It had been years since the term, 'The Boy Who Lived' graced the cover of the Daily Prophet. The Age of Harry Potter and his spectacular defeat of He Who Could Now Be Named were both in the past, and since then he had receded into happy seclusion (unless you count the short article in the Quibbler covering Harry's marriage to Ginny Weasly—the two had explicitly forbade any Prophet journalists to attend, but were happy to allow Luna Lovegood, of whom had taken over her father's business, an exclusive interview). The Wizarding world had settled into a contended, happy era, one where attacks on friends and family was not commonplace, and Muggle-borns (no doubt with the help of the late Albus Dumbledore's prodigious work) were safe once more. It was as if the world had shed its' old skin, sighed, and donned a shiny, new veneer.

Therefore, it was understandable that many witches and wizards were sufficiently disturbed when, last Wednesday, the Daily Prophet's cover read 'The Girl Who Lived,' and, underneath, in smaller, yet no less disturbing text, 'Are THEY back?'

THE GIRL WHO LIVED

Are THEY back?

By Rita Skeeter, Senior Journalist

Early Tuesday night, Ravenna Gardens of Knightwood Lane, was walking home from the market. A handsome girl of twenty-nine, the Hogwart's graduate (Ravenclaw) and Auror-In-Training clutched a modest grocery bag to her breast, prepared to cook dinner for her loving parents.

Little did she know, as her slightly shabby shoes carried her over the concrete, that her world was about to change forever.

Poor Ravenna (or Ravvie, as she likes to be called, sources close to the family told me), was brutally savaged not ten steps from her front stoop by none other than the werewolf and ex-Death Eater, Fenrir Greyback. While Ravenna was attacked by an un-transformed Greyback, the girl still suffers horrific disfigurations and possibly lethal side-effects. "He came out of nowhere. I thought I was going to die. All I could think was… I would never see the sun again," intones the dark-haired Half-Blood, tears spilling down her paled cheeks. "I thought he was dead. Wasn't he?"

Apparently not, this reporter has discovered.

Now, with Greyback's return, no doubt the Ministry of Magic will soon be flying to Azkaban to pore over their records. How many Death Eaters, thought dead or imprisoned, are unaccounted for? Where are the bodies? Has there been a count? And what does Greyback's return mean?

For the sake of one sad little girl, this reporter hopes Kingsley Shacklebolt, to-date exemplary Minister of Magic, will be prodded into action.

CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE

If one desired to turn to page three, one would find there, snug between paragraphs detailing Greyback's history with Lord Voldemort, sordid descriptions of Gardens' accident, and Azkaban's lack of a filing system, was a nearly life size picture of Ravenna Gardens. The girl was not crying, her jaw set determinedly as if to challenge anyone to laugh at the gash on her cheek. She looked fierce, and it was heartbreaking.

As the Wizarding world slumbered that night, their dreams were drastically more unsettling then they had been in many years.