Butterfly Effect ; H. Potter

41. history of crouch.

A boy like no other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Half-blood Antheia Lupin. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.

Miss Lupin, a plain but talented girl, seems to have a taste for other wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. At the Tournament's famous Yule Ball, Miss Lupin was spotted with an unnamed Slytherin boy. The two had been spotted spending the entire evening together.

However, it might not be Miss Lupin's doubtful natural charms which have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.

"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite studious. I think that's how she's doing it."

Love Potions are of course banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims.

Not only this, but Miss Lupin has been spotted practicing dark spells on other witches and wizards and witnesses say she had performed such a spell on an unnamed witch in the Three Broomsticks. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.

"I told you!" Harry hissed at Antheia, as she gaped at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of dark wizard!"

Antheia slammed the paper onto the desk. "That spell barely didn't even hurt her and I didn't even cast it!"

"She's written you as some sort of - of scarlet woman!" said Ron.

Hermione snorted with laughter.

"Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked round at Ron.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red again.

"It's not as if anyone would believe this, anyway," said Antheia, crumpling the Witch Weekly article into a small ball.

She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and Harry closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Antheia gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Hermione, Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.

"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known ...?"

"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "Antheia, you haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"

"What do you think?" Antheia snapped, cutting her beetles loudly.

"No, it's just ... how did she know Antheia went to the Ball with him?"

"Maybe someone told her," Harry remarked.

"But who would be paying that much attention to where Antheia was the whole night?" asked Hermione.

"No one ..." mumbled Harry, turning bright red.

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Lupin," said an icy voice right behind them, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Snape had glided over to their desk while they had been talking. The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash POTTER STINKS across the dungeon at Harry.