A/n: Yeah yeah yeah, I'm sorry you have to hear an old man's wheezing whaffle before you get on with the story. I just thought you may be interested to know that though I've had a couple of originals on this site, this is my first ever fan fic, so I'm not exactly sure if this is how it works…still, I hope you enjoy the story, and I'm partial to suggestions as well as reviews. You can email me, IM me, or just say what you think in a review (after all, that's what they're there for). Anyway. Less talk, more reading time. ~Jerry

Harry Potter and his best friend Ron Weasley were goofing off at the breakfast table one morning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when very suddenly Hermione Granger spit out her milk.

"What was that for, Hermione?" Harry asked as he used his napkin to help her mop up the mess.

"Look," she said melodramatically as she handed a copy of The Daily Prophet to Harry and Ron.

Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione skeptically as he took the paper, expecting to read about the humdrum buzz over Norwegian tariffs on dragon talons.

Harry was close. "So what else is new? Poland wants to raise its tariff on dragon tongue."

"No, not that!" Hermione said, exasperated. "It's this!"

She pointed at a small blurb, just at the bottom of the front page. Harry wondered why they even printed a story that short on the front page, for he hardly noticed it – and, he imagined, neither did a lot of people.

"'Harry Potter Book to be Published,'" Harry read. He looked up in disgust. "Oh, so what?"

"Yeah, I know," Hermione said, emphasizing at once. "But it's not that I notice. Read on."

Harry gave Hermione a puzzled look, but he started skimming the article. "'The book will be titled, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc. Retired witch Joanne Kathleen Rowling finally got it published after years of studying Harry Potter…pfft." Harry tossed aside the paper, frustrated. To Harry, any reminder of who he was or why he was famous seemed like an insult. He had grown to loathe such reminders and those who commented on such shallowness.

"Harry, you great prat, will you look for just a moment?"

"I read the article and now you want more? You never let up, Hermione," Harry chided.

"No. Look at the publisher. Bloomsbury. Sound familiar?"

"Nope."

Hermione looked angry, or at least bitterly disappointed.

"Sorry," Harry said, unsure of how he should act.

"Bloomsbury," Hermione said, ignoring Harry's apology, "happens to be a Muggle publisher. There are only three wizard publishers in England: Wizard Words, Merry Musings, and Fickle Readers, Inc. But Bloomsbury…" Hermione trailed off. "The only thing I know them for is Birds and Men, and that has to be the most Muggle-like book of them all. What is this woman thinking, writing a biography for Muggles on you?"

Harry scrutinized the article. "Maybe she sold it as something else. Like fiction."

To this Ron laughed.

"It's not funny," Hermione snapped. "This Rowling character really could get us wizards in trouble with the Muggle community."

"I don't know, The Daily Prophet doesn't seem to be making a fuss over it."

"That's probably because they didn't do their research. I'm writing a letter." Hermione stood from the table.

"Hermione, wait! Don't you think you're making a mountain over a molehill? I mean, let's say you're wrong…"

This only made Hermione glare at Harry stonily.

"I mean, er…fine. Go ahead and write your letter. But I'm having no part in this."

Harry and Ron walked off, heading to Divination at the North Tower.

"I agree with you. It's probably nothing," Ron said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yeah…Hermione may be clever, but she can be a pain, especially when she looks into things too hard."

Harry and Ron paused when they reached the North Tower, where the rest of the class was already waiting. As Harry and Ron were the last ones there, the usual silvery ladder came down, right on time. Professor Trelawney once claimed that she always waited for all the students to be there until she let down the ladder, relying on her Third Eye to notify her the moment all her students were below her. Harry and Ron highly doubted this, and they spent most of last year trying to find the knothole where Professor Trelawney watched until every student was accounted for.

The first day of Divination looked no different from the first day of any Divination, as Trelawney made wild promises that Harry would die within the end of the month. She then went on to say that the class would spend most of their fall semester learning about auras and how to see them.

"Auras," she said in her misty voice. A few pupils in Harry's class gave a shiver of excitement. "Auras, as most of you know, are single colored outlines that reveal the true self. Every human has an aura. They are the fields that make up a person. Even Muggles can look at someone and associate them with the color of their aura…and usually be correct. However, true Seers can not only see auras clearly, but only need to look at someone before sizing them up and knowing everything there is to know about the person's emotions…perhaps even better than himself." She paused, looking at the class and watching their reaction.

"I will attempt to demonstrate this now. Mr Weasley, if you will come forward to the class?"

Ron looked up. He was not daydreaming, or at least, he was halfway paying attention (it was, after all, the first day back to school), but he still jumped when Professor Trelawney said his name. A few girls giggled.

"Er…" said Ron. Harry pushed him up to the class.

Professor Trelawney sized up Ron, seeming to see something beyond the third dimension. A few members of the class tried to do the same, but no one was sure what exactly Professor Trelawney was doing. Harry imagined they were not too successful.

Professor Trelawney then went over to the lacy curtains that framed the outside and shut them. She dimmed the candles and put out the fire in the fireplace, and then it was dark in the classroom, but not so dark that Harry couldn't see at all.

"I dimmed the lights because it is easier to make out auras in the dark," Professor Trelawney explained. "Now then. You will notice, if you stare at Mr Weasley long enough, that his aura appears greenish in color. Green indicates sensitivity, compassion, and calmness."

Harry tried not to laugh.

"His aura extends to about here." Professor Trelawney made a gesture as if tracing something that wasn't there about half a foot from Ron's shoulder. Ron gave a slight shiver. "This is about average for an aura, though I must say, it's a little smaller than usual for an adolescent boy. Most auras for people around your age are more rounded and less defined, indicating immaturity. Mr Weasley's; however, is oval in shape, like most adults."

"Ooh, I think I see!" Lavender Brown squealed.

"Some of you will also notice," Professor Trelawney continued, as though Lavender had never spoken, "a few shades of blue and yellow in Mr Weasley's aura. These are the two easiest colors to see in any aura, even though they are not as defined as the green. The yellow circulating Mr Weasley's head is mental activity. You can almost make out his thoughts." Professor Trelawney smiled, showing lipstick on her crooked white teeth.

"The blue, on the other hand, shows intuition. I also notice some darker blues. Loneliness." Professor Trelawney looked at Ron, who blushed and shook his head. He and Harry looked at each other. Harry couldn't help smirking at Ron as he stood there, helplessly embarrassed, even though both knew it was all rubbish.

"That is all the time we have now. Mr Weasley, you may sit down." With a sigh of relief Ron took back his pouffe.

"Your homework," Professor Trelawney said amongst the groans, "is to find a partner and spend a half hour every night trying to read their aura. Refer to chapter six of your textbooks to interpret the colors and signs. You will find that at first this task is very difficult, and most of you will only be able to see blues and yellows. But, with time some of you may be able to look at a total stranger and know them through their aura. Read the signs, children!" Professor Trelawney looked upon her students. "Until we meet again, fair fortune be yours."

Harry and Ron laughed their way down Professor Trelawney's ladder, and Seamus and Neville couldn't help teasing Ron about his telltale aura. Of course, seeing as Professor Trelawney already unknowingly did Harry's homework for him, Harry felt at ease with his first night's worth of homework. Of course, he still had yet to see what Hagrid had in store for the Gryffindors at Care of Magical Creatures, but Harry wasn't too worried, in spite of himself.

By the time Harry and Ron joined up with Hermione at the Hogwarts grounds, Harry had forgotten about the letter Hermione was planning to write. But, she greeted Harry and Ron with a fresh piece of parchment, ready for Hedwig to take off to The Daily Prophet's office. Harry couldn't admit that he was too pleased with Hermione, but he read the letter anyway:

To Whom It May Concern:

It has been brought to my attention that the latest unofficial biography of my friend Harry Potter, entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by Ms J.K. Rowling has not been endorsed by any wizard in the English community. In fact, if I may reveal to you, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. is unmistakably the same Bloomsbury Publishing that has brought forth books by Muggle authors such as Nigel Newton and Alan Bartram. If Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. is to publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, I am wondering whether Potter's history as a wizard will be revealed to the Muggle community as well as the wizard community.

Sincerely,

Hermione Granger

Harry read the letter and shoved it back to Hermione's hands. "It's your letter, but I'm telling you, you're getting nowhere with it."

Hermione smiled. "We'll just wait and see," she said in the same tone.