Interlude

Dear Harry:

It sure has been quiet around here without you. It seems that the entire wizarding world is kind of holding its breath waiting for someone to make a move. You-Know-Who has been very low-key the past few weeks. It seems like he is having problems keeping followers. We thought that with you gone that he might have erupted in a show of force.

The bad news is that he released Rita Skeeter. He had taken her to give 'his side of the story', but I don't think that it worked out the way he wanted. As soon as she reappeared and tried to file a story that was somewhat friendly to You (damn! ) VOLDEMORT, the Ministry grabbed her, announced in the press that she was under the Imperius curse and stuck her in a rubber room at St. Mungo's. She had also been tortured. I almost (but not quite) felt sorry for her. I still step on every beetle that I see though.

Harry, I know that you broke up with me in order to keep me safe, but it isn't going to work. I love you, I have loved you since I got over my crush on the 'legendary' Harry Potter. I will not let you get away with saying that you are protecting me, I am a target just by the fact that I do not hold the same views as Voldemort. Malfoy Senior has had our family in his sights for years. We are considered blood-traitors, remember? When you get home, I plan to snog you silly, like it or not. So don't even try to go all noble on me. We have a future together and I refuse to allow you to close yourself off from it and from me. I don't know if that future is 100 years or 30 minutes, but I plan to live it to the fullest, and the only way to do that is with you. This is my choice. I will be standing with you whether you like it or not, so you had better just give in.

A last side note, Snape is dead. The Aurors were called out on a sighting of him in Hogsmead. They found him at the Shrieking Shack just sitting there. He was bound and gagged and his wand was broken in 3 pieces and laying next to him. He had been driven completely insane, just like Neville's parents. The ministry didn't even give him a trial, just shoved him through the veil at the Department of Mysteries. He must have crossed his master one too many times. They still have not been able to locate Bella or Draco. They seem to have just dropped off the face of the earth.

Please hurry home,
Love,
Ginny

Riddle Strikes Back!

Exclusive to the Daily Prophet
Jeremiah Jones, Staff Writer

With his recruitment efforts failing, Tom Riddle, the self-proclaimed 'Lord Voldemort', went on a rampage in Surrey this morning. He appeared with a crew of Death Eaters on a street in Muggle Surrey and proceeded to torture a family of Muggles in broad daylight.

An elite crew of Aurors quickly appearated to the scene only to find Riddle and crew gone, except for a unnamed Death Eater who was lying on the sidewalk tied up and unconscious. It seems that the other Muggles in the area had attacked the Death Eater, spraying him in the eyes with some sort of chemical that they called 'mace'. The Muggles then proceeded to beat him into a stupor. A source close to the Aurors claim that the Death Eater is the head of the Goyle family, however this has not been confirmed.

"It was really something!" a muggle named Robin Lowbrow exclaimed. Mr. Lowbrow gave a rundown on the action to this reporter before an Obliviator altered his memories. "When they appeared, it startled this old lady and she sprayed him with her mace right in the kisser! Then the others started pointing sticks at this family and red light came out of the sticks. The family members fell down and started screaming. That is when we picked up whatever was handy and started hitting the criminals. They were using sticks, we started hitting them with tree branches, rocks, bottles…whatever we could get hold of. Some guy came out of that karate studio there and kicked the crap out of the guy that got maced. Then the bobbies showed up and they all just disappeared! All except for fat boy there."

Although the Dark Lord has been damaged by this these actions, it appears that he is far from toothless. This reporter, along with the rest of Wizarding England is wondering….. "Where is Harry Potter?" And why is the ministry not able to take control and deal with Riddle? A death sentence does not do much good if it cannot be carried out.

Dear Ginny:

I am happy to hear from you. I miss you terribly. I also miss the others, but you are foremost in my mind. I have thought about what you said in your previous letter, and you are right. I can no more live without you than I can live without air.

Dudley and I are getting close to finishing our training here. I am now able to communicate with my teacher at distances of almost 500 miles. I am also able to shut down my mind using Occlumency to the point where the only thing that gets out is what I want to put up front. My non-verbal wandless magic has been the hardest part, but my other teacher says that I am progressing very well.

Dudley has been the biggest surprise. He is like a possessed person, working on his studies to all hours of the night, then getting up early. He has also been quite a taskmaster, with his physical training of me. I really think that I could join a boxing team at this point, although not in Dudder's weight class. I have bulked up some, it must be because of all the protein I have been eating. Dudley has finished all of his 6th year studies and has sat for the local version of his O.W.L.s. He passed in Potions, DADA, Transfiguration (although they call it transmutation over here), Charms, and Herbology. He failed History of Magic and Divination. But I also flunked those. He has not taken Astronomy, but he mentioned that he might try to do those back home someday. Don't tell Hermione this, but he nailed everything down quicker than she did. I did not tell Dudley that either…it would make him insufferable.

Tell everyone I said 'hello', and I hope to see you soon. Dudley is attaching a note to Professor McGonagall.

Love,
Harry

Dear Ms. McGonagall:

Are you sure that will work? I would hate to mess up and leave everyone without protection.

Dudley Dursley

Dear Mr. Dursley:

There are no guarantees in life, but with the initiative that you have shown in your studies and the progress that you have made, it sounds as if the idea that your trainers have come up with should do the trick. Keep up the good work and let me know if there is anything that you need. Jack will forward your messages to me.

The book that is with this message is very important. From page 271 to pages 310, there are a number of spells that you need to work on. Use your dueling wand for these.

When all of this is over, you will have a great future in the wizarding world.

Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall

Dear Harry:

We found the locket! R.A.B. was the brother of Padfoot. Hermione was cleaning out Kreacher's cupboard. We wanted to destroy it but Minerva said that we had to wait for you. It has been put in a very safe place to await your homecoming.

Moony