The Difference One Choice Makes
18th September 1993
Gasps and comments could be heard around the Great Hall that morning at breakfast as most of the students could be seen reading their copies of the Daily Prophet.
One such student who was reading the Daily Prophet that morning was Hermione and she gasped when she saw the headline.
For once since the escape of Bellatrix Black, the front-page story was about something else entirely which meant it must have been serious to push Bellatrix Black off of the front page of the Daily Prophet for once.
Sat with her at the Gryffindor table were Janet Spinnet, Rose and Eileen Snape the latter two having decided to join their friends for breakfast this morning.
"Have you seen this?" said Hermione in shock showing the paper to her three friends who looked at the headline looking as shocked as she did.
GILDEROY LOCKHART
THE FRAUD THAT FOOLED US ALL
Below the headline was a large picture of their former DADA Professor Gilderoy Lockhart which had been taken from the front cover of his autobiography "Magical Me".
Exclusive interview with a current Hogwarts Professor (see page two) reveals the circumstances leading to Gilderoy Lockhart's dismissal from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and subsequent hospitalisation
Written by: Rita Skeeter
Rabid readers, we all remember Magical Britain's number one author Gilderoy Lockhart, Order Of Merlin (First Class), Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award don't we?
Well, it seems Mr Lockhart had all of us conned when it came to his achievements and published work, yes he conned us all into believing he was one of the greatest Wizards in the last five years but it turns out he was little more than a fraud who took credit for the achievements of others. To quote Gilderoy Lockhart "for more details, see my published works", and that is exactly what I did after acquiring the information that led me to write this article.
Gilderoy Lockhart made a career for himself by taking credit for the accomplishments of others and wiping their memories of the events with the use of strong Memory Charms. After taking credit for their accomplishments, Gilderoy Lockhart disgraced himself further by ludicrously fabricating events of these stories with blatant lies.
Thankfully I am delighted to report that Gilderoy Lockhart got his comeuppance at the hands of Hogwarts Headmaster and famed killer of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Albus Dumbledore who has declined to comment on this matter.
However thanks to our trusted source (revealed on page 2), I have discovered that on the evening of the 22nd of May 1993, Gilderoy Lockhart was exposed and defeated after he tried to cast a Memory Charm on Dumbledore himself but it backfired and wiped Gilderoy Lockhart's entire memory as a result. As a consequence, Gilderoy Lockhart was placed under care in the Permanent Spell Damage Ward at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries with it looking increasingly unlikely that he will ever fully recover.
For my exclusive interview with the Hogwarts Professor and whistleblower (see page two)
For known victims of Professor Lockhart's crimes of fraud and deceit (see page three)
"I can't believe it, I thought he was a really good wizard… and he was just a fraud" said Hermione in shock.
"He certainly gave people enough reason to doubt him" said Rose dryly who stood up and moved to stand behind Hermione and Eileen to get a better look at the story.
"Couldn't even control a cage of Cornish Pixies could he?" said Eileen with a snicker making reference to their disastrous DADA lesson at the start of last year.
"Turn the page, let's see who she got the story from" said Janet quickly.
Hermione turned the page and the four girls gasped in shock when they saw the name of Rita Skeeter's source.
The four Girls turned to look up at the staff table at the same time as did a lot of other students.
Professor Snape was sat with his elbows on the desk and his chin resting on his hands with a wicked but triumphant smirk on his face as he admired his handiwork.
Dumbledore meanwhile, after considering everything that Gilderoy Lockhart had done, was looking at Professor Snape with disappointment all over his face.
"Dad told her" said Eileen in shock.
"But Mum and Dad hate Skeeter… why would Dad tell her about Lockhart?" said Rose in equal shock.
Janet turned her gaze back to the interview with Professor Snape which revealed the full story.
"He got what he deserved by the sound of it… for everything he did" said Janet with a hint of spite in her voice.
Hermione sighed and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you can't do what he did and expect to get away with it" said Hermione.
Later that afternoon…
"How bad is it Hagrid?" said Hermione.
She, Janet and Ron were sat around the large table in Hagrid's hut enjoying tea and Hagrid's famous rock cakes. Hagrid was sat opposite them with a pained look on his face as he slowly drank his tea.
"Lucius Malfoy's been round the Ministry calling for Buckbeak to be killed" said Hagrid.
"But they can't do that" said Janet in shock.
"If Malfoy hadn't provoked Buckbeak he wouldn't have gotten hurt" said Ron with bitterness and shock in his voice.
Hagrid frowned.
"That won't make much difference… at the end of the day a student was attacked by a Class three magical creature, something only competent witches and wizards are capable of controlling" said Hagrid solemnly.
"But that's not fair" said Hermione.
Hagrid sighed.
"No, it's not fair… but there may be little we can do, half those Committee Members from the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures are scared of Lucius Malfoy, they'd never go against what he says" said Hagrid solemnly.
"We'll help you put your case together Hagrid" said Ron.
Hermione and Janet nodded in agreement.
"Thanks for the offer, but there's no point, I'll never win against Lucius Malfoy" said Hagrid regretfully.
"You can Hagrid, we'll help you… even Dumbledore will help you if you ask him, those Committee Members might be scared of Malfoy, but they won't go against Dumbledore either" said Ron.
Hagrid took a deep breath.
"You'll really help me?" said Hagrid.
His three guests looked at each other and nodded.
31st October 1993
With the exception of Rose and Eileen Snape who lived in Hogsmeade during the summer, the girls were in awe when they entered the magical village for their first Hogsmeade trip where they would have until five o'clock in the afternoon to enjoy all that the village had to offer.
After they reached the outside of the village, Professor Mcgonagall had given a speech reminding them to behave appropriately as they were representing Hogwarts while in Hogsmeade before she left them to enjoy their day.
As the rest of the students filtered off to explore the village Rose turned to the others.
"Come on, let's see what they've got at Gladrag's" said Rose.
"Gladrag's?" said Hermione.
"Gladrag's Wizardwear… they've got all the latest fashion, you might see something you like Hermione" said Jennifer.
With that, the five girls started walking up the street towards the shops.
Later that evening…
As Edward, Myranda Vaisey, Cassiopeia, Darren Petrie and Andrea Farley rounded the corner heading to their Common Room they saw a large group of Slytherin's stood outside of the entrance.
Or rather, stood outside where the entrance to the Common Room should be.
As they pushed their way to the front of the crowd they saw the full extent of the damage.
Whoever was behind this must have been using some strong magic as the wall used to conceal the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room had been completely destroyed exposing their Common Room to the outside world. As well as the pile of rubble where the wall originally stood, the Common Room had been ransacked with the furniture all over the place with some of it in pieces.
"What on earth?" said Andrea in shock.
As the comments increased in volume, Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Argus Filch made their way to the front through the students before coming to a halt.
Dumbledore traced his hand on the edge of the destroyed wall for a good minute or two before turning around and swiftly making his way over to the portrait of the black-haired regal-looking Elizabeth Burke which hung opposite the Common Room entrance.
"Who did this Miss Burke?" said Dumbledore sounding concerned.
Elizabeth Burke straightened up in her portrait.
"She couldn't get in Headmaster… no matter how much she screamed to be let inside the snake would not open the entrance for her… so she destroyed the wall and got inside that way" said Elizabeth Burke causing gasps to be heard from the students.
"Who Miss Burke… who was it?" said Dumbledore.
"The woman from the papers, the one everyone is after… Bellatrix Black" said Elizabeth Burke.
Cassiopeia froze up at the mention of her Mother's name while gasps of shock and noises of panic could be heard from the rest of the students.
Dumbledore turned to Mr Filch and Professor Snape.
"She might still be in the castle… round up the ghosts to search every inch of the castle Argus, Severus you gather the teachers and do the same" said Dumbledore.
Professor Snape nodded his head and swept off down the corridor followed by Mr Filch.
Dumbledore straightened up with a stern look on his face.
"The rest of you, follow me to the Great Hall" said Dumbledore sternly before leading them away from the Common Room without another word.
Fifteen minutes later…
Dumbledore was stood in front of the main castle doors watching as the heavy iron gate slowly lowered itself shut with a grinding noise before making a bang as it hit the floor.
The doors were the next to close on their own before a dozen latches and locks emerged from the lining of the doors and locked the castle uptight.
After adding a few protection charms to the doors Dumbledore turned and walked back towards the Great Hall where the Slytherin Students would be sleeping until their dormitory was repaired and reinforced with additional protection charms.
6th November 1993
Harry was sat in the Gryffindor team tent with the rest of his teammates as Wood went through his usual last-minute repeat of the tactics.
Today was their first match of the season and they had received the worst of the autumn weather for it.
A thunderstorm packed with heavy rain and occasional bouts of hailstones reduced their visibility to around forty out of a hundred which was not the ideal weather for looking for the small Snitch.
They were due to play Slytherin in their first match of the season but thanks to Lucan Malfoy pretending his arm still was not healed over two months since their COMC lesson, their first match was changed to face Hufflepuff while they would play Slytherin in their last match of the season instead.
"How on earth will I be able to see the snitch in that?" thought Harry as he looked through the tent flaps at the weather outside.
"And Harry… Hufflepuff have a new Seeker so keep an open mind when it comes to him, we don't know what his style of play or how good he is" said Wood causing Harry to turn back to Wood.
Harry nodded.
"Who is their new Seeker?" said Harry curiously remembering that the previous Hufflepuff Seeker was not anything special.
"Cedric Diggory" said Wood causing his three Chasers to giggle.
"What?" snapped Wood, turning to the three Chasers who were still giggling amongst themselves.
"Diggory… he's that good looking one" said Angelina wistfully.
"Strong and silent" said Katie before giggling again.
"Alright, alright, enough of that… the point is Potter, keep an open mind when it comes to him" said Wood.
"I will" said Harry leaving Wood to finish his team talk which took all of three minutes.
As Wood started to wrap up his team talk he glanced outside.
"As for visibility… I suggest we find something that can help improve what little visibility we have, any ideas anyone?" said Wood.
With an idea suddenly popping into his head, Harry pulled out his Quidditch goggles pointing his wand at them.
"Impervious" said Harry.
The goggles glowed white for a few seconds showing that whatever spell Harry had used had worked.
"Good idea Potter… Impervious Charms to repel the rain, the rest of you do the same" said Wood proudly.
Once the rest of the team had cast Impervious Charms on their own goggles, they followed Wood out of the tent towards the pitch with the rain still hammering down on them though thanks to their Impervious Charms, the rain bounced off of their goggles leaving them bone dry.
Once they reached the end of the tunnel they mounted their brooms and flew out of the player's entrance onto the pitch where the entire Hufflepuff team were already waiting for them.
Looking around Harry could see that all of the students were wearing their waterproof cloaks with the hoods up while a few of them were using umbrella's to keep themselves mostly dry.
Sat in the tower next to Dumbledore along with the rest of the staff was Narcissa who herself was using an umbrella to shield herself from the rain.
"AND FINALLY, THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM THAT BEAT THE BEST OF THE BEST LAST YEAR TO WIN THE QUIDDITCH TROPHY… CAPTAIN OLIVER WOOD AS KEEPER, FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY AS BEATERS, HARRISON POTTER KEEPING HIS PLACE AS SEEKER, AND OUR MAGNIFICENT TRIO OF CHASERS KATIE BELL, ALICIA SPINNET AND THE MAGNIFICENT ANGELINA JOHNSON, WE'LL HAVE CHRISTMAS TOGETHER IN HOGSMEADE BABE!" shouted Lee Jordan in an even louder magically amplified voice to make himself heard over the thunder and lightning.
Harry chuckled when he saw Angelina scowl at Lee's latest attempt to publicly declare his one-sided attraction to her which was more embarrassing than ever.
He got into position opposite the Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory. He nodded at Cedric who returned his nod and a small smile.
Cedric was two years older than Harry in his Fifth year with light brown hair which had been soaked by the rain and like Harry, he was wearing goggles.
They looked down at the pitch to see Madam Hooch giving her usual introduction and warnings before releasing the balls starting the match.
Harry stayed in his position high above the others searching for the Snitch in great detail.
Although the Impervious spell did well to repel the rain from his goggles it still messed with his visibility slightly as he had to focus his eyes more to actually see the Snitch.
Twenty minutes later…
Gryffindor were already leading by a score of sixty to forty when Harry spotted a flash of gold near one of the stands.
He darted for it but to his displeasure, Cedric had seen it before him and was already chasing after the Snitch.
The two darted around the lower side of the stadium changing direction left and right every minute or so while the rain pelted them giving them a true test of their abilities and daring.
The thunder and lightning did little to help either, with the tail twigs of Katie's broom catching fire after being struck by lightning causing her to barrel towards the ground.
The screaming Katie missed Harry by inches before crashing into the ground with a thud as Harry and Cedric carried on chasing the Snitch which soared up the tower wall where the teachers were sat and off into the sky.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Dumbledore stood at the edge of the tower watching him and Cedric as they soared off towards the clouds with flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder above them.
"Come on" said Harry willing the broom to go faster as he slowly closed the distance between himself and Cedric as they kept flying higher until they were in the clouds and the Quidditch Stadium below looked like an ant in the grass.
Soon enough the two Seekers were high above the clouds and Harry felt a very familiar and unwelcome cold feeling inside his veins.
"GWANDMA!"
The last thing Harry saw were several Dementors swarming around him with one being just inches from his face before everything went black and he toppled backwards off of his broom.
Higher up in the sky Cedric Diggory managed to grasp the Snitch in his hand before looking down and turning white in the face at the sight below him.
Harry had fallen off of his broom and was falling towards the stadium like a rapidly shrinking object in the distance.
Meanwhile…
"Oh my god!" shouted one of the older Gryffindor's in the stands pointing up to the sky as screams bellowed out from the crowd.
Hermione looked up and clapped her hands over her mouth turning white in shock.
"HARRY!" screamed Hermione as the unconscious Harry fell through the clouds rapidly descending towards the pitch like a rag doll.
"SOMEONE HELP HIM!" shouted Euphemia who looked both shocked and scared at the sight of her older Brother falling from the sky.
"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING QUICK!" shouted Ginny Weasley with just as much panic in her voice as Euphemia.
When Harry came into view Narcissa went white before her maternal instincts kicked in and she whipped out her wand.
"ARESTO MOMENTUM!" shouted Narcissa using her fear of her Son in danger to power her spell as she pointed her wand at Harry.
He came to a halt eighty feet from the ground before Narcissa pulled him towards her grabbing hold of him as soon as she could.
Once Narcissa had her unconscious Son by her side, Professor Snape got to his feet and took one of Harry's arms from her supporting his weight.
"Let's get him up to the Hospital Wing" said Professor Snape quickly as a white-faced Professor Mcgonagall came charging up the stairs towards them.
One and a half hours later…
"Do you think he'll be alright?" said the voice of Ellen Morrison as Harry started to open his eyes feeling like he had not slept for days.
"That was some fall" said the voice of Ron which sounded like it was a bit closer to him.
"He fell over two hundred feet mate" said the voice of Neville.
"Yeah, come on Ron" said the voice of George.
"Let's chuck you off the Astronomy Tower and see what you look like" said the voice of Fred.
"I reckon he'll look a damn sight better than he normally does" said Harry groggily as he started to come around.
Harry could hear laughter from all sides as he sat up in his bed.
Almost immediately he saw that he was in the Hospital Wing, with Neville, Ron, Hermione, Janet, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Josh Sloper, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Ellen Morrison, Ginny, Fred, George and Lacey Lupin stood in a small crowd at the foot of his bed while Edward, Myranda Vaisey, Cassiopeia, Euphemia, Jennifer and Eric were stood around the sides of his bed.
Although Harry could not see her owing to the crowd in front of his bed, Katie Bell was in the bed opposite him being treated by Madam Pomfrey for extensive bruises from her crash while Angelina, Alicia and some of Katie's fellow Fourth Year Gryffindors kept her company.
Feeling a hand wrapped tightly around his, Harry turned to see Narcissa sat on a chair in front of James with the former holding his hand tightly with a worried but relieved look on her face.
"I thought you were working Dad" said Harry groggily.
James straightened up.
"When your Mother told me what had happened I came straight here… the whole Ministry is in an uproar over what happened" said James bitterly.
"What happened?" said Harry groggily.
"You fell off your broom mate" said Neville.
"How?" said Harry.
"It was because of a Dementor… Dumbledore was furious since their not meant to come inside the grounds, as soon as you were safe he sent them straight off" said Hermione causing James to grit his teeth in anger.
"How long was I out?" said Harry feeling frustrated that most of his memory of what happened during the match was still gone.
"An hour and a half… don't you remember?" said Ginny with a lot of concern in her voice.
"The last thing I remember… I was chasing the snitch with Diggory… and then everything went cold, like there was no happiness left in this world, and then everything went black" said Harry.
"Everyone in the stadium saw you fall towards the pitch, but your Mother managed to stop your fall before myself and Professor Snape helped her bring you up to the Hospital Wing" said Professor Mcgonagall in shock and concern.
Harry turned back to Narcissa who sent him a loving smile while James squeezed her shoulder.
"Where's Wood?" said Harry looking at the crowd in front of his bed.
"Drowning himself in the showers probably" said Fred.
"Does he blame me?" said Harry.
"Of course not mate… he's just upset that we lost, he'll come round in a few days" said George.
Harry nodded feeling relieved that Wood did not blame him for not catching the Snitch.
After hearing George's words Harry felt something burning in the back of his mind.
"Diggory caught the Snitch didn't he?" said Harry.
Fred nodded.
"Yeah… says he didn't realise you'd fallen till after he got it" said Fred with a hint of iciness in his voice.
"He begged Madam Hooch to cancel the result and demand a rematch… but she refused" said George.
Harry sighed before looking at Ron who was stood opposite him with something wrapped up in a large Gryffindor flag.
"What is that?" said Harry though he had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what was wrapped in Ron's Gryffindor flag.
"Well Harry… when you fell, your broom sort of… blew into the Whomping Willow and… well" said Ron unwrapping the flag and pulling a broken piece of the top of the broom out of the pile looking at it.
Harry looked at the destroyed broomstick in shock.
"Looks like I'll have to get a new one before the next match" said Harry chuckling slightly.
"Wood will be begging you to get a Firebolt, we remember how thrilled he was when you turned up to practice two years ago on that Nimbus 2000" said George glancing at Fred who nodded in agreement.
Harry sighed.
"How long do I have to stay here?" said Harry.
"Overnight… just to be safe" said James.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"That's fantastic" said Harry in annoyance.
Narcissa leaned forwards and stroked his hair as Madam Pomfrey walked back towards the bed.
"Away with you, let the poor boy have some time with his family" said Madam Pomfrey.
Before they left, all of Harry's visitors (bar his Family) as well as Angelina and Alicia told him to get better and said goodbye to him one by one before leaving.
The last one to leave was Ginny Weasley who was nervous as she moved closer to Harry.
"I hope you get better soon Harry" said Ginny nervously before she quickly left the Hospital Wing with a confused looking Ron.
When Ginny left the only people remaining at Harry's bedside were the Potter's, Jennifer, Eric, Cassiopeia and Myranda Vaisey who was holding onto Edward's hand.
"She likes you" said James teasing Harry slightly as Madam Pomfrey closed the doors to the Hospital Wing behind Ginny who turned to have one last look at Harry before they shut.
Some of the others chuckled while Euphemia looked incredibly awkward at James's words while Harry sighed.
"I barely know her" said Harry wearily.
James only smirked at this and placed his hand's on Narcissa's shoulders.
"I barely knew your Mum before we started going out… and now look at us" said James teasingly.
Narcissa looked up at James for a moment as he squeezed her shoulders lightly.
Harry rolled his eyes before dropping back down to the bed.
Later that night…
"Harry… are you awake?" said a familiar voice in the bed opposite him.
Harry raised himself up in his bed to see Katie sat up in the bed opposite looking at him with a concerned look on her face. She was now dressed in her pyjamas though some of her bandages were visible at the end of her shirt sleeves and collar along with her left arm in a sling.
It had been over an hour since the last of his bedside guests had finally left with James going back home as he was at work early the next morning. Or in his Mother's case, had been forced to leave as Harry had insisted that he was fine to be left overnight so she eventually left him telling him that she would be back in the morning.
Harry got comfortable against the headboard.
"Are you alright?" said Harry.
Katie looked down at her arm and nodded.
"A little bruised and broken… but nothing a bit of rest won't fix, unfortunately" said Katie.
"Unfortunately?" said Harry curiously.
Katie slapped her right hand on her lap.
"I'm just so bored… I've been here ever since I crashed my broom, I just want my own bed" said Katie sounding bored.
"Same here… I told Madam Pomfrey before she left that I felt fine, but she still insisted that I stay here overnight" said Harry.
"I'm just glad I didn't see you fall… the way Angie described it sounded terrifying" said Katie.
"At least I was unconscious for it… so I didn't get to feel the terror of falling" said Harry jokingly.
Katie laughed seeing the funny side behind his joke where others might not.
"Your Mum's nice as well, wished me well before she left" said Katie.
Harry looked down at his lap.
"Yeah she is… I thought she'd never leave though, I think her being here all of the time has made her forget that I know how to take care of myself" said Harry sounding a little embarrassed.
Katie laughed and threw one of her Quidditch gloves, which were sat on her bedside table at Harry.
"That comes with being a Mother I imagine, being overprotective when it comes to your children" said Katie dodging the Quidditch glove which Harry had thrown back at her.
Harry chuckled.
"I guess so" said Harry.
"I'm sorry about your broomstick Harry, but better that get broken than you I guess" said Katie.
Harry sent her a small smile.
"Your probably right… is yours broken too?" said Harry.
Katie nodded.
"Yeah, tail twigs got burnt to a crisp… I'll have to write to my parents to get a new one" said Katie softly.
"My Dad said he'll get me one when he gets the chance" said Harry.
The two carried on talking for over an hour and a half before an irate Madam Pomfrey finally exited her office at nearly midnight and told them to go to bed.