The next morning, the whole group was having breakfast along with Narcissa and Eleadora. It was tranquil enough and Harry was waiting for Hedwig to arrive. However, a fuming Remus came into the kitchen and handed the older females a newspaper. They read in silence and they were all shocked when the prim and proper Narcissa Malfoy cursed. Harry stood up and took the newspaper from the woman's hands.
ATTACK AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!
By Philip Anderson
Yesterday night, at the Quidditch World Cup, a group of miscreants attacked during the celebration. Thanks to the efforts of our Minister, Cornelius Fudge, the security was high and they were unable to do much damage. However, that is not the worrying thing. A group of masked individuals appeared during the battle, but it is unclear if they joined a side or attacked everyone they could in order to create even more chaos. This group wore attire that resembled that which the Death Eaters wore during the last war, so we conclude they are trying to emulate them.
Taking this into consideration, Minister Fudge has decided to name them as enemies of our people. He does this in order to ensure our safety; however, he is being lenient by offering them an opportunity to surrender themselves at the Ministry.
Harry could not keep reading because of the chuckles that managed to escape. The article was ridiculous. It seemed like a moron with low IQ and delusions of grandeur wrote it. He gave the newspaper to the others and proceeded to continue eating his breakfast.
"What's so funny?" Remus demanded, "this was published yesterday evening, by now everyone will believe those lies. Those idiots are making Fudge look like a hero and didn't even mention that Death Eaters and Voldemort himself attacked!" the man exclaimed in frustration.
"Perhaps, but that's what makes it even more amusing. I bet the other newspaper will give another report, with reliable sources and real interviews. This article was written by idiots who need to stop being seen as a serious publication," he commented and Narcissa's eyes grew wide in realization.
"I didn't think about it that way. It's easy to forget that we have more than one newspaper now," Remus muttered in a small voice.
Hedwig and Apollo flew in, each carrying two newspapers. He petted his beautiful owl and handed her some bacon while she got comfortable in his lap. He untied the newspapers and handed a copy to Elizabeth. The headlines were enough to please him; perhaps he should give Rita something nice as a reward.
DEATH EATERS ATTACK THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!
By Rita Skeeter
My dear readers, this is not a joke or a misunderstanding! As you have read, the Cup was attacked in a devastating way by the monstrosity that keeps calling itself the Dark Lord. This man led Death Eaters, Inferi, and Dementors to interrupt the celebrations after the game.
No one was expecting an attack and the destruction devastated the campsite, claiming many lives in the process. However, Madam Bones was ready in case of any eventuality, and the Aurors reacted in a prompt and efficient manner. But no matter how hard they tried, our protectors were outnumbered and all seemed to be lost.
A particularly talented group of our heroes decided to give their lives, if necessary, to protect the others. Potent Patronuses were cast and the Dementors were repelled. One of them noticed how dangerous the Inferi were and decided to use a firestorm charm, a complicated piece of magic that has devastating effects if it is not controlled. However, it was cast by an experienced Auror who did not lose control for a second. That way, without the Inferi and Dementors interfering, the other Aurors were able to push the attackers back.
I managed to get an interview with a few of the people who participated in the battle for a more accurate description: Amelia Bones, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Lord Sirius Black.
RS: Good evening. I thank you for agreeing to speak with me.
SB: No problem. We only wish for the people to know what really happened.
RS: Very well. Can someone tell me what happened during the Cup?
AB: That night, people were celebrating and, at first, we believed the disturbance was caused by drunken enthusiasts who took their celebration too far. Nevertheless, we went to check what was happening. The moment we arrived, we were attacked by Death Eaters. The Lestranges were torturing two Muggle adults and had children as hostages, so we were unable to attack them. Reinforcements arrived, but so did Dementors, and Inferi began rising from the ground. That's without counting the giants, who were destroying the camping site. Suddenly, we were outnumbered and we began to lose hope.
A group of citizens and a few retired Aurors that we assume are capable duellists joined the battle and turned the tables. They began casting Patronuses and aiding the Aurors in their battles; the most notable feat was the firestorm that took care of the Inferi. The Dark Lord (note that she called him by his name) made a new appearance, but was unable to defeat one of the citizens who began duelling with him.
The attack was unexpected and we did our best to push them back. We won the confrontation, but there was a high price to pay. (By this moment, the severe head of the DMLE looked devastated by the losses and I agree; far too many lives were lost in less than a few hours).
KS: We lost many brave people who died with honour. I owe my life to a civilian who helped me in my battle; if he had not stepped in, I have no doubt that I would not be here at the moment... I also thank Sirius Black and Harry Potter; their generous donations ensured that no more innocent lives were taken.
SB: It was a hard fight, and we thank the people who decided to step in; they made all the difference.
RS: Did you apprehend any of the perpetrators?
AM: Most of the cowards escaped when they noticed they were outmatched, but two were left behind. At the moment, they are in intensive care and we will be unable to question them until they wake up, and that is if they wake up at all.
RS: That was unexpected; I hope they manage to survive... I heard disquieting rumours of a vigilante group that joined the duel and attacked everyone. How much of this is true?
SB: None of it. The only ones that joined were the citizens, and they helped us. Those are ridiculous and unfounded rumours.
RS: That's good to know; it's more than enough having rogue criminals. Is the DMLE closer to capturing those fugitives?
AB: We are doing our best, but we concluded that they are hiding under the Fidelius, so that makes it harder to track them. We are trying to pass a law for the forced use of Veritaserum on any captured criminal that carries the Dark Mark. Unfortunately, we don't have enough votes in the Wizengamot.
RS: And what does this law entail?
KS: It will be easy for us to know which people were victims of the Imperius and which were willing Death Eaters. If we had used Veritaserum during the last war, we would have obtained precise information from Bellatrix Lestrange about who were Death Eaters, how many crimes she was guilty of, and how many people they had in their ranks. Now we can try to correct our mistakes and ensure this does not happen again.
RS: This seems a sensible proposal and I agree with it. Is there anything else you wish to say to the magical people?
AM: Yes, there is. The Dark Lord (note that he used his real name) is back, or at least he is trying to return. He no longer is as powerful as he once was, and there is no reason to fear something as ridiculous as his name. The man is nothing but a shadow of his former self. We, on the other hand, have changed and improved. We became sceptics and now the people are ready to fight. Don't forget that he doesn't control us; we are the ones who decide who is in power.
RS: (With these inspiring words, my morale returned and I admit my readers, that it was pretty low) I thank you for your time and the information you provided.
My fellow citizens, this happened a day ago, but we were unwilling to publish any article until we were able to get reliable information. This newspaper prides itself on its honesty and we will never base our articles on rumours, so we apologize for our tardiness. However, according to our information, we can conclude that our Aurors are dedicated fighters who will give their lives with no hesitation. We also apologize for not publishing the names of our heroes, but we refuse to put them in the spotlight and make them possible targets. I know these are hard times, but let's remember what Auror Moody said; we are the ones in power! No matter what happens, we will come out on top as long as we are willing to fight! May Mother Magic lead us through the right path!
"Now this is better," Elizabeth announced.
"So why didn't they talk about the masked group?" Terrence asked looking at Narcissa.
"They were thinking about it, but they helped us and Amelia wants to know more about them before taking any action," the woman answered.
"So what will happen with the article about your Minister?" Hwasa asked.
"Who knows? Maybe the idiot will try to ban the new newspaper or declare them rebels. But he would need the full support from the Wizengamot and we all know that Lucius, Sirius, and Amelia will block him," Eleadora answered.
"How is Lucius?" Remus asked Narcissa.
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"Resting. If it wasn't for one of them, he would have died. The curse punctured many of his internal organs but, somehow, they managed to heal him and Eleadora stabilized him," she whispered.
"He will be as good as new by the end of the week, so there's no need to worry," the kind woman beside Narcissa said in a reassuring tone.
When breakfast was almost finished, Sirius arrived, emulating a tired zombie on his unsteady steps. A plate of food appeared in front of him and he began devouring it. The people at the table were considerate enough to give some space to the overworked man, at least until he finished eating.
"So what's going on at the Ministry?" Narcissa asked her cousin.
"Everything sucks! Fudge is being the usual idiot and the Wizengamot is in crisis. Yesterday, we had an emergency session. It's good that Augusta Longbottom was so angry because the light faction is now divided into two sides - the intelligent ones and the ones who are pretending nothing happened. The dark faction was hard to deal with without Lucius present, but Adrian's father took control and it went better than expected. Fudge isn't willing to declare that Voldemort is back, but he has almost no options now. I'm sure he'll try to distract people with the Tournament," he muttered, his eyes almost closing in exhaustion.
"What tournament?" Hestia asked with an innocent face.
"It doesn't matter. The idiot needs to sleep," Eleadora announced and levitated the man out of the room.
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The weeks before going back to school were the busiest the Guild had experienced. Luna had told them they needed to up their practice, so practice they did. It was extremely hard but, at the same time, it was rewarding. Aunt Eleadora was ruthless while teaching them and their other teachers were not any kinder, but they improved in leaps and bounds. When Harry thought about it, he had never seen such a fearsome combination as little Luna and gentle Neville; kind souls that were quite ruthless and had no restraints while protecting the ones they loved. Curious how the gentlest people became the most dangerous ones.
Hwasa had used the last weeks of summer to teach them how to use senbon and he admitted it was hard; you needed to have advanced knowledge of anatomy and poisons. He pretended that Elizabeth, Draco, and George did not see it as the most fascinating thing, and he ignored the fact his sister seemed to have more knowledge than the others. Harry had practised parselmagic as much as possible and, although he had progressed, he knew that it would take years to master the ability. Ragnok had approved of his ideas for the new armour and had begun a project, along with his elves, to improve the pieces they already had.
Their duelling classes were doing great. Professor Flitwick recommended they participate in the professional duelling circuits, stating that fighting against people who used different styles was the best way to learn. Harry was going to begin competing the next year, though none of the others was so keen on the idea. However, Neville was willing to try and his grandmother supported him. Thinking about it, Augusta Longbottom had also changed. She no longer demanded her grandson be a copy of her son, but instead began encouraging him to be his own person. Harry did not know whether it was because of the battle in Hogsmeade or something else, but he was pleased.
On the other hand, the situation with Daphne's family had worsened. Her father was beginning to consider the idea of betrothing her. It was unfortunate that the man had fallen ill at such a young age, and that her mother had hired a solicitor to manage the family. It was good; however, that Miss Blair was available at the time and was more than willing to include Daphne in her family's businesses.
Fred and George were on the path of severing their ties with their family. After Percy got a job as the secretary of Leonard Fawley, Head of the Ministry of Magic's Department of International Magical Cooperation, their mother had been unbearable. She complained about their lack of motivation to triumph in life, unlike her beloved son Percy. He did not understand how they had the patience to remain quiet about their apprenticeships, but he guessed they were waiting for the right moment to reveal how hard they had worked. Bill and Charlie had been a constant support and Harry felt indebted with them for protecting the people he considered family.
Marcus was tired of the Minister and was the one who looked forwards the most to the article that soon would be published about the man. The man was certainly working hard to cement his image as a hard worker with a good head on his shoulders if the praise Sirius gave him every day was anything to go by. Marcus was also taking advantage of his position to learn everything about the Triwizard Tournament, and Miss Blair was preparing the case against Albus Dumbledore and the Ministry for suggesting the use of dragons. Harry was eager to see what would happen...
"Everything hurts and I'm dying," Theo commented, lying on a large bean bag.
"I know," Draco whined.
"Aunt Eleadora and Professor Flitwick make an awesome team. When they're not against us, of course," Neville said, not moving from his position near the window.
"Harry, are you sure you needed to donate so much money?" George asked him after a brief silence.
"Perhaps not, but it will accelerate our plans. Besides, Mirror Summons made more money in a few months than I will be able to spend in years," he said with a dismissive tone.
"So the branch offices are going well," Blaise concluded.
"More than that, they've already paid their investments. The mirrors were sold out before the first week the stores were open."
"If I ever need business advice, I'm stealing Ragnok," Draco muttered.
"Who will give the talk this year?" Flora asked after a few minutes to no one in particular.
"Harry, Daphne and Terrence did an excellent job last year," Luna commented. She was leaning on Harry's side. The girl reminded him of an overgrown, yet adorable, kitten. "What we have to think about is how we will tell the rules to the Durmstrang students; they will be a hard bunch to deal with if we don't give the image of power from the beginning," she muttered, almost sleeping.
"So now we have to plan a different method for the visitors," George grumbled.
"Luna said it; she's always right," Adrian muttered half asleep.
"We'll find a way later. We need to plan what improvements we can make to our house," Daphne announced. "There were a few students that suggested having more illumination in the corridors and one who wanted to have our entrance decorated instead of being a plain wall."
"I agree with the idea of increasing the illumination, though we need to put more thought into our entrance. I would suggest placing a portrait, but they are loyal to the headmaster, so that's a no... We can animate any decoration on the door and have wards placed against any evil intent but, as I said, we need to think carefully about this," Harry answered.
"True, but we can perhaps animate a few stone snakes to guide the first years through the dungeons," Fred suggested and Daphne nodded.
"Perhaps we can leave our signature on Slytherin," Flora whispered after a moment. "Let's make something permanent that will teach our rules to future generations!"
"That's an excellent idea. I guess that's our pet project for this year," Harry said with a diminutive smile. They would have a busy year indeed.
The group was enjoying the tranquillity silence brought; half of them were already sleeping and many more were about to join. Suddenly the door was kicked open and the soporific atmosphere was broken. In less than a second, every member of the Guild was alert, pointing their wands at their unwelcome visitor.
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Justin Finch-Fletchley almost jumped in fright at the sight that welcomed him in the compartment. Maybe he was safer outside. It was just his luck that he had barged into the compartment belonging to the popular Slytherin group, who were pointing their wands at him in a threatening manner.
He still remembered their first year. He had entered Hogwarts instead of attending Eton, something he did not regret. However, he would never be able to forget his surprise the moment he heard the name Harry Potter being called for the sorting. When he visited Eton, every single professor praised the most brilliant student in the institution: Harry Potter. In the trophy hallway, there were many trophies and titles under that boy's name, along with a picture. He remembered his surprise when he realized that the boy had the looks and the brains. In a way, he was jealous that a person the same age as him was about to graduate, but the admiration he felt dimmed the feeling.
When he saw the boy in person, it felt unrealistic. Harry Potter was too perfect and Justin was intimidated by him. That feeling only increased when the famous boy showed magical prowess that had the teachers singing his praises once again and, throughout the years, Justin saw him more like an unreachable god than a fellow student. Hence, he had never even tried to approach him. Now, though, he had no other choice.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in," he apologized and felt his cheeks heating up.
"Don't worry, you belong here," a dirty-blonde girl announced and he tilted his head in confusion. Unlike him, the other people seemed to understand something he was unable to even fathom. They returned to their original positions, lounging in the couches, and some even fell asleep.
"Are you sure?" Harry Potter asked the girl, who nodded and cuddled to his side. "Why did I even ask?" the boy muttered and looked at him. Justin was on the edge of a panic attack with the confusing situation. "Take a seat and don't worry. I doubt you barged in without reason. Would you tell me what happened?" the boy asked with a candid smile. Justin took wary steps and sat in front of the intimidating teen, close to a stunning blond girl who was leaning on a mocha-skinned boy.
"I apologize once again," he muttered. Green eyes examined him and he gave in. "There were a few older students who were trying to curse me. Ernie and Hannah were talking with Susan Bones and I don’t know the girl that well. I was feeling uncomfortable and left," he blabbered and winced at the unnecessary information he provided.
"What students?" an older boy he did not recognized asked.
"I don't know any of them, but they were two Ravenclaws, two Gryffindors and one Hufflepuff," he explained and the unknown boy seemed to relax.
"It's good to know that no Slytherin was involved, but I must ask why they tried to curse you," asked a pretty girl with long hair.
"For being a muggle-born, of course. Not everyone is as accepting as the Slytherins and they tend to discriminate against us. Some believe they aren't, but the discrimination is so ingrained in their upbringing that they don't notice. Others actively loathe us," Justin shrugged, containing a sigh.
"No need to worry now," the strange girl said. Justin had no idea how he should respond, so he remained silent and his anxiety levels rose with all the attention he was receiving.
"Do you wish to stay in our compartment? We have real food and desserts you would die for," one of the Weasley twins offered.
"Besides, we actually have brains, unlike the morons that seem to abound in this school," Daphne said, but her eyes remained closed. Needing no further encouragement, Justin nodded enthusiastically.
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Harry Potter analyzed the boy in front of him. Justin Finch-Fletchley was almost a prodigy in Transfiguration and only Harry's powerful core kept him ahead. If this was not enough, the boy was in the top ten of the year, something that had claimed his interest in a possible new member, but he had forgotten about him... Now though, Luna had spoken, and what she suggested was almost law in the Guild.
The boy was amicable and candid, somehow managing to make the ice queen laugh. Justin talked with Blaise about their favourite dishes, both boys talking in fast-paced Italian that had George observing them in confusion. Overall, he seemed good enough and got along remarkably well with two of the most distant members of the Guild. The murmur of conversation lulled most to sleep and the atmosphere was calm, something that everyone enjoyed. Harry signalled the few that were conscious to awake the others because they were close to the station and they needed to get changed. He awakened Luna with a gentle shake and he smiled at her sleepy face.
"If you wish, you can join us tomorrow during our free period. We have a personal room that I think you will enjoy," Harry offered the freckled boy, who nodded in agreement.
"You can also join us during meals. The elves make the best food you can imagine, just for us," Blaise said with a large smile. "Don't ever mention this to my mother, or she will kill me, but they make the most delicious pasta al pomodoro I have ever tried," he whispered, winking at Justin.
"I'll have to see that for myself," Justin said with a wide smile and left the compartment, looking for his Hufflepuff friends.
The large group walked towards the carriages, paying no mind to all the stares. They divided themselves and took the last ones towards the school. Much to Harry's disappointment, it seemed that the only change in the school was the larger amount of teaching staff, which he appreciated but felt that it was not enough. Nonetheless, he felt pity for the overworked teachers most of the time; it was good they were finally receiving some respite. They sat down in their usual place in the middle of the Slytherin table and waited for the first years to arrive. It was always amusing to watch the reactions of the new students; their wide eyes and incredulous expressions made the members of the Guild smile at their innocence.
Yes, the new term officially began.