Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
If You Can Help Her – Chapter 26 – Howlers
The next morning, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione went down to breakfast as usual. Harry was greeted with a lot of glares from the Slytherin table, but aside from that, everything seemed fine. He did notice something unexpected, however. Hagrid was standing in a corner talking to Draco. Harry figured Malfoy must have done something and was getting told off. He chuckled to himself, and then continued walking toward the table, where the food had already appeared. While he was eating, he noticed Hedwig fly into the Great Hall. The snowy owl, however, did not fly to Harry. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione all smiled when they noticed that Hedwig was headed straight toward the headmaster.
-IYCHH-
Albus recognized the owl, and wasn't concerned at first. He thought perhaps Harry wanted a private word with him about the tournament. But then, he noticed what Hedwig was carrying, and his expression changed to fear. He'd seen enough students receive these to know that Mrs. Weasley, whom he would bet his vault at Gringotts had sent this, sent the worst howlers of anybody. Normally the howlers he received came to his office, but not this one. Sighing, and resigning himself to the inevitable, he took the envelope and opened it. The entire hall heard Mrs. Weasley's voice booming through the Great Hall.
"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!
HOW DARE YOU ALLOW FRED AND HARRY TO ENTER THAT TOURNAMENT?! NEITHER ONE OF THEM IS OF AGE! THE MINISTRY SAID THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO, AND I TRUSTED YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D ENDANGER THEIR LIVES FOR A STUPID CONTEST, RULES BE DAMNED! I'M FILING A COMPLAINT WITH THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS! IF YOU EVER PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS AGAIN, I'M PULLING ALL MY CHILDREN OUT OF HOGWARTS, AND I'LL TRY TO CONVINCE HARRY TO LEAVE AS WELL!
The letter exploded, and the entire student body, as well as the faculty, had a good laugh at the old man, who appeared to have aged another fifty years. It had obviously been a long time since he'd gotten a howler like that.
Ginny was laughing harder than most people. Hedwig had flown over to Harry, scared to death when the howler started yelling. Harry was petting his owl while Ginny fed her some bacon. Harry remarked, "You did a good job, girl. You go take your well-deserved rest at the owlery." Hedwig hooted and flew off.
"That was great," Ginny commented, still chuckling. "Dumbledore looked more scared than Ron when he gets one!"
At that moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened, revealing the silhouette of a very big man. He stepped forward as Harry and everybody else watched. When he was in the light, it was revealed that this was Hagrid, but that he had several cuts and bruises on him. Harry immediately looked at the healthy Hagrid who'd been talking to Malfoy, to see that he was running away. Harry was going to alert the staff, but he noticed that Dumbledore, as well as several others, were already on their feet in pursuit as Madam Pomfrey began tending to Hagrid.
All of the sudden, it made sense to him. Harry started to get up to chase the imposter, but felt Ginny's hand on his shoulder. She calmly explained, "Harry, there's nothing you can do that Dumbledore can't."
"That's who put my name in the goblet!" shouted Harry. "It has to be!"
"I know," agreed Ginny. "Hopefully they'll catch whoever it is and we'll find out the truth."
"He has to be working for Voldemort! Same as Crouch Jr!" yelled Harry.
"Of course," exclaimed Hermione, putting her hand on her forehead, "He was sent to complete Crouch's mission."
"I need to talk to Hagrid!" stated Harry. "Hopefully, he knows who attacked him!" Harry got up, and this time Ginny let him. He, Ginny, and Hermione walked over to where Hagrid was sitting as she quickly healed all the minor injuries that were on him.
"Now, Hagrid," insisted Madam Pomfrey impatiently, "You will have to come to the hospital wing for a full checkup."
"But I…" replied Rubeus, only to be interrupted.
"Hagrid, are you okay?" asked Hermione.
"As I been tryin' to tell Madam Pomfrey, I'm fine," answered Hagrid.
"How long were you captured?" inquired Harry.
"Bout a day, I'd wager."
"Who captured you?" questioned Harry.
"I ne'er seen his face. 'E was wearin' a Death Eater's mask an' robes, like I 'erd they wore at the World Cup. His wand had some kind a fancy 'andle, but I didn't see that end a the wand much. I was attacked while walkin' out a the Hog's Head. I was a bit, er, y'know, drunk, an' all the sudden I was hit with a curse. He was standing too far away fer me to hit em. Anyway, he hit me with curse after curse until I was out.
"He musta thought I'd be out longer than I was. I woke up chained up in the Shriekin' Shack. The chains weren't too strong, so I pulled dem off an made my way down a passage I found. I ne'er knew the Whompin' Willow was the entrance to the Shriekin' Shack! Anyway, the tree hit me once in the face before I realized where I was. Then I came here. What's been goin' on while I was gone?"
Hermione answered, "Harry has been entered as a fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament."
Hagrid's newly healed eyes buldged out, "No! Dumbledore wouldn't allow…"
"I'm afraid I had no choice," came the tired voice of Dumbledore from behind them. "I'm also afraid that your attacker escaped, Hagrid. I must say that you three children are very astute. I agree that whoever it was is responsible for entering Mr. Potter's name in the goblet. The only question is why Lord Voldemort wants Harry in the Triwizard Tournament."
-IYCHH-
A few days later, Harry was standing outside the door of potions class, when the Slytherins were showing off their new badges that said, 'Support Viktor Krum,' and when you touch it, the message changed to 'Weasley & Potter Stink.' Hermione had made a sarcastic comment about them being, "really witty."
Malfoy asked, "Want one, Mudblood…"
"Mr. Malfoy," shouted Professor Slughorn from behind. "We do not use that kind of language in this school! Ten points from Slytherin! If I hear you using that word again, I'll give you a silencing hex that Madam Pomfrey can't cure! Miss Granger happens to be at the top of this class, whereas you're near the bottom. How you ever made good potions marks before had to be blatant favoritism on the part of Professor Snape, like everybody claimed." He opened the door to the room and instructed, "All right everybody, get in and get settled so we can begin class."
After Slughorn had lectured for about an hour, he announced, "Now class, I would like you to pair off in teams of two for a project on the poisons listed in chapter seven. I would like you to learn how to make them, as well as their antidote. I'll want ten feet of parchment on the subject, and I want it to be a shared effort. You'll also do a presentation of one of the poisons along with its cure next week."
Harry's eyes bulged out at this assignment. Before anyone else could ask, he turned to Hermione. "Could you please work with me on the project?"
She looked at Harry as though she were thinking very hard. "As long as you promise to do your share of the work. I'm not going to do it all."
"I promise," vowed Harry quickly, as Ron glared at him. Harry noticed this and just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
At that moment, Colin Creevey interrupted the class to say that Harry had to leave for a photo session, which Slughorn was more than happy to allow. "Just make sure you tell them that I'm your favorite teacher, if they ask."
-IYCHH-
When Harry made it to dinner, he found Ginny and Hermione had saved him a spot. He sat in between them and greeted, "Hi, girls. That was uncomfortable! First I met that Rita Skeeter woman, and she pulled me into a broom closet…"
"Should I be jealous?" interrupted Ginny with a smirk, causing Harry to blush.
"No," he declared, "and then she starts asking me questions, but instead of waiting for me to answer, she has this magical quill that answered for me, making up all kinds of stuff like my eyes glistening with the ghost of my past."
"A quick quotes quill?" asked Hermione.
"Er, yeah, that's what she called it."
"I read about them! Those should be illegal! There's no point in doing an interview when you use them! Who knows what she'll write in the Prophet about you? Anyway, I thought that after dinner we could go to the library and get started on our project, if that's all right."
"Oh, er…" replied Harry.
"That's all right, Harry. I understand. I'll go snog Colin while you're working." When she saw the panicked look on Harry's face, she burst out laughing. "Relax, Harry!" she said in between giggles as Hermione joined in the laughter, "I'm kidding. I'll do some homework in the common room. We can spend some time together tomorrow."
"It's a date," promised Harry, just before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm done, so if you're ready Hermione…"
At that moment, they heard one of the twins shout, "Just because the goblet picked you over me, Fred, it doesn't mean I'm stupid!" and left the table in a hurry while the other twin was staring blankly.
Hermione insisted, "Harry, we'll have to let Fred and George solve their problems. I'm ready to go to the library if you are."
-IYCHH-
About an hour later, Harry and Hermione were deep in their research, when Harry noticed Ron in the library watching them, and glaring at him. However, once Ron saw that Harry had spotted him, he turned around and left, but not before Hermione noticed him.
Hermione looked distraught at that moment. She sighed. "I don't know what to do. Lavender broke up with Ron, and part of me wants to run back to him, but the other part wants him to apologize first."
Hermione looked down at the table they were sitting at. Harry gently put his hand under her chin and lifted her face, which revealed tears. "You don't have to be afraid to cry in front of me, Hermione. I'm your friend. I care about you."
She gave him a small smile. "That means a lot, Harry."
"I'm no expert on dealing with Ron, but I do know this. If you take him back without him admitting he was wrong, then he'll hurt you again in the same way. I think that's why Ginny puts up with me. When I mess up, I'll admit it to her. I spent one day last year with her mad at me, and that was enough for me to realize that I don't want to be without her, and if that means I sometimes have to swallow my pride, then so be it."
Hermione smiled at him. "You really are too good of a boyfriend. I hope Ginny appreciates you. I doubt any other boy at Hogwarts feels that way about his girlfriend." Hermione sighed. "Sometimes I feel so jealous of her."
Harry looked concerned, "Hermione? Er, You don't…"
"Maybe I like you a little, but I know you're in love with Ginny." She smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna do what Cho did. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I love Ron. I just wish he'd treat me the way you treat Ginny." She gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek and suggested, "We need to get back to work."
-IYCHH-
The next morning at breakfast, Neville Longbottom was sitting with Harry and the girls when an owl carrying the Daily Prophet flew to him. After paying the owl, Neville unrolled the paper and his eyes bulged out. "Er, Harry, Hermione, you're on the cover."
Harry grabbed the paper and saw a moving picture of Hermione kissing him on the cheek in the library. The headline said,
Harry Potter, Triwizard Champion, Heartbreaker.
By Rita Skeeter
Harry Potter, suspect entrant in the Triwizard Tournament, is supposedly dating Ginny Weasley, an attractive girl a year younger than him, but this reporter has seen him in the company of Hermione Granger, a plain but ambitious muggleborn girl, and from the photo below, you can see that they weren't exactly studying. The only question is whether Harry has actually fallen in love with Granger, or if she has somehow bewitched him. 'She is at the top of our class in potions, so making a love potion wouldn't be beyond her capabilities,' said Pansy Parkinson, a concerned friend of Mr. Potter's…
Harry burst out laughing when he read that line. "Everything in that article is as true as the line that says Parkinson's my friend!"
"Let me see," asked Ginny, who read the article and started laughing until the other owls started arriving.
Hermione opened a letter that called her everything but a Death Eater. The next letter said that she probably was a Death Eater, out to kill Harry. She opened another envelope, and a spell shot straight from it into her mouth, where her front teeth started growing uncontrollably. Before she left the table, a howler, carried by Errol, was dropped in front of Harry.
"HARRY POTTER!
HOW DARE YOU BREAK MY DAUGHTER'S HEART LIKE THAT! NOT TO MENTION THAT YOU'RE CHEATING ON GINNY WITH THE GIRL RON'S IN LOVE WITH! YOU ARE NEVER INVITED BACK TO THE BURROW, AND IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, IT'LL BE TOO SOON!
GOODBYE!"
Harry sat there in complete shock, while Ginny glared at the envelope, looking ready to kill. Hermione started crying. The three of them started walking toward the hospital wing, not noticing that Ron was following. Ginny said more to herself than anybody else, "How could she believe that rubbish?"
-IYCHH-
Chapter end