- CHAPTER SEVEN -
Fake News
It was a very tired couple that sat at the Gryffindor table the next morning. Harry and Hermione had stayed up way past midnight, just like most of their housemates as they had partied in the Gryffindor common room.
The Gryffindors' celebratory mood hadn't even been diminished when under the encouraging cheers of the crowd, Fred, George, and Hermione had all opened their golden eggs at the same time, resulting in ear-piercing shrieking that had shattered all windows of the common room. Luckily, aside from some ringing ears, the damage had been easily repaired by some older students. Only the arrival of Professor McGonagall in a morning gown at two o'clock in the morning had put an end to the party.
As it was a Wednesday, and they had classes to attend, there was no sleeping in today. Harry saw many tired faces as he looked down the House table. Fred and George were clearly hung-over, just like many other older students, and just like Dean and Seamus, who sat next to a drowsy Neville and opposite of Harry and Hermione.
However, Harry's own tiredness vanished instantly as he spotted the post owls flying into the Great Hall. Neville received his copy of the Daily Prophet and tossed it to the couple in front of him without further comment.
Curious what spin the Prophet would put on the first task, Harry began to read.
SHAMEFUL START FOR TRI-WIZ
Minister disappoints while students practice Dark Arts
By Rita Skeeter
Yesterday, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament took place at Hogwarts, and it quickly turned into another disgrace for Hogwarts and the Ministry. For the task, the champions had to retrieve a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon.
Neither You-Know-Who nor Peter Pettigrew showed up to participate in the event, thus confirming the Ministry's claims that both individuals are indeed deceased.
But despite being the only adult wizard in the competition, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was not able to secure the first place after a mediocre showing. Indeed, the most remarkable part of the Minister's performance was him shouting obscenities at Mr Crouch, one of the judges of the tournament (for more on the feud between Minister Fudge and Mr Crouch, turn to page two).
Not content with having the Minister as the only one damaging Britain's reputation on the international stage, several Hogwarts champions were eager to make Britain appear in an even worse light. The Hogwarts champion Vincent Crap (14) completed the task by murdering his dragon with the Killing Curse. Yes, dear readers, you read correctly: The Killing Curse! What is it that Hogwarts is teaching to our children nowadays? The twin brothers Fred and George Weasley (16), sons of Ministry official Arnold Weasley, also showed a blatant disregard for the rules by illegally summoning poisoned baits that seriously harmed their dragons.
This reporter wonders: How can Hogwarts students practice the Dark Arts right under Headmaster Dumbledore's crooked nose? Is Hogwarts becoming a training ground for dark wizards? A concerned public demands to know!
Harry shook his head with annoyance. Crabbe's display was certainly worrisome, but the twin's solution had been within the rules and certainly hadn't been dark! He glanced over the rest of the article, searching for a reporting of Hermione's performance. To his disappointment, there was only one brief sentence at the end of the article.
Due to another oversight of the tournament organisers, 15-year-old contestant Harmony Ranger, the Muggle-born girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived, was able to complete the task with a simple Summoning Charm, which put her in the first place.
Harry sighed. "Well, I guess it could have been worse."
Hermione grinned. "Yes, this Harmony Ranger might be stealing my boyfriend, but at least she isn't a Dark Witch, too. Only the twins are evil."
"Well, we knew that already," Harry chuckled. "But isn't it usually only one twin who's evil?"
Hermione laughed, and Neville looked at the couple quizzically.
"What?" the boy wondered.
"Oh, it's a concept in Muggle fiction," Hermione explained curtly.
"Whatever," Neville said with a shrug. "Anyway, what are they reporting?"
"The Minister is inept, Crabbe and the twins are evil, Dumbledore is negligent, and Hermione only won due to the organiser's incompetence," Harry summarised and tossed the newspaper back to Neville.
"That's... surprisingly accurate," Neville stated.
"Well, Hermione would have won anyway," Harry defended his girlfriend.
"Yes? What would you have done, Hermione, if the summoning charm hadn't worked?" Dean interjected loudly.
"Well, next, I would have tried to levitate the egg to me," Hermione began to explain. "Then, I would have tried a switching spell. If the egg was protected against all spells cast upon it, I would have tried to summon the whole nest, or levitate it."
Neville, Dean, and Seamus laughed, while Hermione continued, "The last resort would have been to summon Harry's Invisibility Cloak and sneak past the dragon while distracting it with several conjured animals, similar to what Cedric did."
"All right, I guess you really would have won, regardless," Dean agreed with Harry.
"Yes," Neville concurred, but then his mood visibly sobered as he glanced over the articles in the newspaper. "This might be bad, you know. With that much bad press, Fudge might be kicked out of his office."
"So what?" Harry asked with a shrug. "That would be great!"
Neville shook his head. "It's not about Fudge," he explained. "I'm worried about who might replace him. Fudge is inept, but he's not really a bigot. As things stand right now in the Wizengamot, the next Minister might be much, much worse. It might be Lucius Malfoy or one of his associates."
"Ahh, shit!" Harry mumbled. It was a testament to the gravity of the situation that Hermione was too worried to chide him for his language.
Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table and scowled when he saw that Draco Malfoy indeed appeared to be very pleased with today's edition of the Prophet. The Slytherin boy had the newspaper folded out before him and joked and laughed with Goyle, Theodore Nott, and Pansy Parkinson.
Harry noticed that Crabbe was sitting with a different group of older Slytherin students at the other end of the table.
Ever since Harry had revealed the ancestry of Riddle, there had been a split in Slytherin House. There had always been a split between those who just kept their heads down and tried to get ahead in their studies, and the darker elements of the House. After the revelation, the dark faction had split into two groups. The bigger group consisted of the aristocratic and traditionalist Purebloods and Pureblood supremacists, who were appalled by the Dark Lord's heritage. Until now, Malfoy and his cronies had belonged to that group, but Crabbe had apparently decided to switch sides. The boy was now sitting with members of the group that valued power above all else, was interested in the Dark Arts and still held the Dark Lord in high esteem. This faction didn't care about blood apart from how to best spill it. With his display at the first task, it was easy to see that Crabbe would instantly be considered one of the leaders of that group.
Harry scowled, but then he shrugged. He hadn't paid much attention to the constant power struggle in the snake pit, as both groups were clearly in the wrong. But any in-fighting within Slytherin House was all good in his book, as it stopped the Slytherins from bullying the members of the other Houses.
Harry turned back towards Neville.
"Yes, Malfoy certainly seems happy," he agreed. "But do you really think a bigot like his father has a chance at becoming Minister? Who would vote for that guy?"
"It would only need some 'donations' to the right Warlocks in the Wizengamot. If Fudge is removed from office by a vote of no confidence in the Wizengamot, it would be up to the Warlocks to select an Interim Minister for the remaining term of office," Neville explained. "There won't be any elections for the next three years."
"Bloody hell," Harry cursed.
"Just like that?" Hermione exclaimed. "How can the wizarding world be like that? Where is the democratic legitimacy? Where is the system of checks and balances?"
"System of checks and balances? What's that?" Neville wondered.
Hermione groaned and palmed her face with her hands.
Harry shook his head and put one arm around his girlfriend.
"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It probably won't happen," he said comfortingly. "And once we're out of school, I'm sure you'll think of a way to fix the system, Mione."
Hermione looked up at Harry and gave him a weak smile. "You're right. It's just one more thing that we will have to change. Beside the house-el- OH MY GOD! I forgot about the house-elves! I didn't do anything for S.P.E.W. since Halloween! I've just been eating here and facilitating their enslavement, just like everyone else! How could I do that? Why didn't you say anything!? Oh, I'll have to do something to free them! I'll have to start planning! You'll all help me, right?"
Harry and Neville exchanged an awkward glance, and Dean and Seamus were suddenly very interested in their empty cereal bowls.
"Uhm..."
"Err..."
Hermione scowled at them.
"Hey, look at the time!" Harry exclaimed and jumped up. "The Charms class starts in five minutes. We have to go!"
Hermione huffed, but she wasn't about to be late for class and rose from the table, too.
"This isn't over," she angrily hissed at Harry as they left the Great Hall.
Harry gulped and nodded. He knew that it wasn't.
#
After Charms, the fourth-year Gryffindors had a free period before lunch. As they stepped out of the classroom, Hermione immediately grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him towards a nearby empty classroom. Harry was usually quite happy to follow along when his girlfriend did that, but he knew that this was different. He steeled himself for the imminent discussion as they entered the room and Hermione forcefully shut the door behind them.
"Now, what was that about at breakfast?" Hermione asked angrily. "You said you were willing to help me with S.P.E.W. Why aren't you now?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Hermione, what I'm about to say will probably offend you, but I need you to hear my out, okay? Can you promise that you'll hear me out?"
Hermione frowned but nodded.
"Hermione, I'm sorry, but as your boyfriend, I feel that it is my duty to tell you that you are behaving completely irrational about this whole house-elf situation."
"What? How can you say that?" Hermione exclaimed, angry and hurt.
Harry sighed. "First, the name of your organisation. I'll come out and say it: It is objectively awful."
"Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare is a perfectly fine name!" Hermione replied indignantly.
"It would be if people weren't reading it as spew. It's not a name that inspires confidence in your cause. It only invites ridicule. You're facing an uphill battle with this, anyway, why make things even harder for yourself? Where is your common sense in this?"
Hermione crossed her arms and scowled. "It's not my fault that people are juvenile gits!"
"But it is your fault that you ignore that we're in a school full of children and teenagers, who will behave like juvenile gits most of the time," Harry replied.
His girlfriend glared at him, but slowly, her outrage abated.
"Fine," she finally said reluctantly, "if you want, we can think about other names."
Harry nodded carefully. "We will, but the name is only the smaller problem. The main problem is that your goals don't make a lot of sense, either. Pleasedontkillme!"
"WHAT?" shouted Hermione. "How can you say that!?"
Quickly, Harry continued, "Have you ever spoken to a house-elf? Don't you think they should be involved when deciding how they should be treated?"
Hermione continued to glare at Harry and crossed her arms. "I don't have to speak to them! I read about them. I know that they don't need to bond with a family. I know that they are enslaved and that I will stop it!"
"They might not need the bond, no. But that's beside the point."
"Beside the point?"
"Yes, it's beside the point" Harry insisted. "What if they want to bond? Who are you to deny them their right to do what they want?"
"They're brainwashed!" Hermione shouted.
"How would you know?"
"I- I... everyone who's thinking straight wants to be free!"
"It seems to me that house-elves don't," Harry stated. "Look, Mione, I agree with you in principle. Elves should be allowed to request being released, and they should be protected from being abused. Those would be good goals. But you shouldn't try to break their bonds when they don't want that. Just let them make decisions for themselves."
Hermione frowned, but slowly she calmed down again. She slumped down onto a table a sighed.
"I have made a right mess of things, haven't I?" the brunette said dejectedly.
"No, don't worry," Harry disagreed, trying to comfort her. "I guess it was a good thing that you forgot about the issue and didn't do anything, yet. Let's just think of what to do next."
Hermione nodded.
"Talk to a house-elf?" she suggested. "But where would we find one?"
"The kitchens, of course. With the Marauder's Map, we should be able to find a way into it," Harry replied.
He rummaged through his bookbag and took out the map. Quickly, he revealed the map and searched for the entrance to the kitchens. It was located under the Great Hall, down the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff Basement from the entrance hall.
"Let's go!" he said, and together Harry and Hermione left the classroom.
#
When Harry and Hermione left the kitchens an hour later, Hermione was much reassured about the treatment of the house-elves at Hogwarts, though Harry could see that she wasn't exactly happy over what the elves had told her.
The house-elves had made it very clear to her that they enjoyed their work and that they wanted to stay bonded to Hogwarts, thank you very much. Only Dobby, who had jubilantly greeted Harry and Hermione in the kitchens, had nervously admitted that he enjoyed being free, much to the outrage of his fellow elves. But Dobby, too, had been happy with his work in the castle.
"I think we can agree that the house-elves in Hogwarts are not being mistreated," Harry concluded as they made their way up to the Great Hall for Lunch.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "And by the way, would you really have employed Dobby? That was a really sweet thing of you to offer."
"Well, yeah, why not?" Harry replied. "I have enough gold in my vault, and it might have come in handy someday to have an elf working for me. Too bad that Dobby wants to continue to work for Hogwarts." He shrugged. "But I can accept that. I mean, house-elves don't seem to be the type to just abandon their duties, even if they're free."
Hermione frowned. "I get that a house-elf would never just abandon his post and just start working for you. But Dobby could have handed in his notice to Headmaster Dumbledore if he really wanted to work for you. Honestly, what's the point of being free if you don't act on it?"
"I get what you're saying, but... they have their own way of doing things, and he's clearly happy, so why not just accept that," Harry replied. "Better focus your effort on protecting them from being mistreated elsewhere, instead of changing their minds here."
Hermione nodded reluctantly. While she still appeared to be a bit disappointed by the elves' attitude, Harry was just relieved that she was no longer hell-bent on 'liberating' every single elf in the castle.
#
After lunch, Harry and Hermione had their first Potions class scheduled with Madam Pomfrey. They left the Great Hall and made their way towards the hospital wing with plenty of time to spare. Just as they were about to enter the infirmary, the doors opened and Dumbledore stepped out into the corridor.
"Ah, Harry, Miss Granger, right on time for your first Potions lesson with Madam Pomfrey, I see," the Headmaster greeted them.
"Yes, Sir," Hermione confirmed.
"I have just approved the lesson plan for you with Madam Pomfrey. She has kindly agreed to tutor you until the end of the school year," Dumbledore informed the teens. "Then, we will have to make different arrangements."
"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied. "That's great. Just as long as we won't be taught by Snape again, that's fine."
"That won't be an option, I assure you," Dumbledore said.
With a smile, the old wizard turned towards Hermione. "And my congratulations on your yesterday's performance, Miss Granger. I was not involved in preparations, but even I was surprised by your simple and elegant solution."
"Thank you, Headmaster," Hermione replied, blushing at the praise.
"Sir, do you know what happened with Voldemort?" Harry asked. "Do we know what the consequences will be for him not participating in the task?"
"Alas, that is not quite clear," Dumbledore said, a regretful expression forming on his face. "It happened only once in the history of the tournament that a Triwizard champion flat-out refused to participate in the first task, and he died. Though if he was killed directly, or only indirectly from the shock of having his magic stripped from him, is not known. Several times, champions were no longer able to compete due to injuries sustained in a previous task. Some of them lost their magic, some of them faced no consequences. The contract created by the Goblet seems to recognise if someone is unable to compete, at least in some instances. But the exact wording of the contract is lost to time, so the criteria for this are not known. Regrettably, we do not know how it applies to Tom."
Dumbledore frowned and continued, "Furthermore, Tom is a unique case, as he's not fully human at the moment, and maybe never will be again. The usual rules might no apply to him. Or, Tom might only not be affected for the moment while he is in his current form. Also, the Goblet might have been destroyed before the contract could fully form, though I deem that possibility rather unlikely."
The Headmaster sighed. "I also cannot say what action Tom needed to take in order to satisfy the contract. If he managed to somehow sneak into the arena, disillusioned and helped by a servant, that might have been enough to not be in violation of the contract."
"Is there anything that we do know?" Harry asked a bit frustrated.
"I have it on good authority that the Dark Mark, which connects Tom to his followers, is still visible on their arms," Dumbledore replied. "But I don't know if it would vanish if Tom was dead for good, or if the marked Death Eaters would be otherwise affected by his death."
"So, in conclusion," Harry summarised with disappointment, "Riddle might or might not be alive, he might or might not have any magic left, he might or might not be required to compete in the first place, and he might or might not have been present for the task... Great! I'm glad we cleared that up."
"Harry!" Hermione said with an admonishing voice.
"Uhm, sorry, Professor," Harry said with a slight blush. "I didn't mean to be snarky. It's just a bit frustrating."
Dumbledore chuckled. "I understand. I wished I knew more just as much as you do. As Alastor always advises, we'll just have to stay vigilant."
Harry and Hermione nodded.
"Well, I think you should not keep Madam Pomfrey waiting any longer," Dumbledore then said. "I'll let you know if there are any news regarding Tom."
"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied, and he opened the door to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey looked up when the couple entered the room. She stood at a bed that was occupied by some younger student Harry didn't know.
"I'll be with you in a moment, Mr Potter, Miss Granger. Please wait for me in my office," the school nurse told them.
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione answered, and they traversed the room and entered the office at the other end of the infirmary.
Harry's mind was still on their talk with Dumbledore.
"I really wish we knew what was going on," Harry grumbled. "Do you think Voldemort really might have sneaked into the arena undetected?"
"I don't know," Hermione answered. "But I know that you have a handy artefact to ensure that he couldn't possibly do it again for the second task."
"The Marauder's Map! Of course, Hermione, you're brilliant!" Harry exclaimed and gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. "So, while I watch the second task, I'll observe the map and see if I can spot Voldemort sneaking in..."
"Yes, and if he does, you'll inform the Headmaster," Hermione told him with a serious expression. "No more jumping into danger. Is that understood, Mister?"
"Yes, all right," Harry replied and kissed the girl again. "Don't worry."
With the new plan in place, his mood instantly improved, and the Potions lesson with Madam Pomfrey was even more enjoyable. Though it would have been the best Potions lesson of his life up until then, anyway.
#
Over the next weeks, things calmed down at Hogwarts. With the end-of-term exams approaching, the attention of most students was mostly focused on their studies instead of the latest gossip surrounding the Triwizard tournament. Hermione, of course, would also participate in the exams, even though she would have been exempt.
Harry and Hermione used the time to study undisturbed. The teens also continued learning new spells that might be useful for the next task, even though they didn't know what the task would entail. They were a bit frustrated that they still hadn't figured out the clue in the golden egg.
The peaceful interlude came to an end when the teachers announced that a Yule Ball would take place at Hogwarts at Christmas. Very quickly, the school descended into chaos once more, as all the students who were old enough to attend freaked out over finding a date for the ball. The Hogwarts rumour mill was running at full blast with the latest news on who had just asked whom to the ball.
Harry was very glad that there was no need for him to find a date, so he wasn't much affected by the drama. Hermione insisted on teaching him how to dance, though, so that he wouldn't make her look bad at the opening dance. To Harry's surprise, he found their dancing lessons quite enjoyable, and he wasn't even all that bad at it.
His dorm mates didn't have such an easy time. One evening in the week before the ball, Harry and Hermione sat on the couch in the common room, with a very gloomy Neville seated on an armchair next to them.
"Nev, do you have a date, yet?" Harry asked the boy.
"Not yet." Neville answered. He lowered his voice and continued, "I was thinking about asking Ginny, but..."
He glanced over to where the twins were sitting, then to Ron, who was sitting with Dean and Seamus. The redhead was loudly complaining about the impossibility of asking a girl out for the ball, just like on every other evening since the announcement of the ball.
Harry chuckled. "I get it. Six older brothers. And Mrs Weasley can be quite frightening, too. Any ideas whom to ask, instead?"
Neville blushed a bit. "Luna, maybe," he mumbled.
"Oh, she's a nice girl," Harry replied. "You should definitely ask her. I'm sure she'll say yes."
"But you should ask her soon, before someone else does," Hermione added.
"Right," Harry agreed. "So, you'll ask her first thing tomorrow morning. Right, Nev?"
Neville looked at Harry with wide eyes, but slowly his expression became more determined and he nodded.
"Yes, I'll do that," he confirmed.
"Excellent, Nev," Harry exclaimed and patted Neville on the shoulder. "That's a right Gryffindor!"
#
The next morning after breakfast, Neville indeed approached Luna at the Ravenclaw table and asked her to accompany him to the Yule Ball. The girl immediately agreed with a huge smile.
Once they were done with their exams a few days later, Harry and Hermione spent most of their free time in the library, trying to find clues on the functioning of the golden egg. Hermione was skimming through huge piles of books on Ancient Runes, in the hopes of identifying the runes on the egg, but they hadn't made much progress yet.
That was how Hermione found herself sitting at a table in the library the next Friday afternoon. It was the day on which the last classes of the term had ended.
Harry had just left their table to return a stack of books back into the bookshelves when Hermione was approached by Viktor Krum. The Durmstrang champion had been hanging around in the library a lot lately.
"You are Her-minny, yes?" Krum asked the girl, who was deeply immersed in the tome before her.
Hermione looked up, a bit startled by the interruption.
"Yes, I'm Hermione," she answered with a neutral voice. "What can I do for you, Mr Krum?"
"Ah, Hermionny, please call me Viktor," the Quidditch star replied. "I vould like to ask if you vould do me the honour of attend Yule Ball wiff me?"
Hermione frowned a bit at that. "Oh, I'm very flattered, Mr Krum, really, but I already have a date for the ball."
Krum slouched his shoulders. "Ah, dat boy you spend many time wiff, he is your boyfriend?"
"Yes, that's my boyfriend Harry Potter," Hermione confirmed.
"Ah," Viktor sighed. "And here I vas, hoping he vas just good friend. Vell, your boyfriend is lucky wizard. You tell him, yes?"
Hermione smiled. "Yes, I will, thank you, Mr Krum."
Krum nodded and turned to leave, just as Harry returned from between the shelves.
"What did he want?" Harry asked with a frown when he was back at the table, looking after the retreating Durmstrang champion.
"He wanted to ask me to the ball," Hermione answered, still a bit surprised.
"Oh?" Harry's frown deepened.
"Oh, don't worry," Hermione chuckled. "He took my rejection as a perfect gentleman. He just didn't know that we're together. I guess he knows better than to follow the newspaper or the rumours going around here."
"Oh, all right, then," Harry replied with a much calmer voice. "I mean, I can't blame him for wanting to go to the ball with you..."
Hermione smiled. "I'm just glad that the library is empty right now. I wouldn't want to imagine what the rumour mill would have made of thi- eww!"
She snipped a large bug from the cover of the book next to her. The insect promptly flew out of their view.
"Yes," Harry chuckled. "Or even worse, the Prophet. They would have a field day. Good thing we're alone."
"Exactly," Hermione agreed and turned her attention back at the book in front of her.
#
The next morning, Harry and Hermione sat once more at the Gryffindor table opposite of Neville. Just as they had finished their breakfast, the delivery owls arrived, and Neville received his Prophet. He unfolded the newspaper and blanched.
"You'll want to read this," he muttered and passed the paper to Harry and Hermione.
Harry glanced at the headline, and his eyes grew wide.
"Bloody hell," he muttered.
LOVE POTION SCANDAL AT HOGWARTS
Deviant Muggle-born ensnares Viktor Krum and Boy-Who-Lived
By Rita Skeeter
The faithful readers of this paper will already know Muggle-born witch Harmony Ranger (15) as the girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and as the girl who illegally entered her name and the names of several others into the Goblet of Fire.
But the deviant Miss Ranger seems to have a taste for famous wizards that poor Harry alone cannot satisfy. The girl also ensnared world-famous Seeker Viktor Krum under her thralls, only to then cruelly break his heart when he asked her to accompany him to the Yule Ball that will take place at Hogwarts next week.
One wonders: How did the plain-looking girl manage to capture the hearts of these two prominent wizards in the first place? Is she offering herself to the poor boys to get their attention, or is the answer even more sinister? Her fellow students suspect the latter.
"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."
This shocking accusation seems even more plausible considering the fact that Miss Ranger, the illegal Triwizard contestant, has already proven her criminal energy several times.
We at the Prophet call upon Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to immediately investigate these claims and to ensure that swift and severe punishment is dealt out. In the meantime, these shocking developments are once more lending credence to the increasingly loud demands that the magical world has to be better protected from the Muggle world's loose morals.
Harry groaned. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Oh, my!" Hermione exclaimed with faux indignation. "This Harmony Ranger sounds like a real bitch! Just wait until I get my hands on her! Potioning my boyfriend like that! I'll show her!"
Harry snorted and shook his head. "I'm glad that you're not bothered by this, but you know that people will cause us- cause you trouble for it?"
Hermione opened her mouth, probably to reply that he was being ridiculous, but she hesitated when she looked around in the Great Hall. All around her, students were whispering and shooting hateful looks at her.
"Let's go outside," Harry said and rose from the table.
He took Hermione's hand, and they quickly retreated out of the hall.
"I can't believe that people are taking that rag seriously!" Hermione exclaimed when they were walking along the shore of the lake.
"I can," Harry said sadly. "Most of the students here are always ready to believe the worst of people without any evidence."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Just think of what happened in our second year," Harry replied.
He chuckled and continued, "They all believed that I was the Heir of Slytherin when all I really am is the Harry of Gryffindor."
Hermione gave him a blank look. Somewhere, a cricket chirped.
"Oh, come on," Harry whined.
"That was truly awful, Harry," Hermione stated flatly.
"Well, anyway," Harry continued, "the point is that if people believed that I was a descendant of Slytherin, there is no telling what else they'd be willing to believe."
"Well, to be fair, you probably are a descendant of Slytherin. And of the other Founders. And of Merlin," Hermione replied.
"Really?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Sure." Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "But so is almost everyone else, at least everyone from some older wizarding family. That's just how genetics work. These people lived many centuries ago, and all of them had several children. Considering the small size of Britain's wizarding population, it is almost certain that most of the students in this school are distantly related to the Founders and Merlin, and to each other."
"Leave it to you, Mione, to take all the fun out of being a descendant of Merlin," Harry grumbled.
Hermione just went on, "That's why this whole Heir of Slytherin business was so stupid to begin with. Most of the students here should be related to him, and there is absolutely no good reason to believe that any hereditary traits of his would only be passed down patrilineally from eldest son to eldest son. Even if you were the heir, you wouldn't be closer related to him than anyone else."
"Then why didn't you say so when all of this was happening?" Harry wondered.
"I'm sorry, but attempting to explain Muggle science to wizards is a lost cause," Hermione said with finality.
"Fair enough. But you could have explained it at least to me. It would've really helped to cheer me up."
Hermione looked at Harry with embarrassment. "Sorry," she mumbled and squeezed his hand.
"It's all right," Harry said comfortingly, "Anyway, haven't we gotten a bit off-topic?"
"Yeah, we were talking about people's reactions to that ridiculous article. I'm inclined to agree now that far too many people will probably believe it. But it will blow over in a few days, right?"
"I guess so, too," Harry agreed, "The ball will take people's mind off this soon enough. We'll just have to keep a low profile for a while, just like we did after Halloween."
Hermione shrugged. "All right, we can do that."
She frowned. "If we could only find out how Skeeter is getting her stories. How did she find out that Krum asked me to the ball? I doubt that he told her."
"He might have told a friend, who then told someone else, and so on," Harry pondered. "Or she might have spied on us. Maybe with an invisibility cloak."
Hermione gasped. "Yes, right! She might have."
But then she grinned. "I think that's another good use for that nice map of yours right there!"
"Great idea!" Harry agreed. "The next time we suspect that Skeeter might be around, we'll try and see if we can spot her on the Marauder's Map. Maybe during the ball. If we can catch her, she might even be arrested for trespassing!"
With the plan made, the couple returned to the castle to spend the rest of the day training in the abandoned classroom that they had also used for their preparation for the first task.
#
Elsewhere, later on the same day
In a small cabin somewhere in the woods of the Canadian province of Alberta, 29-year-old witch Harmony Ranger, dragon handler at the nearby dragon sanctuary, was sitting at the breakfast table enjoying her coffee and her pancakes with maple syrup, while trying her best to ignore the many scorched marks on the table.
Apart from the sound of the wind, it was completely silent. Silent, quiet and peaceful.
With a content smile, Harmony looked out of the window.
Her smile froze when she spotted a strange dark cloud in an otherwise clear morning sky. A cloud that was moving exactly towards her hut.
She groaned.
"OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE, NOT AGAIN!"
Quickly, she sealed all entrances to her cabin and then activated her fireplace to floo to the International Portkey Terminal in Vancouver.
