AUTHORS RANT: I've had many questions about whether James or Sirius are going to die. The answer is, I don't know. At the moment the story can either follow HBP with the inclusion of James (when it is released) or I make up my own story for sixth year. Before I make that decision I am waiting to read HBP before deciding whether I can keep Sirius alive or not/and or incorporate him into the HBP story line as well. Please be patient. You'll find out what their fates will be around Chapter 31, I think. I hope this clears that up and stops people asking me whether they are going to die or not, as I simply can't decide yet. Thank you.
The next few chapters are quite short but Chapter 28 will make up for that…I promise. I'm not too sure about the quality of this chapter…hopefully it is better then I think it is…Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Quibbler article headline.
Prongs Rides Again
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Quibbler Articles
The two articles were published in the following issue of the Quibbler which was sent to both Harry and James on Monday morning, along with various letters from readers. Umbridge was, thankfully, not in the Great Hall when the post arrived, and so he was able to read the article without any interruption made by the toad.
The front page of the Quibbler had two images. One of Harry and the other of James. The headlines read: HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMEDAND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN. And another headline proclaimed: DEAD 14 YEARS: JAMES POTTER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HIMSELF; YOU-KNOW-WHO AND SIRIUS BLACK!
Eagerly James flipped through the pages till he came to Harry's interview. He read through it taking in each word, and then he turned the next page and began to read what Rita Skeeter had written about him:
INTERVIEW: JAMES POTTER DEFENDS HIS SON AND SIRIUS BLACK!
Fourteen years ago, one of the Wizarding Worlds most talented young men, was murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. On the 2nd August last year, James Potter miraculously returned to the living. Speculation has followed him everywhere, but James Potter has continued with his life, taking up the position of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Quibbler has been given the amazing opportunity to interview Mr Potter…
Born to Harold Potter and Natalie Davis, James Christopher Potter made his mark in his early life, already proving that he would be an exceptional wizard. Enrolled in Hogwarts in 1971 and sorted into Gryffindor house, James Potter showed the true qualities that that house requires of him. He was without a doubt loyal until the end, sacrificing himself in attempt to save his beloved wife and son.
"Friendship and family are important to me," says James Potter, "I have always relied on my friends to be there for me. They were with me before and now they are with me again. I grew up in a secure environment. My dad might not have been there all the time, but when he was, he aided me whenever he could, so that he could help me understand the pressures of what I would have to take on in life."
The pressures for James Potter came quite sudden. The murder of his parents forced him into the position of head of the family. "I was suddenly put in charge of keeping the Potter line alive. Thankfully I had a beautiful girlfriend, Lily Evans, who stayed with me. And our son, Harry. It was family that helped me take control and keep my line alive."
As an Auror James proved his skill at magic, managing to defy You-Know-Who three times, and earning a death mark on his head by age 20. "I was afraid when I heard that You-Know-Who was after my family, but I stayed positive by believing in what I could do if that monster every found me or my Lily or my son."
By wise council of Albus Dumbledore, James took the advice of selecting a Secret Keeper to protect him and his family from discovery. Sirius Black, James' best friend since childhood, was asked to do this, but new evidence by James Potter tells us that, that was not so.
"I asked Sirius to be our Secret Keeper but he refused. He knew that You-Know-Who would come after him so he asked me if I would get Peter Pettigrew, another of our friends, to do this. I agreed but only because I trusted my friend. Unfortunately Peter betrayed our location and You-Know-Who came and destroyed my life, taking away everything from me." James Potter explains.
But is this true? Having never had the privilege of a trial, is it possible for Sirius Black to be innocent? James Potter believes so. He says: "Sirius was a Gryffindor. He may have come from a Slytherin line but he's not like the rest of his family. Everyone wanted him to be in Slytherin at Hogwarts, but he defied them. He had no desire to be one of them, and that showed he had bravery and enough of it to stand against what he believed in. He was truly loyal to me all through our school years. When I applied to be Defense teacher at Hogwarts in 1978, Sirius was starting work as an Auror. He was not the type of person who would not go off and kill some Muggles, but with Peter I can understand that. He had just lost his best friend to the Dark Lord, betrayed by the person he thought would never do that. Peter just chose a convenient spot to be in that meant a lot of people could get hurt. I know that Sirius is innocent, but unless you don't let him speak out and tell you his side of the story, you may be condemning an innocent men to death."
Whether or not Sirius Black is innocent, is a matter for another time. James Potter is one of those people who will remain loyal to what he believes in.
"I firmly believe in Dumbledore's words about You-Know-Who's returning. He may have not shown himself yet but in the coming weeks he will spring his trap and enslave us all. I only want to protect my son. Knowing that my murderer is still alive and wants to kill my son is nothing less then frightening. I will do anything to help save anyone from his wrath. I would gladly sacrifice my life for anyone."
Rumours of You-Know-Who's return has in fact been denied by the Minister.
Reported by Rita Skeeter
She did a good job on it. At least she didn't twist my words…James thought once he had finished the article. Below him he saw Umbridge stalking towards Harry's position at the Gryffindor table. Oh no…
He watched as she took the magazine from Harry and pursue him with questions. Umbridge was clearly not happy that Harry had given an interview, and then she turned and looked at him. James swallowed, already knowing what was coming next.
Umbridge walked towards him and placed Harry's copy of the Quibbler in front of him. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked.
"Meaning of what?" James asked, looking confused.
"Why would you tell such blatant lies to the general public about James Potter?"
"I have not lied. I have merely informed them of the truth of our situation." Responded James, knowing that everyone's eyes were on him.
"Truth of your situation?" Umbridge spat.
James nodded, getting to his feet, so that he towered over his rival. "Yes. Our situation. The fact that the Minister refuses to take in to account the words of the greatest wizard of our age."
Umbridge glared. "Very well. You do not want me as your enemy Mr Potter."
"You already are." James returned.
The Defence teacher gave him her most menacing look, attempting to intimidate him, but that failed miserably, as James kept a rather sincere face. Anger poured into her and Umbridge stalked out of the hall, amidst the stares of the other students.
James glanced over at Harry: his hazel ones meeting green. He grinned. He was cutting it rather close. After all he was on probation. Doing that interview was probably not one of the wisest things to do.
By mid-morning Umbridge had put up another Educational Decree, declaring that anyone in the possession of the Quibbler would be expelled. Every corridor and class room held the notice. The students, James noticed, kept looking at him as he walked through the school, and one student, a sixth year came up to him and said 'that they believed from the start'. James was quite grateful that his contribution to the Quibbler was beginning to change the opinion of the students.
At last they were getting somewhere.
Later that night when he fell asleep, James was woken in the middle of the night by his head bursting with pain. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. What was going on? He struggled to sit up in bed, rubbing his head gently. The pain wore off within a few minutes and he settled back down to sleep, but just as he was dozing of, there was a knock at his door.
Getting out of bed he opened his door and came face to face with Harry and Ron.
"What are you two doing here at this time of night?" he asked, surprised.
"I had another dream." Harry stated.
James stood aside. "You'd better come in then, hadn't you?" Fear built up inside him.
The two teenagers stepped in to the room. Once the door was closed and Harry and Ron were settled into two chairs, James allowed Sirius to transform so that he could hear what Harry had to say.
Clasping his hands together, James sat forward. "Right, so what was your dream about?"
Harry ruffled his hair nervously. He didn't know where to begin. "I…I was standing in a dark room, sitting in a chair, with my fists clenched at the side. A man was kneeling in front of me. I was Voldemort. The man in front of me was Rookwood. I felt displeased with what had transpired; he wanted my forgiveness. I got up and walked slowly towards Rookwood. I told him that he had done well by telling me this. I bade him to leave and send Avery to me. Rookwood left and I walked towards a mirror. I woke up properly when I saw his reflection staring back at me."
James frowned. "Do you know why Voldemort would feel displeased?"
Harry nodded. He had omitted that part.
"Tell me."
Swallowing Harry continued: "They were talking about removing something from somewhere. But they couldn't and that Bode couldn't have done it. I think Bode was under the Imperius Curse by Malfoy's dad. I believe the thing they want is the weapon I heard about over the summer. He's getting closer to it, dad."
James knew what Harry meant. Dumbledore had informed him that Voldemort was after the contents of the Prophecy and the only place he could get his hands on it was through the Department of Mysteries. Thankfully, Harry had no clue about that. If Voldemort found out about the Prophecy, then he would be able to have the power to destroy Harry, and James wasn't about to let that happen.
"Thank you for coming to tell me."
"S'okay." Harry muttered. "But, dad, please don't tell Dumbledore. I don't want him to know."
James did not question this. Harry was old enough to make his own decisions. He was pleased that his son had come to him instead of keeping it to himself and worrying over it. He smiled gently at Harry, suggesting that they both go back to bed. After they had gone James turned back to Sirius.
"Well?"
"He's desperate isn't he?" Sirius replied. "Voldemort is getting closer to finding out the Prophecy."
"I won't let him. I just can't." James said, frustrated. "Why did this fate have to settle on my son's shoulders?"
Sirius didn't answer, unsure what to say.
It was almost a week later after Harry's dream, that another commotion occurred in the castle. This time involving Umbridge and Trelawney. James and Hagrid hadn't been the only teachers to be put on Probation: Sybill Trelawney had been as well, as her dismal teachings in Divination had failed to impress Dolores Umbridge.
He had been taking Sirius for a week through the grounds when he walked back into the Great Hall to find the Divination teacher sitting on top of her trunks and sobbing as she moaned at her misfortune. Umbridge was standing nearby, gloating and expressing her glee at finally getting rid of one of Dumbledore's staff.
Anger poured through him and James marched forward, forgetting about the hundreds of students that were crowded round, watching the spectacle.
"You can't just send her away from the Castle!" James shouted.
"And so comes our gallant imposter." Umbridge glared. She turned back to Trelawney. "Hogwarts was your home until an hour ago when the Minister signed your Order of Dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself from this hall. You are embarrassing us."
James ignored Umbridge and kneeled beside Trelawney, comforting her. Even though he had no love for the Divination professor he still felt he had to do something to ease her pain and suffering.
"You don't need to leave the castle, Sybill. I'm sure you can stay."
"She is being dismissed. There is no room for her here." Umbridge sniffed.
James smirked. Behind him he heard the voice of Dumbledore, claiming that Trelawney had the right to remain in the Castle and that it was his wish for her to stay.
"Professor McGonagall could you please take Sybill back to her tower." Dumbledore instructed.
James moved away back to where Sirius was waiting in his dog form. He was about to leave when he heard Umbridge ask, in a low, cruel voice: "And what are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs he lodgings?"
"Ah, that won't be a problem. You see I've already found a suitable replacement, and he'll prefer lodgings on the ground floor."
Umbridge's eyes widened in anger, and James couldn't help but grin.
"You've found-?" her voice rose shrilly. "You've found? Might I remind you that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-Two…"
"The Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if the Headmaster is unable to find one. And I am happy to say on this occasion that I have succeeded. May I introduce you?" Dumbledore interrupted before Umbridge could finish.
Eyes turned to the doors of the Great Hall as the sound of hooves could be heard. Through the open doors, in walked a Centaur, a half-man, half-horse creature.
"This is Firenze. I think you'll find him suitable." Dumbledore smiled.
Umbridge stared as her face suddenly clouded over.
James couldn't help but laugh.
TBC
Well, what do you think? I was very doubtful to post this chapter…
Thank you's go to the following: Crazy-Physco; Daftlilme; jackie; Ins Pins; RoschLupin-Black; Lunatic Pandora1; Inumaru12; Lady Jillyan Malfoy-Potter; PrincessSkywalkerOrgana; TeresaBlackPotter; magicgirl45852; Harry Potter Gater-girl; emuerz; charmedslayers; The Kaizeress; supernova8610; Shalaren; zippyfox; IamSiriusgrl; JTBJAB; realpyromaniac; Godfric Potter; Hazel Maraa; Fk306 animelover; prongspadfoot2003; Birchy and Suicidal Bunnies.
monkeycheeks: No, there will not be any romance that involves Harry. I can't write romance so if I do write anything, it will only be in passing, or if he is telling his father about it. There will be no slash. I don't like it, I believe it is wrong, but I don't hold it against other people though. The only romance I will include will be past instances with James and Lily. Sorry.
ambereyes2873: Yes, Harry has become a lot more emotional since James returned. He's afraid of losing him. No, James didn't tell Harry the Prophecy, but he let on more then he should know at this stage. Thank you for the wonderful review!
Thoughts and Pondering: We will eventually find out why James came back to life, but just not yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Loonie Potter: I am willing to write more Luna into the story but I don't know where though. If I remember I will try and add more Luna into the story for you.
BlondeGal123567: The same thing that happened in the book with Harry and Cho occurred again, but Harry hasn't mentioned it to anyone. Not yet anyway.
Next Chapter: The Escaping of Dumbledore - in which the DA is discovered by Umbridge…a very short chapter…coming next Saturday!
Thanks again,
MissBlackPotter