From the Daily Prophet of 31 July, 2000
Happy birthday, Harry
By Melpomene Fitzgerald
Think back on the events of the last 20 years. A Dark lord reached his fearsome peak, fell, re-emerged worse than ever and was vanquished. Other Dark magi terrorised the nation and tried to seize power. The Ministry of Magic flip-flopped regularly between resolute firmness and blissful ignorance. Two terrible wars surrounded 12 years of nervous tranquillity. It's a history about as stable as a drunken Muggle under the Jelly-Legs Jinx.
Yet, through it all, there has been one constant.
Harry Potter.
Today, the Boy Who Lived turns 20 years old. In that short time, he's made headlines as an infant saviour, a mistreated child, a mischievous student and the champion of the light in the darkest of times. We all know the stories; they've been told so many times in so many ways by so many authors (yours truly included) that they're as much the stuff of legend as of history.
But set aside the glory and the mystery and we're left with a remarkable man whose day deserves to be recognised.
"It has been my good fortune to be able to watch Harry grow from a curious boy into such a special young man," Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore said during a rare interview last week. "It makes an old man's heart ache to know how much he had to suffer during the transformation, but alas, it is in the hardest times that our true character shows itself. The depth of Harry's character is quite unique."
Wizengamot member Mundungus Fletcher was more straightforward when asked about Potter.
"The lad's a hero," Fletcher said of his former comrade in the Order of the Phoenix. "There is no better way to describe him."
The magical world agrees wholeheartedly and it plans to make that clear today.
"We all have a lot to thank Harry for," Dadelus Diggle of Kent said Sunday. "He's the shooting star that guided us through the long night. He deserves to be celebrated and tomorrow night I'm going to pay him a tribute worthy of what he is to our world. So keep your eyes on the sky."
Diggle, infamous for his periodic manipulation of the heavens and subsequent legal battles with the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, isn't the only wizard who will be honouring Potter today. Informal celebrations are planned for wizarding gathering places all over the country.
"We're talking about Harry Potter. If he's not reason enough for a good party, I don't know who is," said 28-year-old Veronica Smethley, who plans to spend this evening at the Hogshead in Hogsmeade. The popular nightspot has been home to the largest "Boy Who Lived Day" celebration in Britain since Potter's former Gryffindor house-mate, Lee Jordan, bought and renovated the once-dodgy pub two years ago. Jordan expects at least 200 witches and wizards to attend.
Smaller public parties are planned for Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and the Leaky Cauldron on Diagon Alley, the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and other places as diverse as Salisbury Plain, Montrose, Holyhead and Limerick. In fact, Potter's birthday has become such a widely toasted event in wizarding Britain that the one place where it's ignored stands out: the Ministry of Magic.
The Boy Who Lived's six-year history of disagreement with Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has been widely documented, and like Potter's former career as an Auror, the significance of today's date has been caught in the middle.
In April, a Wizengamot proposal to declare 31 July "Harry Potter Day" was shelved by Fudge's supporters. It marked the third time in less than two years that official government efforts to recognise the young hero's accomplishments were blocked before they ever came to a vote.
"I don't bloody get it," Fletcher, who co-sponsored the latest plan to honour Potter, said at the time. "It's Harry Potter. How can anyone not want to pay tribute to him?"
It should come as no surprise that, according to a Ministry source speaking on the condition of anonymity, Fudge's motivation was purely political.
"The Minister sees Mr. Potter as a clear rival and has for some time," the source said. "He feels that any official decree crediting Mr. Potter for the victory over (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) and his followers could solidify support should Mr. Potter and his allies attempt to challenge the government. It was entirely his decision to block the motion."
Fudge tried to play down that decision in a written statement released by his office Sunday, saying individual recognitions are "unnecessary," because, "The heroic efforts of all of those who stood against Darkness were honoured in the ceremonies of 9 May."
The Minister is right to point out that all the brave magi who fought to defend our society deserve high praise for their sacrifices. But in context, his statement is just another example of the self-centred leadership we have long since come to expect from the sitting government.
Fudge's speech of 9 May -- marking the second anniversary of the late Dark Lord's final defeat -- focused almost exclusively on declaring Britain safe from the influence of Dark magic. Yet, Potter, the man who made that safety possible by vanquishing He-Who-Need-Not-Be-Named-Anymore and orchestrating the capture of several other influential Dark witches and wizards, wasn't mentioned. He wasn't even part of the delegation for the ceremony. The Minister is so concerned with maintaining his grip on power that he will not risk sharing the spotlight -- even on a solemn day of remembrance.
Or a hero's birthday.
Today's revellers won't hear the Boy Who Lived complain about his day's absence from the official calendar of national holidays. According to his agents, Fred and George Weasley, Potter will be busily making final preparations for his new career on the Quidditch pitch rather than partaking in the parties in his honour. He will officially become a Seeker on Tuesday when his Puddlemere United side opens training at Nimbus Arena.
But the relative peace and prosperity that have finally allowed the birthday boy to take up this new life away from the struggle against Dark magic are almost entirely of his creation.
"(Potter)'s got to be the greatest wizard alive today," Smethley said without hesitation. "He killed You-Know-Who, didn't he? Nobody else could have done that."
Dumbledore, himself universally regarded as one of the most powerful sorcerers in generations, only reinforces that sentiment.
"I have little doubt that our world would be a very different place were it not for Harry," he said.
Thus, regardless of what the government says to the contrary, 31 July deserves a place among our most venerated occasions. We all have so many reasons to be grateful to Harry Potter and today is our opportunity to think him -- be it with a grand party or a simple toast.
On this special day, Britain's magical community should stand united in exclaiming, 'Happy birthday, Harry!"
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Melpomene Fitzgerald is the Daily Prophet's political columnist. Owl her at thedpreportingyahoo.com
A/N: "… the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry …" -- Goblet of Fire, P. 314 (U.S. Paperback)
This was originally going to be the equivalent of Skeeter's article, stretching on for pages and pages and telling Harry's life story. The problem was it was no fun to do and I wrote the pages and pages without really getting anywhere until I became completely discouraged. That's the reason for the three-month delay in posting between Chapters 8 and 9. When I finally ditched the original plan, this was the compromise.
I would be remiss if I posted this without vociferously thanking Giulia (thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!), who somehow motivated me to get going again when I was on the verge of quitting. Kudos also to my beta R.G., who saw right through the final version of this chapter, and my hard-working prebetas, Nancy and LadyChi.