Newspaper Articles

Harry and his godfather had breakfast at seven in the morning. And they had it like the poshest people one could imagine. Sitting there straight, elbows close to the body and sipping their tea delicately. They both had a hard time not laughing at each other. But Sirius really was good at it. He looked naturally elegant. Harry had a long way to go, to achieve that, for sure.

Soon Kreacher brought the newspaper, they both had been waiting for. So, they decided they were finished with being fancy and moved to a couch and read it together.

The frontpage was split vertically in half, one side had the title

Fudge's Undersecretary's
Murder Plot for Potter Heir

With a picture of Dolores Umbridge, a Dementor, and Harry (from fourth year) each and quite some text under it

And on the other half, stood out just as fat and bold

Hogwarts Students SHUN
Albus Dumbledore!

And a picture of ¾ of the students standing with their backs to Dumbledore. How they had gotten that picture, really was the question! It had been taken from somewhere at one end of the Slytherin table, close to the staff table. One could see Dumbledore standing there looking quite flummoxed, the staff and Amelia Boned as well as the sea of students getting up and turning their backs on the man.

What amazed Harry was the fact, that all the children's faces were blurry.

"Huh? Why are they blurred?" He asked confused.

"What do you mean? Oh, the kids? Well, they are underage, obviously."

Harry just pointed to the perfectly clear picture of himself on the left side of the page and just looked at Sirius questioningly.

"Right. Remember when you contacted me last week, about those books about you?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I have contracted a lawyer to look into it. It's Tonks' mum, my cousin Andromeda. She already found out, that the books were permitted and cleared by Dumbledore, who acted as your guardian.

"Huh? He can do that?"

"That's what Andy is looking into right now. It's a little murky because Albus was Chief Warlock at that time."

"And the papers?"

"They seem to have a standing permission to print whatever they want about you."

"Let me guess. Also given by Dumbledore."

"Yes."

"Wow."

"I as Lord Black did send a rather harsh warning to them, via Andy, to tread carefully from now on, or we will sue them extensively in the future. And to get ready to write a front-page reaction about last year's articles and lies, and the libelous way they reported about you this summer."

"Good."

"So, now let's actually read the articles."

And they did. The page was perfect for reading it together. They just had to switch places on the couch to read the other article after finishing the first one.

After they had read both (and Sirius had taken notice of how hard Harry squinted at times) Sirius said, "Well, they are both politically finished."

"Good," Harry said again.

"I wonder when the news will break, about Voldemort's return. It's a wonder it didn't already if all the DMLE knows about it now."

"Maybe that is, why Madame Bones asked to talk to me, yesterday."

"Quite possible. But they will not be able to keep the lid on that one much longer. Dumbledore will see some of his standings return then, as he obviously didn't lie about Voldemort's return and some will flock back to him, to save them - again."

"Sounds about right."

"But him calling the traditions, and ways that Merlin and the Founders lived by, 'evil' will discourage many. This picture of the mass of students' backs turned will stay in people's minds."

"Yeah, one picture says more than a thousand words."

"Exactly."


The letter

Later that morning, Kreacher brought a letter to Harry that had been sent to Sirius via Gringotts, as it had been returned to sender before, apparently. It was from Cedric's dad!

He asked Sirius for a moment to read it immediately.

"Sure, the inner workings of the ministry can wait," Sirius answered grinning.

"Funnily, that topic doesn't seem so boring anymore, after all…," Harry opened the letter with trepidation and read it.

Honored Heir Potter,

Please forgive my uninvited letter to you, and for not keeping the form of polite correspondence, but I felt a great need to write to you.

You see, Amelia Bones contacted me and invited me to her office this Friday. As soon as I was there, she prepared me, that what I was about to watch would be very disturbing and horrible, as it contained the death of my son, Cedric. She then allowed me to watch your memory of his final moments and what happened after.

Heir Potter, I must confess that I was not your biggest supporter, before seeing this memory. But that changed enormously. Seeing the two of you decide to take the cup together to make it a win for Hogwarts, was heart-warming and so very like my son. And you, offering to let him take it, was equally heart-warming and noble.

The rest of the memory was just horrifying. Like a nightmare come to life. But at least we now know how our son died. My wife and I had been unable to go on living with the uncertainty about what happened to our son, before.

So, what I really wanted to say to you is thank you for bringing his body back, while being in such dire circumstances! Thank you for being a good friend to my son and thank you for unknowingly giving us closure by sharing this memory with Amelia.

Amelia asked me, to keep my knowledge under wraps for the time being, as she and her department are moving in on all the Death Eaters in the memory, covertly and secretly. So please keep this letter to yourself for now.

Thank you again!

Most sincerely,

Amos Diggory, Head of the Minor Noble House of Diggory

PS: This letter returned – like all mail sent to you, apparently – so we contacted Gringotts for help. I hope it worked.

Harry handed the letter to Sirius wordlessly, fighting his tears.

Sirius read it and hugged the teen, just as wordless.

Harry cried, safe in Sirius' arms. For the handsome and friendly young man, who had died much too early. For the parents of said young man, who were so deeply in mourning. And for himself, who had witnessed Cedric's death and still felt guilty about it. It took quite a while for him to collect himself from that one.

"Better now?" Sirius asked gently.

"Yeah, sorry. I am becoming quite the crybaby," Harry said, after blowing his nose.

"That's all-right son, it had been a long time coming."

"Yeah."

"But it's a great letter for Amos. The death of his son must have really changed him. He was always such a pompous prat."

This pulled a surprised laugh out of Harry. He couldn't disagree. "And we know now, what's going on with the DMLE," he said.

"Right. Now, I wanted to ask, may I watch the memory of the resurrection as well?"

"Huh? Didn't you watch it with all the other stuff, that day of my hearing?"

"You didn't enter that memory with Amy, remember? So, I watched you sitting in her office, waiting."

"Uh, right. Wait, then with the other memories, you watched us watching the memories?"

"Exactly," Sirius grinned.

"So, if you shared that memory, I could watch you, watch us, watching the memory?"

Sirius laughed and nodded.

"But yeah you ca... uh... may watch it."

"Good save."

Harry grinned. And then remembered something else, "What does he mean with This letter returned – like all mail sent to you, apparently – ...?"

"Good question. It seems like you have a mail ward on you."

"Huh, but you could write to me."

"Actually, I wrote to you soon after I escaped, and the letter came back. But I took it as a sign, that they were protecting you from me. After our run-in, it worked. So, I never thought about it. Until now."

"Oh."

"Did you ever get letters at your muggle home?"

"Only my Hogwarts letter, nothing else. My relatives would have blown their tops otherwise."

"So, that's why, possibly. Well, it's not uncommon for famous people – especially children – to have such a ward. Some people are just crazy, and others send dangerous stuff."

"Yeah, Hermione got a letter with undiluted bubotuber pus in fourth year once."

"What? In Hogwarts? I hope the sender was charged!"

"Huh? No?"

"So, no one investigated? Not even the teachers?"

"No?"

"Well, damn. Anyway, the ward makes sense, but not that you and I have no control over it. Let's go and change that right away, all right?"

"Sure!" Harry jumped up. Anything to escape the lesson about the ministry! Additionally, he was immensely glad, that there was not a mountain, with unanswered mail somewhere! Ugh, the horror!


The Teachers

Poppy and Minerva sat in some stuffed chairs in the staffroom, enjoying some tea and a few minutes of rest. But as most of the time, they soon talked about school-related issues.

"So, Albus is awake now, from being stunned four times at once?"

"Yes, Minerva. And he is quite weak. Being hit by so many stunners simultaneously is rather bad for such an old body! He will have to stay in my care for at least a week."

"Shouldn't he be at St. Mungo's?"

"Oh, he should, but he refuses to go."

"Typical."

"Oh yes."

Severus entered the room, somehow looking different. He came over to the two women, sat down in another of the multiple chairs, and prepared himself some tea.

"Good morning, Severus! We missed you at breakfast. It was quite exciting."

"Good, that I missed it then." He took a sip and sighed in pleasure.

The two women chuckled.

"Well, it just was the paper, reporting what happened here yesterday, quite truthfully, amazingly. But you look different Severus. Do you know, why?"

"Yes, Poppy. We were told yesterday, that Albus influenced a person, by pulling some of their more negative emotions to the forefront of their mind, making them angry and act irresponsibly, something like that, at least, drowning out all other feelings. It's a very obscure and frowned-upon technique that only Master Legilimens' can practice. And apparently, Albus can do so nearly unnoticed. The one who told us asked us to check our minds for tampering like that. Or have it checked. – I first scoffed at the thought, that someone could do that to me, but I checked anyway. Thankfully, any feeling for superiority wasn't engorged, or I never would have."

"Oh no. He did get to you?"

"Yes. You need to understand, influencing one's mind is bad enough, but influencing someone's emotions can fundamentally change the affected person's personality. It cannot induce totally new feelings, but it can greatly heighten and increase existing ones. For example, a small dislike for very loud, shrieking children can become immense hate for all children, who make just the tiniest noise."

Both women covered their mouths with both of their hands looking at Severus with big, horrified eyes.

"Last night I discovered that my feelings have been greatly tampered with."

"Oh no!" Poppy exclaimed.

"Yes. And I started to dismantle the overblown feelings to how they should be. It's a long and dangerous procedure because, if it goes wrong, it could induce a mental breakdown of epic proportions."

"But you can heal yourself?"

"Yes, Poppy. And I would not tell you about it, if it weren't for the fact, that you two might have been influenced as well. And you need to be warned."

"Oh no! How do we check for this?"

"Well, if you trust me, I can check it, via legilimency, but I must warn you, I cannot set them to rights like I started doing for myself, should I find anything. You need a specialized mind healer for that. And I wouldn't dare anyway, as long as I am not clear of any influences myself."

"But you can check, right? Without fear of causing a breakdown?"

"Yes, that I can do."

"Can you do it now?"

"Not here. Maybe in Minerva's quarters?"

A voice piped up behind Severus, "Could a half-goblin be influenced that way as well?"

Severus turned around and answered the half-goblin who was walking around Severus' chair, he had been standing behind unseen, apparently, "Yes. Your mind is protected against tampering, but your feelings are not. Hagrid could have been changed as well."

"Can you check me too, then? And how can we make sure he stops doing that?"

"Yes, I can. As for the other question... I need to think about it. Short-term, you could get little pouches filled with fresh white sage around your neck. It's not a 100%-protection and will not heal existing damage, but it should help ward off new attacks."

"And it's easily done," Poppy added.

"Exactly."


After they arrived at Minerva's quarters, Poppy wanted to get checked first and soon Severus found an interesting golden dome covering her feelings. He checked the rest and found some holes in her memory, but no other tampering. The golden protection was there as well.

He gently extracted himself from Poppy's mind and said, "It seems your healer's oath protects most of your mind."

Poppy sighed relieved.

"But you have been obliviated a few times."

"Oh? Can you tell me how many times?" Poppy didn't seem worried.

"About ten times."

Now she frowned and said, "I know of two instances, to let my memory charmed that way. Medical persons sometimes agree to let it be done, but we always make a note about it in our personal log beforehand, should we find the hole in the memory later. This is very concerning. Can you find out who did it and what was removed?"

"No, I cannot. Maybe a specialist, I don't know."

"Well, thank you for checking me!"

"You are welcome. Who is next? Minerva? Well, let's start."

Five mines later Minerva was told the results of his check.

"You have been tampered with, emotionally and otherwise. Minerva, you really need to see a mind healer at once!"

"Can you tell me how at least?"

"I'd rather leave that to the healer. You can function and some of it is breaking down, but in order to make sure you have no spectacular breakdown, you need professional help immediately."

"Do you know someone?" She looked at Poppy and Severus with worry in her eyes, but it was Filius, that answered, "I know of two options. The first one is Thelma Hiddlebrixton, you might remember her? Ravenclaw in the nineteen-sixties. She became a renowned mind healer. And she is just a good person. But it might be hard to get an appointment immediately."

"I remember her, I would have no problem with her helping me. What is the other option?"

"I have a cousin who is an amazing mind healer, and she could look at you today, I think."

"I hear a 'but' coming."

"But she is a goblin. So, if you have no problem with that, we could go there as soon as Severus checked my mind."

"I have absolutely no problem with your cousin being a goblin. Chances are much higher that she is clear of any tampering that way, too."

"Well, then move, woman! I need to lay on the couch now."

They changed places and Filius was checked as well.

"The bad news is, that you have been tampered with emotionally as well. The good news is that it is much less extensive than in Minerva's case."

"$§#$%"

"Quite."

"Well, that decides it. Let's go to Gringotts, Minerva."

"Yes, will you two hold the castle, Severus, and Poppy? And tell Pomona as well?"

"We will. Good luck!" Poppy nodded and two went to Gringotts immediately, and the other two back to the staff room, to inform Pomona about what was happening. The Herbology teacher wanted to get checked as well, but Severus asked her to wait for the others and the news they would bring.