The Empress of Magic

Chapter 73 : Love is as Fearsome as it is Golden

Aiden really shouldn't have been surprised when not even two days later the Daily Prophet was delivered, the very front page showcasing his mother's newest article about the Triwizard Tournament......

Which wouldn't have been a problem, if it hadn't turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Diggory hadn't been mentioned at all.....

That he could have peacefully lived with, knowing how his mother could get at times, but the Interview she had managed to form into words brought nothing but burning shame and embarrassment to him even ten days later.

I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they were with me now since they sadly had to leave England to help my great-uncle....Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about that fateful night, I'm not ashamed to admit it....I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me, even if not actively present...

She had even interviewed other people about him... and that certainly hadn't gone well either.....

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school.

From the moment the article had appeared, Harry had had to endure people, quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering comments.

"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?" Where some of the milder ones the Ravenclaw had heard....

The teen burned crimson as he sat in a hidden Corridor near the old Towers, groaning as he dropped his head onto his knees....

, ..Why does she always have to do this....' he thought, glaring at the floor.

His life was truly complicated enough as it is, even without his mother's articles haunting his mind every morning...

Unlike most of his year mates, he had quickly learned that the world he had thought to be normal was filled with nothing but a mountain of deceiving liars and problems, covered by a vail of Charm that made everything appear to be fine....

While most of Europe had managed to stay strong and hold on to the rules and beliefs the Royal family had established over centuries of careful guidance and hard work, Magical Britain for some reason thought it was best to ignore the past and continue their lives under a completely new reign, one where the people get to decide over their fates........

That may sound pleasing, and would have even given the impression of a promising democracy..... sadly it was anything but....

The government had become corrupted, now in the hands of fools who refused to change laws unless they benefitted from them in some kind of way, or were generously paid to do so, and a man who proclaimed himself as the Greatest Sorcerer to grace this earth after Merlin..

Dumbledore pretended, manipulated, and lied to everyone he's ever met, having created an image of himself that made it seem like you'd be able to trust him. Aiden didn't have to interact much with him, to know the man thought himself to know better than anyone and could see the animosity he harbored for the Grindelwald family...