The Consequences of Truth

When the first owl arrived in front of Harry with a bright red envelope clutched in its talons, Harry did nothing other than stare at it, confused.

In fairness, he wasn't a morning person, and he had gotten to bed later than usual the previous night. Everyone had wanted to know what had happened at the trial.

He had seen Howlers before, of course. Longbottom had gotten one, as had the Weasley twins. Nevertheless, Harry simply stared stupidly at the red envelope in front of him, which had now started smoking at the edges.

"Open it! They're worse if you let them explode!" Draco hissed. Opposite him, Theo and Daphne were nodding furiously.

With shaking hands, Harry slit the envelope open.

It was fucking loud.

"AND YOU THINK YOU'RE NEARLY AS GOOD AS GILDEROY LOCKHART! YOU ARROGANT, JEALOUS LITTLE BOY! HOW DARE YOU TAKE YOUR JEALOUSY OUT ON SUCH AN AMAZING WIZARD! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A DISGUSTING ATTENTION SEEKER, AND—"

It went on in this vein for quite a while. Harry stood, mortified, throughout the whole tirade, while around him, the Great Hall seemed to acclimatize to the shouting in it. After around ten minutes, the rant was finished.

Harry sat back down, beet-red.

"Sounds like Lockhart's fans aren't so happy with you, eh," Theo said snidely.

"What gave you that impression?" Harry asked.

Within the week, Harry received an additional fifteen Howlers. One of the Prefects had taken to casting a silencing charm on them as soon as they arrived, and Harry eagerly learned the charm.

More than that, though, were the sixty or so angry letters. About twenty of them were from one Gladys Gudgeon, who claimed she was going to be sending Harry a curse. He started incinerating every piece of mail he got from someone he didn't know.

He decided to ignore Snape's advice and read what that reporter had written about him.

It wasn't actually that bad. He was quoted almost word for word. She had left out about his being a Parselmouth, though, and he was quite glad for that. In fact, she had made him look good. She described him as "Bravely telling the truth to ensure justice is done," and having "rugged-good looks," which was embarrassing but gratifying.

The one thing Harry wished she had done differently was when Lockhart accused him of being jealous of his fame. She wrote: "While The Boy-Who-Lived denied this hurtful accusation, he did not bring any articles of proof to show his denial."

What was he meant to do? Have a notarized letter saying he wasn't jealous?

And the angry letters continued. Professor Snape pulled Harry aside and told him that if he would be opening the letters, he should wear his Dragonhide gloves. Apparently, it wasn't unknown for people to send corrosive substances or harmful potions in letters!

What the fuck is wrong with these people? The man is probably a child rapist, but it's me they hate?

Snape had been pleased when Harry told him that he had started burning all the letters.

And the letters and Howlers continued. An opinion piece appeared in the Daily Prophet, written by none other than Gladys Gudgeon, about how Harry Potter had framed the wonderful Gilderoy Lockhart in an attempt to steal his fame.

The next day, Harry received five Howlers at breakfast alone and twenty angry letters.

And Harry's rage grew.

Professor Snape pulled Harry aside again, to tell him that Dumbledore would be willing to intercept Harry's mail and ensure there were no more Howlers or hurtful letters. He said Dumbledore hadn't been willing to do this beforehand, due to the egregious breach of privacy it would be, but if Harry wanted, he would do so.

He had to think quite hard about it. It would be a big plus, not having to worry about the letters he was receiving. Then again, he didn't want anyone else reading his private mail. Not that he had much of that, but still, it was the concept more than anything else.

He turned down the offer.

The next day, there was an opinion piece in the Prophet, written by Mrs. Weasley, about how Lockhart was an evil, disgusting man, and how Harry was totally in the right.

There were very few letters or Howlers the next day. However, there was an article in the Prophet, about how Ginny Weasley had her memory modified by Lockhart. It also had all sorts of theories and speculation about what exactly Lockhart did to her.

Ginny went home early.

The next day, Rita Skeeter published an apology. It apparently was very rare for her to do so, but it wasn't really an apology. It simply said: "We were incorrect to publish details of a minor and should not have done so."

It wasn't even in a particularly big font.

Draco made a stupid comment to Ron about how now, not only was his sister a poor blood-traitor, but she was also used goods.

Ron hexed Draco.

Harry hexed Ron.

Granger hexed Crabbe, who was about to punch Longbottom for some reason.

Luckily, Snape found them. Gryffindor lost thirty points, and Weasley, Granger, and Longbottom all got detentions.

Exams began, and difficult as it was to keep his mind on the subjects at hand, Harry managed. He thought he did okay until the results came.

Then he found out he came top of his Slytherin year, and in the top three in his year overall.

He figured if he didn't have the boundless stupidity of humans to deal with, he would have come in first.

As usual, he made plans to go to Draco's over the break. It was gratifying to be invited back to the Malfoys. Draco made it a lot better when he told him that all incoming owls were automatically tested. And Howlers weren't allowed.

"And you'll see, Harry," Draco said, "by the time we start next year, they'll all have forgotten about the whole Lockhart thing."

At the End-of-Year feast, Harry was called up to the Head Table. He had his picture taken, shaking Dumbledore's hand and holding his very own trophy for 'Special Services Offered.'

Of course, Slytherin won the House Cup. It would have been difficult for them not to.

As they got on the train and settled in for the long ride back to London, all Harry could hope for was that next year would be better.