The First Wave

A week into the term, the first of many slanderous articles appeared in the Daily Prophet, under the byline of Rita Skeeter. As the school received their papers and discussed the front-page story, eyes invariably tracked to Hadrian James Snape, who sat at the Slytherin table, blissfully unaware of the storm that was about to descend upon him.

OUR SAVIOR A SLYTHERIN!

Death Eater raises the Chosen One!

Rita Skeeter, reporter

It is with great sadness that I must report to you, my faithful readers, the circumstances surrounding The Boy Who Lived. Late yesterday afternoon, I received a copy of an adoption certificate, signed by one Severus Tobias Snape, detailing the circumstances surrounding his theft of our Savior, Harry James Potter. It seems that, somehow, this known Death Eater had discovered little Harry's secret protected location and had, in the dark of night, crept into the muggle domicile and had taken the child from his loving muggle relatives. He then went to Gringotts and forced the goblins to enact an illegal adoption, thereby stealing our Savior from under our noses.

I went to the Ministry, to verify the truth of these allegations, and was turned away. Adoptions, and the circumstances surrounding them, are sealed records that none but the involved parties are permitted to access. Their unwillingness to share this information with me leads me to the inescapable conclusion that Harry James Potter, our Savior, is no more. He was raised amongst the worst of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters, and, as his placement in Slytherin shows, he has turned away from his one true destiny. Who will protect us from He Who Must Not Be Named now?

At the head table, Dumbledore smirked as his plans started to fall into place. She has done an exemplary job of casting aspersions on the characters of, not only Harry Potter, but Severus Snape as well. It matters not that I had defended him in the Death Eater trials after the end of the first war; I only know that his interference has disrupted my carefully crafted schemes. I will use this, and other opportunities, to drive a wedge between Severus and Harry, and, hopefully, pull the child back under my 'guidance'. I cannot afford to lose my puppet martyr at this stage of the game.

Further down the table, three professors had their heads bent together over the Daily Prophet, scowling angrily at the venomous words. "I'll wager that Albus had sent Skeeter the copy of the adoption record that Cassius had given to him," Severus hissed. "Anonymously, of course. This will not end well for Hadrian."

"Don't worry, Severus," Black murmured quietly, watching his godson for any sort of reaction. "I'll let Lucius know about the article, if he doesn't know already, and he'll contact Cassius. The solicitor may be able to mitigate any damage this article may cause."

At the Slytherin table, several pairs of eyes of the upper years watched their newest member cautiously, sure that the child would be livid at the obvious slander being flung at him. When Hadrian, blithely unaware of the reporter's outrageous accusations, continued to eat his breakfast, Marcus Flint cautiously passed his copy of the paper to Blaise, who was sitting across from the raven. The Italian's eyebrows shot into his hairline as he read the article, before mocha colored eyes rose and stared at the raven across from him. Feeling eyes on him, Hadrian lifted his gaze to the dark-skinned boy across from him, eyebrows rising slowly at the worried look on the other's face. Heaving a put-upon sigh and staring at the newspaper in the other boy's hands, Hadrian held out his own hand. "What is it?" he queried softly, scowling. Silently, Blaise handed over the paper, watching as the raven read the article for himself. There was no reaction to the words; Hadrian carefully kept his face blank, while his thoughts whirled feverishly. This is not good. I've no doubt that the headmaster had a hand in creating this filth. Nothing for it, I suppose. The damage is already done. I'll just have to weather this particular storm, and see which way the wind blows.


All throughout the day, Hadrian's friends rallied around him, and he was rarely left alone. Draco had taken to snarling and sneering at any of the students from the other Houses who dared to approach his best friend and try and question him. Hermione had spoken to those in Ravenclaw, and had explained the truth of things to them. They accepted the muggleborn's words, as well as the words of their Head of House, though there were a few who had decided to get the information themselves. They came away from the confrontations embarrassed at having been schooled by a first year. The Gryffindors, however, were the worst. They hissed at Hadrian at every opportunity, trying to get the boy to somehow respond to the catcalls and insults. The raven ignored them with impunity, knowing that any reaction on his part would only solidify his father's guilt in their eyes.

"How are you doing, Hadrian?" Neville asked quietly. Trevor was clutched tightly in his hands; a security blanket of sorts as the chubby preteen made his way through the halls.

"I've been better," the emerald eyed boy replied with a grimace. "I don't understand how that wretched woman can get away with writing what amounts to slander. Don't they have laws here to protect someone's reputation?"

"Minister Fudge controls the Prophet," Ron murmured from Hadrian's other side. "Because he's so high up in the Ministry, he believes he's above the law, and there isn't anyone brave enough, or suicidal enough to take him on. He allows Skeeter free rein to write whatever she pleases, as long as she keeps her poisoned pen away from him."

"What about the editor?" Hadrian queried. "Doesn't he have a responsibility to publish the truth?" Draco snorted softly, smirking at his best friend.

"Whose truth would that be?" he asked snidely. "Would it, perhaps, be the truth provided by the one with the deepest pockets? Or would it be the truth provided by the one who has the power to shut them down? Or, would it be the truth that nets them the most gain? My father has been on the point of her poisoned pen before, and has tried to fight it. Unfortunately, and this is shocking, Father's pockets weren't deep enough. Not as long as Fudge is still in power."

"We'll just have to do something about him, then," Hermione chimed in. "In the muggle world, we have laws against slander, and those who perpetrate it usually end up paying out enormous sums of money to the injured party. With the right solicitors, and the right type of backing, we should be able to teach both the Prophet and the Minister a lesson."


OUR SAVIOR TO BE HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED'S HEIR

Severus Snape raising the next Dark Lord

Rita Skeeter, reporter

Oh, the tragedy, gentle readers! This reporter has learned that Harry Potter will be the next Dark Lord, set to take over for his mentor, Lord Voldemort. I have come by some information, in the form of secret conversations between Severus Snape and his master, that lay out the plans for our former Savior to take over the wizarding world. His intentions are to convert as many of our beloved students in Hogwarts as possible, and use them as his soldiers for the Dark. With the Dark Lord training him in secret, he will be ready to conquer the wizarding world when he graduates. We cannot allow this to happen! I urge all good citizens to rise up and storm the school. We must drag this pretender, and his Death Eater father, out into the light of day and make examples of them. We will not allow anyone to destroy our peaceful way of life!

Sirius groaned as he read the article, before he stood and strode to the floo. Throwing in the floo powder, he waited until the flames turned green before he stuck his head in the firebox. "Lucius Malfoy's office, Malfoy Manor." Seconds later, Lucius was there, face pale. "I take it you've read the paper," the animagus said. At the shaky nod, Black sighed, making the flames around his face flutter for a moment. "What are your solicitors doing about this? It's already bad enough around here. This will just make things nightmarish."

"They're with the Wizengamot right now," Lucius answered. "I don't know how much they can get done, but they know that this matter is of the utmost importance. I will let you and the others know what the results are as soon as I hear."

Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Hadrian was standing in a corner, facing a group of angry Gryffindors. His serpents were hissing quietly, trying to soothe their master as the boy waited for whatever was to come at him. "If we kill you now," one of the Gryffindors snarled, "we will be rewarded for our forethought. We'll be preventing another wizarding war, after all, and we'll be keeping you from turning us into Death Eaters." Nods all around the older student bolstered his bravado, and he raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra," he hissed menacingly. Hadrian's eyes widened as the Unforgivable flew toward him. He was trapped, and had no way to avoid the curse. Seconds later, a shield flared into life in front of him, deflecting the curse off to the side harmlessly. Albus Dumbledore strode toward the group of students, eyes snapping angrily. I wanted things to be a bit rough for the boy, but I never intended for this to happen. That could've ruined everything. Perhaps he will see me as a hero for saving his life.

"What is the meaning of this?" the headmaster bellowed impressively as he stepped in front of Hadrian. Behind the old man's back, the raven rolled his eyes at his dramatics. "Why are you trying to murder the Savior?"

"We're not trying to murder the Savior," the ringleader snapped. "We're trying to get rid of the next Dark Lord. Didn't you read the paper? He," gesturing toward Hadrian with his wand, "is the Dark Lord's heir, and is going to turn the school into Death Eater central if we don't stop him now."

"That's enough," Dumbledore barked, shaken at what he'd been told. That woman is a menace. She's going to ruin my plans before I can get them into place. "This child is not the next Dark Lord. He is the Savior of the wizarding world, and deserves some respect for freeing us from Voldemort's clutches. If you kill him now, when the Dark Lord rises again, who will save us? You?" he pointed at the ringleader, who dropped his eyes and shuffled backward, shaking his head. "You?" he pointed at a third year girl, who squeaked, turned tail and ran. "You?" he pointed at another sixth year, who gulped audibly and paled, wavering on his feet as if he were going to faint. "I thought not. Now, for your use of an Unforgivable, you will spend one month in detention with Filch. Be off with you, and don't let me catch you doing anything of the sort again." The Gryffindors scampered away, leaving Dumbledore and Hadrian alone in the hallway. The headmaster turned with a kind smile on his face, fully expecting gratitude. The smile slipped when he saw rage lighting those emerald eyes. "My boy?" he asked softly, taking a step forward.

"Don't come near me," the raven snarled viciously. "It's your bloody fault that all this is happening. Do you think I don't know who gave that reporter personal, sensitive information? I know this is your way of somehow forcing me to acknowledge you as my mentor. Guess what, old man? You've failed. Your day will come. Mark my words." With those words ringing in Dumbledore's ears, Hadrian stormed away, heading for the dungeons.


The last article the reporter would ever write was a dilly.

DEATH EATER CONFIRMS THEFT OF SAVIOR

The truth, from the mouth of one who knows

Rita Skeeter, reporter

This reporter was able to corner Severus Snape, the slippery Slytherin, in Diagon Alley as he was leaving the apothecary. I fired out several questions, which he refused to answer. That was all I needed for confirmation, for if he'd had nothing to hide, he would've answered me. So I went to another source; one of his Death Eater compatriots, who had confirmed all that I had suspected. It is true; Severus Snape went to Harry Potter's muggle home and abducted him, killing his muggle relatives while he was there. He then took the child to Gringotts, where he coerced the goblins into performing an illegal adoption, thereby changing our Savior. I tried to ask the goblins about the illegal adoption, but they just growled at me and threw me out of the bank. This proves that the goblins are aligned with the Dark, and will deny us access to our money when the Dark Lord finally makes his appearance. After the adoption, he took the child to Lord Voldemort, where Harry Potter was bound to the Dark Lord by an ancient Dark blood ritual. Harry Potter is no more.

"She's going to get him killed!" Albus bellowed to no one in particular. He fled his office, taking the stairs two at a time in his hurry to get outside the wards. Once there, he apparated to the offices of the Daily Prophet, where he cornered the editor and had a chat with the man. Meanwhile, Rita, in her thirst to get that next juicy story, entered the castle in her animagus form, quickly locating Hadrian and his friends as they were on their way to the Great Hall. They all sat at a table together, talking about classes and other inconsequential things, and boring the antennae off of the beetle animagus. She circled around Longbottom, hoping to find a surreptitious place to land, and didn't count on Trevor's long sticky tongue, which flicked out of the toad's mouth and snagged the beetle mid-flutter. Before she had the chance to revert to her human form, the toad drew her into his mouth and chomped down on her, effectively ending her pathetic, lying existence.

"Was it good, Trevor?" Neville asked innocently, smiling down at his magical toad. The amphibian belched loudly, startling laughter from the table as he seemed to grin smugly. You won't have to worry about her anymore, he thought. I protect what's mine, and that includes his friends.


Greetings Albus Dumbledore;

It has been brought to my attention that one of your sixth year Gryffindor students had cast the killing curse at a first year; one Hadrian James Snape. That, in itself, is troubling. Your punishment of said student, however, has left me reeling. You see, using any of the Unforgivables is an automatic stay in Azkaban. That it was the killing curse makes it doubly so. For your failure to report the use of the unforgivable, you have been removed as Chief Mugwump of the Wizengamot. Additionally, you have been stripped of your Order of Merlin, First Class, as well as your membership in the International Confederation of Wizards. You are now on notice; should you step one toe out of line concerning Hadrian James Snape, you will be summarily sentenced to Azkaban for a term of no less than six months, depending on the severity of the crime. Your tenure as headmaster is now under review. Consider yourself on probation until I am satisfied that you are doing your job to the best of your ability.

Aurors are, at this moment, on their way to arrest the student who had used the unforgivable on an eleven year old child. Since he is sixteen, he is old enough to face the consequences of his stupidity. I recommend that you do not interfere in any way. I have sent a copy of the arrest warrant to his Head of House, and she will be the one to hand him over. If my Aurors see you anywhere near Gryffindor tower, you will be arrested. This will be your only warning.

Sincerely

Amelia Bones

Chief Witch, Wizengamot

Dumbledore clenched his fist around the letter, a snarl on his lips. That little bastard, he seethed. How dare he tattle on me like I'm some recalcitrant six year old. I have half a mind to go to the Ministry and revoke Severus' freedom. I still have some power there. So thinking, he left his office, unaware that Cassius Malfoy was hard at work, behind the scenes, doing everything he could to prevent any more catastrophes from occurring to Hadrian and his father.

Albus reached the office of the Minister of Magic, a wide smile on his face as he breezed through the outer office and through the inner office door, ignoring the indignant sputtering of the secretary. "Cornelius, my boy," the headmaster boomed, "I've come to ask you a favor…" His voice tapered off as the chair behind the Minister's desk, which had been facing the artificial window, turned slowly, revealing Lucius Malfoy seated there. The blond smirked at the gobsmacked look on the headmaster's face.

"I'm very sorry, Dumbledore, but Cornelius Fudge has been arrested and sentenced to ten years in Azkaban for hundreds of charges of slander, as well as the destruction of many pureblood families and their reputations. Severus and I had submitted pensieve memories to the Wizengamot, to verify the end of Lord Voldemort, and they were so grateful to me, the Hero of the wizarding world, that they automatically gave me the Minister's position. Now, what was it that you wanted?"