August 29, 1995, 12 Grimmauld Place

I'm starting to get a little worried. Our Hogwarts letters have yet to arrive. They're usually already here by now, because I honestly don't remember ever getting my Hogwarts letter this late in the summer. They usually arrive at the end of July or at the beginning of August and not just a few days before term starts. Maybe Professor McGonagall is busy or something…I've seen her coming to some Order meetings lately…perhaps she just doesn't have the time to write out hundreds of letters just yet.

I mean, there isn't anything life-changing in my Hogwarts letter. I'm just worrying for the sake of Hermione. She's been going stir crazy, trying to figure out who's going to be awarded with the prefect badges this year. She won't listen to reason, so she obviously thinks that Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil is going to be the next Gryffindor prefect. But who in their right mind would choose a giggling, boy-crazy girl as a prefect? I don't spend that much time with Lavender and Parvati, but just from what I've seen…even I wouldn't trust either of them as a prefect. But enough about prefect badges. I'm just hoping that our Hogwarts letters come soon because Mum's going to have to go out and buy all of these books, right before term starts. I've given up all hope of going to Diagon Alley this year, so I'm not even going to ask if I can accompany her.

This morning was certainly…eventful. It seems that Kreacher is up to his old tricks again. Sirius found him snooping through the rubbish bin in the kitchen before breakfast. The house elf claims that he was just looking for any wasted food (ha!), we all know the truth. Kreacher was looking for more Black artifacts that we may have thrown out. The little elf doesn't seem to have realized that we've stopped cleaning the house a while ago.

I was surprised when I found Tonks sitting at the table for breakfast this morning. She told me that she had been working overnight at the Ministry and decided to pop in for some of Mum's delicious food. Kingsley Shacklebolt was there was well, so they must have been working on something together at the Auror headquarters. But I was disappointed when I realized that Professor Lupin wasn't down at breakfast. I started asking where he was, but then Hermione nudged me and told me that it was the full moon tonight.

After breakfast, I asked Hermione if I could read her Daily Prophet, but I made sure that Fred and George were within earshot as I spoke. Fred nearly jumped out of his seat at the table, but George grabbed his arm and whispered something in his ear. I've come to the conclusion that the twins trust me to keep a secret. It feels gratifying, yet strange at the same time. I have yet to decide if I'm going to tell them about me seeing the advertisement.

Anyway, the newspaper is filled with little snide jokes about Harry. No, they aren't on the front page or anything, but they're slipped in between all the other stories. There was an article about this one man who cursed himself with a dangerous hex and then managed to perform an anti-spell all on his own. The writers at the newspaper said this: "Let's hope he doesn't have a scar, or else we'll be asked to worship him next."

I think that's going way over the edge. Since when has Harry asked anyone, anyone, to worship him just because he has a scar? When has he asked for any special recognition because he's the Boy-Who-Lived? Never. And these people at the Prophet are making Harry seem like some kind of idiot who wants attention for himself at all hours of the day, which Harry most certainly does not want.

There were some cracks about Dumbledore being old and senile as well, and I nearly threw the newspaper across the bedroom. These people have no respect whatsoever to perhaps the most powerful wizard to ever live (taking aside You-Know-Who, of course, because he's quite powerful as well). It's disgusting. Now I know why Mum canceled our subscription to this newspaper. It's filled with lies, rumors, and insults.

Of course, I skipped right to the advertisement section and I found the same one for Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. It's the same exact advertisement as before, and I'm starting to think that the twins have been running their little mail-order thing all summer long. They've been doing it right under everyone's nose, too. Leave it to Fred and George to take any measure possible to keep something a secret.

After I read the newspaper, I gave it back to Hermione. I asked her why she even bothered to read the horrible things they're writing about Harry and Dumbledore, but all she said is that she wants to be "up to date" on the news in the wizarding world. She reassured me that she doesn't believe a word of the lies that the Daily Prophet is printing. I don't know about her, but I doubt I'll ever read that newspaper again unless they straighten up their act, open their eyes, and see that yes, You-Know-Who is really back and he's a threat to us all.

I've been feeling so anxious lately, it's almost scaring me. I suppose it's because the new term will be starting up in just a few days, but I think I'm excited that I'll be able to leave this forsaken house, as well. But I've started to think about what Sirius will do once we all leave. Will he just stay here, alone most of the time, or will he moved somewhere else for a while? Or did Dumbledore refuse to let Sirius leave at all?

I'll definitely say goodbye to Sirius on September first. I know I'll miss his little jokes about Kreacher and his barking laugh. To think that I had thought that man a murderer since my second year, when in fact he's innocent.

The rest of my day was actually quite boring. I played a few games of chess with Ron, losing to him every time of course. I started to pack up my things in my Hogwarts trunk after lunch, only to discover that Hermione's got all of her things packed already. The twins and I tried to listen into an Order meeting before dinner, but Mum's gone and charmed the door again, so we gave up. And dinner wasn't anything exciting either, because Tonks had to go back to the Ministry and hardly any Order members were in attendance.

Surprisingly, I'm dead tired at the moment, even though I didn't really do anything today. But I'd better get to sleep.

Good night,

-Ginny


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