Hogwarts. They will mostly know that The Daily Prophet has lied by omission in the article this morning.”
“Can your fans actually do anything, Harry?” Snape asked.
“They can write letters. They can swamp The Daily Prophet and the Ministry with protests about me being defamed. That might do something. We shall see.”
-ooOOoo-
Hogwarts students didn’t know what to think. So, they stood aside and watched Harry as he walked or floated past. The Escort and the Alliance stayed closer than ever.
At lunch, Harry was tackled by Hermione Granger. That is, Rugby tackled. Hermione jumped up and helped Harry up from the floor.
“I’m sorry, Harry! I know you hate being hugged, but I had to. I’m sorry that all those stupid things I said last year have been dragged up again. I’ve been hiding from you. Then, I gave myself a stern lecture about being silly again. I know you know what happened, and I shouldn’t have run away. It still makes me feel awful. I hit Ronald Bilius Weasley with three stinging hexes this morning, and I don’t care if I lose points because of that. I don’t want to hear any more of his mindless talk.”
Hermione took a breath.
“There is something else. It’s Professor Lockhart. He is an awful, dangerous man. We must get him out of the castle, now!”
Harry looked at Hermione. “That’s quite a change, Hermione. Meet us in the Hufflepuff training room after lessons today. We should all hear this.”
Hermione blushed and nodded.
The teams assembled in the Hufflepuff training room.
Harry conjured seats for everyone. Harry and Hermione stood facing the group.
Harry gestured to Hermione, “Let’s hear about Professor Lockhart.”
Hermione blushed and took a breath.
“Lockhart is dangerous. He is a lying, manipulative cheat. Since I started reading his books, I have tried convincing myself that Lockhart is a great wizard who did everything he claimed to do. I confess that he also had some influence over me because he was handsome and charming. So many times, in books and muggle movies, the leading characters are good-looking and attractive personalities. Lockhart seemed to have some of that movie star quality about him.”
Hermione blushed a deeper shade of red.
“I’ll tell you what changed my opinion. I asked to see Professor Lockhart to ask some questions. He invited me to his office. I was careful, or so I thought. I invited Susan and Dean to come with me. We went to his office during a spare period this morning. He was his usual charming, smiling self.
I started asking questions about the date clashes in his books. He smiled and started playing with a rocking mirror toy on his desk. He set it going so it flashed light from a lamp at us. He started talking to us about how much work he did to correct the details in his books. He kept on talking in this calm, reassuring tone of voice. I started to feel relaxed, and my concerns did not seem so important. This went on for many minutes.”
Hermione touched the Gringotts and Potter House rings on her fingers.
“Then my rings bit me. I felt a sharp bite like each ring suddenly grew little teeth and sank those teeth into my fingers. I was suddenly wide awake. I looked at Susan, and she was also looking at her ring. I looked at Dean, and he was glassy-eyed and seemed to be not aware of anything.”
Hermione huffed and looked angry.
“Then I realized what Lockhart was doing. He was trying to hypnotise us. Susan and I were snapped out of it by our rings. I looked at Dean again and saw he was no longer with us. I jumped up and dropped the pile of books I was carrying on Dean's foot. He howled as though his foot was broken.”
Hermione turned to point to Susan.
“Tell us what happened then.”
Susan smiled. “Lockhart got angry. He jumped up, acting like he wanted to pull his wand out and hex Hermione. Then he seemed to get himself under control and told us that he had work to do and sent us away.
We got out of Lockhart’s office and as far away as we could before Dean stopped. He wanted to complain about his sore foot.”
Hermione took up the story. “We stopped in a corridor, and I explained that Lockhart was trying to push some mind-influencing trick at us. I explained that he was trying to hypnotise us. Hypnotism is something that muggles can do. It isn’t magic, but our rings warned us anyway. He was trying to suggest that there was no problem with the books and that we should not worry about them. That is all that hypnotism can do. The person has to trust the hypnotist, who then talks to the person with a calm attitude. The suggestion is repeated until the person accepts it. In its basic form, that is what hypnotism does.
Dean, Susan and I wanted to believe and trust Lockhart, so we were people who could be hypnotised. He couldn’t suggest something we didn’t want. It isn’t that powerful, but I am now steaming angry that Lockhart tried it with me. It proves that he is a fraud. I want him gone.”
Susan agreed. “He has to go!” Dean had an embarrassed look but didn’t say anything.
Harry looked around the group. “What do we do?”
Daphne said, “We must collect more evidence. One instance won’t be enough to formally move him out. Ask around the prefects and senior people in each house. If we can find other cases like this, get the victims to write out what happened and send it to the house professor.”
-ooOOoo-
Hermione’s birthday arrived. Harry once again arranged for flowers to be delivered to her dormitory. This was no longer a significant thing as Harry sent flowers to all the young ladies of the Alliance and the Escort. There was another present, it was a new Cleansweep 8.
Hermione confronted Harry again. “I don’t need a fancy new broom, Harry! Why did you get it for me? I’m not a broom-riding witch. I’m a book-reading witch.”
Harry nodded and gave Hermione a calming gesture. “I have ensured that all of my allies here in Hogwarts have their own better-quality brooms. The Cleansweep 8 is not too hard for you to handle, and now you can keep up with us as the pace of our broom riding practice increases. I want you to be skilled in many magical things, not just research and study.”
Hermione muttered, “All right, I suppose.”
211Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqYIR7lawM
