The Ghosts of Millennia

Dionysus Has Super-Hearing

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The Diagon Alley protest. The campers clean Camp Half-Blood.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Graphic Depictions of Violence
Word Count: 3549

This is the last one for today.

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

____________________HERMIONE____________________

The protest started at nine o'clock on December 22nd. Much like the day Harry defeated Lord Voldemort, Hermione would be surprised if the day didn't go down in history. Based on everything that she saw, this was the first protest in the Wizarding World in a very, very long time. Maybe ever.

When they arrived in front of the Daily Prophet Headquarters, the witches and wizards that organized the protest handed out signs with slogans like "Propaganda =/ News" and "They Were CHILDREN." Some (probably muggle-borns) brought signs of their own. A small group from They Are Our Future--the Save the Children of the Wizarding World--sold cloaks for two galleons. Many witches and wizards had one thrown over their robes.

A middle-aged witch stood on top of a table in front of the crowd with her wand pointed at her throat. "Thank you all for coming. I know this is a first for many of you, and for the Wizarding World. My colleagues and I are so glad so many of you want to protect your right to the truth! Now, let's make sure those editors hear us!" The crowd cheered. "PROPAGANDA ISN'T NEWS! PROPAGANDA ISN'T NEWS!"

The first Daily Prophet worker who tried to enter the building was greeted with shouting, jeering, and booing. The two dozen or so who were unlucky enough to have to enter or exit during the protest kept their heads down, hurrying as quickly as they could past the volatile crowd. Mostly, though, the protest consisted of chanting, singing some theme-appropriate songs, and They Are Our Future's efforts to run it all and raise money through their cloaks, food and drink.

Cho left them pretty early on. Hermione saw her a few times, talking to various people and weaving through the crowd.

She probably knows a lot of people here. She's very popular at Hogwarts.

But Hermione wasn't sure if she believed that was all it was. Cho seemed too intense. She studied every person she saw and planned out every move she made. And why would she come to the protest alone in the first place if so many of her friends were here?

Her mind turned from Cho when the Aurors appeared.

Pius Thickness stood beside them with at least ten Aurors behind him. He put a wand to his throat. "This is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Disperse, immediately."

The crowd roared in protest. Hermione saw an auror clench his wand, but no one else moved. She thought back to Merlin's warning--the Wizarding World no longer had a god to keep things stable.

I have to stop this before things get bad.

She turned to Ron and Percy. She hadn't noticed until that moment how pale Percy looked.

"You're not going to bail on us now, are you?" Hermione asked, her voice harsh.

"...no," Percy forced himself to say. He swallowed hard. "No. I'm not. If I get fired, if I have to resign, I'll do it. I... I can't believe I just said that..."