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Harry stared for a moment, before answering slowly, "No. My parents were never killed. I have a younger brother."

Neville looked at him pitifully, "Alex is gone, Harry. I'm so sorry."

"Where?" Harry demanded, "Where did he go? Where did they go? Did we fight?"

"Harry . . . " Neville began, "Harry, please . . ."

"No! Just no, Neville."

"I'm sorry," Neville repeated.

Harry stared at the shiny hospital floors for several tense moments before looking up at Neville with angry eyes. "Who?" he asked, "Who killed them?"

"Well, Peter was-"

Harry shot to his feet and growled, "That rat! Where did he go? Neville, tell me where he went!"

"What?" Neville gaped, "Peter was with them in the . . . in the car."

"What car?"

Neville sighed. "Your parents' car. They, Alex, Sirius, and Peter were coming visit you at your flat and there was an accident because Peter was driving and . . ."

Harry stood again and made his way to the door on wobbly feet. "I need to leave," he informed Neville.

"I can't let you do that, Harry, sorry. You've obviously suffered from some memory loss, so I'm afraid you are stuck here for the time being".

Harry paused for a moment, weighing his options, before nodding curtly and replying, "Fine".

Neville grimaced and left the room, promising to be back with dinner in an hour.

Harry stared at the door through which Neville had just left. Obviously, if he wanted to leave his prison of a room at St. Mungo's, he needed to magically regain his memories or escape. Whatever it was, Harry knew he needed to leave; it was the only way he would get anymore answers.

Harry opened the door and stuck a hand through, expecting some sort of barrier to prevent him from exiting. Finding none, Harry peeked down the hallway. It was seemingly empty. He supposed Neville had trusted him enough not to assign a nurse or put up wards. For this reason, Harry felt slightly guilty for betraying Neville's trust.

The hallway opened up at the right to a circular waiting area. It too was empty, save a blonde haired witch. She gave him a funny look as he passed her for the doors to the elevator.

"Harry!" she called as he pulled the door open.

"Lavender?" he asked incredulously. She was back, again?

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she sobbed, running toward him.

"Er . . . for what?"

"I had no idea you'd lost your memory, and I yelled at you. You probably had no idea what you were saying, talking about that Ginevra girl." Lavender replied, holding out her hand expectantly.

"What?" Harry asked, staring at her hand and wishing she would hurry up so he could leave.

"Can I have the ring back now?" she asked. " I shouldn't have thrown it."

Harry sighed, "I'm sorry, Lavender, but I don't think I can do that right now. But, if you know where I can find Ginny -"

Harry stopped; Lavender had slapped him again.

Giving her an apologetic look, Harry entered the elevator and went down to the ground floor of St. Mungo's.

It wasn't until he had exited the hospital building through the glass window by the deformed dummies, and was standing in the middle of the muggle street, that Harry noticed that he was still wearing the pajamas he'd found himself in that morning. And, based on the funny looks he was getting from passerby, it was not helping him blend in.

Harry closed his eyes and Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. The barmaid looked up as he entered and smiled, asking, "The usual, then, Harry?"

Harry took one look at her and blanched; it was Hannah Abbott! He had almost forgotten Neville's wife had become the new landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. "Er, no thanks," Harry said quickly, "I've got, er, business to take care of."

Hannah frowned, "Are you sure? Ernie'll be coming 'round later. He's bringing in some new plant crosses I'm sure he'd love to show you."

Ernie? However, rather than make a fool of himself once more, Harry chose to let it go, calling out a goodbye as he headed to the back of the pub.

Harry's first stop in Diagon Alley was Flourish and Blotts. He made a beeline for the back of the shop, where an archive of past Daily Prophets was kept.

The tall shelves at the rear of the shop were covered with a thick layer of dust that had accumulated atop the undisturbed newspapers. Heading towards the more recent editions to the right, Harry pulled out the large stack of newspapers from the 2004 volume. He flipped through them feverishly, before coming to a stop at the October issue. Slowly now, he turned to the obituary page, running his finger along the long list of names until he came upon a familiar name: Sirius Black.

Harry felt his heart stop; physically reading his godfather's name in print suddenly made the situation seem all the more real. And sure enough, further down the list read the names 'Pettigrew', 'Potter', 'Potter', and 'Potter'. Following his mother's name, it read, "details on pg. 15". Harry quickly opened the page to read the small excerpt:

Potter Family and Friends Found Dead in Muggle Accident

By: Betty Braithwaite

James Potter, (senior Auror), along with his wife, Lily Potter, (Department of International Magical Cooperation), son, Alex Potter, (Auror trainee), friend, Sirius Black, (Head Auror), and friend, Peter Pettigrew, (unknown occupation), were found dead on a muggle street in London. The five were on their way to visit the Potters' eldest son, Harry Potter, (unemployed), when a gas-leak in the muggle street caused an explosion killing the five Hogwarts graduates almost instantly. Besides these five occupants of the green ministry-owned car, 12 muggles were found dead at the scene.

Harry dropped the newspaper to the ground as he finished reading. A muggle street in London? A gas-leak? 12 muggles found dead? And Peter! Harry curled his fists tightly at his sides. It was always Peter! The circumstances were far too suspicious in Harry's opinion, and he had no doubt that the sniveling rat was still on the loose.

But one other thing stood out to Harry from the article: Sirius had been Head Auror! Though he know without a doubt that he was fit for the job, it brought about the question of what had happened to Moody. It was with guilt that he recalled his last meeting with the Head Auror had been after telling him to take care of the goblin Harry had just Oblivated. It was for this reason that Harry stowed the 2004 volume of Daily Prophets away, and moved toward the older Daily Prophets at his left. He grabbed the 1977 volume and pulled it off the shelf. Harry opened the May issue to the second page, which was usually occupied by the current 'Good News' and 'Bad News'. And there, at the top of the page was the article, "Gilderoy Lockhart: A Hero of the Ages". Harry shook his head, sure he'd read wrong, but sure enough, there it was, accompanied by a picture of a beaming first-year Lockhart. Smoothing out the paper, Harry began to read:

Gilderoy Lockhart: A Hero of the Ages

By: Rita Skeeter

Young and beautiful, 26-year-old Rita Skeeter writes her first article since her bestseller, "Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?" Just yesterday, while stopping at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade for a drink, young Ms. Skeeter heard whispers of an intriguing tale from her fellow customers. Ambitious as she is, Ms. Skeeter decided to investigate.

On May 7, the infamous Dark Lord managed to invade the highly esteemed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, said to be the most protected building in all of Europe, save Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Nevertheless, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named managed to enter. "How?" loyal readers may ask. After interviewing first-year student, Barty Crouch Jr., (son of the esteemed Bartemius Crouch Sr., Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement), Ms. Skeeter found that You-Know-Who had aid from within Hogwarts school itself, through the mysterious new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Harry Porter.

After extensive research and investigation, even the highly resourceful Ms. Skeeter could not find information on this new professor, appointed (without approval from the Board of Governors) by the now deceased Headmaster Albus Dumbledore himself. Despite the limited knowledge about him, there is reason to believe that Mr. Porter was the right-hand-man to the Dark Lord himself. Why Dumbledore ever allowed such a questionable man too step foot into safely guarded Hogwarts School is beyond all.

With Mr. Porter's help, You-Know-Who attacked Hogwarts from within, successfully murdering headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Mr. Porter, on the other hand, despicably chose to attack Hogwarts' defenseless students. James Potter and Lily Evans were found unconscious in a seventh floor corridor, while Carol Ritz, Carmelita Spades, and June Spades were found unconscious in a fifth floor classroom. Head Auror, Alastor Moody, was also found to be in a deranged state in the Great hall. In addition, Severus Snape and Regulus Black were kidnapped. Aurors have been searching tirelessly for them the past two days, but to no avail. Whether these young Slytherin students will ever be found is unknown. Besides the events of May 7, several Aurors testify that Mr. Porter was seen running from Malfoy Manor on the day of the raid, and propose the possibility that he was responsible for the Pure-Blood family's deaths.

Now, you may ask, why did the attacks stop there? Well, Ms. Skeeter will tell you this is all due to one brave and noble first-year Ravenclaw, Gilderoy Lockhart. Found patrolling the hallways by Aurors when they arrived at Hogwarts the night of May 7, Mr. Lockhart told a thrilling tale of his heroics. After singlehandedly defeating Voldemort in a skillful duel in the Hogwarts library, Lockhart says he was regretfully unable to catch Mr. Porter as he escaped the scene of the crime. In the time following the Dark Lord's defeat and preceding arrival of the Aurors, Mr. Lockhart proceeded to scour the school for students in need. Upon finding Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, Ritz, Spades, and Spades, he revived them from their unconscious states.

When the Aurors finally arrived, Mr. Lockhart was taken to the Hospital Wing to be treated for a nasty cut on his head, which was reportedly caused by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's fist. At the same time, Potter, Evans, Ritz, Spades, Spades, and Moody were taken in for questioning. Due to Potter and Evans' reports of seeing a large snake and Ritz, Spades, and Spades' report of their hair being used for Polyjuice Potion, St. Mungo's healers diagnosed them to have suffered from hallucinations due to trauma. Even more sorrowful is the news that Head Auror Moody was driven to madness through the use of a powerful Memory Charm. He now rests in a long-term recovery ward, but healers are not optimistic that the Auror will ever make a full recovery.

Nevertheless, we civilians may rest peacefully at home with the knowledge that a true hero is now amongst us. Mr. Lockhart will be rewarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, on May 14.

A/N: Please review! Thanks!