The Potter Manor Chronicles

Chapter Seven

Lucy's Article

Ginny could feel Harry trembling as they walked down the corridor. She could tell that he was trying to suppress it. She put her hand on his chest.

"Wait a minute Harry."

"I'm tired," Harry whispered hoarsely.

"You won't be able to sleep and you know it!" Ginny pulled him into a parlour on the side of the corridor. Once inside, she pushed him onto a sofa and sat next to him. "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

Harry bit his lip and leaned back against the sofa with the box clutched in his left hand. "I don't know that it's really bothering me, it's just...a lot at once."

Ginny rested her head on Harry's chest and began wrapping a lock of his untidy hair around her right index finger. "I wish I could make everything go away, Harry."

Harry quickly sat up forcing Ginny to sit up as well. "You shouldn't," said Harry.

"What?"

"I've dragged you and everyone else too far into this already."

"We're not going though this again!" said Ginny firmly.

"None of you would be caught in the middle of this war if it wasn't for me. You'd be safe. And now you're all in danger and caught up in trying to make my life easier."

Ginny started to laugh. "You don't think too highly of us, do you?"

"What do you mean, of course I do."

"Well, I like to think I'd have enough integrity to oppose Voldemort even if I had nothing to do with you. Sirius, Remus, and Annie all openly opposed him before you were born, so did my mum and dad. People like Lucius Malfoy, Wormtail, and Barty Crouch dragged us into this, not you. You've saved a lot of lives, Harry. As for trying to make your life easier, that's what people do when they care about someone, it's human nature, not some sort of twisted obligation."

Ginny grabbed Harry's right wrist. He tried to pull it away, but she tightened her grip and gently pushed back the sleeve of his bathrobe and began to caress the scars left by Wormtail and the other Death Eaters who had kidnapped him only ten days earlier. Harry's bottom lip trembled as tears began to leak from his green eyes.

"I'm so glad Sirius brought you here. I don't know how I would have made it through the summer knowing you were in pain and having to endure those horrid relatives of yours on top of everything else you're going through. You're safe, Harry. They can't hurt you or any of us here."

"We're safe now," Harry whispered. "But what happens in September when we go back to school. We have a long journey between the safety of this place and the safety of Hogwarts. Besides, even Dumbledore can't completely guarantee our safety. Who's to say we're completely safe here?"

"We'll just have to deal with things as best as we can when they come," said Ginny as she put her hand on Harry's cheek and wiped the tears from his eyes with her thumb. She rested her head on his chest again. Harry laid back and stretched out his legs on the rest of the sofa. Ginny did the same with her legs. Harry wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so tired, Ginny, so tired."

"It's okay for you to be tired. Get some rest." The Flannery box fell to the floor as Harry finally drifted off to sleep.

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"Just what do you two think you're doing?" said Ron loudly into Harry's ear. Harry and Ginny both jerked awake and quickly sat up.

"What time is it?" asked Harry.

"It's almost 8:30," said Ron with a grin. "Looks like you two haven't been behaving yourselves." Ron noticed that there wasn't so much as a hint of a blush or a grin on either Harry or Ginny's faces. Harry looked especially pale. "Is anything wrong?" Ron asked with a concerned frown.

"Nothing more than the usual," said Harry. "I just don't feel like talking about it right now."

Ron eyed the Flannery box as Harry picked it up. "Just something my gran left me. I don't know exactly what it is yet," said Harry answering Ron's unspoken question.

"Why don't we get some breakfast," said Ginny. "I'm starving." Harry smiled gratefully at her. Ron raised his eyebrows, but decided to drop his inquiry for the moment.

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"It's about time you got here," said Hermione. "You've got to read this!" She held up the morning edition of The Daily Prophet. Lucy's article was on page four, but it was there.

"Fudge and Skeeter are definitely getting it in the arse!" said Fred happily.

"Maybe Dad'll be Minister of Magic after this," said George. Harry, Ron, and Ginny leaned over the table to read the article.

Time to Stop Living a Lie

By Lucy Figg

Just over one year ago, Lord Voldemort (I refuse to say "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named") was resurrected when Peter Pettigrew, a man who was believed to be dead, and Barty Crouch Jr., also believed to be dead, kidnapped Harry Potter during the Triwizard Tournament and took his blood to use in a very complex, dark spell. Mr. Potter witnessed the death of fellow tournament champion Cedric Diggory as well as several of Lord Voldemort's supporters from the first war returning to his service. Among them were Lucius Malfoy, Fredrick Crabbe, and Salvador Goyle; all of whom were arrested two days ago after torturing Remus Lupin for information. They escaped early yesterday along with Peter Pettigrew. Their current whereabouts are unknown and their families are denying any knowledge.

After Harry Potter escaped Lord Voldemort and returned to Hogwarts by portkey, he discovered that Barty Crouch jr. had been taking polyjuice potion to disguise himself as Mad Eye Moody since the beginning of the year. Crouch knew everything about Voldemort's plans, but rather than question him Minister Fudge felt it necessary to bring a dementor into the castle. The dementor administered its fatal kiss on Crouch thus destroying the Ministry's chances of retrieving the valuable information Crouch knew. Fudge justified his actions by saying that Crouch was just a lunatic. He went on to deny the possibility that Voldemort had risen again. He was in even more vehement denial when Harry Potter named Lucius Malfoy as one of the Death Eaters. Malfoy and his family had been personal guests of the Minister at the Quidditch World Cup several months earlier. This was after Mr. Malfoy had threatened to curse several families of the school governors early in 1993 if they did not suspend Albus Dumbledore after several attacks on Muggle-born students.

It's time to back up and correct a few errors written by Miss Rita Skeeter. Miss Skeeter appears to have severely distorted the truth in every article she has written, but I will concentrate on the lies that have personally effected Harry Potter.

In 1981, Rita Skeeter wrote an article claiming that Sirius Black was Lord Voldemort's right hand man. Let's take a look at how things stood before the magic community began to fear the name "Sirius Black." The day that Peter Pettigrew killed twelve Muggles with a single curse and transformed into a rat officials from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad arrived on the scene to interview Muggle witnesses who said that they saw an explosion. Bartimus Crouch Sr. put in the reports that they saw Sirius Black cause the explosion. Eager to become the next Minister of Magic, Crouch sent Black and several others to Azkaban without a trial. It is rather ironic that Crouch's own son was actually Voldemort's most loyal follow. Barty Crouch Jr. was among those who tortured Frank and Clara Longbottom driving them to insanity while their small son Neville watched. The younger Crouch was sent to Azkaban but rescued when his dying mother traded places with him using polyjuice potion. The elder Crouch kept his son under the Imperius Curse for eleven years until he was released by Pettigrew, who had returned to the service of Lord Voldemort.

Lily and James Potter named Sirius Black godfather and guardian to Harry. When Black was sent to Azkaban for twelve years, Harry was sent to live with his only living relatives, the Dursleys, Muggles who forced him to live in a cupboard under their stairs for ten years and believed they could "beat the magic out of him." Living with the Dursleys gave Harry blood protection against any Death Eater who wished to harm him, but he was cheated out of living with his godfather who would have given him a loving home. Sirius Black, one of the biggest opponents of Voldemort during the first war, was also cheated out of twelve years of his life and nearly administered a dementor's kiss on the orders of Fudge.

Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban when he saw a picture of Pettigrew in his rat form in The Daily Prophet. He knew that Pettigrew was at Hogwarts positioned to harm Harry Potter if he heard that Voldemort was gaining power again. The magic community believed that it was Black's intent to murder Harry Potter, when it was actually his intent to save him.

"For a long time, I believed that Sirius had betrayed my parents," says Harry. "But then Ron, Hermione, and I learned the truth. Fudge wouldn't listen to us. He thought we'd been confounded and was going to have a dementor administer the fatal kiss on Sirius. Luckily, Sirius escaped, but he was still on the run until his innocence was proven in the trial last fall. For one glorious hour, though, I thought I was actually going to leave the Dursleys to live with someone who actually cared about me. If Fudge had listened to us, I know I would have. Fudge was blind enough to think that the dementors were protecting us. One of them nearly administered a fatal kiss on me before a patronus of unknown origin drove it away. That was one of the most terrifying moments of my life."

Fudge was warned by Dumbledore to have the dementors removed from Azkaban because of their loyalty to Lord Voldemort. He, of course, refused. As we all well know the Lestranges as well as several other convicted Death Eaters have been returned to the Dark Lord's service, while fatal kisses have been administered to several Azkaban prisoners on Voldemort's orders. These people were people sent to Azkaban by Bartimus Crouch without trials. More than likely, they, like Sirius Black, were innocent. They have suffered a fate that no one deserves. In the opinion of this reporter, the magical community ought to be ashamed with itself for associating with such creatures.

Now, let's get back to Rita Skeeter, shall we? During the Triwizard Tournament, she wrote several articles about Harry Potter and his friends that horribly distorted the facts. "She interviewed me the day after my name came out of the hat and kept putting words in my mouth," says Harry. "Very few people believed that I hadn't entered the tournament of my own free will and the article just made it worse." Of course, now we all know that Harry was entered into the tournament as part of a plot by Lord Voldemort, Pettigrew and Crouch Jr. to kidnap him.

Later that year, Skeeter wrote an article defaming Rubeus Hagrid, whom everyone who has attended Hogwarts since 1944 knows as the gamekeeper of the school. He was also appointed as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher in 1993. In her article she revealed that Hagrid is half giant, which is true. She also claimed that Hagrid is the son of Fridwulfa, which is a lie. Hagrid's mother is, in fact, Altilda, who has never had any known association with Voldemort, nor has she been known to kill. After the article was published, Hagrid received several nasty letters telling him to do away with himself. Fortunately, those who have known Hagrid personally sent several letters to Headmaster Dumbledore in support of him. "They told me, in no uncertain terms that if I sacked Hagrid, they would have something to say about it. I never had any intention of sacking Hagrid. He has always and will always have my complete confidence," says Dumbledore.

"Hagrid was the first person I remember trusting," says Harry. "I didn't even know I was a wizard until he came to get me when I received my Hogwarts letter. I have always felt I could count on Hagrid. He may have a bit of an odd taste in pets, but he possesses nothing but a kind nature. I was outraged when Rita Skeeter wrote that article that made it sound like Hagrid was some cruel and vicious monster. I can't believe people bought it when Gregory Goyle said he was bitten by a flobberworm. They don't even have teeth!"

"I owled the school in support of Hagrid when the article was published," says Padma Patil, former Hogwarts student and mother of Parvarti and Padma Patil, current Hogwarts students. "Anyone who has actually known Hagrid would never buy the rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote about him."

Among other distorted truths in the article, Rita Skeeter wrote that Hagrid was expelled in his third year. What she failed to mention was why. Hagrid was accused of a crime he did not commit. He was accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets and setting a monster loose that killed one Myrtle Hemminford. The real culprit behind the attacks was in fact Tom Riddle, better known today as Lord Voldemort. The Head Master of the time, Professor Armondo Dippet, kept the events quiet. This is yet another example of Voldemort gaining power because the leaders of the magic community prefer to hide the truth rather than deal with it. Hagrid, like Sirius Black was a scapegoat. For fifty years, the truth of his innocence was hidden. When the Chamber of Secrets was re-opened in1992 and 1993, Hagrid was accused and sent to Azkaban for several months by Minister Fudge.

One of Harry's best friends, Hermione Granger, was yet another victim of Rita Skeeter's distortions. "I got angry and yelled at her in Three Broomsticks for all the horrible things she wrote about Hagrid," says Hermione. "As revenge, she published an article saying that I was playing with Harry's emotions while stringing Viktor Krum along. People sent me all sorts of nasty letters. Some of them had curses or horrible substances so I started burning them. I had to go to the hospital wing and miss class when somebody sent me concentrated Bubotuber puss. But others sent Howlers and I couldn't very well ignore those."

"I think that people who sent nasty letters to Hermione and Hagrid ought to be ashamed of themselves," says Harry. "Hermione has been one of my best friends since we survived a troll attack with our friend Ron in our first year. She has never been my girlfriend and she would never string anybody along. Hermione has always been a friend I can count on."

"I am sorry to admit that I believed what Rita Skeeter had written," says Viktor Krum. "Both Harry and Hermione told me that they are just friends and I believe them. Hermione never lead me on. I liked her. She did not just see me as a famous Quidditch player as so many other girls did. She never led me to believe that we were more than friends."

Last but not least, we cannot forget the article where Rita Skeeter claimed that Harry Potter was disturbed and dangerous. Harry Potter can in fact, speak Parseltongue. The question is: does that make him evil? No. Like Rubeus Hagrid being a half giant and Remus Lupin (Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts from 1993-1994, whom many students consider to be the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher they've ever had) being a werewolf; Harry Potter's ability to talk to snakes has been associated with Dark Magic for a long time because it is what Salazar Slytherin was famous for, however it is in itself not Dark Magic.

"We saw Harry Potter speak in Parseltongue. to a snake during Dueling Club in our second year," says Justin Finch-Fletchley, an Hufflepuff classmate of Harry's. "Draco Malfoy shot a serpent from his wand that turned on me. Harry said something to it in Parseltongue. and we all thought he was egging it on, but he was really telling it to leave me alone. I ran out of the hall. When I had time to think about it, I realized that Harry couldn't have been telling the snake to attack me, but I was petrified by a basilisk before I could find him to apologize. He didn't even know he was speaking another language at the time it happened."

Harry also experiences pain in his famous scar whenever Voldemort is near or feeling murderous. Rita Skeeter claimed this made him disturbed and dangerous. It is merely a part of being The Boy Who Lived. She also claimed that his friendships with Rubeus Hagrid and Remus Lupin were part of his so-called thirst for power. Many of Harry's friends, like him are victims of scape-goating and this needs to stop. We need to stop being controlled by fear and deception and start fighting for the good of our community. Fudge and many others seem to want to continue to deny that Voldemort has returned in order to preserve their sense of security. "I am outraged by this stance!" says Amos Diggory, father of the late Cedric Diggory. "My son was murdered by Voldemort, and to deny the truth of that is to dishonour Cedric's memory."

"It's a little rough," said Hermione. "But impressive nonetheless."

"She's pretty resourceful," said Ron. "I didn't know she was going to interview other people."

"Well, she had to back up what we said," said Ginny.

"Looks like she left a few minor details out," said George with a grin.

"At least she didn't distort anything we said," said Hermione.

"I wonder if Skeeter and Fudge have gotten any Howlers yet," said Alicia.

"That's something I can't wait to find out," said Fred.

"I bet you can't," said Angelina with a grin.

Harry sat quietly as the excited chatter broke out. He barely heard what was being said. The article had drudged up a lot of painful memories. Harry noticed that Neville was also very quiet and he had no doubt why. Although Neville had told Lucy it was okay to mention his parents in her article, Harry was certain it was still very painful.

"You alright, Neville?" Harry whispered. Neville shrugged and nodded. As Harry was about to ask Neville if he was sure, two owls flew in the window and landed in front of him. One of them was the brown Tawny owl that Hagrid always used to send him messages and the other was Cho's silvery owl.