Chapter 22 - Propaganda
During the two weeks that Sirius was gone Remus was furious. He would sit by himself for hours on end brooding. By the time the two weeks were up he had become strangely calm. The day Sirius returned the two of them went off somewhere together to talk. No one ever found out what was said but when they came back they were the best of friends again.
The next morning Lily sat down for breakfast beside Carly and took out her homework that she had "forgotten" to do. Lily glanced up realizing that the Marauders weren't laughing and joking around like they did every morning. Peter was busy eating, Sirius and Remus looked like someone had died for some reason and James was reading the newspaper.
Lily did a double take. "Never seen you read the paper before James," she commented as she snatched it off him.
"Never seen you read one either," James replied in a deadpan voice.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Lily offhandedly.
Lily glanced at the front page and read the headline that said, "Voldemort: An Issue?" She looked up and asked, "What's a Voldemort?"
Carly shrugged and looked at the barely started homework. "You didn't do your homework again did you Li?"
Lily looked sheepish. "Umm... no?"
"You never learn do you Lily?" Carly rolled her eyes and went back to her breakfast.
Meanwhile James, Sirius and Remus had been communicating with their eyes. Remus made the decision and murmured, "James you should tell her."
Lily looked up from her homework again and inquired, "Tell who what?"
"Tell you about Voldemort," Sirius stated.
"Voldemort? Oh right the headline."
"Are you feeling especially dumb today Lily?" asked James.
"Hey shut up I just woke up. So? Tell me."
"Not here. Meet me at the North Tower at lunch."
"Lunch?" Lily looked partially distraught. "But food." James gave Lily a look. "Fine." Lily pouted.
During the morning Lily forgot about Voldemort and meeting James at lunch. When the bell went at the end of Potions Lily and Carly walked out of the dungeon chatting. Lily felt something niggling at the back of her brain but she ignored it. As they reached the Entrance Hall Lily gave in and said, "I get the feeling there's somewhere I'm meant to be."
"You're meant to be in the North Tower with James," called out a voice from behind. Lily and Carly turned and saw Remus, Peter and Sirius moving towards them.
"Oh so you and James have a lunch date, eh?" said Carly slyly.
"Shut up Caroline." Carly glowered at Lily but Lily ignored her.
"But guys I need food," she whined.
"I'm sure Prongs has taken care of that," Peter said as Lily began to walk away from them towards the nearest stairway.
Lily sighed as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at them despairingly. "Lily go!" Sirius, Remus and Peter all shouted at her.
"I'm going. I'm going," she mumbled in irritation as she ascended the stairs.
Lily was panting by the time she reached the top of North Tower. She breathed in deeply then noticed James sitting on the floor with a basket next to him. Lily glared at him weakly but James just smiled and opened the basket to show the food and drinks inside.
Lily's eyes widened in delight and gratitude. She dived onto the basket and sculled down half a bottle of water in one go. "You couldn't have asked me to wait for you after Potions and then we could find an empty dungeon," she said through mouthfuls of chocolate and meat pie.
James raised his eyebrows at how quickly Lily was eating. "I didn't want to alert attention and since no one ever comes up here unless it is absolutely necessary it seemed the perfect spot." James paused and then finished with amusement, "I would tell you to hurry up but since you're already speed eating-"
Lily scowled at him and James broke down in laughter. "You should see your face," he cried. James watched with mirth as Lily continued to eat, a little more sedately now that her hunger was dying down.
When Lily finally finished James became serious. "Okay Li you wanted to know what Voldemort is." Lily nodded as she opened another bottle of water. "First off Voldemort is a dark wizard," James started but Lily interrupted him.
"But why hasn't anyone heard of him? Why didn't anyone seem to care about the front page of the Prophet?"
"I'll get to that alright?" Lily nodded again as she took another gulp of water. She could tell that something extremely serious was going on.
James took a breath and then continued. "A couple of years ago Voldemort began recruiting followers. That's when the murders started. Wizards didn't pay any attention to it because the victims were English muggles who had been shot. Muggles just assumed it was the Irish. But when my da saw it on the VT-"
"TV," Lily automatically corrected.
"Right TV, he became suspicious. Da went over to the police stations to have a look at the guns. I'm not sure how he actually got to look at the guns but when he did Da realized he was right. The guns had been charmed. He looked into it at the Ministry and found out about Voldemort and that the Ministry had been covering him up so no one would find out.
"It wasn't until last year that he started focusing on muggle-borns. Before that the muggle murders had just been for fun apparently. Everything gets hidden from the public now. The Ministry says it's because they want to protect people when really they just don't want everyone to panic and riot against them. That's why there's been nothing in the papers until now and also why you won't see anything in the papers again for a long time.
"It's Ministry propaganda Lily. They tell you about something important once and make it seem like nothing so that you forget about it and do nothing about anything."
Lily sat thinking for a few minutes while James watched her sadly. 'Lily's smart,' he thought. 'It won't take her long to figure it out.'
Lily suddenly stared at James. "You said Voldemort focused on muggle- borns," she said. "What did you mean by that?"
"Voldemort or one of his lackeys, more likely the lackeys, charm a gun to shoot the muggle-born's parents. The Ministry then sends a letter of condolence claiming that a serial killer has murdered their parents," James explained dully without looking Lily in the eye.
Lily gasped and her eyes began to well up with tears. "You mean that bastard killed my parents?" Lily questioned furiously.
James nodded and shrank the basket and put it in his pocket. The bell went to signal the end of lunch just as Lily's angry tears spilled over. James opened his arms and Lily crawled over and sobbed onto his shoulder.
Ten minutes later Lily started hiccupping as the rest of the Gryffindors arrived for Divination. "I swear, one day I will destroy that bastard," Lily whispered more to herself than anyone else, but James heard and he remembered Lily's promise.
During the two weeks that Sirius was gone Remus was furious. He would sit by himself for hours on end brooding. By the time the two weeks were up he had become strangely calm. The day Sirius returned the two of them went off somewhere together to talk. No one ever found out what was said but when they came back they were the best of friends again.
The next morning Lily sat down for breakfast beside Carly and took out her homework that she had "forgotten" to do. Lily glanced up realizing that the Marauders weren't laughing and joking around like they did every morning. Peter was busy eating, Sirius and Remus looked like someone had died for some reason and James was reading the newspaper.
Lily did a double take. "Never seen you read the paper before James," she commented as she snatched it off him.
"Never seen you read one either," James replied in a deadpan voice.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Lily offhandedly.
Lily glanced at the front page and read the headline that said, "Voldemort: An Issue?" She looked up and asked, "What's a Voldemort?"
Carly shrugged and looked at the barely started homework. "You didn't do your homework again did you Li?"
Lily looked sheepish. "Umm... no?"
"You never learn do you Lily?" Carly rolled her eyes and went back to her breakfast.
Meanwhile James, Sirius and Remus had been communicating with their eyes. Remus made the decision and murmured, "James you should tell her."
Lily looked up from her homework again and inquired, "Tell who what?"
"Tell you about Voldemort," Sirius stated.
"Voldemort? Oh right the headline."
"Are you feeling especially dumb today Lily?" asked James.
"Hey shut up I just woke up. So? Tell me."
"Not here. Meet me at the North Tower at lunch."
"Lunch?" Lily looked partially distraught. "But food." James gave Lily a look. "Fine." Lily pouted.
During the morning Lily forgot about Voldemort and meeting James at lunch. When the bell went at the end of Potions Lily and Carly walked out of the dungeon chatting. Lily felt something niggling at the back of her brain but she ignored it. As they reached the Entrance Hall Lily gave in and said, "I get the feeling there's somewhere I'm meant to be."
"You're meant to be in the North Tower with James," called out a voice from behind. Lily and Carly turned and saw Remus, Peter and Sirius moving towards them.
"Oh so you and James have a lunch date, eh?" said Carly slyly.
"Shut up Caroline." Carly glowered at Lily but Lily ignored her.
"But guys I need food," she whined.
"I'm sure Prongs has taken care of that," Peter said as Lily began to walk away from them towards the nearest stairway.
Lily sighed as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at them despairingly. "Lily go!" Sirius, Remus and Peter all shouted at her.
"I'm going. I'm going," she mumbled in irritation as she ascended the stairs.
Lily was panting by the time she reached the top of North Tower. She breathed in deeply then noticed James sitting on the floor with a basket next to him. Lily glared at him weakly but James just smiled and opened the basket to show the food and drinks inside.
Lily's eyes widened in delight and gratitude. She dived onto the basket and sculled down half a bottle of water in one go. "You couldn't have asked me to wait for you after Potions and then we could find an empty dungeon," she said through mouthfuls of chocolate and meat pie.
James raised his eyebrows at how quickly Lily was eating. "I didn't want to alert attention and since no one ever comes up here unless it is absolutely necessary it seemed the perfect spot." James paused and then finished with amusement, "I would tell you to hurry up but since you're already speed eating-"
Lily scowled at him and James broke down in laughter. "You should see your face," he cried. James watched with mirth as Lily continued to eat, a little more sedately now that her hunger was dying down.
When Lily finally finished James became serious. "Okay Li you wanted to know what Voldemort is." Lily nodded as she opened another bottle of water. "First off Voldemort is a dark wizard," James started but Lily interrupted him.
"But why hasn't anyone heard of him? Why didn't anyone seem to care about the front page of the Prophet?"
"I'll get to that alright?" Lily nodded again as she took another gulp of water. She could tell that something extremely serious was going on.
James took a breath and then continued. "A couple of years ago Voldemort began recruiting followers. That's when the murders started. Wizards didn't pay any attention to it because the victims were English muggles who had been shot. Muggles just assumed it was the Irish. But when my da saw it on the VT-"
"TV," Lily automatically corrected.
"Right TV, he became suspicious. Da went over to the police stations to have a look at the guns. I'm not sure how he actually got to look at the guns but when he did Da realized he was right. The guns had been charmed. He looked into it at the Ministry and found out about Voldemort and that the Ministry had been covering him up so no one would find out.
"It wasn't until last year that he started focusing on muggle-borns. Before that the muggle murders had just been for fun apparently. Everything gets hidden from the public now. The Ministry says it's because they want to protect people when really they just don't want everyone to panic and riot against them. That's why there's been nothing in the papers until now and also why you won't see anything in the papers again for a long time.
"It's Ministry propaganda Lily. They tell you about something important once and make it seem like nothing so that you forget about it and do nothing about anything."
Lily sat thinking for a few minutes while James watched her sadly. 'Lily's smart,' he thought. 'It won't take her long to figure it out.'
Lily suddenly stared at James. "You said Voldemort focused on muggle- borns," she said. "What did you mean by that?"
"Voldemort or one of his lackeys, more likely the lackeys, charm a gun to shoot the muggle-born's parents. The Ministry then sends a letter of condolence claiming that a serial killer has murdered their parents," James explained dully without looking Lily in the eye.
Lily gasped and her eyes began to well up with tears. "You mean that bastard killed my parents?" Lily questioned furiously.
James nodded and shrank the basket and put it in his pocket. The bell went to signal the end of lunch just as Lily's angry tears spilled over. James opened his arms and Lily crawled over and sobbed onto his shoulder.
Ten minutes later Lily started hiccupping as the rest of the Gryffindors arrived for Divination. "I swear, one day I will destroy that bastard," Lily whispered more to herself than anyone else, but James heard and he remembered Lily's promise.