Writings

Saturday, 2nd September, 8 a.m

21 days, 0 hours since the start of Harry's trial

The morning after an eventful Sorting and Welcoming Feast The Great Hall, Hogwarts

The Heads of House (including Healer Andromeda Black Tonks, the new Slytherin Head of House) handed out timetables to students during breakfast. In this respect, the day started as a typical 2nd September.

Then the owls arrived. Some owls carried letters and some owls carried Daily Prophets. As soon as students saw the front page of this morning's Prophet, the noise-level quadrupled.

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The Prophet had quotes from the Headmistress of MMA, Mersey Norwood, about Harry and Hermione transferring to MMA. ("We're glad to have them.")

The Prophet quoted Minerva McGonagall ("We'll miss them at Hogwarts"), and apologised for not getting any quote from Headmaster Dumbledore. ("We were unable to get a statement from the headmaster by deadline.")

Of interest to Hogwarts students was the quote by Hermione Granger: "I'm excited to finally be getting the magical education that I thought I'd be getting when I came to Hogwarts at age eleven."

The Prophet ran an article that took up part of Page 1 and most of Page 2, explaining how MMA was different from Hogwarts.

But the showstopper, the thing that had everyone talking in the Great Hall, was what Harry Potter had done. He had not merely given the Prophet a few juicy quotes, he had written an essay.

"HARRY POTTER WRITES: WHY I LEFT HOGWARTS" was on Page 1 of the Prophet, above the fold.

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According to Harry—

Hogwarts was a deathtrap. Each of the four years he had been at Hogwarts, he had almost been killed at least once every year. Harry's betrothed, Hermione, had almost been killed twice, in first year and second year, and had been put in danger of drowning in fourth year. Last year, Gabrielle Delacour, who was only eight years old, had been put in danger of drowning. During Harry's second year, a basilisk had slithered through the school; it had been only by incredible luck that students had been only petrified, not killed.

Hogwarts was a clubhouse for Death Eaters. Death Eaters Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Igor Karkaroff, Barty Crouch, Jr, and Lucius Malfoy all could stroll into the school whenever they wished, and Voldemort had entered the school twice without being detected.

Speaking of Voldemort, at Hogwarts, Harry had wound up fighting for his life against Voldemort in first year, second year and fourth year. No professor had lifted a finger to help.

The History of Magic professor was a goblin-obsessed ghost. The DADA professors were murderous incompetents.

Snape had been a bully who could not be bothered to teach, and who had showed blatant favouritism towards Slytherin House. Snape continually had mistreated Harry because Harry's father had mistreated Snape in school.

Bullies in Slytherin were never punished. But if the victim retaliated, Snape had assigned detentions to the victim and had taken points, and the other professors and the headmaster always had let Snape's punishments stand.

Speaking of the headmaster, he might or might not have a pederastic interest in Harry; but the headmaster definitely was obsessed with Harry. Dumbledore had stolen G107 000 from the Potter family coinage vault, and in 1981, had kidnapped Harry from his rightful guardian, Sirius Black. It was Dumbledore who had placed Harry with his mother's Muggle sister and her family, which both of the Potter wills said never to do. Dumbledore had talked the Wizengamot into appointing him to be Harry's magical guardian in November 1981; but the first time that Harry had ever laid eyes on the man was 1st September 1991; Dumbledore never once had checked up on whether Harry's Muggle relatives were treating him decently. (They definitely were not.) For all of Dumbledore's supposed authority and positions, he had done nothing to get Harry out of the Triwizard Tournament after a disguised Death Eater had put Harry's name in the Goblet. "Harry my boy, there's nothing I can do," Dumbledore had claimed that night; never during that night or afterwards did Dumbledore say publicly, "Harry, I believe your claim that you are not a cheater."

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But not all the interesting owl-post at breakfast was copies of this morning's Daily Prophet. Harry had written a letter to Neville Longbottom; Neville, after reading the letter at the table, stood up and read Harry's letter aloud to the entire Great Hall—

Oi, Nev!

Hermione's and my first day at MMA was spent sitting placement-exams for both our magical and nonmagical subjects, to see what levels that Hermione and I would start at in our classes. An MMA level is like a Hogwarts year, except that you're not locked into waiting

twelve months to advance to the next harder group of classes. For the placement-exams, MMA starts with easy questions that an eleven-year-old might know, then the questions get harder and harder till you fail four questions in a set of five.

My first Herbology question: In front of me was a clay pot, a tray of dry soil, a tray of moist soil, a half-full watering can and a tray of stinky dragon dung. I was told, "Prepare this pot to grow a seed that is easily watered."

I put dry soil in the pot, then told the examiner, "It's easier to put the seed in the dirt when the dirt is dry. Once I've planted the seed, then I'll water it with the watering can. The dragon dung is optional."

Neville saw Professor Sprout nod in approval.

In the next paragraph of Harry's letter, he summarised the results for his and Hermione's placement-exams. Then Harry wrote—

So, Nev, to summarise: I scored high enough on DADA that I could tutor Hogwarts seventh- years—not that anything could get me back in that castle again. On the other hand, I know

less about maths and Latin than a Muggle-born Ravenclaw firstie. Meanwhile, Hermione was amazing. We were told ahead of time that since we were transferers from Hogwarts, to expect to be placed at first-level in all our nonmagical subjects. Hermione scored third-level in all nonmagical subjects; in magical subjects, she tied me in Potions but scored higher than me in everything else except DADA.

After Hermione and I discussed all the placement-exam results with the Deputy Headmaster, we were sent out to buy books—Hermione got excited—then we were portkeyed home. We didn't get a chance to speak with any of the other MMA students, so we've not yet made any friends at MMA.

Speaking of friends: During my press conference, I said that I had killed Voldemort to protect seventeen people, including "four pureblooded Hogwarts friends of ours—none of whom is Ron Weasley." Since I said that, not quite three weeks ago, Wizarding Wireless Radio has spent much time, and the Daily Prophet has spent much ink, guessing about what I meant by my words.

Three of Hermione's and my pureblooded friends are easy to guess: you, Neville Longbottom; and also Fred and George Weasley.

"YES!" Neville heard, loudly shouted at the seventh-years' end of the Gryffindor table.

The fourth Pureblood friend is Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw. How she became my friend is an interesting tale. Last 30th October, I was on the grounds of Hogwarts, watching the

Beauxbatons carriage fly down towards us, when I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned round, and there was a blond girl who had been pointed out to me but whom I'd never spoken to. She said, "Hello, Harry Potter, I am Luna Lovegood. Soon you will need close friends, and I hope to be one of those close friends." Luna's prediction was correct: one day and one hour after she said this, my name came out of the Goblet of Fire, and I discovered who my

true friends were. Luna turned out to be a true friend (along with Fred, George and you, Nev), but Ron proved he was no friend at all.

Ron's ears, Neville noticed, were showing a red tinge.

But what ended my friendship with Ron was when Hermione and I became betrothed, the day before the attack on Malfoy Manor. When Ron found out that Hermione and I were betrothed, he called Hermione a "scarlet woman." BOOM—end of friendship.

Every student-witch in the room (except for firsties and Ron's sister) turned to glare at the red-haired boy.

The next day, Ron ordered me to end my betrothal to Hermione, whilst Ginny Weasley ordered

Hermione to end her betrothal to me. Both Weasleys used the same logic: Ginny wanted me as her husband, Ron wanted Hermione as his wife, and since they're both Purebloods,

they're entitled to marry the half-blood or Muggle-born they want, and Hermione and I should feel grateful that the two youngest Weasley Purebloods favour us. Ron and Ginny both got angry when Hermione and I each refused to end our betrothal.

At the Slytherin table, Daphne Greengrass stood up and said loudly, "So the Gryffindor boy who rants and rants about 'slimy snakes' believes the same Pureblood-superiority rot as Draco, eh? You're a hypocrite, Weasley."

All this is why Ron Weasley no longer is my friend. The reason I said this publicly at the press conference is because Ron often lies, and I'd already made plans to jump to MMA. At the

press conference, I knew I'd no longer be at Hogwarts this year to roll my eyes and say

"What Ron told you isn't true." So Nev, from now on, whenever Ron tells you something about me or about Hermione, "Consider the source."

Ron now was scowling, and his ears were glowing red. Surprisingly, Ron was staying silent.

Okay, if I'm friends with four Hogwarts students, and not-friends with two, what about everyone else? The only Hogwarts student whom I hated intensely was Draco No-Name

formerly Malfoy, but he's dead now. After I killed Voldy, Susan Bones wrote me a letter of

apology for things she had done, so I'm square with her now; and Daphne Greengrass asked her father to ask me to betroth her so eventually she'd become Lady Malfoy. I decided not to betroth Daphne, but I think of her as a friend now. All the other students at Hogwarts, I'm middling about—I don't hate them but they're not my friends.

Everyone at the Slytherin table, except for the Slytherin firsties, was staring at Daphne Greengrass in shock. At the High Table, the new Slytherin Head of House, Andromeda Tonks, was beaming.

For some reason that Neville could not guess, seventh-year Slytherin Sam Flint was scowling at Daphne.

One final thing to say in this letter. Any Muggle-borns who want to transfer to MMA, I'll pay all their school fees and buy their books for this 1995-1996 school year. The "first- generation magicals" (what MMA calls them) should consider my offer to be a loan to their parents, which their parents will pay back to me "eventually." This offer is good for Muggle- born seventh-years, newly Sorted Muggle-born first-years, and all ages in between. Contact Edward Tonks, the law-wizard husband of Healer Tonks, for further details. Tell the Muggle- borns not to wait to transfer till Hogwarts has refunded this year's student fees, because so long as Dumbledore is headmaster, the transferers' Muggle parents can expect long-winded excuses and "explanations," but no money.

Now Andromeda Tonks was smiling at Dumbledore; her smile was cruel. To Neville, Dumbledore looked angry enough that if Harry were here in the Great Hall, Dumbledore would AK him.

When, not if, Dumbledore locks up the Owlery, so that Muggle-borns can't owl their parents, tell the Muggle-borns to call for my house-elf Dobby. Dobby will take any Muggle-born's

letter to Edward Tonks, who then will send the letter on to the Muggle-born's parents.

Susan Bones stood up and said, "If the Owlery is locked down, let me know. I'll call for Tibia, the Bones house-elf, to let Aunt Amelia know about the Owlery and the crime of post- tampering. For the firsties: my Aunt Amelia is the Minister for Magic. Oh, and to whom it may concern"—Susan Bones now was looking directly at Dumbledore—"These next three years, Auntie will have me checked regularly for mind-whammies."

Dumbledore scowled.

Meanwhile, Neville was folding up Harry's letter and putting it in his pocket. Neville said scornfully, "Oi, Weasley, if you want any hope of marrying any witch, you should start by not eating like a pig."

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All this happened during breakfast of Saturday, after no days of class—hence, with no assigned homework. Everyone—the Muggle-born students, the wizard-raised students, the first-years, the seventh-years, the professors, the Deputy Headmaster and the Headmaster— had all of Saturday and all of Sunday to think about what they had read in the Daily Prophet and to think about what they had heard Neville Longbottom read aloud.

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After breakfast, in the Gryffindor common room

Neville wrote a reply-letter to Harry.

Neville wrote that, now that he had gotten over his shock of being chosen as Prefect, he had been trying his best to live up to the trust that McGonagall had given him. His impression of Parvati Patil was that she likewise was shocked to be given a Prefect badge, but she too was determined to do right by her badge.

Neville mentioned that Padma Patil of Ravenclaw was a Prefect too. "I never thought anyone in Gryffindor ever could say this, but both twins are Prefects!"

Then Neville shared the gossip (which was not much, with the term so young) and the important news. Neville's main news in the letter was about last night's surprise visit by the Royal Wizard. Neville went into detail about the Royal Wizard citing the Treaty of Separation's Paragraph 11, and the "I'll take your magic" threat that the Royal Wizard had made against Dumbledore.

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Meanwhile, elsewhere in Hogwarts

As soon as breakfast ended, Albus received unwelcome visitors: the Board of Governors. The Governors demanded that Albus speak with them, after the Prophet had reported that Harry and Miss Granger had left Hogwarts.

"Why? What's wrong?" Albus asked innocently. "What needs to be discussed?"

"We need to discuss whether you keep your title of Headmaster or we promote Minerva," replied Flavius Flatfoot.

"Let's move our discussion to my office," Albus calmly suggested, "and discuss matters over tea."

In the last three weeks, the Elder Wand had not recovered its former power; but today it worked well enough for what Albus needed it for. Between the Elder Wand and the potion- laced tea, Albus "convinced" the Board of Governors that what Harry Potter had written in the Daily Prophet was "a series of unfortunate misunderstandings."

The results of the Board meeting? Albus was not sacked as Headmaster, and the Board did not promote the Deputy Headmistress to replace Albus.

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Later, at Grimmauld Place

Harry handed Neville's letter to Hermione, saying, "Please tell me what you think."

When Hermione put down the letter, she said, "I'm pleasantly surprised. I was worried that Parvati as a Prefect would be—well, flighty."

"Besides that. What do you say about what Nev wrote, about the Royal Wizard threatening to take Dumbledore's magic away, by speaking something that's written in the Treaty of Separation?"

"Give me a few minutes to answer that." Hermione stuck her arm in her beaded handbag and quickly pulled out a book. She flipped to the back of the book.

Less than a minute later, Hermione said, "The Royal Wizard made a legitimate threat to Professor Dumbledore. But notice, the four people with the magical authority to speak that sentence and to take away someone's magic in Britain, all understand the political cost of frivolously speaking someone's magic away. This stops them from mass-scale demagicking us."

Hermione then looked at Harry and asked, "What do you think about what Nev wrote?"

Harry said, "I'm stunned. I'm used to desperately asking an adult for help, who pats me on the head and does nothing. Then along comes the Royal Wizard, whom I've never even met, and he's fighting Dumbledore for me. Is this what having parents feels like, seeing someone do what's right for a helpless kid?"

Hermione hugged Harry fiercely.

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After the Board of Governors had left In the headmaster's office

The so-called Royal Wizard was correct that Albus liked to keep his hands clean, and liked to do what was needed for the Greater Good by using minions and cat's-paws. After hours of thought yesterday, Albus had planned a way to make what needed to be done, get done, without anyone being able to pin the blame on Albus himself.

Now Albus sat down and wrote an anonymous letter to the dark wizard who had recently lost the Minister for Magic election to Amelia—

To: Demodocus Cooper, the Heir Cooper of the Minor House of Cooper

I will not tell you my name. My name does not matter, because I am not an important person.

I am writing to you because in the recent election for Minister for Magic, only you dared to denounce Harry Potter, whom the sheep see as a hero because of his cowardly sneak-attack on the Dark Lord Voldemort and attack on Purebloods who supported the Dark Lord's cause of Blood Purity.

By now you surely have heard that Harry Potter has turned his back on his Pureblood

father's heritage, by leaving Hogwarts to attend Manchester Magical Academy, the school for mudbloods and Muggle-loving half-bloods. Also switching to MMA with Harry Potter: his mudblood whore, Hermione Granger.

I cannot tell you how I know this, because me telling you any more of this secret would put me in danger, but I know where Manchester Magical Academy is.

First, go to Apparation Coordinates A7C4xB725 07CCx2B94 0000x0000.

There you will see an old Muggle metal fence. Twenty feet beyond the fence, you will see a tall and wide old brick wall. The wall is a glamour, and is not real. But what is important here, the big wall shows you where the western side of the Fidelius Charm on MMA is.

Between the fence and the west-side glamour-wall are deadly wards; you will need ward-

breakers to tear down those wards. Some of those wards keep the Fidelius Charm strong, and keep strong the glamour that shows you a brick wall when there is no wall there. But for only one of the wardstones can you be sure where it is.

I cannot tell you how big an area the Fidelius Charm covers. For all I know, MMA covers ten square miles, far more than the old brick building that you see. All that I can say for sure is that the western side of MMA's Fidelius Charm coincides with the western wall of the

glamoured brick building, and that the only wardstone that for sure is where it seems to be is the wardstone that is by the south-west corner of the illusionary brick building. Destroy this wardstone and you create a gap in MMA's wards-protection near the wardstone.

This is important to know: If you can move past the west-side glamour-wall, you will be inside the Fidelius Charm. When this happens, you will see everything that the Fidelius Charm hides, as though you were told the Secret.

MMA is a day school, so nobody will be there if you attack on a weekend. I suggest you attack when the students are there and the professors are there, during 8 a.m to 4 p.m, Monday through Friday. But do not worry about the battle itself—we are Purebloods, whereas the "professors" at MMA are all mudbloods (except for one blood-traitor who

teaches Arithmancy)—your Pureblood followers cannot fail to defeat those lesser magicals.

I most strongly urge, for the good of the Pureblood cause: Kill Hermione Granger, who is Harry Potter's strumpet and the mudblood who forgets her place. She has brown eyes and

easily-noticed bushy brown hair. Harry Potter will stop fighting once she is dead, so he easily can be killed after his mudblood dies.

Help us, Dark Lord Cooper, you are our only hope. (signed) A friend

Albus then picked up the Elder Wand. With that wand he removed his magical signature from the parchment, so that nobody could identify the writer of the letter as himself.

Albus folded the letter, but did not put a wax seal on it. Then Albus called Wrinkly, the head Hogwarts house-elf. Albus told Wrinkly, "This is for Demodocus Cooper at Cooper House. Do not hand the letter to him directly. Instead, without you being seen, leave the letter where he is sure to find it within the hour."

The old house-elf said with determination, "Wrinkly will bes sneaky and makes sure him is not seen!" Pop.

When Albus was alone in his office he thought, After MMA professors and students are killed, I will go to the Wizengamot and will insist that MMA is "unsafe" and must be closed, and will insist that all MMA students be required to transfer to Hogwarts "for their own good." Harry will be forced to return to Hogwarts—hopefully, whilst mourning the death of his betrothed, Miss Granger.

Before Harry and Miss Granger became betrothed, she was a "useful idiot," because of her slavish trust in authority figures; but now she must die for the Greater Good. After she dies, Harry will lose the will to fight me. After the Wizengamot forces Harry to return to Hogwarts, and with Miss Granger dead, I will hit Harry with a Confundus Charm or two, and he then will sign a betrothal contract with the Weasleys, which will serve the Greater Good.

The best part is, this letter to a Death Eater will never be traced back to me—who is a half- blood, not a Pureblood as the letter claims. Eat dragon offal, Royal Wizard!