The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

125. What the Daily Prophet Wrote

"Haven't - Haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?" Althea asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I have," Harry replied.

"Have you - er - been reading it thoroughly?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Not cover to cover," Harry admitted. "If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it?"

Everyone else aside from Althea flinched at the sound of the name.

"Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they - um - they mention you a couple of times a week," Hermione explained.

"But I'd have seen-"

"Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't," Hermione explained. "I'm not talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."

"What d'you-"

"It's quite nasty," Althea said dryly. "They're not even creative about it. They're just building on Rita's stuff. She's not writing for them anymore, mind you, not since Hermione threatened to out her as an unregistered Animagus, but she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now."

"Which is what?" Harry asked.

"Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something," Hermione explained gently. "They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears, they say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter' and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's 'let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next-"

"I don't want anyone to worship-" Harry began indignantly.

"We know, Harry," Althea interrupted gently. "But don't you understand? They're making you someone few people will believe. Fudge is probably behind it, trying to make you seem like someone who's trying to carry on their fame."

"I didn't ask - I didn't want," Harry stuttered incredulously. "I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me. Who wants to be famous for that? Don't they think I'd rather it'd never-"

"We know, Harry," Ginny said earnestly.

"And of course, they didn't report a word about the dementors attacking you," Hermione said. "Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control dementors. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statue of Secrecy - we thought they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off."

"Probably waiting to see the results of the hearing," Althea said softly.

"What about you?" Harry asked, giving her a concerned look.

"What about me?" she asked in confusion.

"The article Rita published about you being a werewolf," Harry explained.

"Don't mention it in front of Dad," Althea said grimly. "He never says anything, but somehow he found out about all the name-calling Malfoy was doing at school toward Mum and me. I overheard Sirius talking to him the day we left for here. Apparently, Dad was considering disappearing, as though that would've stopped it. I don't know if he would actually have done it, but apparently it had occurred to him."

"Did anything else come of it, though?" Harry asked.

"Not that I know of," Althea replied with a small shrug. "I'm just assuming everyone other than Draco will forget it. I doubt anyone took it seriously."

They fell into silence for a moment before footsteps reached their ears.

"Oh no," George said.

Then with a crack, they both disappeared from sight as the sound of footsteps reached their ears from the steps.

Not a moment later, Mrs Weasley opened the door and said, "The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now, everyone's dying to see you, Harry. Now, don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall."

Ginny followed after her into the hall, leaving Harry alone with Althea, Ron, and Hermione.

There was a short, awkward silence before Harry muttered, "Look..."

"We knew you'd be angry, Harry, we really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we did try and persuade Dumbledore," Hermione said earnestly.

"Yeah, I know," Harry said. Turning to Althea, he said, "I'm really sorry, Thea. I didn't mean to upset you especially."

She gave a small smile as she replied, "Harry, I can't imagine what the last month has been like for you. Mine has been hell and I wasn't even stuck with terrible people. It's okay."

Giving him a quick hug, she followed after Mrs Wealsey and Ginny.

When she had gone, Harry asked, "Is Thea okay? She's not usually set off that easily, and she seems..."

"I know," Hermione said softly. "I'm not really sure."

"Well, I know she hasn't been able to speak to anyone not here," Ron offered up. "Apparently she actually fought with her parents over it. They only let her send one letter to Neville to tell him she couldn't talk and that's all she's been allowed to send to anyone other than you."

"Why?" Harry asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Dumbledore's worried about owls attracting attention," Hermione explained. "But I think not getting to talk to him is hard on her. I mean, I didn't really realize until last year how much time they actually spend together."

"Yeah," Harry said with a small frown. "Still, it seems like it would take more to upset her that much."

With a shrug, Ron replied, "It's Thea. She's just sensitive. Don't you remember when Snape made her cry by yelling at her?"

"That was different," Hermione said. "He was being cruel."

"We should go down to dinner," Ron said, glancing at his watch.