A/N: For the Houses Competition. Shoutout to the challenge mods for making this year amazing! I've had so much fun doing it! Title from Pompeii by Bastille
House: Ravenclaw
Category: Short
Prompt: Deluded
Word count: 541
THE MIGHTY FALL - POTTER AND DUMBLEDORE RUMBLED
'He is not back,' Fudge reassures public.
Harry Potter - once the loved, respected, and idolised Boy Who Lived; now a deluded, unstable, and possibly even dangerous, young man. In an exclusive interview with Betty Braithwaite, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge reveals the truth behind Harry Potter's latest claims.
"You really have to stop reading those, Harry," Hermione chastised, plucking that day's issue of The Daily Prophet out of his hands and throwing it on the floor. "It's not good for you."
Harry sighed and turned to face Hermione as she sat down next to him on the sofa. "They don't have a clue, Hermione," he said tiredly. "Every week, these articles about how 'deluded' Dumbledore and I are take up the front page, but actual murders and evidence of Voldemort's return get lost somewhere with the ads for half price dress robes or whatever."
"Can you blame them?" Hermione asked gently. "The Ministry have to keep people calm, and facilitating rumours about his return won't help."
"They're not rumours!" Harry burst out, slamming his hand down on the table. He flushed as most of the common room turned to stare at them, but continued to glare at Hermione. "If anything, they're the ones spreading rumours about Dumbledore and me," he hissed.
Hermione looked at him sympathetically. A part of Harry bristled at that - he didn't want her sympathy. He tried to push his anger down though, because he knew that she only had good intentions.
"I know that," she reassured him. "Ron knows that. Your friends and family all know that, and we all support you. But you're not going to solve anything by reading those ridiculous articles every day. Besides, the Prophet has never exactly been on our side, and you can hardly expect them to change their ways now."
Harry let out a tired breath. "I know. It's just… It makes me so angry and I feel so useless because they've all decided that I'm just some deluded tosser who's trying to stir up trouble and I'm not - we're not - but…" He sighed. "I don't know what to do, Hermione."
Hermione nodded and stared into her lap. "None of us do, Harry," she said quietly.
A silence passed between them, broken only by the crackling of the fire and the low chatter of other students. Hermione reached over and picked up The Daily Prophet from where it lay, pursing her lips. She considered for a moment, then turned to Harry.
"But," she began, taking a deep breath. "This might be a start."
Harry watched as she leaned over and tossed the paper on the fire. It quickly caught, the flames greedily consuming the accusations on the page. Harry forced himself to keep looking, feeling Fudge's sneering eyes burning into him before those, too, were devoured by the blaze.
Perhaps burning the paper was supposed to make him feel better. Instead, he just felt more hollow, the helplessness threatening to take over. Whatever they did, there would be more articles to follow, more mutterings that he's deluded, Potter's gone mad, You-Know-Who's not back.
Whatever they did, it would never be enough.
Perhaps he was deluded after all, to think that it might be.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Thank you for reading, and please leave a review if you have a moment!