A Sensational Story

Author's Notes: For an update on my stories, please see my profile. As always, massive thanks to White Squirrel for beta-reading this chapter.

Disclaimer: Recognisable portions in this chapter have been taken from the Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling. I neither own nor intend to make any profit from the use of Harry Potter and the associated characters of the series, in my story.

Interlude – Reactions

Harry finished his dinner as quickly as he could, then waited impatiently, along with Hermione, for Ron to polish off his third helping of pudding. Then, the three of them hurried up to Gryffindor Tower. They were about to head up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, when Hermione stopped short.

'What's up?' said Ron.

'I don't think it's a good idea for all of us to be up there right now,' said Hermione.

Harry and Ron stared at her.

'You've visited us in our dormitory before, Hermione,' said Harry. 'What's the matter this time?'

'Privacy,' said Hermione quietly, even though the common room was deserted. 'What if someone walks in when all of us are using the mirror?'

Ron frowned at her, but Harry understood her point. It wouldn't do for Seamus, Neville, and Dean to enter the dormitory and find the three of them huddled in one bed, speaking into an enchanted mirror with an alleged mass murderer on the run.

'Right,' said Harry, just as Ron's eyes widened in understanding. 'Where do you suggest we go, then?'

'How about the Room of Requirement?' suggested Ron. 'There isn't a DA lesson tonight, and I doubt anyone would visit the Room now. They're all at dinner, aren't they? And I bet you everyone's going to want to discuss today's chapters – they'd want to stay in their common rooms for that.'

Hermione and Harry couldn't fault the logic in that, so ten minutes later, they were on the seventh-floor corridor, pacing in front of the blank stretch of wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, thinking of a place where they could have their conversation in secret.

'Whoa,' said Ron in awe, as they pulled open the door that had materialised and walked into the room. 'This is brilliant, Harry.'

And indeed, it was. Somehow, the Room had understood Harry's need for privacy and comfort, and had created an exact replica of Ron's room at the Burrow. Even the sizeable hole in the Chudley Cannons bedspread was there.

'Well,' said Hermione briskly, 'let's call him, then.'

Harry sat down on the bed, pulled out the small mirror from his pocket, and stared at it for a moment. His own reflection stared right back, with Ron and Hermione's face peering from behind him. Then, he said, loudly and clearly, 'Sirius Black.'

His breath fogged up the mirror for a moment; when it faded, instead of their reflections, Sirius' face was grinning up at him.

'Alright, Harry?' asked Sirius. 'Ron, Hermione?'

'We're alright,' said Hermione with a smile. 'How are you, Sirius?'

The slightest of creases appeared on the older man's face, but it was gone almost immediately. 'We're alright here. Moony comes around once in a while, and Kreacher, well…' He trailed off, looking a bit moody.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione remained silent, not knowing what to say. They knew Grimmauld Place was going to be lonely without the Weasleys and everyone else staying there, but it had never been mentioned out loud.

'Anyway,' continued Sirius, breaking the awkward silence. 'Never mind me. What's new with you all? Tonks said that you've started a public reading again?'

'Yes,' said Harry, and the three of them launched into an explanation of the first five chapters that had been read out earlier that day. Sirius seemed quite interested in the basis that they'd adopted for continuing with the public reading, more than the contents of the chapters themselves.

'Harry, as much as I agree with you in theory,' said Sirius, once they'd finished, 'bringing down Lucius Malfoy isn't going to be easy. He's a Slytherin through and through – there are very few holes that he can't wriggle out of.'

'I know,' said Harry, 'but it's worth a try, isn't it?'

'Of course, it is. And you're killing two birds with one stone – a very smart thing to do.'

'As long as the other Malfoy doesn't figure out what we're up to,' said Ron darkly.

'I doubt it,' said Hermione. 'He seems quite miffed about Dobby's involvement up till now. Stopping Harry's post, warning him not to return to Hogwarts, closing the barrier at King's Cross Station…'

They fell silent for a moment. Then, Harry decided to get to the real reason for this conversation.

'There's something else, Sirius,' said Harry. Sirius noted the different tone in his godson's voice, and perked up at once. It was remarkable how much his actions mirrored those of a dog suddenly paying attention when it was required to.

'I can do wandless magic.'

Sirius stared at him.

And continued to stare.

'Erm…Sirius?' said Harry, when the man hadn't said or moved anything for two whole minutes. 'Are you alright?'

'You – you can do –' Sirius croaked.

'Yeah, that was my reaction, too,' said Ron, nodding from behind Harry.

'But – how?' asked Sirius, weakly.

Harry shrugged. He truthfully had no idea why, of all people, he could do wandless magic. He told Sirius so, while also adding that if he could do it, he was sure loads of others could do it, too, since he was quite certain he wasn't that powerful.

Hermione and Ron both snorted at this. Even Sirius managed to crack a smile, despite his shock at the news.

'What?' said Harry, feeling a bit nettled.

'Harry Potter – not powerful?' said Ron with an incredulous laugh. 'Come off it – you're the most powerful wizard in our year.'

'No way, I'm sure Hermione is –'

'I told you, Harry, I'm all books and cleverness,' said Hermione.

'Yeah, she's a walking and talking library,' said Ron cheekily, which promptly earned a smack on the head from Hermione.

'You single-handedly produced a Patronus to drive off a hundred Dementors at once, Harry,' said Sirius. 'If that isn't powerful, I'll eat Buckbeak.'

'Yes,' said Harry, feeling as though he were trapped in a corner – although he wasn't sure why he felt that way, 'but I bet Dumbledore –'

'Of course, he can,' said Ron dismissively, 'he's Dumbledore, isn't he?'

'I doubt even Dumbledore could have done something like that when he was thirteen,' said Hermione, and Sirius nodded in agreement at her words.

Harry looked at each of them, wondering how it had come down to a debate about his magical power. He had wanted advice, but he was getting reassurance for something he hadn't doubted in the first place. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he did want Sirius' input on this.

'Alright, fine,' he said, cutting off the others' conversation. 'Say I am powerful enough to do wandless magic.' He turned to Sirius. 'What am I supposed to do?'

Sirius looked up at him, thinking. 'Does anyone else know about this?'

Harry shook his head. 'I don't think so, no.' He turned to Hermione. 'D'you think anyone saw me practising?'

Hermione bit her lip worriedly. 'I don't know, Harry,' she said. 'It was in the Great Hall, after all. I know for a fact that none of the Gryffindors saw you, but…' she hesitated. 'I can't say the same for the other Houses.'

Ron looked startled at this piece of news, but Sirius said bracingly, 'Well, never mind that. We can deal with it when it comes. What were you practising, anyway?'

'The Levitation Charm,' said Harry. 'I got it the first time, but I felt extremely drained after it.'

'That's to be expected,' said Sirius. 'You should keep practising this, Harry. In secret, of course,' he added. 'We don't want anyone else to know about this.'

Harry nodded. 'I'll do that.'

'Start with the smaller spells – the Levitation Charm is a good one to begin with. Once you can do that without feeling like you've run a mile, move on to the others.'

'We'll help him with it, Sirius,' said Hermione, as Ron nodded from behind her.

'I don't doubt that,' said Sirius, grinning. 'I need to go – I think I can hear Kreacher coming up the stairs. Stay safe, you lot. Just because the Ministry's changed its stance on Voldemort, doesn't mean we can afford to be relaxed.'

'Got it, Sirius. See you,' said Harry. Sirius waved at them, and the next moment, his image faded away from the mirror.

Draco Malfoy was confused. Something he very rarely was, so it irked him even more that he felt this way. And it was all because of, as always, Saint Potter –

– and his bloody old house-elf, Dobby.

It had been a shock for Draco to find out that Dobby had gone to warn Harry Potter from returning to Hogwarts for their second year. How had Dobby even found out about his father's involvement in the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle? Had the little blighter been eavesdropping? Or had his father been boasting about it – no, that couldn't have been the case. His father was the epitome of the perfect Slytherin, and Slytherins never showed off if they could help it.

That meant that the elf had been eavesdropping, and had decided to warn the famous Harry Potter about it. Of course, the elf could have done it because he hadn't been forbidden from speaking about it to anyone else. And even if he had been…well, Draco grudgingly admitted that Dobby was smart enough to play around the rules.

Draco scowled mentally, still annoyed over the whole thing. Truth be told, however, he wasn't sure what he was annoyed more about: the fact that Dobby had gone to warn Potter in the first place, or that he hadn't succeeded in stopping Potter, thereby ensuring a Potter-free year at Hogwarts.

Staring up at the ceiling of the empty Slytherin dormitory, Draco contemplated the ramifications from the day's reading. He wasn't really in too much trouble – most of the Slytherins, while initially shocked that his old house-elf had been involved in the whole thing, were now accepting the fact that he had nothing to do with it. He racked his brains, trying to remember if he had done anything stupid or careless that year, but his mind drew a blank.

His father, on the other hand…he had done a lot of questionable things that year. Selling their dark artefacts to Borgin and Burkes, slipping the diary to Ginny Weasley, blackmailing the governors to obtain Dumbledore's suspension…these were hardly the actions of a normal, law-abiding wizard.

But then, his father hadn't been punished then, had he? And he'd managed to get away without any charges being levied on him in far worse situations. No, Draco felt quite sure that his father wouldn't be in too much trouble over this entire thing. If the book continued in the current vein, he doubted if there would be much evidence that could be presented before the Wizengamot for convicting his father of any crime. And if there was something…well, they could always destroy it.

No, it seemed to Draco that, at the moment, there was no need for his father to hear about this at all.

Amelia Bones walked into her office at the Ministry of Magic, thoroughly exhausted after one of the longest days of her life. A book reading at Hogwarts until lunch, then rushing off to the Ministry to review the notes they'd taken during the day about Lucius Malfoy and everything else. On top of that, the mass break-out from Azkaban had the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement stretched thin: nearly everyone was focused on tracking down the escaped convicts, and the reports from every field member of the squad kept zooming into her office.

She sighed, pulling off her cloak and sinking into her chair behind her desk. She'd hoped to have the evening off that day, but that seemed unlikely, what with all the work that was piling up. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she glanced over the paperwork on her desk: memos regarding the manhunt, brief notes about Lucius Malfoy and his activities, request forms for securing arrest warrants against the Dursleys…

She needed a drink.

Five minutes later, she was swirling a glass of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in her hand – on the rocks, with a twist, just the way she'd always liked it. The alcohol burned her throat as she sipped it, but it was oddly soothing and comforting. It helped her to clear her mind – not that she needed this as a fix on a regular basis, of course – and so, within minutes, she had plunged herself into the menial task of clearing her desk, clearing one sheaf of parchment after the other.

She paused as she scanned the arrest warrant request, submitted by Percy Weasley and counter-signed by Kingsley. The warrant took her back to the day's reading, and what her Aurors could make of it.

As she'd told Miss Granger earlier that day, while the book seemed to point them towards Lucius Malfoy, there was no solid proof yet for his arrest. Lucius Malfoy was slipperier than a Grindylow and could worm his way out of most punishments with the right connections and, more disturbingly, the right amount of leverage. Gold always worked wonders with people.

No, she thought, the only thing they could do right now was to wait and see whether the rest of the book revealed anything else about Lucius Malfoy. They had, in any case, just reached Harry Potter's arrival at Hogwarts for that school year; they still had the whole year to complete.

She shook herself mentally, and re-focused on the warrant in her hand. The request seemed in order: at least young Mr Weasley was doing his job well enough. She had just finished signing off on the parchment, when the door to her office opened, and Dawlish strode in, a serious expression on his face.

'Madam Bones,' he said. 'It's Minister Fudge. He's been assassinated.'

To be continued…

P.S. Please drink responsibly. :)