Chapter 24 Who's Running Scared?

Hermione's POV

"Harry, I'm not sure that's a really good idea," Hermione said worriedly, but firmly. There were times you had to stick to your views, and this was one of them. If he got mad at her for it, then so be it. She wasn't going to let him jump into trouble just because he was furious. She had stood by him for too long to just let him do something that might come back and bite him. "She's a horrid person and gets away with writing poisonous things about everyone, even the Minister. All you're going to do is make her write more about you. Do you really want that kind of publicity?" she reasoned strongly. The Harry she knew would have just rolled with the punches. He never would had done anything to get noticed and sending a howler to Rita would do that.

"Hermione, I know that you're getting to know this new me. Do you really think I'm going to let some two-bit hack write lies about me?" Harry questioned softly, still immersed in his anger and not wanting to take it out on her. He understood what she was trying to say, but this could not go unpunished. He would get with Waters and see if he couldn't sue the pants off her, but first payback.

"I'm just saying to think about it first, and don't let your anger control you," she said with a soft look. She knew it was probably pointless, but she had to try. She was beginning to wonder if he valued her opinion at all.

"Did you read the same article I did? She called me a coward. That is not okay. She never even spoke to me. It would have been simple to confirm whether or not I have amnesia. All she had to do was ask. No, she's a spiteful bitch who is more of a glory hound than I'm accused of being, and I'm going to show her just what a coward I am. If I hide, I will be proving her point," he stated quietly, and held out his hands for writing utensils.

Hermione sighed and handed him a parchment, an inkwell and quill. "You can't write a Howler with a pen," she explained.

Our hero shrugged took them up and put quill to parchment for about five minutes. His face took on a myriad of emotions, mostly maliciousness. He folded the parchment into an envelope, stuck it shut with a spell, and then turned to the twins and raised an eyebrow.

"You have to point your wand at it and feed it your anger or frustration until the paper turns red," Fred told him.

"The problem is there's an incantation, and we don't know it," George finished.

"Oh, that's alright, I think I get the gist," Harry said wickedly, and put his hand on the parchment feeding it the negative emotion. He felt the anger leave his body and flow into the letter. Everyone watched in amazement as it turned red and then black. Smoke started to pour off and it looked like it would burn if you touched it. He pulled a long piece of twine from his TARDIS pocket, added a spell to it, and tied an end to the letter. As if just knowing he needed her, Hedwig flew to his shoulder. "Alright, girl?" he asked as he petted her chest. She hooted calmly. "Good. Here, take this to Skeeter, but try not to touch it, okay? Make sure you leave as soon as it drops," he said, tying the other end of the string to her foot.

The owl nipped his ear and took off, the black letter leaving trails of smoke behind it. All the people in the Great Hall watched her and wondered just what the Boy-Who-Lived was up to now. Dumbledore shook his head and had a brief thought on stopping that post, but decided he was in enough trouble with Harry. Perhaps, it was time to let him make a few mistakes, and this was surely to be one.

"How… how… how did you do that, Harry?" Hermione asked, completely flabbergasted. As far as she knew, he didn't know how to do magic. This confirmed that he was hiding things from her. It made her sad that they hadn't gotten back to the tight friendship they had had.

"Read the book I just gave you, that will explain most of it," was the answer as he wrote another quick note to Waters. He'd send it off in the morning. Then he tucked it away and went back to his afters, feeling much better. His proximity alert went off, causing him to sigh. He didn't bother to check his map, thinking it was the old man coming to reprimand him. The Daily Prophet was slammed down on to his plate, spattering the remains of his dessert onto the table. That made him frown, he wasn't done yet.

"See, Potter, I'm not the only one who thinks you're a coward and a cheat," Ron sneered, folding is arms in a smug 'I've proven my point' way. "The whole world knows what you are now."

"Go away, Weasley, unless you want me to press charges on you for stealing my shite," Harry said, running a tired hand through his hair. That spell took a bit out of him, he had added more than just the Howler spell, and he really didn't want to put up with this right now. "Are you sure you want that? I mean, can your parents afford it? I've only let it go because I like them, and the twins, but if you don't back the fuck off and maintain your distance, I'm going to," he threatened. He really didn't want to, but he was tired of putting up with the youngest male.

Those words set the twins in motion. As one they stood and grabbed an arm and said, "We'll handle this." And without another word they took Ron out of the Great Hall, with him protesting that he wasn't done yet. Whether was his meal or his rant, they never knew.

"Well, that's done," Luna said as she spelled Harry's plate clean. "Have some more pudding, Harry. That Howler seems to have taken a bit out of you," she added, looking at his pale look.

The boy hero nodded in agreement and took a huge slice of pumpkin pie and started eating. When he finish he let out a jaw-cracking yawn. "That's me done," he said, getting up from his seat.

"I'm done too," Neville stated, grabbing his bag and joining him.

"I would actually like to talk to Hermione for a while. I'll see you boys tomorrow," Luna said, looking pointedly at the bushy-haired witch. "Girl talk," she added, turning to the males and giving that 'women's secret' smile.

The boys shuddered and left for the dorms.

"What did you really want to talk about?" Hermione asked, giving her a wary look. She had the idea of what the topic of the conversation would be, but she wasn't sure what the ditzy girl would say.

"I was wondering if you wanted to maintain your friendship with the new Harry," Luna said as she picked at her tart. She liked Hermione and would hate to see her driven away with her bossiness. She really hoped the girl would listen to her advice.

"Of course I do, how can you ask that? He's my best friend." The other witch looked totally affronted that anyone would question her devotion to Harry. Even though she, herself, had since he came back.

"Is he really? What do you know of this improved personality?" the little blonde asked with wide serious eyes.

Hermione deflated at that, she really didn't know much about the new Harry. He was so different from the introvert that he used to be. She was still attempting to get along with this more outgoing character. It was hard though with them arguing all the time. However, she still thought of him as her best friend. "I'm trying," she said softly as tears form in her eyes, "but he keeps some many things from me. I know he is, and he never used to do that before. I don't know what to do," she cried, and put her face in her hands.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean for you to cry. Shhh, there, there," Luna said, giving her a one-armed hug and holding her close. "I wanted to give you some advice that I hope will help," she whispered in to the other girl's ear.

Hermione sniffled for a few minutes, then used a napkin and dried her tears. Then she squared her shoulders, sure she wasn't going to like what was going to be said, and looked at the Ravenclaw. "I can take it," she stated with firm nod.

"Oh, don't fret so. It is rather easy to get alone with Harry. All you have to do is… listen," the small girl said with a bright smile, patting her arm as if it was really that simple.

"I do listen," was the defensive argument.

"No, you really don't. You may hear with your ears, but you don't listen with your eyes," Luna said vaguely.

"That doesn't make a lick of sense," the bushy-haired witch huffed. She knew the girl was going to say something barmy.

"It really does if you think about it," was the rebuttal. And with that Luna grabbed her bag and went to her tower. She had a book to read.

"Listen with your eyes," Hermione grumbled as she too left the Great Hall. She too had a book to read.

Rita's POV

Rita Skeeter was relaxing at her desk with her feet up and a cup of tea in her hands. She was satisfied with a good day's reporting. Everyone was talking about her article and they were all vilifying the boy-wonder. The paper had a good run tonight; they even did a second printing. She knew she should be getting started on her commentary for the next day but was content to relax for a minute.

Other reporters were glaring at her in jealousy or hate. They never liked that she could get way with such articles. Most of them tried to be good reporters, but with sensational sales like this evening's, well that didn't happen often. The Prophet was more of a tabloid, so most good stories were binned. Many wished that there were more papers to be employed with, but with only three major publications, jobs were limited.

Just then a beautiful snowy white owl flew through the owl window, carrying a smoking black envelope that was trialing on a long string. No one had ever seen a black Howler before, so they had no idea what it was. Wands went up and shields were cast as they all watched the bird fly to Rita's desk.

Rita looked at the letter with dubious eyes and tried to banish it. That was the spell to release the twine and the letter flew into the air and opened. Hedwig shot to the ceiling, and out the window. Soot was flung from the parchment, covering everything within ten feet of Skeeter. She coughed and waved her wand to rid of it, but that only set off the yelling part of the letter.

"LISTEN HERE YOU CONNIVING TWO-BIT REPORTER. IF YOU EVER WRITE ABOUT ME AGAIN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION OR WITHOUT TALKING TO MY LAWYER, I WILL SUE THE PANTS OFF YOU. AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE FUCKING SECOND THAT I'M GOING TO RUN AND HIDE FROM YOUR VILE WORDS, THINK AGAIN, BITCH.

CALL ME A COWARD WILL YOU? I'LL SHOW YOU HOW MUCH OF ONE I AM. WANT TO TUSSLE WITH ME? BRING IT. YOU KNOW WHERE I'M STAYING. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FACE ME AND WE'LL SEE WHO THE BLOODY COWARD IS. OR IS ALL YOU CAN DO IS SPIT OUT LIES TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER? AFRAID OF A LITTLE BOY WITH NO MEMORY. YOU'D KNOW MORE MAGIC THAN I, SINCE I BLOODY WELL CAN'T REMEMBER SHITE.

I HAVE AMNESIA, YOU STUPID CUNT, AND IF YOU THINK THAT THAT IS BULLSHIT THEN ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TALK TO MADAM POMFREY AND SHE WILL CONFIRM IT. DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A REPORTER. WHAT KIND OF REPORTER JUST WRITES SHITE LIKE THIS EVENING'S ARTICLE. THAT'S NOT REPORTING, JUST SOME HACK SPOUTING BULLSHIT TO SELL PAPERS. WELL, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS, THINK AGAIN. I'VE GOT MY FUCKING EYE ON YOU AND YOU'D BETTER WATCH YOUR STEP, OR I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU. I MAY NOT REMEMBER MUCH, BUT I DO HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE MORE THAN WILL TO HELP ME PUT YOU DOWN LIKE THE BUG YOU ARE.

AS FOR SNUBBING THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT, LET'S JUST SAY THAT I WILL NOT PLAY IN THOSE STUPID ROMAN GAMES FOR A BUNCH OF BLOODTHIRSTY FUCKING PEOPLE THAT I DON'T KNOW. IF YOU WANT SOMEONE TO DIE FOR THE MASSES, THEN BE MY FUCKING GUEST AND DO IT YOUR DAMN SELF. I DIDN'T PUT MY NAME IN THAT DAMN GOBLET. THAT IS THE LAST I HAVE TO SAY ON THAT MATTER.

I WILL BURN YOU IF YOU TRY AND DO THIS TO ME AGAIN.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

The Howler then burst into flames setting the desk on fire, but it burned out before it hurt anything but Rita's notes and her half-written article.

Suddenly there was the sound of clapping. Soot flew from her wiry hair as Rita turned and scowled. She all but growled when she saw the rest of the reporters cheering her misfortune. She picked up her soot covered alligator purse and left the building. She'd see what he thought of tomorrow's article. A wicked smile crossed her face. Little did she know that the Howler was far more than it appeared to be.

Harry's POV

The next day the first thing Harry did was mail his letter to Waters. He wrote a quick note to Sirius and had Dobby take it to him. He hoped that the man got lucky today, and would be in a good mood tomorrow. He went back to the dorms and picked up Neville and Hermione, the latter looked thoughtfully at him. He raised an eyebrow, but she just shook her head with a small smile, and gushed over the Gryffindor book. They met Luna on the way and went to the Great Hall. Sitting in their usual seats, they talked about Magical Theory as they ate.

The post owls came and soon there was a lot of laughing when the Prophet was read. There on the front page was Skeeter covered from head to toe in soot as the black Howler was exploding. It replayed that scene over and over. The headline read.

Potter Fights Back. Who's Scared Now?

The article that followed retold what the Howler said, and how Rita left the building and hadn't been seen since. It stated that she was now running scare of the boy hero, and didn't want to anger him any further. They did say that they were going to check on reports to see if the Boy-Who-Lived really had lost his memory.

The gossip started up again, as the students from all three schools were debating on whether the amnesiac would compete. There was a lot of grumbling and whispers, but our hero's group ignored them.

Harry had a good laugh. He knew that it was more than that, and that there would be another article from Skeeter soon. Boy, would she be surprised. Right now, he brushed it off as a job well done and went about his day. He needed to talk to Sirius again, but that could wait until tomorrow. Today he wanted to scan books about wards. So, after excusing himself to his friends, he went to the library. He wandered around, not wanting to bother the bitchy librarian, and soon found the section he was looking for. Taking down four books, he carried them to a table and started scanning.

He learned a lot about ward stones and personal wards, like his golden dome. How they worked and what they needed. He needed a better grasp on Runes, so he searched for those books. Again scanning the ones he found. While he, Data and Spock were going over what to do with them, his proximity alert went off. He noted on the map that it was Weasley, but the guy maintained his distance, so he just watched out of the corner of his eyes. After a few minutes the redhead left.

When he learned all he could, he left the library. He made it down a corridor as was just turning the corner when there was a rattling in one of the suits of armor. He scanned it, but it came back inconclusive. He and his mind crew figured it was the magic on the metal interfering. So he stepped up and peeked into the suit, to make sure no one was trapped in there. Bullies could be cruel like that.

Suddenly he got cold and scared.

A creature came out of the mouth. It looked like the epitome of death with its ragged cloak, and its boney hands. There was deep rattling breathes coming from the thing, which cause Harry to shiver. He looked at the demon in front of him and had the fleeting thought, 'So this is a Dementor. I wonder why if I can't remember what they are, I'm see one now. Is it subconscious? Who would bring something like this in to a school?' His thoughts were going a mile a minute as he backed away.

He heard a voice of a woman screaming and wondered who it was. Then he heard horrendous laughter and wanted to kill whoever was making it. He got his head together and cast the Patronus, which he did on instinct. Instead of a transparent silver stag, it was solid looking brown one, except it was translucent. When it touched the Dementor, it screamed. But it didn't fade, or run, so Harry knew it wasn't the real thing. He banished his Patronus and made the creature in front of him a clown, which was quite a funny sight. When he chuckled, the thing flew back into the armor. He'd have to tell someone about that, but he had no idea who. Perhaps Flitwick…

He heard cursing down the hall, but it was too far away for his map to pick up. He'd have to fix that, and with that thought the map expanded. There about fifty feet away was one Ron Weasley. 'So that's how he wants to play?' Harry thought vindictively. He looked at his watch and saw it was lunchtime and smirked. 'I don't have time for you right now but you'll get yours, Weasley.'

Turning in the opposite direction, Harry headed towards the Great Hall.