My list of reviewers will be at the end of this chapter…
Chapter 15: Newspapers
The London Times
THREE TEENAGERS MISSING FROM DUFFTOWN
It was just another ordinary day at a small diner in Dufftown, until a waitress suddenly collapsed, and three teens disappeared. Two of the teens, Harry and Hermione Potter, were brother and sister and were workers at the restaurant; the third was a young man, whom no one has been able to identify. Miss Potter was the waitress attending to his table, according to Mr. William Larrep, the manager of the diner.
"No one knows what happened," says Mr. Larrep. "One of the waitresses just fell on the floor without warning, and then where I knew I had seen three people not ten seconds before, there was no one."
There are countless investigators working on the case, but so far there has been no progress except for a thorough search of the motel room Mr. and Miss Potter were sharing. It has been cleared of their belongings, which will be returned to them when and if they are found.
"This is the strangest disappearance we've seen in a while," says Sgt. John McCaffey, the lead investigator. "There was no sign of any kind of struggle, nothing left behind at the scene, and, the most peculiar thing was they simply vanished in what appears to be a matter of seconds. No one saw them actually leave the restaurant through the doors, and, to be honest, how could they have gotten there so quickly anyway?"
Indeed, the quaint settlement of Dufftown hasn't seen something this strange for years. The case is quickly spreading all over England, and investigators from across the country are pitching in to help. No one knows if these three adolescents will ever be recovered, but London is hoping and praying for their detection.
The Daily Prophet
WHAT ARE HARRY AND HERMIONE UP TO NOW?
There has been strange behavior reported between the newly discovered Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who seemingly appeared back in the wizarding world after being missing for almost three weeks. There have been several eye-witnesses that have declared they saw the two teens holding hands in public, plus several letters that have come in to the Daily Prophet office giving theories as to why they think Harry and Hermione both disappeared and returned together. Both of the teenagers have refused to comment on anything and denied all speculations of their absence. However, there is a certain wizard who swears on his life he caught Harry and Hermione in lip-lock. The latest question everyone is asking: What are Harry and Hermione up to now?
The Daily Prophet
HOGWARTS TO BE REBUILT
After much debating and contemplating by the Wizard's Council, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, formerly destroyed by accidental muggle acts, is going to be rebuilt on location. The precise dates for beginning and finishing the castle are unknown, but the Council estimates that building such a large structure will take ten years at the very least, even with all the magical advancements of today.
"We are trying to make the new castle as much like its predecessor as possible," says the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, who has been put in charge of the new structure. "In order to do that, we're going to need a lot of planning and a lot of magical assistance."
Of course, there will be new students coming to Hogwarts next year, and a select few survivors will be returning, but where will they go? The Wizard's Council is also working on a temporary campus for the new students, which is as of yet an undecided location.
"It would have to be big enough to house all the students that would accumulate while the new castle was being built, yet in a place that can be somewhat easily concealed by Muggles," continues the Chief Warlock. "There aren't many places like that left. If all else fails, we are going to have to move into the Magical Beast reserves, which is the last thing we want to do."
Although the Council is still in the planning stages of the new Hogwarts, they assure us that by the time the new school year starts, a new Headmaster will be appointed and a temporary campus will be available.
The Daily Prophet
SURVIVORS RELEASED FROM ST. MUNGO'S
At last, after close to a month, the last of the Hogwarts survivors were released from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. They are all quite relieved to be back in their homes with their families, but some are still mourning the loss of siblings.
"My sister, Ginny, was somewhere in the upper floors of the castle," says Ron Weasley, who was about to finish his sixth year at Hogwarts. "She didn't make it, and our whole family is taking it really hard." The Weasley family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur and Molly Weasley and their six children, not including their late daughter.
The only ones who did "make it" turned out to be the sixth year advanced Potions class, who was spared the brunt of the blast by being in the very underground depths of the stone castle. All of the students and the teacher, Professor Severus Snape, that were in the classroom survived. For over two weeks the location of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who were supposed to be in that Potions class but were absent from class that day, was unknown until they suddenly showed up at St. Mungo's with Draco Malfoy. They were warmly received there by the patients from their school and by Mrs. Weasley, who they are currently staying with until Miss Granger's parents, who are Muggles, return from a holiday in Ireland.
Hermione laid down the last newspaper on the Weasley's kitchen table and sighed. She had read the last several articles out loud to Harry and Ron from copies of The London Times and The Daily Prophet.
"Well, I think that's the closest the Prophet's ever come to the truth," said Ron with a laugh. Harry and Hermione joined in with his laughter for a few moments, before Hermione stopped and the thoughtful look Harry had seen so often on her face lately reappeared once more. She looked at Harry, who was sitting next to her.
"Harry, do you think the Dufftown police are still looking for us?" she asked.
"Probably," he replied casually. Catching the look on Hermione's face, he added, "Oh, Hermione, don't beat yourself up about it. They'll give up eventually—"
"And declare us dead?" Hermione cut him off.
"But Hermione, the wizarding world knows you and Harry are still around," said Ron from across the table.
"Well, yes, but still…"
"Hermione, we won't be declared dead," said Harry. "We'll just be missing in action. Don't worry. It's probably better that way anyway, what with the connections we made there."
"I suppose…" said Hermione.
"Harry's right, Hermione, just stop worrying, we have bigger things on our minds," said Ron.
"You mean Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.
"Well, he could have meant something like this," said Harry, and he leaned over and kissed Hermione briefly. Ron hastily made a face and turned away. Hermione saw him and giggled. This was what life was all about… spending time with her two best friends. She pulled out of the kiss and sighed happily. She knew that she, Harry, and Ron would have to face the troubles ahead of them eventually, but for now…
It was just Easier To Run.
AN: I'll have you all know that originally there was not going to be dialogue in this last chapter, but I decided it was necessary. I really hope you all liked this story, and I assure you, I will have new stories, eventually. But right now, I have many things clouding my mind, and probably will focus on the ones I already have before creating a new one. Thanks SO MUCH to all my reviewers for this story: (Hint: to find yourself use "ctrl" and "F" then type your penname.)
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You all are so awesome, and until I actually wrote down all these names, I would have never guessed that 67 different people reviewed for this story! Thank you SO MUCH again! Signing off for the last time on Easier To Run…
-xXx SpicySugar xXx-