Hermione Granger and the Goblet Of Fire (Completed)

Chapter 8 - Rita Skeeter's articles

"Mrs. Weasley" said Harry suddenly "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?"
"Hedwig, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley "No... no, there hasn't been any post at all"
Ron and Hermione glanced at each other then at Harry
"All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?" said Harry meaningfully
"Yeah... think I will too," said Ron "Hermione?"
"Yes" she said, and the three of them bolted up the stairs before anyone got suspicious

"What's up, Harry?" said Ron as he slammed the attic door behind him
"There's something I haven't told you," Harry said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again"
Hermione gasped
"You're scar hurt?" she said "Harry, that's really serious! Write to Professor Dumbledore! Or maybe a letter to Madam Pomfrey would reach her faster... I should read Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions... Maybe there's something in there about curse scars... but of course yours is a dark curses scar, so maybe I should check The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts..."
"But - he wasn't there, was he?" said Ron "You-Know-Who? I mean - last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?"

"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive" said Harry "But I was dreaming about him... him and Peter - you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill... someone"
"It was only a dream" said Ron "Just a nightmare"
"Yeah, but was it, though?" said Harry slowly "It's weird, isn't it?... My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again"
"Don't - say - his - name!" Ron snapped

"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Harry continued "At the end of last year?"
Hermione snorted. Professor Trelawney was Hermione's old Divination teacher and Hermione had stormed out of her lesson last year. It was clear she knew nothing about telling the future
"Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?" she said
"You weren't there" said Harry earnestly "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance - a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again... greater and more terrible than ever before... and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him... and that night Wormtail escaped"

There was silence. Hermione guessed that Harry was feeling very guilty. He was the only one who stopped Peter Pettigrew from being killed by Sirius Black and Professor Lupin last year
"Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry?" Hermione asked "Are you expecting a letter?"
"I told Sirius about my scar" said Harry "I'm waiting for his answer"
"Good thinking!" said Ron brightly "I bet Sirius'll know what to do!"
"I hoped he'd get back to me quickly" said Harry
"But we don't know where Sirius is... he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" said Hermione "Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days"
"Yeah, I know" said Harry, sighing. Hermione glanced at Ron, wondering whether or not to tell him about the Daily Prophet article, but Ron shook his head

"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry" he said "Come on - three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play... You can try out the Wronski Feint..."
Hermione assumed that was the name of what Viktor Krum did during the Quidditch World Cup, and she was surprised by his lack of tact
"Ron" said Hermione firmly "Harry doesn't want to play Quidditch right now... He's worried, and he's tired... We all need to go to bed..."
"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch" said Harry "Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt"
Hermione sighed and left the room
"Boys" she muttered

***

Neither Mr Weasley or Percy were away from work over the following few weeks
"It's been an absolute uproar" They were told by Percy, who seemed to be glad to have an excuse to stay at work later "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders"
"Why are they all sending Howlers?" said Ginny
"Complaining about security at the World Cup" said Percy "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks"

Mrs Weasley looked at the grandfather clock. Mr Weasley's hand was still pointing at work. Mrs Weasley sighed
"Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You-Know-Who," she said. "They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home soon"
"Well, Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Percy "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first-"
"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" snaked Mrs. Weasley
"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented" said Bill "Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"
"Well, it is a bit long, dear" said Mrs. Weasley gently "If you'd just let me-"
"No, Mum"

The discussion turned once again to Bill's hair, and Hermione buried herself in her book again. Mrs Weasley had bought her school things while they were at the World Cup, and that included The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4. Hermione couldn't wait to get back to school and learn all the things she was reading about

"What are you two up to?" said Mrs. Weasley, making Hermione look up. Fred and George had been bent over a piece of parchment, and now Hermione thought about it, they hadn't been at all as loud as they normally were for the last few days
"Homework" said Fred quickly
"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday" said Mrs. Weasley "Yeah, we've left it a bit late" said George
"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" said Mrs. Weasley, her eyebrows narrowing "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?"
"Now, Mum" said Fred, folding his arms "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"
Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley

"Oh your father's coming!" she said suddenly, spinning round to look at the clock. Mr Weasley's hand had gone from work to travelling and stopped at home. They could hear him saying something from the kitchen
"Coming, Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley. She went out of the room and returned several moments later followed by Mr Weasley, who looked exhausted and was carrying a small tray of good
"Well, the fat's really in the fire now" he said as he sat down by the fire "Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago"
"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks" said Percy instantly

"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," said Mr. Weasley "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark"
"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" said Percy
"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!" said Hermione
"Now look here, Hermione!" snapped Percy "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants-"
"His slave, you mean!" said Hermione angrily "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"
"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley "Come on now, all of you..."

When they went into Ginny's bedroom and found a small pile of clothes on their beds
"Mum must've cleaned our uniforms" said Ginny
Hermione sat down and started putting her clothes in her suitcase. Near the bottom of the pile there was a large parcel wrapped up in brown paper. Hermione wasn't sure what it was until she turned it round and saw that Mrs Weasley had written your dress robes on it. Ginny eagerly demanded that she opened it, so she ripped open the paper and stared at the robes inside
"They're beautiful" breathed Ginny

Hermione took out the dress robes and held them up. The were periwinkle blue and look more like a dress than robes. They were very floaty and light, and Hermione felt like she didn't really deserved to wear something so beautiful
"I don't deserve this" she said "you'd look a lot better in it"
"Hermione, don't put yourself down" said Ginny "you are very pretty, you just don't realise"
"What do you think they're for?" Hermione wondered
"Probably some kind of ball" said Ginny "if it is, whoever asks you first will be a very lucky man"
"Thanks" said Hermione, and she once again fell asleep with a smile on her face