Where an article causes tensions.
HANNAH VIII
HARRY POTTER: TRAGIC STORY OF A CHAMPION
On Halloween, October 31, 1994, the Triwizard Tournament was opened at Hogwarts. This great competition where champions representing the best wizardry has to offer was revived this year through a collaboration between various Ministries of Magic across Europe. But the selection of champions that took place that night in Hogwarts held great surprise as the name of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, was chosen to represent Hogwarts in this historical competition.
Who doesn't know the name of Harry Potter? Who never heard of him? Across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but also everywhere in Europe and over the world, everyone knows his story. On the evening of October 31, 1981, thirteen years by the day before the opening of the Triwizard Tournament, the most evil wizard of all time, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, came into a house in Godric's Hollow, intent on slaughtering yet another great family of wizards. James Potter, the father of the Boy-Who-Lived, died that night, protecting his family. His wife, Lily Evans Potter, was gravely injured and required extensive healing to survive. As for Harry Potter himself, at the time a baby of barely one, he somehow managed to survive, a lightning-shaped scar marking his forehead for the rest of his life as a memory of this fateful night when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was destroyed.
Special Correspondent Rita Skeeter was already active at the time, reporting on the many murders and atrocities committed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his supporters. She was among the first journalists to be there on the crime scene after the events took place. No one knew exactly at the time, and no one knows exactly today either, what really happened that night in Godric's Hollow, but the ruins (still existing in the village) were visible witnesses of the horrors that just happened. For years afterwards, no one knew what happened to Lily Evans Potter and her son, the Mother and the Boy Who Lived. Journalists and reporters such as your servant decided of a common agreement to leave the small surviving family in peace following the tragedy that befell them. Despite this, several rumors ran about the mother and the son, since no one knew where they had gone and what they were doing. Rumors ranged from supposing they changed names and appearances, emigrated to another country to maintain their anonymity, and some even claimed that they died. Though this is unlikely, since both were present when Lily Evans Potter was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, and for the funerals of James Potter at Godric's Hollow.
This disappearance of the Potters ended in the autumn of 1991, when the young Harry arrived at Hogwarts to begin his schooling. "This was surreal," Parvati Patil, a young and beautiful girl in the same year as Harry and one of his close friends, declared. "We embarked on the Hogwarts Express, and all of a sudden, word began to spread that Harry Potter was on the train. No one expected that. We had not realized that he would be in our year at Hogwarts." "During the Sorting, when his name came out, everyone went silent for a short moment. But then everyone began to whisper about it. But Harry was not at all what we expected," another student of the same year, Sally-Anne Perks, explains. "He just looked… afraid, like all of us. I mean, except his scar on his face, he looked totally normal. As the first weeks went on, it was obvious that he was no different from any of us. He was just someone normal."
Someone normal. Quite a strange description, some would think, about the boy who defeated the most powerful wizard in the world at the age of one. And considering Harry Potter's exploits following his arrival at Hogwarts, few would call him an ordinary boy. Very quickly after his arrival, Harry Potter made himself known through more than his scar. He quickly became the one person willing to risk his own life to save others. In his very first year, while the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and his professors ignored his warnings, Harry Potter went down in the dungeons of the school to stop one of his teachers who tried to seize the last known Philosopher's Stone. The following year, several students were attacked by a mysterious monster. Again, while the administration of Hogwarts proved unable to stop this threat and most of his fellow comrades at Hogwarts believed he was himself behind those attacks, the Boy Who Lived yet again went deep into the dungeons of the school, slaughtered the creature responsible for these attacks, and saved a student it kidnapped, all the while one of his professors, the now disgraced Gilderoy Lockhart, ran away after being tasked with saving the student in question. "We all believed Harry was behind those attacks," Parvati Patil adds, her expression remorseful. "We thought that since he could defeat You-Know-Who, then he might be a dark wizard as well. But we were wrong the whole time." And again, in his third year, being chased by the fugitive Peter Pettigrew, Harry Potter once again proved to be the boy to save the situation, surviving three encounters with the serial killer, contributing to have him defeated once and for all in their last encounter.
In the meantime, Harry Potter also managed to become one of the best students of the school. His professors, despite not believing him when he warned them of serious dangers, and perhaps in part out of shame for their lack of faith with him, only have good comments about him. "A very good boy. Always ready to help. Very interested in learning more stuff while helping the others," Rubeus Hagrid, one of his professors, proudly states.
And it wasn't only in the academic domain that the Boy Who Lived excelled. He was noticed very early for his talent at Quidditch, becoming the youngest Quidditch player in the whole history of Hogwarts after being chosen as the Seeker of his house's team only a few days after his arrival at school, despite the banning of first-year students from Quidditch teams. Undefeated to this day, Harry Potter has proved to be not only the youngest, but the best Seeker of Hogwarts in decades if not centuries, earning praise from both his teammates but also his opponents, when he singlehandedly gave the championship to his house for the first time in an eternity last year. Some even claim that if he had played instead of Aidan Lynch for Ireland last August, Viktor Krum would never have caught the Golden Snitch.
While Harry Potter achieved success and additional fame at Hogwarts, his mother, Lily Evans Potter, also resurfaced. A few months after her son began attending Hogwarts, she began following a training at the Ministry of Magic to become an Auror. Through an accelerated training program, she quickly joined the elite of wizards, being tasked with the most crucial missions, such as catching the fugitive Peter Pettigrew. No one knows exactly the details about how Peter Pettigrew died last summer, but we know from certain sources that Lily Evans Potter was there, and it was certainly not without difficulty that she faced the man responsible for her husband's death.
Despite all this success, the Potters remain very private and hard to reach, wishing to stay away from the general attention. Special Correspondent Rita Skeeter had the chance to meet Harry Potter following the start of the Triwizard Tournament, and she got the rare chance to have a small interview with the Boy Who Lived. She got the opportunity to ask him very personal questions, gaining a rare look into the boy's heart.
"I think I did it for my father," he said, being asked as to why he decided to enter the Tournament. "He died trying to protect me, doing what was fair, to protect others. I think he would have wanted me to participate. That he knew I could survive this challenge, like I survived the others."
Despite these declarations, the Boy Who Lived remains very modest, barely acknowledging his accomplishments.
"I don't see myself as a hero. My father was a hero. My mother is a hero too. She risks her life every day, trying to protect everyone. She's really a fantastic person. I couldn't have dreamed of a better mother. But my father is the real hero. He sacrificed his life without hesitation to save me and my Mom. He died… trying to protect us." As the mention of his father's death, tears fill the startingly green eyes of the boy. "I suppose I get my strength from him. I'm just trying to do the right thing, like he did that night when I was a baby. I know he would be very proud of me if he could see me now. Not because of what I achieved, not because of any exploit I realized, but because I try to be like him, and to do the right thing. Even though I know I will never be as good as he was."
This modesty is coupled with a complete refusal to see himself as any kind of exceptional individual, despite deserving this recognition. The young Harry Potter is still deeply affected by the tragedy that hit his early life and the loss of a father he never got to know. Coupled with being raised by a single mother who certainly did not get the chance to be very present in his life and the pressure to do better than his parents, the Boy Who Lived is a very lonely young man, who stays away from most human contacts as his mind remains marked by past trauma and a lack of warmth.
"Sometimes, at night," he confesses to our special correspondent, tears still filling his eyes as the ugly scar on his otherwise charming face becomes more prominent, "I still cry about him. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I miss him. I wish I got to know him."
"Harry is very difficult to approach," the young Parvati Patil confirms. "Even for the people of his own age, his classmates. He is scary. Not in the wrong sense. It's just that… He's gone through so many hardships. Hardships that most of us can't even imagine. He's always there when someone needs help, but he's not the kind of person we can go with to visit the boutiques of Diagon Alley or who we can invite for dinner. It's just that, whatever efforts they make, most people will never get to understand him. They just can't."
But, in spite of this loneliness, Harry Potter has found love in Hogwarts. One of his rare close friends, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school.
"Hermione is extremely brilliant," Parvati Patil acknowledges as well. "She is one of my roommates, and I must admit that I never met someone as intelligent as her. She and Harry are always together. I think part of the reason is because Hermione is hardly understood, just like Harry. They're both very intelligent, but Hermione is even more intelligent than he is. She is the best in all subjects at school, but she doesn't make friends easily. Plus, Harry grew up among Muggles, mostly. And Hermione comes from a Muggle family. This gives them something in common. I think they can understand each other like few of us can. During our first year here, there was an accident at Halloween. A troll managed to get inside the school. We were all at the feast in the Great Hall, and the professors sent us away to safety. But Hermione wasn't with us. She was crying in the washroom because someone insulted her in class. And Harry went to find her and saved her from the troll. Ever since this day, they're inseparable. There is something, a link between them, that no one else can achieve. It changes lives when we survive such a trial."
This makes Harry Potter look at life and his participation to the Triwizard Tournament in a rather positive way when considering his personal history. "I know nothing will hurt me during the Tournament, because my father is watching over me. And I know he will be proud of me when I survive the first task."
This first task, the first of three the champion must triumph over as part of the Triwizard Tournament, will take place on November 24th, in Hogwarts, which your Special Correspondent, Rita Skeeter, will attend to report on the fate of Harry Potter, Flower Deulacor and Victor Krumm. Each and every wizard and witch will certainly stand in their heart with the Boy Who Lived in this deadly competition as he faces opponents (Flower Deulacor from Beaubatons and Victor Krumm from Dumstrange) who are much older and experienced than him.
In other circumstances, Hannah might have felt sympathy for Harry while reading this article. Instead, she crumpled the newspaper between her hands, so much that she pierced it on the right side, as she looked at the Gryffindor table and noticed Harry quietly taking his breakfast with Hermione by his side, as if everything was normal. She sighed in disgust, closed the journal and put it aside. She couldn't believe that Harry actually said these kinds of things. He had always been someone very private, never looking for spotlights. But here he was, placing himself in evidence, using his personal life history to inspire pity and get people on his side.
"Do you want the last toast, Hannah?"
"What?" She looked at her left to see Sally holding a piece of toasted bread in her hand.
"It's the last one of our tray. Do you want it?"
Indeed, Hannah realized it was empty. "No, you can have it," Hannah said, waving her hand in the air.
She looked again to Harry. She was furious, and also disappointed. She couldn't believe how wrong she had been about him for all these years. She ostensibly looked away from him and finished her breakfast, discussing with Wayne and Megan. Normally, she would discuss the kind of stuff she just read in the Daily Prophet, but she wasn't in the mood to do it right now. She was too upset to talk about it right now.
The Herbology lesson they had in the morning used to be one of her favourite moments of the day. Now, these lessons made her uncomfortable at best. Ever since Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire in Halloween, the relations between the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were cold at best. In the best of circumstances, they ignored each other.
It was hard for Hannah. She always made friends very easily. She got along with people in all houses, even with a few decent people in Slytherin. But the current atmosphere was hard to bear with. Even Professor Sprout herself was harder than usual.
This Herbology lesson started in quite a tense atmosphere, made worse by the dampness of the hothouse. As they took care of venomous plants, the class divided itself in two, without any instruction from Professor Sprout. On one side, you had the Gryffindors, surrounding Harry who was at their center. On the other side of the hothouse, where Hannah was standing, you had the Hufflepuffs, almost all harboring badges to support Cedric.
Some professors forbade those badges in their classes. This was the case of Professor McGonagall, the Head of the Gryffindor house, and also of Professor Flitwick, who both didn't hesitate to remove points and even give detention for repeat offenders. Other professors such as Snape were more forgiving on that matter. When it came to Professor Sprout, she initially tried to ban the badges, but the Hufflepuffs stood their ground together and demanded to be allowed to wear their badges during lessons. After such resistance, she relented, simply asking the Gryffindors to ignore those badges. But it was obvious they noticed them.
Hannah found herself teaming with Ernie that morning, cleaning the seeds together. She made a point of ignoring the Gryffindors and to focus on the work in front of her. However, it proved to be hard. On her left, Wayne and Megan worked on their own seeds, while on her right, Justin teamed with Susan. Justin, however, this time, looked a lot less happy to be with Susan than usually, and he happened to stand between Hannah and her best friend. It wasn't long before the conversation turned to the article of this morning's edition of the Daily Prophet.
"You read this article in the Daily Prophet?" Wayne asked them.
"Yes, I did," Hannah said between her teeth, focusing on her work.
"Me too," Justin said. "Someone in Ravenclaw gave it to me during breakfast. Did they even mention Cedric in the article?"
"No," Hannah replied on a very dark tone.
Everyone around groaned in resentment. "I guess Potter is very proud of himself," Ernie said, shooting a dark stare at Harry. Hannah peeked at him. He was doing much of the same thing as she was currently doing, Hermione being on his right between him and Ron Weasley.
"Finch-Fletchley!" Professor Sprout just arrived in front of their group, and Hannah realized Justin had made a big mistake. "Five points from Hufflepuff," she said. "I warned you. Next time, it's a detention."
Reluctantly, Justin pressed his badge, and the comment about Harry stinking disappeared to leave the encouragements for Cedric. However, this wasn't enough for Sprout, as she showed her hand and made a very clear signal. Reluctantly again, Justin removed the badge and gave it to their professor.
"You'll have it back at the end of the lesson," their head of house stated before walking away to watch over the Gryffindors.
Hannah raged inside. This was another detail of Sprout's approach. Their Herbology professor tolerated the badges, as long as they only displayed support for Cedric. She did not tolerate it when a student turned it into a way to insult another student. Hannah knew that Professor Sprout was a member of the staff and that she had to try to remain neutral and impartial, but still, it hurt to see their own head of house punish them simply for a small gesture meant to support Cedric.
"You should not have brought this stupid badge here, Justin," Susan told him. This remark enraged Hannah from the inside, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to start a dispute with her best friend in the middle of a Herbology lesson. Susan was one of the few students of their year to not wear a badge. Though, to be completely honest, Sally, Roger and Kevin did not wear one either right now, mainly because they were afraid to be reprimanded like Justin just was by the professor.
"I already have to remove it for Transfiguration and Charms. I'm not going to remove it here as well. Especially not when they're around." Justin shot an angry glare at the Gryffindors as he said so.
"Try to not get yourself into trouble, Justin," Ernie warned him. "She still allows us to wear the badges during the lesson. It's already that. You can recover it at the end, then you can show it in Potter's face as much as you want."
And here again, Ernie showed his tendency to support the staff and the professors. They kept working for a little while longer. In the meantime, dark gazes were still exchanged between the students of the two houses. The tension grew, until finally, a discussion between Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan proved too loud and was heard by the entirety of their group.
"What do you think is making Diggory cry in his corner? That the Daily Prophet did not publish his name or that they did not publish his photo?"
The smile on Dean Thomas' face disappeared an instant later when he received seeds in the face.
"Justin!" Susan yelled.
An instant later, she was the one to receive seeds in the face. Seamus Finnigan must have targeted Justin, but he caught Susan who was right next to him instead.
"ENOUGH!"
Seeds were flying from both directions when they stopped in their trajectories in the middle of the air. Professor Sprout had drawn out her wand. The seeds remained stationary in the air for some time, then they all went back to the bowls and plants they left.
"If any of you touches those seeds, I swear I turn them into mold." She then returned her attention to Dean and Susan. "Mr Thomas. Miss Bones. Are you alright?"
She checked on both of them. They all presented superficial burns on their faces. These seeds were corrosive, hence why they were instructed to manipulate them with gloves made of dragon hide. Susan's were more visible due to the color of her skin. A large gash went from one end to the other of her left cheek.
"It will be fine," Professor Sprout declared after a moment examining their wounds. "Nothing Madam Pomfrey will not be able to heal quickly. Go to the infirmary. She will tend to your wounds. Potter, you accompany them."
Everyone turned their eyes towards Harry. "Me?" he asked, uncertain.
"Yes, you, Potter. I'm not allowing two injured students to go to the hospital wing on their own. Go, now."
Harry, Dean and Susan left the hothouse. Professor Sprout looked harshly at all those who remained behind, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff alike.
"So, this is how it is going to be from now on? Two groups of students who can't be in the same room without fighting over imaginary insults?"
Professor Sprout was rarely seen angry. But today, she was. She stared intensely at each and every student. Hannah couldn't stop herself from looking at the floor when the professor gazed in her direction.
"I remove twenty points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. I want you all here, at the end of the day, once your lessons are over. You're going to clean this whole place. All of you. And not another word," she warned as some students, including Hannah, made to protest. "If anyone utters a single word before the end of the lesson, he will get himself into another detention. Now, go back to the task I gave you, and I don't want to hear anything for the rest of the hour."
They all complied. No one dared to say a single word for the rest of the lesson.
The remainder of the day proved quite gloomy as a result of the morning's events. Hannah could only think about that stupid article in the Daily Prophet and the detention Professor Sprout gave to all of them. The evening was made even worse by the cleaning operation in the hothouse, which proved to be long and exhausting. When they finally made it out, all people were covered in mud and sweat. The only lucky ones who did not get to participate to the detention were Susan, Dean and Harry. Professor Sprout said they did not participate because they were the only ones she could be sure who did not throw seeds during the lesson. There was barely anything left in the Great Hall when they arrived for dinner.
The time cleaning the hothouse with the Gryffindors only increased the feeling of injustice that inhabited everyone in Hannah's year. The fact that Hannah herself threw seeds towards Seamus after he got Susan, to protect her friend, only fueled her resentment.
"I can't suffer being around the Gryffindors any longer!" Justin roared.
"Me neither," Ernie supported. He had lost his somewhat conciliatory attitude, and he looked just as furious as his friend was.
"We should do something to put them back into their place," Megan insisted.
"I'm not sure. I don't want to end up in detention again," Sally said.
"I don't care," Ernie stated. He pressed his badge, and the green writing appeared. "We're going to stand face to the Gryffindor table tomorrow morning, and we'll make sure they see this. Especially Potter."
Hannah agreed. Harry may be her neighbor, he may have been a good friend, but this was too much. He wasn't content with making his way into the Tournament, stealing his rightful place to Cedric, he also made sure the article would not mention him by using his own personal story to hide their existence, and he got away with the detention while Hannah was forced to scrub glass walls from their lichen and years-old muddy dust.
The entire evening went on as the Hufflepuffs of the fourth year rambled against Harry Potter and the House of Gryffindor in general. Sally was the only one who said nothing, but she remained silent, and she also kept her badge stating that Harry stinks. Hannah was still angry when she went to bed that night.
The next morning, the Hufflepuffs, and not only those in fourth year, created a chain in front of the Gryffindors in the Great Hall, defiantly displaying their opposition to Harry. Hannah was among them. This gave some satisfaction to Hannah. She then went through the day with a much more positive attitude. It was only at the end of it that her mood soured again.
She was looking for Susan after the end of today's lessons, not finding her in the Great Hall. She finally went to the library and had the displeasure to see her best friend working with Hermione Granger on an Arithmancy homework. Hannah furiously walked back to her common room where she worked with Ernie and Justin. It was only late in the evening that Susan came back, looking exhausted, though nearly not as much as Hannah had been yesterday after their detention. A detention Susan did not share with them. Her best friend had not suffered badly from the burns. She was back without even the shadow of a scratch on her face in the lesson that followed the Herbology class, and she was spared the detention. She even told Hannah earlier today that she also spent the preceding evening with Hermione to advance in their common homework.
Hannah had enough. She stood up and went to see her friend, who smiled at her seeing her approach. "Hi, Hannah."
"What were you doing with Hermione Granger?" she asked straight, ignoring her greeting.
Susan frowned. "We were working," she simply stated.
"Susan," Ernie said behind. Hannah was glad to not be the only one being fed up with Susan's behavior. "I think you should keep your distance with the Gryffindors right now. It would be good to show some support to Cedric."
Hannah totally agreed. Ever since the champions for the Triwizard Tournament had been chosen, Susan had been one of the very few to not show any enmity towards the House of Gryffindor, and who also displayed no sign of supporting Cedric. She refused to wear the badge, and continued to spend time with Gryffindors, especially with Hermione. She even claimed that they had no proof that Harry put his name into the Goblet of Fire, and that it was virtually impossible that he managed to put it there. This got on Hannah's nerves in the past, although a part of her brain was telling her that Susan's words actually made sense, but today she was fed up with her friend's behavior, who seemed to not care about the injustice Cedric and their house suffered because Harry decided he deserved to participate to the Tournament as well.
Usually, Susan was a very quiet person, very accepting of situations, who avoided conflict. However, when she wanted, Hannah's best friend could show that she was able to hold her ground. She walked towards Ernie until she was only a few feet away from him, and she voiced very calmly and evenly her thoughts.
"Ernie, I'm very sorry, but I'm not going to stop seeing my friends simply because Cedric is not the only student of Hogwarts who will risk his life in two weeks."
Hannah looked at her with wide eyes, not understanding what Susan just said.
"The Gryffindors are provoking us all the time, mocking us and Cedric at every turn. If…" Ernie began.
"If you believe they are mocking you, then just ignore them," Susan cut him. She then turned her attention to Justin, and Hannah was surprised by the much harder tone Susan took. "By the way, Justin, I don't want you to ever sit next to me in classroom ever again."
Justin looked as if he was struck in the chest. He looked at Susan in utter surprise. "But… why?" he uttered.
"Why? I ended up in the infirmary because of you!"
"It's Seamus who sent you those seeds," he protested weakly.
"And you started it by sending those first on Dean. Do you know that we must both take a potion daily for the rest of the week because of that?" Hannah was not aware of that.
"He insulted Cedric!"
"So what? Are you going to attack someone each time a bad word is said about Cedric or one of us? Are we in Slytherin now?"
That stung. Hannah felt a certain of guilt at this comment. Susan despised the House of Slytherin. She even told Hannah that she asked the Sorting Hat to absolutely not send her to this house when they arrived at Hogwarts. Hannah had asked this from the sorting Hat as well, but luckily for both of them, the Hat never considered sending them to this house. But Hannah knew how much important this was to Susan's eyes, even more than from most people's perspective.
"Well, lately the Slytherins have been better folks than the Gryffindors," Ernie said. "At least, they support Cedric."
"If you really think that, Ernie, then you're really stupid. And you look like it with this badge," Susan countered.
Ernie stood up. "Well, I'm sorry, Susan, if this hurt your feminine sensibility, but we're wearing this badge to support our champion. Cedric deserves our respect."
"Yes, he does. And if you truly respected him, you would remove these. He even asked his friends to get rid of them. And I can't believe you even accepted them in the first place. It's Draco Malfoy and his friends who made them. His father is an assassin."
"He was cleared of all charges after the last war."
"Because he bought his way out."
"Do you have proof of it?"
"Susan, listen." Hannah, all of a sudden, was no longer angry at her best friend. A little frustrated and irritated still, yes, but not angry. She knew Susan well, and she knew that nothing good could come out of a conversation on Death Eaters with the way it was heading. "Look, I understand why you hate the Death Eaters, and that Malfoy's father was a Death Eater, but that doesn't make Draco a servant of You-Know-Who. Maybe you should stop having prejudice about Malfoy only because someone in his family may have been a criminal once."
"Well, I apologize, Hannah, but I'm not inclined to have a good image of someone who makes such badges when both Cedric and Harry, but also the two other champions could be dead by the end of the month."
"Come on, Susan," Justin said. He had a pleading look on his face. "No one is going to die. The Ministry and Dumbledore made sure it would be safe."
"If they took so many precautions, how did we end up with four champions instead of three?" This shut up Justin.
"We have four champions because…" Ernie began.
"I know why you think there are four champions, Ernie. But over an entire millennium, there has been only one death in Quidditch, and it was a referee. One death for hundreds of thousand games played. In the meantime, for over five hundred years and only a few hundred tasks, over one hundred and fifty people died during a Triwizard Tournament, including champions, officials and people in the crowd. So please forgive me if I'm a little more worried by the fact that with four champions, we are more likely to see someone die, rather than feeling insulted by a supposed insult to the House of Hufflepuff." She turned to Hannah. "And I'm not going to turn my back on Hermione for such a childish thing, when she has absolutely nothing to do with this tournament."
On that, she walked away.
"Our Susan got a big issue," Ernie said.
Justin, next to him, sat deep in his armchair, looking miserable. Hannah knew why. Justin could take critics from everyone but Susan. She felt very sorry for him.
"I'm going to talk to her," she promised him.
Susan had gone to the girl's dormitory. Hannah went to see her, in an attempt to repairs things between them. She found her friend reading a book. Brushing her hair and reading were the two activities Susan used to calm herself down. Hannah carefully closed the door behind her. Susan kept her eyes on her book, ignoring her.
"Susan… please…" she begged.
Her friend lifted her eyes up her book. "What?"
She didn't sound as angry as she was before. Hannah even perceived a certain regret for the argument they all just had. Hannah felt regret too.
"Please… Don't blame Justin too much… He's someone good."
She nodded, but returned to reading her book right away.
Hannah wished she could make Susan change her mind. She knew that Justin must truly feel very miserable right now. Susan did not realize it, but Justin was in love with her. Hannah began to see the first signs late last year. At the Quidditch World Cup, it had become obvious Justin had a thing for Susan. However, Susan did not notice it. Her behavior with Justin remained friendly like it had always been. She did not realize the chance she had. Justin was quite handsome in his own way. Hannah wouldn't have minded if he looked at her the way he looked at Susan. She wouldn't mind is any boy looked at her this way. So far, her love life was as empty as the love lives of others were empty to her eyes.
"Susan… I'm sorry…. I apologize… I know you and Hermione are good friends, and that Hermione never wanted any of this to happen… You're my best friend, and I shouldn't be telling you who you should spend your time with or not."
Susan once again looked up from her book. "Thank you."
She didn't look back down. So Hannah added. "You're my best friend here. I don't want to lose you."
And this time, Susan smiled. "Me neither."
Hannah decided to do something to put an end to hostilities. She unpinned the badge from her robes. It had the words POTTER STINKS on it. "And you're right. It's true that it is a little stupid like this." She pressed it, returning it to a more positive message. "I'll keep it that way from now on."
"I can live with that," Susan replied.
In good measure, Hannah didn't pin back the badge, but she put it in the pockets of her robes. Susan's smile widened, and she knew the dispute with her best friend was over.
As you can see, no matter the circumstances, no matter how the article is written, Rita Skeeter keeps causing trouble.
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Next chapter: Harry