Chapter Thirty-Three: The Hero
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
It was a well-known fact that the more secret something is supposed to be, the more likely it is that sooner or later everyone will find out about it. This truth is only helped along when there's a front-page article helpfully informing everybody about what happened – or close enough to it.
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's Short-Lived Return
By Rita Skeeter
We've all been in a state of joy since the fall of You-Know-Who ten years ago but this bliss nearly ended abruptly two nights ago at Hogwarts Castle. It seems that the dark lord wasn't as dead as we had hoped and has been existing in a half-life state since Harry Potter saved us that Halloween night. You-Know-Who had hatched a plan to break into Hogwarts and steal the fabled Philosopher's Stone to return him to his full power.
Fortunately, Harry Potter was once again there to save the wizarding world from the evil monster who murdered his parents and so many more. And this time, he wasn't alone. Famed dark creatures expert and professional hero Gilderoy Lockhart, Potter's adopted father and current DADA professor at Hogwarts, was there to share the burden of ending the most evil wizard's terrible existence.
"I just did what any concerned citizen would do," Lockhart says modestly. "And, what's more, I did what any father would do. Harry destroyed him ten years ago and I wasn't about to just stand back and watch him return the favor."
Those involved with the incident are reluctant to speak of it but Lockhart promises a book detailing the incident in question will be released just as fast as he can write it and all of our questions about the tragedy that wasn't will be answered.
Also accompanying this amazing father and son hero team were three first year friends of Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. Granger is a Muggleborn witch at the top of her class and the Weasleys and Longbottoms are long-time opponents of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Longbottom's parents, in fact, nearly met with tragedy themselves for their defiance when several Death Eaters broke into their house ten years ago looking for a way to revive their Master (Continued on page A2).
Harry knew that his father had agreed not to tell anything about Voldemort still being alive now but hadn't mentioned anything about not mentioning that he had almost come back and it was a little late to try and hold him to that now. Really, Rita Skeeter was a wonderful woman…at least if she were on your side. Harry had heard a few cautionary tales about what it was like to oppose her and he would try to avoid antagonizing her if it was possible.
Fortunately, the Philosopher's Stone was being destroyed (or so Dumbledore claimed. Gilderoy had his doubts) and so revealing it had been in the school wasn't going to put it in danger again. On the other hand, when that information had gotten out yesterday apparently Dumbledore had started to be flooded with angry letters – and Howlers! – from parents about putting their precious children in danger like that to bait a psychopath. Well, Dumbledore could probably handle it. And the end result was (for all intents and purposes) no more Voldemort so that might help.
Everyone at the Gryffindor table was cheering for their three heroes and looking at Harry with newfound respect. Well that was good because his frankly Gryffindor-ish actions were sure to lose him some with his own house.
"It's not that I mind you killing the dark lord again, Harry," Draco informed him. "But did you have to bring three Gryffindor's with you to do it? Even though they only got fifty points apiece compared to your one hundred, that still puts them twenty points ahead of us!"
"We have time," Harry assured him again.
"Yes but sooner or later if you keep doing things like this then we won't," Draco pointed out. "Imagine if this were May or something!"
"It's not and I won't keep doing things like this," Harry promised.
"You'd better not," Draco said darkly.
"And be honest, Draco. Would you or anyone else in Slytherin have actually agreed to come with me?" Harry demanded. "Or even someone in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?"
Draco snorted. "Are you kidding me? Of course not. That was really stupid."
"And that is why I took three Gryffindors." He paused. "Or should I say that three Gryffindors took me?"
"No," Draco said immediately. "You should definitely not say that. That's the only thing worse than you taking three Gryffindors."
"What about him taking four Gryffindors?" Pansy asked innocently.
"The world could not take that much Gryffindors during stupid stuff," Draco said, shuddering at the very thought.
"So…really, no one minds the fact that You-Know-Who is dead now?" Harry asked tentatively. "I mean, obviously no one here supports him and your families probably don't either except for the odd relative in Azkaban maybe but you know what I mean."
"Why would we mind?" a third-year asked. "Up until the paper got here we had all already thought that he was dead for ten years so it's kind of no big deal to learn he's dead now."
"You guys can't possibly remember," Marcus Flint told them seriously, "but I was old enough to remember the war before it ended. It was pretty chaotic. You couldn't trust anyone and people were getting murdered all over the place. A lot of Purebloods, too, so even if you don't care about Muggles or Muggleborns it was still a problem. I saw in Diagon Alley one day with my Mum and saw a wizard murdered in front of me in the streets. I don't know who it was or who killed him or what side either was on but I know it had something to do with the dark lord. I certainly wouldn't want to get dragged into that."
"Besides," Draco added thoughtfully, "while You-Know-Who might have had some believers in the upper echelons of society, if you look at the list of people going to Azkaban, they were only a few years out of Hogwarts. They really had nothing to lose. Now it's been ten years and anyone who somehow managed to escape Azkaban would have had a chance to better establish themselves and wouldn't want to throw away their position by joining up with a dark lord again."
"And You-Know-Who really wasn't the sort of person you'd say 'no' to," Theodore pointed out. "Not unless you were terminally Gryffindor."
"Are you worried that your father's might get Imperiused again?" Daphne asked innocently.
Draco's jaw dropped. "I didn't even think of that! Thank goodness you stopped that, Harry!"
"I would hope not, seeing as how my dad is sixty," Theodore said dryly. "But the dark lord is probably even older and doesn't actually care if his people live or die so that might not affect it."
"And then there's the fact that if anyone did manage to not go to Azkaban and pretended that they were Death Eaters, I can't imagine that the dark lord would take that well," Pansy added. "But I suppose the Death Eaters in Azkaban, who are surely crazy now if they weren't already crazy then, would be pleased. But really, who cares about them?"
Who cared, indeed?
Harry had never actually gotten fan mail before although Gilderoy assured him that he probably should have. People would have written to him for saving them from Voldemort in the first place (even though he hadn't actually done anything and according to Dumbledore it was actually something to do with his mother) but no one had known how to find him.
And even though he really didn't want to, Gilderoy insisted he address each one personally. Fortunately, he didn't have to say much to these people and they did have Quick-Quote-Quills so really all he had to do was dictate. Hopefully in time the fan mail would lessen even if Gilderoy didn't agree that that was something he should hope for and he was thoroughly enjoying his own soaring popularity.
"But I did make a promise to finish out the year and that's what I'll do," Gilderoy promised. "Besides, I'm going to want to rush out that new novel so it will be ready sometime in the summer so people won't lose interest. And then I still need to work on my autobiography, too…"
Everyone at school was treating him like the most awesome person they had ever met although Gilderoy assured him that fame was a very tricky, very fickle thing and that it was entirely possible that if he lost all of his house's points one day then everyone in Slytherin might turn on him. The rest of the houses might try and canonize him, however, since they wanted someone else to win the house cup for once even if it wasn't them.
It seemed really stupid to Harry that he could do something amazing (even if the story of what actually happened was nowhere near as exciting as what Gilderoy was probably planning on telling the world and which Dumbledore would have to live with to keep the secret of Voldemort's continued existence) and then be hated over something completely idiotic. According to Gilderoy, it was the nature of the beast and there was really no escaping it even if he wanted to so he might as well try and enjoy it.
Never let it be said that Harry could not bow to the inevitable when the inevitable was something as wonderful as undying love and admiration from virtually everyone he met. And when the tide turned and people began to lose interest or want to see him fall then he preferred to look at it as it being inevitable that that would pass and act accordingly. It had certainly worked for his father all these years and his lifestyle (or at least Obliviating those who had conquered monsters) was surprisingly dangerous for someone who hated to be at any risk at all.
"Hey, Draco, what was your dad doing here earlier?" Pansy asked as the three of them were looking through library shelves one day.
"Huh?" Draco looked surprised and maybe even a little hurt that his dad had been there but hadn't felt the need to say hello to him. "I don't know. He's on the Board of Governors, though, so he must have a reason. Maybe he wants to chew Dumbledore out about keeping the Philosopher's Stone here at Hogwarts and luring the dark lord into the castle where he might have killed us all."
"I almost feel sorry for him," Pansy confided. "And then I remember that he could have gotten us all killed and then I get over it."
"Hey, what's this?" Harry asked, spotting a shabby black book amid all the much better taken care of books on…they were in the dragon section, apparently.
"I don't know," Pansy said, pulling it out. "Property of T.M. Riddle? I've never heard of him."
Draco snorted. "Clearly it's not his anymore if he's lost it. Or maybe abandoned it. I can't imagine how a lost book would end up here."
"Maybe it's for note-taking," Harry suggested.
Pansy flipped through it. "No, it's blank."
"If he wasn't going to use it then why bother writing his name in it?" Draco asked reasonably. "It's kind of a waste. And this book looks really old."
"Why don't you take it, Draco?" Pansy asked him. "You don't want to waste it, after all. And I'm sure that it will be an excellent replacement over your old diary."
Draco blushed furiously. "I never had a diary!"
"What's this about a diary?" Harry asked, suddenly much more interested.
"Nothing! There was never any diary!" Draco said loudly, causing Madam Pince to shush him. "I'll take the bloody thing if it makes you shut up about that thing that never happened but I'm not going to write in it!"
"Whatever you say, Draco," Pansy said knowingly.
If Harry had thought his role in stopping Voldemort would soften Snape to him any then he would have been severely disappointed.
"Detention, Potter!" Snape called out suddenly in Potions.
Harry sighed internally and didn't look up from stirring his cauldron. "Yes, Professor."
"Seriously, you have got to start asking him what these weekly detentions are all about," Daphne urged. "It seems really unfair and now that he's figured out how to get to you without hurting Slytherin I don't see him stopping anytime soon."
"If I actually ask him then not only might he give me another one for insubordination or something but he probably does actually have some ridiculous reason," Harry replied. "After all, he's been a teacher here for ages."
"Maybe the dark lord being dead will mean that he'll finally get to quit Hogwarts after this year," Daphne suggested.
Harry frowned. "I don't get it. What do you think that You-Know-Who being dead has anything to do with Professor Snape's employment?"
"Well, if he really wasn't dead and Dumbledore was irresponsibly trying to lure him to a school full of children-" Daphne began.
"I'm pretty sure that wasn't what he was trying to do," Harry cut her off.
"Well then he failed because that's what happened," Daphne said, shrugging. "If that happened – and it did – then chances are that Dumbledore had to know he wasn't dead. And since Snape publicly escaped Azkaban because Dumbledore himself stood up for him and said that he was Dumbledore's spy, leaving him out in the open and not under Dumbledore's direct protection is practically asking for him to get himself killed."
"But wouldn't he still be in danger from any Death Eaters that aren't in Azkaban?" Harry inquired.
Daphne shrugged again. "Oh, what do they care? He's been gone for ten years now and they all have their own tales of denial to spin. No, the only people still alive now that Snape might have to fear are all locked up safely in Azkaban. And wouldn't you like having a Potions professor who didn't hate you?"
"I don't know what I'd do with myself," Harry deadpanned. "I mean, it's just such an important part of the Hogwarts experience having at least one teacher hate you."
Daphne smiled at that and shook her head. "But seriously, Harry, if you don't want to ask then I can get Draco to ask or something. He's Snape's godson and Snape wouldn't want to anger Mr. Malfoy by being mean to Draco or brushing him off."
"That's sweet," Harry told her. "But there's really no need."
"So you don't care why he's randomly giving you all of these detentions?" Daphne demanded, stunned.
Harry shook his head. "Not so much that. I just happen to already know the reason."
Daphne's eyes were wide. "You do?"
Harry nodded. "I'm pretty sure, yes."
"Then tell me!" Daphne exclaimed, a little loudly.
Snape shot her a look but because she was a Slytherin and not Harry he didn't say anything.
"Well, you know how Snape and my mother used to be close friends?" Harry asked rhetorically.
Daphne laughed. "I'm pretty sure that there are Muggles who have heard this by now."
"Well, even if they stopped being friends it seems to me that he still wouldn't actually want her to be dead and, well, she is," Harry said, somewhat losing the flow of that sentence.
"Intriguing," Daphne said sarcastically.
"Since I'm alive and she's not and I'm all that's left of her besides her Muggle sister and Muggle nephew, I'm the best connection to Lily still in the world," Harry explained. "Now, some might say that he doesn't like me-"
"Like anyone who has actually seen the two of you in the same room," Daphne interrupted.
"But even so, I lived when my mother did not and she might have even given her life to save mine," Harry told her. That revelation was coming out in Gilderoy's book (with the proper framing to still make Harry seem heroic) and so he didn't want to spoil it. "As such, I don't think he appreciates that I would so Gryffindorly throw it all away to go after You-Know-Who as a first year."
"I don't know," Daphne said thoughtfully. "I think a first year You-Know-Who might not be all that tough. Maybe we couldn't take him but we could get one of the upper-classmen."
Harry rolled his eyes. "You know that I meant. But I think you and me could totally take first-year You-Know-Who."
"But would we?" Daphne asked. "We are Slytherins."
"First year You-Know-Who," Harry reiterated.
Daphne nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I suppose that you do have a point there…"
"So anyway he keeps giving me detentions because he doesn't actually want to have to tell me that he doesn't want me to die because he knows that I would absolutely tell the world and then they'd get even more convinced that I'm his favorite student," Harry concluded.
Daphne remained. "Even with all these detentions?"
Harry grinned. "Did I tell you about all the fun and exciting favorite student things he lets me do during 'detentions'?"
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