It's everywhere and everyone can see it, me. The-Boy-Who-Lived-Is-Fat, it was published in the Daily Prophet and everyone is reading about it. It is spreading like wildfire. There is gossip everywhere I can't make it stop. I hear it, see it, and think about it, it will never go away. I had to do something and I had to do it quickly before I get back to Hogwarts.
It all started when I went to Diagon Ally for school shopping. I was with the Weasleys and Hermione having a good time. I also happen to be wearing Dudley's oversize clothes, but that was all I had at the time. At some point some photographer took a picture of me eating ice cream with Ron and Hermione. Then the next day it was front cover of The Daily Prophet. It was an article of how I lost control of my weight.
In the beginning, I really didn't care about the silly article. Every writer wants to be the first to get the latest news about Harry Potter, but did they really have to make a story about lies. The Prophet hit one of their lowest points of all time including the lies that Rita Skeeter told at the Triwizard Tournament.
Then one day while staying at Grimmald Place, I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror. I noticed some fatty areas I did not have last year most of it was in my stomach. After some time, I realized I did look fatter than last year. I need to do something about that and quickly.
I made a decision that the last days I had before the end of summer break I would only have one meal and that meal had to be supper. There was no way I could get away not eating supper with Mrs. Weasley. She always made sure I ate supper. She always worried about how thin I was, but I'm not thin anymore.
The first few days were easy. I skip breakfast easily pretending I overslept. Ron would always go downstairs to tell everyone I was sleeping. Lunch was a bit tricky. I usually secluded myself in my room doing homework. I told everyone I never had time to do homework at the Dursleys since I had to do all the chores. No one questioned this and Mrs. Weasley would send up food for me that I immediately threw out the window. I continued doing this for about a week by the end of the week I look in the mirror to see if it looked like I lost any weight. I didn't see any results.
I thought of a new plan which included skipping breakfast and lunch, but after supper I would head to the bathroom to throw up my food. I remember hearing some girls talk about how quickly they lost weight by throwing up their food. I couldn't complain since they were amazingly skinny. The first time I purposely threw up I felt super guilty and weird. It was disgusting and if there was anyone near the bathroom they could hear me retching and gagging, which would ruin my whole plan. After a few days of doing this I started seeing results. I couldn't help, but smile. I could finally be skinny again.
Then came the dreaded day I had to leave the safety of Grimmald Place to go to Hogwarts. I was at the train station boarding the Hogwarts Express when I saw a photographer. I turned away quickly hoping to escape any embarrassing pictures. I later found out I had no such luck.
"Oi, Harry wait up," Ron yelled to me. I ignored him to get on the train. I could not wait for him I could not risk that photo. When I entered the train I felt everyone's eyes on me as I walked down the aisle. They were probably staring at my big fat butt. I quickly found an empty compartment for us. Minutes later Ron and Hermione came barging through the compartment door glaring at me.
"What the hell, Harry? I called for you to wait for us and what did you do? You ignored me." Ron began to lecture. "You have been doing that a lot lately. Are you bored of us or something? Are you too good for us now?" Ron accusingly said.
"Lay off Ron. He's had a tough summer with the Dursleys and Snuffles dying. He's entitled to have alone time every once in a while." Hermione said rescuing me.
"No, it was nothing like that. I just saw some photographers and I did not want a repeat of last time." I finally spoke up.
"Oh, you mean that awful garbage they said about you. They were probably hurting for a good story and want to make up more stories about you. I mean you're a celebrity people like gossip. Only you're true friends and family won't believe that garbage." Hermione said.
"Yes, well I didn't like it and don't wish for a repeat." I gave her accusing look and crossed my arms.
"You can't blame him, Hermione," Ron told her.
"I know."
The conversation moved to Fred and George's new shop. The joke shop was a huge hit in Diagon Ally this year. Anyone who was anyone at Hogwarts was there for their grand opening. Fred and George were going around the store chatting with old friends while promoting their products on Ron and Ginny. It was a memory Harry never wanted to forget.
"Honestly did they really have to use me as a test product," whined Ron.
"It was really funny Ron," I laughed.
"Next time I'll tell Fred and George to use you," Ron snickered.
Not long the train arrived at Hogwarts where Harry felt safe. He knew he didn't need to hide anymore. Once the feast was over and everyone went to bed he wouldn't need to try hard to hide away how fat he was anymore. It was like Hermione said only my real friends would not believe in that garbage. That was what he had believed at the time until he saw The Daily Prophet the next morning.
I woke up the next morning just in time get ready and eat breakfast. I woke up Ron and quickly got ready for the oncoming day. When I was showering I noticed the Dean and Seamus staring at me while snickering. I turned away trying to ignored them. Seamus probably believed some of the trash in The Daily Prophet and Dean would go along with anything Seamus did. I decided not to waste my energy on worrying about them.
Upon entering in the Great Hall I spotted Hermione right away. She was already making plates for me and Ron. She always claimed that we only pile junk on our plates and she had to make our plates for a balanced breakfast.
"Good morning, Hermione." I said while sitting down next to her.
"Good morning. Now I know you have been skipping breakfast lately claiming to oversleep, but today you are going to eat breakfast." Hermione demanded while handing me the plate she prepared.
"I know I had full intentions of eating breakfast today." I smiled at her while she glared at me.
Ron came running down the hall sliding into his seat. "Hurry Hermione, I'm starving." Ron said breathlessly. Hermione shook her head while she handed him his plate.
After the first few bites Professor McGonagall came in with our new schedule for the year.
"What do we have today?" Ron asked.
I looked down at the schedule and saw that Ron's classes are different than mine. "Well I have Ancient Runes, Defense against the Dark Arts, and Potions after lunch."
"Oh that's a bummer to have Potions. I'm glad I don't have that." Ron frowned.
"Maybe you and Hermione can tell me about that new professor. Ah, what's his name?" Ron asked.
"Professor Slughorn," Hermione yelled.
"Sure, Ron we'll tell you if he is any better than Snape." I jokingly said.
"It's going to be weird having Snape teaching us Defense against the Dark Arts this year. Sorry mate I know it was your favorite class." Ron frowned.
"It might not be so bad. At least I can answer impossible questions in this class." I laughed trying to be positive about the upcoming class.
"Look its Harry Potter stuffing his face again," Draco sneered form behind me. I spun around to look at him.
"Aren't you fat enough? Don't want to turn into your fat cousin and uncle do you. They are enormous." Draco laughed along with his sidekicks.
"How do you know about my relatives?" I asked completely mortified.
"It was in the prophet. No wonder you have a weight problem this year." He laughed.
I asked Hermione for the Daily Prophet to see if it was true. On front page there was an article about me getting fatter and a picture of my relatives at their house. It was true Draco wasn't lying.
"That's not true. I'm not gaining any weight." I whispered. Draco must have heard me though because he had to comment.
"Yes you are. Look at your robes! They barely fit you and that huge butt." I looked up from the paper and bolted out of the Great Hall red in the face. I couldn't believe it. I was losing weight. I could see the difference. I ran to the nearest bathroom. Running into the stall I slammed down to my knees forcing my fingers down my throat and started gagging.
It took me a few times, but I finally saw my breakfast in the toilet. After I was done retching and the tremors finally stopped, I just sat there with tears streaming down my face. It was bad enough the ministry wrote the first story, but this story explaining the weight gain. It was embarrassing. Why did they have to put the Dursleys in it? Everyone will now know about my horrible relatives. What will it be next? An interview with the Dursleys? I quickly realized that I had to clean myself up before I was late for class. This year was going to be a nightmare.
Lunch seem to come quickly. I didn't want to face the Great Hall so I skipped lunch today. Besides it would help me lose some weight anyways. During the lunch period, I felt it would be good to get some Defense homework done anyways. Only Snape would give out two essays in the first class. Better start working on it now. While I was reading, Ron found me frowning at me when he came in.
"Are you alright, mate?" He sat down at his bed.
"Sure I am," I answered back.
"Well, you weren't at the Great Hall for lunch and we were worried about you."
I knew my sudden disappearance at Grimmald Place was worrying them and now with my sudden disappearance here. I could understand why they would be.
"I'm fine. I'm just not hungry right now. Don't worry if I get hungry I'll just swing by at the kitchen." I said with a smile.
"Alright," Ron replied suspiciously. I know he believed the lie for now, but him and Hermione will be watching me closely now.
The rest of the day went smoothly. In class no one said anything to me they were too busy staring at the odd professor which was good since Gryffindor was sharing the class with Slytherin. After class Hermione was ushering me to the Great Hall.
"You will be eating supper in the Great Hall and not skipping another meal." Hermione said in her bossy voice.
"Hermione stop being my mother. I know I have to eat supper. I was upset earlier, but I'm fine now." I told her trying to gain some control.
Ron was already in the Great Hall when we walked in. Once again Hermione was piling up my plate with appropriate food. I looked at the food knowing at any minute someone will tease me, but it was fine. I'll eat the food and go to the bathroom afterwards.
Supper was quiet compared to before. Ron and Hermione didn't say a word instead glances and expressions were their communication with each other. Ron and Hermione were also periodically glancing around the hall. It was good to know that they had my back making sure anyone that came near me would back off. They really were great friends.
After dinner I quietly disappeared away from Ron and Hermione who were arguing about Hermione's new idea for a homework schedule. Ron was completely against the idea and Hermione was trying to tell him the benefits of having the schedule. It was a perfect time for me to slip away unnoticed.
I ended up going to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom since it was secluded and no one would dare go into that bathroom. This way no one can catch me in the act. I went into any random stall and started my regular ritual. When the first sounds of gagging started, Moaning Myrtle decided at that moment to appear.
"Harry Potter! What are you doing," Myrtle shrilled.
"Nothing, dinner didn't agree with me." I replied between gagging.
"Should I get a Professor or Madame Pomfrey?" She disappeared outside the stall.
"No, I'm fine. Once it's out of my stomach I'll be fine." I said quickly hoping she didn't leave the bathroom yet.
"Okay then. I hope you feel better." She said. She was clearly worried about me.
She disappeared to her toilet leaving me some peace. That was a close one. I knew she would hear me, but I didn't know she would try to get help. I have to find another bathroom or else I will get caught. I can't get caught I need to get skinny, so the Prophet won't attack me anymore and everyone will stop staring at me. I continued my purging again. It was much easier to force myself to puke than last week. I still had to try to force myself a few times until I started puking, but it wasn't as many times as last week.
Once I was sure all the food was out of my system, I flushed the toilet and went to go wash my hands. I'm still a bit messy and I try to get all the vile smell off of me before I go back to the common room. I don't need to be caught. Ron and Hermione are already on my case about not eating and spending time by myself. I don't need them to get too suspicious.
