Chapter 8: The Trivial Fallout
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The article that followed told how Harry had fought You-Know-Who every year since his 1st year at Hogwarts, bar his 3rd, and how it was covered up. How there was evidence, and that the reporter had such proof.
How Rita Skeeter got ahold of this information nobody knows, but they were retracting everything they said about Harry all summer long, not to mention the years before. The article stated that he had been telling the truth the whole time, and that Fudge was corrupt. There were disparaging things being said about the entire government and how the establishment was going out of its way to put the burden on the shoulders of a 15-year-old boy.
They didn't withdraw what they said about Dumbledore though. They were still calling him a dozy old man, that needed to retire and give up his positions to someone younger than him. They too were calling him out about putting the responsibilities on those much too young to handle it.
"Shite, I knew I forgot something," Harry said as he read the front page. He got up and went to his bedroom, leaving his breakfast on the table and many confused people behind him. He ignored the voices calling his name and moved to seek solitude for a moment or two to get his thoughts straight.
"What did you forget this time?" Isobel asked, wondering what had her friend so upset. She coiled up around his shoulders, so that her head rested on his.
"This reporter is an Animagus. I think, she turns into a bug. Something really small. I forgot all about her, and she must have been riding on one of us yesterday," he explained, pacing the floor. "I put my money on Bones, since you would have known if she was on me."
"I'll keep an eye out for her in the future," Isobel stated, knowing she'd eat the bitch if she saw her. What Harry didn't know… well, she liked eating bugs. "Anyway, why are you letting this upset you? What's done is done. There's nothing you can do about it now. Just don't answer any questions you don't want to," she said, giving him the best advise she could think of.
He took a deep breath and sighed. He cleared his head and nodded. "Okay, you're right. You're the best snake a guy could ask for. I'd better get back down to breakfast," Harry said, going back down to finish eating. He knew it was going to be a rough day. There were going to be so many questions.
Everyone was still reading the paper when he returned, so he did the same. The breakfast was left to get cold on the table. Only the sound of rustling parchment could be heard. The only person eating was Ron, who never let anything interfere with the eating of a meal.
There was also another article that said that Sirius Black was innocent of all charges. That Peter Pettigrew was alive and a Death Eater. Even though Black hadn't been declared so in a court of law, the reporter knew for a fact that he was blameless. It stated that he needed to be exonerated soon, or the public would be up in arms that the ministry had put an innocent man in prison for 12 years. Not to mention the Kiss on Sight order. That there should be a manhunt for the real culprit, Pettigrew. Only a guilty man would fake his death and hide for over 12 years.
There was another article stating that there was a prophecy that only Harry Potter could kill the Dark Lord. And that he was the Chosen One. That they should rally around the teen and offer their support. However, they should not put the burden of fighting the entire war on this boy's shoulders. That they should gather support and fight by his side.
And yet another one about his trial and what a farce it was, and a waste of taxpayers' money. That they were trying to expel him for the small use of underage magic. Even how it was to protect himself from Dementors. The reporter questioned what the demons were doing in a muggle neighborhood. It did state that Harry killed the monsters, but it was classified as a family secret as to how.
And the last one was about Isobel. Only it was that she was a magical Boa constrictor. One that could petrify with a look. That Harry Potter was a strong wizard to have such a familiar. It was a small article in comparison, but it was there. Harry was shocked that his cover story was printed and not the truth. He wondered why.
Harry was also shocked to find that news of his time travel wasn't in there since all the other secrets were, bar Isobel. He was going to have to find Rita Skeeter and either blackmail the hell out of her or scare her. Or maybe she was already scared of his familiar. That might be it.
He was going to track this woman down, and he was going to make sure that she maintained her silence about his secrets. Or let Isobel eat her, either worked.
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There was a great deal of questions over breakfast after Molly heated it up. Harry answered them as best he could but kept everything ambiguous. He flat-out ignored the bossy questions and refused to answer any evasive ones. If it was public knowledge, then he had no problem answering. He let Sirius answer those that pertained to him. Ron and Hermione could answer those they knew.
Anything else was his secret and would stay that way. They really didn't need to know. The only person he needed to talk to was Sirius. And he would talk to him in private. They kept bombarding him with questions and he kept telling them it was none of their business. Everything they needed to know was in the newspaper.
"But, Harry, you need to tell us everything," said Hermione, reaching for his hand only to be warned off by his familiar.
"Back off, bitch," Isobel hissed, snapping at her hand. She withdrew when the teenage witch moved away. She really didn't like the bossy witch.
"No, what you need to know is in the newspaper," said Harry, pointing to the many Daily Prophets littering the table. He was applying himself to his pigs in a blanket. He rarely got to eat these and wanted to savor them. Dobby made them special for him.
"How are we going to protect you if you don't let us know what's going on?" she said, glaring at the snake. She was going to have to find a way to either get into the snake's good graces or get rid of it. She couldn't think of how to make the snake like her, so she'd settle for disposing of it. But how was the question. She couldn't kill it, that was against her nature. She'd have to find a legal way to make Harry give it up. "There's a prophecy about you," she stated, like that changed everything.
"What makes you think I need your protection?" he said, tilting his head in confusion. That was a new one. They had never thought that before.
"Of course, you need our protection. You've always needed our protection," she said in a condescending manner. They had always stuck up for Harry and protected him from the other students, even if he didn't know that.
"That's a bunch of twaddle and you know it," he said, shoving a pancake covered sausage in his mouth and chewing. Were they doing things behind his back that he didn't know about?
"You've needed us to protect you since the 1st year," said Ron, eating with gusto, and pointing his fork at Harry. They had been warning students off the Boy-Who-Lived since day one. Well, he had.
"A lot of good you did," said Harry. Not that he really remembered his 1st year, but he doesn't remember Ron sticking up for him. He did vaguely remember being shunned during the whole 50-point loss thing and the forest. He partially remembered the forest. It was detention, right? Ron didn't stick up for him then. At least not that he remembered.
"Oy, I remember going to bat for you 1st year. Don't you remember the duel with Draco Malfoy?" the redhead asked with a dreamy smile, like it was a fond memory.
"If I remember correctly," said Hermione with a glare at Ron, "You're the one who goaded Malfoy into the duel in the first place." It was not a fond memory for her. It was the first time she broke the rules at school. She remembered trying to keep them out of mischief and almost getting eaten for her trouble.
"I like that," said Ron, shoving a pig in a blanket in his mouth. His mum never made these before, he wondered if she would now. They were wonderful. "I'm the one who volunteered to be his second."
Harry wracked his brain, trying to remember that stupid duel. But try as he might, he couldn't remember that far back. He did remember that that's when they met Fluffy because Draco didn't show, but he couldn't remember the events leading up to it. "Well, it doesn't matter now," he said, waving the whole thing off. "I don't need your protection now. I'm a big boy. What's done is done, and all my business is now out for the public to see. They will do what they do, and say what they say, and there's little you can do about it."
"How much of this is true?" asked Hermione, knowing about 50% of it was, but wanting to know if the rest of it was as well.
"Quite a bit of it, actually," said Harry with a sigh. "Which is why I don't feel the need to tell you anymore." It was bad enough that the rest of the wizarding world now knew his business. They were going to be intolerable. Chosen One, indeed.
"Do you mean to tell me that your life has been in danger at Hogwarts every year?" asked Arthur a bit hot under the collar.
"Yes," said Harry with a nod.
"How come the parents weren't notified about this?" the father of seven asked. He was very upset by this. His children had been in danger these last four years and he had only known about two of them. What effected Harry could have bled over to his kids. Especially since Ron was Harry's best friend. With the way the boy talked about it, he was next to Harry during all of these events. And according to the newspaper, only during the 3rd year, was Harry not confronted by You-Know-Who. Did that mean Ron faced him too?
"You'll have to take that one up with Dumbledore," said Harry with a casual shrug. He had no problems throwing the man under the Knight Bus.
"Oh, believe me, I will," said Mr. Weasley, slamming his fork on the table in a fit of anger.
"You'll do no such thing," said Mrs. Weasley, rounding on her husband. "I'm sure Dumbledore has his reasons." There had to be a good reason for it too. Dumbledore would tell them if her family would have been in danger, she was sure of it.
"Molly, it was bad enough that he almost didn't tell us that Ginny was taken over by the Dark Lord in her 1st year. But to learn that there has been danger at Hogwarts almost every year for the last 4 years is inconceivable," Arthur said, harshly. He wasn't going to back down. He had known about Sirius and the tournament, but he was told that everything was under control. Now according to the Daily Prophet, it was not as under control as the headmaster made it seem.
"I'm sure he has his reasons," Molly repeated. Though she didn't seem as convinced as she was a few moments ago.
"Nevertheless," said Mr. Weasley in a softer tone. "I'm going to have words with him."
As fate would have it, at that moment Dumbledore came into the room, brandishing the newspaper. "Ah, Harry, my boy," he said, coming in in bright green and yellow robes that took on the shapes of flying birds, with matching hat, of course, "I need to speak with you."
"I think Mr. Weasley would like to talk to you first, Headmaster," Harry said, cutting up his pig in a blanket. He was still hungry. Damn his 15-year-old body. It never seemed satisfied with the amount of food he fed it. Then again, maybe if he ate his fill, he'd be taller than he was last time.
"I'm sure Arthur would understand why it's more important that I speak to you posthaste," the old man said, looking to Mr. Weasley with a knowing look.
"Go ahead, Harry. I can have my discussion with Albus when he's done with you," Arthur said, waving the boy on. Mr. Weasley was always one to back down, much to Harry's disappointment.
"Fine. But save my breakfast," said Harry, getting up from the table and going towards the door. "We can meet in the parlor." He made his way there, stomping the whole way, like a boy his body's age would.
Harry marched his way down the hall and waited for Dumbledore to catch up with him, which didn't take long because the man's legs were much longer than his. The man/teen sat in a chair with Isobel around his shoulders in full view.
Dumbledore came into the door with Sirius hot on his heels.
"Sirius, I wanted to talk to Harry alone," the old man said in a chastising manner.
"Too bad. If you wanna talk to my godson, you're going to have me here with him," Sirius said, taking the chair next to Harry. He even pet Isobel once on the head. She snapped at his hand. He jerked it back but smiled. "She's starting to like me, I can tell," he told Harry.
Harry just nodded and smiled back.
"If you are finished playing," Dumbledore stated, glaring at the childish man. "Now then, Harry, what is all this in the newspaper and how did this news get out?" he asked, like it was Harry's fault and only his.
"Beats me. All I did was talk to Madam Bones. I have no idea how that reporter got all that information. I thought we were incognito," Harry said, slumping in his chair in a nonchalant manner. He wasn't going to take the blame for this.
"You know Rita Skeeter, Albus, she's always finding a way to get her story. If you ask me, I'd say she is an Animagus," Sirius said, rubbing his chin at the thought. "It's the only thing that makes sense," he added. He was thinking of Peter and how many times the man had spied for them as a teenager.
Harry looked at his godfather and was shocked that he had hit it so close to the head.
"Be that as it may, this is going to put a crimp on my plans," said Dumbledore, going over all the fires he was going to have to put out now that the news that Voldemort was reported alive and that there was a prophecy about him and Harry.
"That's not my fault," said Harry heatedly. "I had no idea that the reporter was anywhere near us when I said these things to Madam Bones. We thought we were alone. We even took precautions to make sure we were unheard." He was not going to let the old man put the blame on him.
"I'm sure you did your best, my boy. Nevertheless, secrets got out and things are going to go awry for a while. You must endeavor to make sure you are alone from now on," the headmaster said in his disappointed grandfather voice.
"And pray tell, how am I supposed to do that when I am not allowed to use magic outside of school?" Harry asked with a bitter note in his tone. He just loved how the headmaster tried to give him unsolvable tasks.
"I'm sure you will find a way, young man," Dumbledore said, in that knowing way of his, like Harry was the prize bull in his herd.
"Whatever," said Harry, sitting up straighter. "I'm not going to let you pin this on me. You can use your disappointed grandfather's voice all you want. It's not going to work on me. I'm not going to feel guilty for something that was out of my control." He looked at Albus with such disdain that the old man actually flinched.
Perhaps he should go about this in a different way. He used his disappointment too often that it was losing its value. Mayhap he should praise instead of chastising. He mulled that over for a moment.
Isobel took that moment to hiss at Albus, "You stupid prick, you leave my friend alone." She lunged at him, coming very close to biting his nose.
Dumbledore yanked his head back, jerking it in such a manner that they feared injury.
Isobel went back to resting on Harry's shoulder.
"You need to control your snake a little bit more, young man," Dumbledore stated, rubbing his nose even though she hadn't touched it.
"She's just looking out for my best interest. Besides, she was just threatening you. She didn't hurt you in any way," the man/teen said, waving his scolding away.
Dumbledore looked at the snake with a bit of hatred in his eyes. Then they cleared up and started twinkling again. "So, you know about the prophecy now?" he asked. There was something in his tone that Harry didn't like. It was like the man had received all he wanted for Yule and more.
"Yes, we went down and listened to it yesterday," Harry said, slowly and with a casual shrug.
"How did you find out about it?" the old man asked, leaning forward just a bit in curiosity.
"Sirius told me." He cut a look to his godfather hoping the man would play along.
"Sirius, my boy, I wanted that to be kept a secret for a reason," the headmaster chastised the dogman.
"I felt that Harry should know about it," said Sirius unrepentantly. He was not afraid of Dumbledore.
"Well, what's done is done. What do you feel about the prophecy, Harry, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, still in a tone that Harry didn't like. There was an underlying something that creeped Harry out.
"I think it's a great bunch of hooey," the time traveler said completely honestly.
Sirius laughed uproariously.
Isobel snapped at Harry's ear. She still felt that it was valid.
"Now, Harry, you must find that there must be some seriousness in this," came the reprimand. That disappointed tone was back, though it was toned down.
"No, I think it's a great bunch of words jumbled together that don't even make any sense. If it makes you feel any better, Isobel puts some stock into it," Harry said, petting his snake who was still staring down the old man like it was her job.
"Why would your snake put stock into a prophecy?" was the confused question.
"Don't ask me. I still think it's a bunch of bullshit," the man/teen said, waving the question away.
"There is no need to be vulgar, Harry, my boy," the headmaster said, the twinkle in his eyes dimming.
"I don't like the prophecy, and I don't believe in it. Isobel thinks there's something to it, so I went and let her listen to it," Harry said, standing firm on his belief.
"Well, I put a great deal of validity into this prophecy, and I believe that you should too," Albus said, sitting up as tall as he could as if to impose his belief on the boy. "There are powers that you do not know of, that can greatly aide you," he stated, trying to sound ominous.
"You can't force me to believe in something," Harry said, not the least bit cowed.
"Alas, no I cannot," Dumbledore stated, disappointed that his ploy didn't work.
"Are we done?"
"Yes, we are done. I do ask that you endeavor to try and make sure you are alone before you have any more private conversations. Especially those in public," the old man said, trying one more time to be imposing.
"Whatever, I'm not going to defend myself with you anymore." With that, Harry and Sirius got up to leave.
"Wait, before you leave, I do have something for Isobel," said Dumbledore, reaching into his robe and pulling out a small stretchy necklace, that had a bauble on it that was round and silver. It glowed slightly with magic. "This is the glamour ball that I invented for her, so that she will look like a Boa constrictor."
"Oh, right, I'd forgotten about that," said Harry, taking it and putting it on Isobel. It fit right behind her head where the taper was the slimmest. Like at the ministry, it mostly just hid her crest and made her look like a normal snake.
"That fucking tickles," she hissed, shivering all over. "I don't like it," she complained, wiggling her head back and forth trying to shake it off. It slid down until it rested more comfortably in the right spot. It wasn't perfect, but it was better. The bauble was on her back where it would not interfere with her movements.
"Do make sure that this stays on her neck the entire time you are at Hogwarts," warned the headmaster, his eyes were twinkling again.
"No problem," said Harry, vowing to make sure there weren't any other charms on the bauble.
Isobel blinked a few times with her special eyelids and relaxed.
This time, he and Sirius were able to leave the room unimpeded. They went back to the breakfast table and finished their breakfast. They were the only ones in the dining room and were soon splitting ways.
Harry went up to his room and examined the jewel. He wanted to make sure that there were no extra charms on it that would hurt Isobel. So, he cast his wand over it, using all his curse breaking knowledge and found that there was one that was to make her nonaggressive. He took that one off immediately. He liked his snake the way she was, thank you very much. But other than that, it was just the charm to hide her crest.
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Time passed, more questions were thrown at him, he ignored them all. The Order members tried to throw their weight around, but they got the same treatment. Snape was the worst. His sneers were legendary. He tried to corner Harry, but Isobel snapped at him and his overly large nose.
The man soon backed off and stayed far away from the boy and his snake. However, he sneered from across the room at them whenever they were in the same room at the same time. Which was very rarely. Harry didn't care. He was more mature than Severus Snape.
Harry and Sirius had a long talk, and he told his godfather about what he and the other two ministry workers talked about. Which was pretty much what was in the Daily Prophet. They discussed what Croaker could do to help, and how Sirius could now be freed. Which was looking more and more likely. There were messages passed between Amelia and Arthur to Harry, that Sirius was going to be exonerated soon.
Dobby was in communication with Croaker about the Horcruxes, which there was little news about, but there was contact.
The ridge between Harry and his former friends got wider and wider. Which was fine with him because he didn't feel that these teenagers had anything in common with him as an adult in a teenage body. That and he didn't think they should have anything to do with the war. And if that meant that he had to separate himself from them, that was fine too. That and they hated his Isobel and made that quite clear.
Like the women in his last past, if you didn't like Isobel, you didn't have a part in his life.
Ginny had gotten over her crush on him, which was great. She just couldn't get past his snake.
Molly had gotten petrified one more time. And Harry had given Arthur the Mandrake Potion but told him the next time she got petrified he was going to have to charge him for it because those potions were not cheap. That kept Molly's tongue in her mouth because there was no way they could afford the potion. Which Harry was charging 2 galleons for.
However, Harry did get closer to the twins. Try as he might, he just couldn't keep them away. They were just too much fun to be around. That and, they were deviously clever. They would be a great asset in the war effort with their inventions. Being the responsible adult that he was, he did tell them that they needed to up their game in their scholastic endeavors. If they did, then he would invest more into their company. That and they would be better off for it in the end.
When they told him that he had already invested too much in their company, he remembered that he had given them the prize from the Triwizard Tournament. He had forgotten about that. But he said he had more money, and he was more than willing to invest more if they got good grades on their NEWTs. To which they agreed
About a week before school was supposed to start, Dumbledore came to Harry to tell him that he was to take Occlumency lessons with Snape and Harry laughed in his face. Which put an affronted look on the old man's face.
"I'm not taking any lessons with that man," the man/teen said, guffawing loudly. Isobel was laughing too, but it was coming out as long hisses. She sounded like weak bellows, that stoked fires.
"But it is imperative that you close your mind," the old man stated, looking at the teen in front of him. He just didn't understand why the boy was laughing. The teen had been defying him all summer. Was it just teenage rebellion? Or was something else going on? Could it be the influence of the snake? Was there something he could do about it?
"My mind is airtight," Harry stated, finally getting ahold of himself and looking him dead in the eye as if daring him to test it.
Dumbledore took the dare and tried to look into the teen's mind and could not penetrate it. He was perplexed. "Wherever did you learn such a skill, Harry, my boy?" he asked dumbfounded. He sat hard on the chair behind him. Harry was an open book just a few short months ago. What happened? This would not do. How would they know what Voldemort was doing if Harry could not see into his mind?
"Isobel taught me," Harry said, smugly. It was his story, and he was sticking to it.
"That is most unbelievable," the old man said, looking down his nose at the boy with doubt in his eyes.
"Believe what you want," Harry said, with a shrug. "Snape isn't getting anywhere near my head," he stated and left the room. That was the last he heard on the subject.
The letters for the school supplies came and Sirius, who was finally exonerated thanks to the article, went with Harry to get his things. It had been a silent thing, but Sirius was suing the ministry for false imprisonment. He wasn't going to let it drop.
Everyone steered clear of him and Harry. Mostly because of Harry's snake, who was draped around his neck, and Sirius's reputation. They were done shopping in a matter of an hour. Harry thought that that was the quickest time he had ever done his shopping. He was happy about it.
Molly had been most put out that they didn't trust her to do his shopping. And that he would put himself at risk to do it himself. The argument would have been epic, had not Isobel threatened to petrify the woman again, via Harry.
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It was time to get on the Hogwarts Express. Harry was looking for a compartment while the twins went to find Lee. They were going to ride with their friends and Harry was going to try and find someplace where Hermione and Ron weren't going to ride with him. He came across a little blonde girl and Neville. He vaguely recalled the little blonde girl, but for the life of him he could not remember her name. Well, she wasn't so much a girl as a teen, but she was so slender that he couldn't help thinking of her as little.
"Hey, Neville, how was your summer?" Harry said, stowing his trunk on the overhead rack.
"It was alright, Harry. I read in the papers that yours was quite eventful," the teenage blondish male said. He had grown out of much of his baby fat and was looking good. He had shot up quite a bit too.
"Yes, yes, it was. Not that I wanted my summer to be bandied about in the papers, but there it is," the man/teen said, still standing, but leaning against the door.
"Oh, yes, Harry Potter," said the little blonde girl. "How come I feel I should know you already?" she asked in an airy tone.
"And your name would be?"
"I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Ah yes, how could I forget such a lovely name?" said Harry. Now he remembered her. She was with him at the ministry when Sirius died. They really didn't keep in touch after Hogwarts. If he remembered correctly, she went on to become a Magizoologist. She married well too, but he couldn't remember who.
"Have we met before?" asked Luna, tilting her head, making her white-blonde hair cascade down her shoulder.
"Only in my dreams," said Harry with a winning smile. He took her hand and kissed the knuckles.
"Oh, how delightfully romantic," said Luna, smiling back at him.
"I'm sure it is to you, my dear," he said, moving to sit, but just then, Isobel decided to come out and introduce herself, causing Neville to scream a little bit. Harry decided to stay standing for a moment or two just in case he was no longer welcome. "Don't worry, this is my familiar Isobel. I'm sure you read about her in the papers. Isobel, meet Neville and Luna," he hissed the last part, causing Neville to shiver, but not Luna.
"Pleasure," Isobel hissed, nodding her head.