Chapter 9 Slytherin's Heir

Tuesday morning's The Daily Prophet made Harry/Gilderoy smile while bringing exclamations of dismay from a certain Slytherin student. Before breakfast was over, the entire school knew that Draco Malfoy's house-elf had cursed the bludger into chasing and trying to kill Harry in order to win the game. And that the great adventurer Gilderoy had captured the errant elf, who had confessed to the crime. There was even a side article asking if perhaps Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley were soon to be an item.

Neither Ron nor Draco were pleased to see that speculation in print. Professor Snape seemed a bit put out about the story, as well. Dumbledore just twinkled his eyes.

The evening edition continued the bludger story as it had played out in the Ministry, with both junior and senior Malfoy proclaiming their innocence yet being unable to explain how their house-elf managed to do so many things without their orders. The article called into question the veracity of their Oaths — and explored how they might have been able to order the house-elf without explicitly giving an order. The house-elf might have responded to the Malfoys' vaguely expressed desires and intent without actually getting a direct order, the paper concluded.

That Mr. Malfoy had failed to quash the stories was a testament to how severely Harry/Gilderoy had hurt the Wizard financially.

Gilderoy found out just how badly he had damaged House Malfoy when an owl from Gringotts arrived that evening with a list of properties he now owned, all producing a good income. It seemed that House Malfoy had a much lower on-hand galleon reserve than he had assumed — it must be all those bribes Malfoy paid for his pro-Pure-blood agenda. This made him smile even more. With all the available gold now in Gilderoy's vaults, if Malfoy wanted Galleons for something, — say, making a bribe or three — he had to wait for his income producing properties to make their monthly deposits. But that presupposed that his current income exceeded his current bills. Considering the lifestyle the Malfoys' enjoyed, that was not a guarantee. And the properties Gilderoy now owned decreased that income capability, making it that much more difficult for Malfoy.

Malfoy could demand immediate repayment of loans he had made to others as a businessman, but that would reveal his financial situation, weaken him politically, and turn "friends" into enemies. It would also cascade through the Death Eaters as his debtors called in debts from others. Honest people and businesses who had made the mistake of borrowing from Malfoy would suffer. But the Goblins, for a price, had promised to tell Gilderoy of those with such difficulties and give him the opportunity to help if he could. That would mitigate the crisis a bit, as well as increasing Lockhart's political pull.

Borrowing from anyone but the Goblins would also reveal Malfoy's vulnerable position.

Gringotts would loan you money, but the rates were exorbitant even if you had property to put up for collateral. Naturally, the Goblins kept any income from those properties until you repaid the debt, which made it that much more difficult to do so. If you didn't have collateral, the rates ran to almost fifty percent of the loan amount. Unpopular distasteful clients, the ones who made no secret of their dislike for Goblins, would find the rates for either type of loan to be considerably higher.

In all cases, Malfoy was no longer a major player in the Ministry. He had been number three in the top ten richest Wizarding families. With this one stroke, Lockhart had knocked House Malfoy out of the top one-hundred, while moving himself into the tenth position.

Gilderoy gleefully sent an owl to Rita hinting that Malfoy might be having financial difficulties, and wouldn't that make a juicy story about how far the mighty have fallen. Plus, hinting that if Malfoy had mismanaged the ultra-rich House of Malfoy that badly, perhaps those rumours of his mental instability had a basis in fact.

Wednesday's headlines were all about how the Hogwarts' Board of Governors had reluctantly removed Mr. Malfoy because of his "unstable" mood swings. It included copious quotes from the other Board members about how appalled they were of late at his questionable actions and obvious bias. No mention was made of any one thing in particular but the impression was that the bludger event was just the latest difficulty in which Mr. Malfoy had found himself. Ah, yes, the wolves were circling wounded prey.

Thursday morning, the story on how one gets a Dark Mark broke. Several people in the Ministry did point out that this information came from convicted Death Eaters and that you couldn't really rely on them to tell the truth. Of course, others pointed out that only the most powerful of Wizards or Witches could lie under veritaserum — and none of the prisoners came close to having that power, especially after a ten-year stay in Azkaban with Dementors as their hosts!

Rita managed to get Madam Bones to agree that the next time they caught someone who had the Dark Mark breaking the law they would use veritaserum to determine the truth about the Mark. In the meantime, the tide of public opinion viciously turned on Malfoy and several other "rehabilitated" known marked Death Eaters.

Rita, meanwhile, was getting front-page headlines in both morning and evening editions of The Daily Prophet, a unique and highly profitable situation for her. It was all the better in that what she wrote was the truth and none could complain she had exaggerated and used salacious slander to sell her stories.

Later that same day, in D.A.D.A., Gilderoy decided to examine the whole thing about the Heir of Slytherin in the waning minutes of class.

"I've heard some students discussing just who the Heir of Slytherin could be and that only the Heir of Slytherin can control the monster." He paced across the classroom. "Let's get this sorted, shall we?" He faced the class and pointed his finger at the ceiling. "First, Slytherin is a Dark Family. So, whomever it is must be from a Dark family, right?"

Most of the class slowly nodded agreement.

"However, with all the cousin marriages in the Pure-blood world every Pure- and Half-blood in this Castle is related to Slytherin somewhere in their family tree." Several Slytherins nodded agreement at that conclusion. "So, not being in Dark House isn't a decisive condition disqualifying anyone from being the Heir, is it?"

Nodding heads, again. Harry looked puzzled, clearly not seeing where this was going.

"Unfortunately, which family has the best claim on being the Heir is almost impossible to determine. The last person to claim to be the Heir of Slytherin was Voldewhore — and we all know what happened to him." Most of the class gasped or hissed at the name. "His mother was from the Gaunt family and they claimed to be the only surviving direct descendants of Lord Slytherin — on the distaff side. However, all the Gaunts are now dead. So, again, familial connections are indecisive at best.

"On the other hand, Mr. Potter did vanquish Voldewhore, the last person who claimed to be the Heir of Slytherin." Several of the Slytherin students were frowning at his use of Voldewhore instead of Voldemort. "The first time Mr. Potter bested him in battle, it was defending himself when he was a mere toddler at 15 months old. How, no one knows. Maybe it was something his mother or father, or both, did. Doesn't matter, Harry Potter, last Heir of House Potter, defeated the self-proclaimed last Heir of Slytherin in Fair Combat, combat initiated by the other Wizard. Doesn't that mean Mr. Potter is now the Heir to Slytherin, By Right of Conquest?" Most of the class looked startled at that conclusion. "And for those who don't know, By Right of Conquest is a penalty to prevent powerful Wizards and Witches from taking over weaker Family Lines simply by killing the Lords and heirs. You can only inherit a line By Right of Conquest if you are defending yourself from an attack and the attacker you kill is the last Lord or Heir of his or her House.

"Well, Voldewhore did attack him without provocation, but he became a wraith. Is that sufficiently dead to qualify for Right of Conquest? Possibly." Gilderoy stopped, as if in thought. "It is somewhat confusing, isn't it?

"However, last year, Mr. Potter once again vanquished Voldewhore! And this time it was quite clear-cut. The Dark Wanker tried three times last year to kill Mr. Potter, and failed all three times — once during a Quidditch match, once in the Forbidden Forest, and finally under the castle during finals." The class was making noises now, especially from the Slytherin side. "Oh, come on!" "That's not possible!" "You're making that up!" "Give me a break!" A few objected to the names he used to describe Voldemort. "LIAR!" "How dare you!"

"SILENCE," the professor roared.

"Whether you believe me or not isn't at issue. Mr. Potter can prove he's telling the truth with his memories. But we're getting off the subject. At the end of last year, he once more vanquished the Dark Wanker. That means he has vanquished the Wizard in Fair Combat in self-defence, twice!

"By my understanding of the ancient laws, no other possible cousin Heirs can beat that claim. And even if you dispute my claim that he fought him again last year, you can't deny he vanquished him eleven years ago."

The class looked stunned at the train of thought. Gilderoy preened as they stared at him. "Didn't anyone think of that? I thought of it the moment I heard Mr. Potter had arrived at Hogwarts' last year. I thought to myself, 'Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award, there he is, the boy who defeated the Heir of Slytherin. Shouldn't that make him the Heir of Slytherin?'"

"If it's true that he defeated the Heir of Slytherin in Fair Combat, then Mr. Potter is, decisively, the Heir of Slytherin!" He paused and looked over the class, beaming happily at his logic and ignoring the horrified expressions Harry and Hermione now wore.

"In which case, the Heir of Slytherin is now a Light House, shining in the Darkness, wouldn't you all agree?" He chuckled at his pun. "In other words, if you are a Dark House and you win control of a Light House, By Right of Conquest, that doesn't automatically make you a Light House, now does it? And the converse is also true. If you are a Light House and win a Dark House by Right of Conquest, you are still a Light House!"

Most of the class was nodding agreement.

"Hm? Got that firmly in mind? Don't forget it!" Gilderoy admonished as he resumed pacing dramatically in front of the class.

"Second, to control Slytherin's Monster you have to command it. So if Slytherin's monster really is a snake, being the Heir of Slytherin is useless if you can't control the monster. Thus, even if Mr. Potter is the Heir of Slytherin, By Right of Conquest, it means nothing if he can't get the monster to listen to him, right?"

Again, most of the class was nodding agreement.

"So, the question is, Mr. Potter, are you a Parselmouth? Can you speak Parseltongue?"

Harry stared at him wide-eyed.

"Don't know, eh? Easy way to find out," Gilderoy waved his wand, saying "Serpensortia." A small snake flew from his wand. Gilderoy suspended it in the air and studied it as it hissed. "My, but you're a pretty one, aren't you? Angry, too." He would have to pretend he could not talk with snakes. Now that he was older, he realized it would be quite useful.

The whole class, except Harry, leaned back in their chairs, staring at the snake. Harry was staring at the snake in fascinated horror.

"Well, Mr. Potter, what does this beautiful specimen have to say?"

Harry looked at the professor, eyes wide in shock.

"Come, come, now, Mr. Potter, I can tell you understood him. Tell us what the snake said!"

Harry wilted under Gilderoy's stare. He couldn't bring himself to lie; he could tell that Gilderoy knew, just by the look he was giving Harry, that Harry had understood the snake. Harry swallowed nervously.

"Er, Umm," he stammered, "He said, 'Who calls me? Put me back or I'll bite you!'"

"Ah!" Gilderoy looked disappointed at the threat, "Tell him I'm sorry I disturbed him and I'll return him forthwith."

Harry gulped and then hissed at the snake. The snake hissed back.

When all the hissing ceased, Gilderoy banished the snake back to wherever he had come from.

The entire class was staring at Harry. Those closest were inching away, even Neville. Harry was sinking into his chair.

"All right, then," the Professor said merrily, "Harry speaks Parseltongue, just as Merlin the Great did."

Half the class jolted from staring at Harry to staring at their professor.

"And in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, Parselmouths are quite admired and sought-after — all those poisonous snakes, don't you know. Plus, for some reason Parseltongue makes spells more effective. Those few physicians who are parselmouths are highly sought after and head the most famous hospitals in India and southeast Asia.

"As I mention in my book Year with the Yeti, I briefly stayed in Calcutta. While there I hired a parselmouth to clear a cobra nest out of my garden . Could have done it myself, of course, but I didn't want to traumatize the little fellows with magic. Besides, the snake charmer knew of a place that needed the snakes to help clear up a rodent problem. Quite useful, being a Parselmouth. I wish I could speak Parseltongue."

The class didn't know whether to be terrified of knowing a Parselmouth, or envious.

"So, if you want to declare Mr. Potter a Dark Wizard for being a Parselmouth, then you must also condemn Merlin, and a vast number of Indians, for the same failing." He gave the class a scathing look. "I hope you are more intelligent than that. It is a Wizard's actions that determine whether he is Dark, Grey, or Light. From what I hear of Mr. Potter's reputation at Hogwarts, he is definitely not Dark — he did save a Witch he barely knew from a Troll, did he not?" He again swept the class with a glance, stopping to look at Hermione.

He turned his attention back to Harry. "Tell me, Mr. Potter, have you been hearing any hissing around the Castle?"

He shook his head. "I don't hear hissing, Sir; it just sounds like English to me."

"Ah! Then have you heard any mysterious voices around the Castle lately? Voices that said things like, oh, I don't know, things like," he paused a moment, then growled, "'Come, . . . come to me. I'm so hungry. . . I smell blood!'"

Startled at how close the Professor had come to what he had heard, Harry could only reluctantly nod.

"Excellent! Did you hear that class? Another clue as to the identity of Slytherin's Monster! Mr. Potter has been hearing a snake in the Castle. Any thoughts on the mysterious monster stalking our school?" About a third of the class raised their hands including Miss Granger.

Oh, he had to hear what she had come up with, "Miss Granger!"

She stood beside her desk and recited:

.

"Laid by rooster and hatched by a toad,

To the Basilisk terror is owed.

Crumbling rocks with its breath,

It stares victims to death,

And by cock-crow alone, is it slowed."

.

"Excellent, Miss Granger! Five points. Anything else you have to add?"

"Yes, sir. The Basilisk kills with a look, it doesn't just petrify its victims." Several other students nodded in agreement.

"Good, good. Well that is a conundrum, isn't it? But maybe we have a semantic problem there. The petrification spell used by Wizards merely immobilizes its target, petrification as alluded to the Basilisk and Medusa turn their victims to stone and kills them! Could there possibly be a special circumstance in which the snake petrifies its victim as Wizards do instead of killing the victim? A good question, don't you agree?

"So, we need a bit more research, don't we, before we can conclusively exclude the Basilisk." He smiled broadly at the class. "Were there any special conditions that might have protected the Basilisk's victims from dying while still leaving them petrified?" He swept the class again with a glance noting the frustration evident in the smarter members. "Merlin, I love being me!" he sighed happily.

"To summarize," he stopped with one hand on his hip, his robes artfully pressed back as he held up his other hand, index finger pointed up beside his head. "Primus, Mr. Potter could be the Heir of Slytherin by descent, as could any other Half- or Pure-blood student or adult in the Castle.

"Secondus, Mr. Potter is probably the Heir by Right of Conquest, but that does not make him a Dark Wizard, any more than Lucius Malfoy inheriting House Potter would make him a paragon of a Light Wizard." A squawk came from Draco's direction.

"Tertius, Mr. Potter can also speak Parseltongue and control the monster, which also doesn't mean he's a Dark Wizard, unless you wish to call Merlin and all those Indian snake charmers, who help people by removing venomous snakes, Dark Wizards as well."

"Quartus, being a Parselmouth is hereditary, you can't be taught or learn Parseltongue. Therefore, Harry is either directly descended from Slytherin, or from another Wizard who was also a Parselmouth.

Hermione had her hand raised again. Gilderoy arched an eyebrow, but finally nodded.

"Professor, you said Harry," she glanced at Harry nervously, worried that she was upsetting him. "is the Heir of Slytherin earlier, but just now you said he is probably the Heir of Slytherin. Which is it?"

"An excellent question! Two points." He swept the room with a glance. "I think he is the Heir of Slytherin, based on my knowledge and logic. However, only a Goblin Inheritance Test can decisively determine if I am right, therefore, I say he only is probably the Heir. Logic, my dears, logic, much better than random guessing."

He saw several students nodding in agreement.

Gilderoy gave the boy a jovial grin, proud of his conclusions. "So, it isn't looking good for you, Mr. Potter, is it?" Gilderoy said cheerfully. Harry looked as if he were trying to sink into the floor, his face a solid red in embarrassment, glaring angrily at Lockhart.

"However, regarding the message 'enemies of the Heir beware' and how Muggle-borns will be driven from the castle — and this is crucial — Mr. Potter's mother was a Muggle-born! Why would he want to keep Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts? It would be rather hypocritical of him, wouldn't it? He wouldn't even be here if his Muggle-born mother hadn't been allowed in to meet his Pure-blood father."

He turned his attention to the Slytherin half of the classroom. "Tell me, Mr. Malfoy," he said, still beaming, "Would you accept being the Heir of Slytherin if it meant you had to either kill your mother, or exile her to live alone with the muggles?" The Slytherins sat back in their chairs while Mr. Malfoy went pale.

"So, even if Mr. Potter is the Heir of Slytherin and could control the monster, that does not mean he is behind the message or the attacks! You cannot conclude he is responsible until you can explain why he would want to chase his girlfriend out of Hogwarts!" There were a few startled squeaks from girls at the thought the Muggle-born girl might actually be his girlfriend. "And, as he himself is a Half-blood, siding with the Pure-bloods on their agenda against Half-bloods and Muggle-born would also be hypocritical, wouldn't it? So you have to explain that as well."

He stopped and looked across the class. "Homework! Explain the reasons why a Half-blood such as Mr. Potter would never agree to work for laws that discriminate against his or her self! One foot, with a one-sentence conclusion on what you would do if you were a half-blood faced with such a choice. For extra-credit, reasonable explanations for why a Half-blood would work to pass laws that discriminated against his or her self, with a second conclusion on if those reasons would be enough to alter your original conclusion.

"Class dismissed."

There would be some very interesting owl messages sent home this week.

(⊙_◎)

A week and a half had passed and Rita was no longer getting front-page headlines at The Daily Prophet. Mr. Malfoy had taken quite a beating.

When he had attempted to use the Wizengamot to attack the popular blonde-haired Wizard, he had discovered that only the votes he bought would back him in what was clearly a personal vendetta.

Then the Wizengamot had censured and kicked him out. It was okay to be a Death Eater in private, and several members were slightly barmy, but his public outbursts and rage at the famous and popular Lockhart, coupled with rumours of grave financial setbacks amid incompetence, and his baseless accusations against those he saw as his enemies, were attracting the wrong sort of public attention. Ah, yes, the sharks were not above exaggerating to their fellows in order to bring down a foe.

Lockhart had picked up a few more properties from Malfoy as Malfoy vainly attempted to bribe his fellow members into staying on the Wizengamot. The Malfoy's were now merely an upper-middle-class family. But that wouldn't last at the rate they were burning through their funds. Gilderoy had already bailed out several 'Light' businesses hurt by Malfoy's demand for debt repayment. The more shady 'Dark' businesses he had allowed to fail, removing financial support to various Death Eater families. And the ill-will those failures had generated towards House Malfoy made Harry smile to think on. If they had to scramble to survive, they didn't have time for extra-curricular activities that hurt their fellow Wizards and Witches.

(◎_◎)

"I'm sure you're wondering why you and Miss Granger have a detention with me tonight instead of Professor Snape, right Mr. Potter?" They were in his office and it was shortly after tea. They both nodded. "Well," he said as if confiding in a close friend, "I'm sure you've noticed how The Daily Prophet headlines are no longer focusing on Mr. Malfoy's woes, right?" He smiled winningly at them as they nodded again. Harry had a self-satisfied smirk at Draco's difficulties in Slytherin. He was no longer the Prince of Slytherin House.

"I think it's time you started, Mr. Potter, to correct the errors and lies about your life!"

He noticed both students began to look alarmed.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," he said disparagingly, "I've told you many times before that you must seize your destiny and embrace it. You must accept that the public is thirsty for stories about you, and if you don't give them stories, someone else will make up stories about you and the public will take them as truth, to your great regret."

He switched his attention to Hermione. "Miss Granger, you've seen how the press acts towards celebrities in the Muggle world, haven't you?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"And you've seen that when a celebrity doesn't talk to the press, they make up stories, right?"

Again she nodded.

"So, Miss Granger, what should a smart celebrity do? Take your time."

After a minute she said, "If the newspapers can get stories direct from the celebrity, they print those instead of making things up. A smart celebrity would make sure that he or she talks with the reporters regularly so they always get accurate stories and aren't likely to make up new ones in a bid for readership."

"You see, Harry," said Gilderoy happily, "I'm not just an egotistical braggart. I always make sure to tell the reporters what I'm doing in order to protect myself from rumours and innuendo. Some may say that I go too far, but unless you are constantly doing something new, the press lose interest in you. And I need press to sell my books."

He paused. This wasn't quite going where he wanted.

"Harry, I know you hate attention, but you are The-Boy-Who-Lived. For ten years, nobody knew where you were or what you were doing. And people want to know what kind of life their saviour leads. There is tremendous pressure on the press to answer those questions. The more you try to avoid it, the more secretive you appear. And the more secretive you appear, the more the press will hound you, trying to get answers to those questions. And as you get older, it will only get worse. You're almost a teenager, so the questions are going to be, what do you like to do? Who are your friends? Are you a git? Are you a hero? What girls do you like? Is there a special girl? Who is she?" The wizard turned to Hermione, "You can tell him how the press has hounded Prince Charles, Andrew, Edward, and Princess Anne."

"Um, yeah, they are pretty relentless."

"Exactly," cried Gilderoy in triumph. "And the way the Royals keep rumours and speculation to a minimum is with regular press updates, right?"

Hermione nodded ruefully.

"So, Harry, with my help you are going to start managing the press."

He stood, "Come with me, children," he headed for the door. "And I will teach you the ins and outs of manipulating the press into printing the stories you want while burying the stories you don't!"

He led them out of the Castle towards Hogsmeade. The Headmaster was at the Ministry, dealing with that idiot Fudge panicking over the loss of his "good friend" and private financier, Malfoy.

"Just as I promised, Harry, Hermione, this is Rita Skeeter," Lockhart said as he ushered the two students into the private room at The Three Broomsticks. He looked over, smiling his trademark smile at the Witch. The woman was staring at Harry as if he were a Christmas Roast prepared exclusively for her consumption.

"Woah, Rita," he said disarmingly. "Tone it down a little."

Hermione was definitely looking alarmed while Harry looked sullen.

The Witch blinked and looked down at the table. "Right," she said.

"Now, then," Gilderoy said as he guided the two Gryffindors to their chairs, "Let me start off with a few bits of information that Mr. Potter here is a bit too shy to come out and say frankly." He grinned at Rita. "I, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award, and Hogwarts' beloved Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, though, have no such qualms.

"You, of course, know Harry Potter . . . ."

Rita gave the boy a patently false smile, "How do you do, Mr. Potter."

"Hullo."

Gilderoy said, "Harry, where are your manners? You know better."

Harry sighed and then looked up at the older Witch, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Rita Skeeter."

"You must excuse Harry's abrupt manner, Rita," Gilderoy said aside to the Witch, "He was never taught proper Wizard manners."

Rita's eyes widened slightly at that declaration.

Gilderoy pretended not to notice, "And this is Mr. Potter's very good friend, Hermione Granger." He added, "She's a Muggle-born and clearly the smartest girl in her year at Hogwarts."

Hermione blushed as she curtsied and said hello.

"She's with us today because I think she will find this an invaluable learning experience." He paused a second. "And before you ask, she is not his girlfriend," he said with an obvious exaggerated wink. "At least, not yet," he added with a chuckle. "Perhaps someday, right, children?"

"Professor!" exclaimed Hermione, scandalized. Harry sank lower in his chair. Both were blushing almost scarlet.

Harry/Gilderoy laughed. "Aren't they cute together?" he stage-whispered to Rita.

That got an even louder, "Professor!" from Hermione. If anything, the two were blushing more. He was sure even their toes were blushing.

He rubbed his hands together. He was having such fun.

"Now then, Rita, I have to set out some rules. Harry is quite shy about his life with the Muggles, and he isn't ready to discuss any details of how they treated him. What I can tell you is that they are his relatives, and no we shan't tell you their names. Their safety lies in their anonymity. And they must remain anonymous because there are people who would attack them." Let her assume those were enemies of Harry and not people outraged at his treatment by the Dursleys.

Both Harry and Hermione were staring at him.

"And yes, people would attack them. Why, in fact, there have been no less than three attempts on Mr. Potter's life last year alone! And that was at Hogwarts. Imagine what they would do next summer if they knew the identity of his magicless Muggle relatives, and that Harry was prohibited from doing protective magic by the Trace?! Not that he would have the knowledge or skill to stand up against fully-grown Death Eaters for more than a few seconds, at most."

Rita was sitting with her arms on the table, leaning forward, eyes narrowed in concentration. Her eyebrows shot up at that revelation.

"So, I thought that the way we would do this is for Harry, here, to tell you what he thought when he first saw Diagon Alley last year for the very first time ever and his experiences there. Then move on to the Hogwarts Express and the Sorting Feast. Then you could ask questions. Then, if we have time, Harry could tell you how his first time on a broom got him on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and about his very first Halloween at Hogwarts.

"Hermione, here, met Harry on the train and she can give you her impressions on first meeting the famous Boy-Who-Lived and some of the other things she saw him do.

"How does that sound?"

Two hours and several cups of tea later, Harry began describing the Halloween feast and the Troll. Both Harry and Hermione were somewhat hoarse an hour after that. Hermione greatly expanded Harry's short description of the battle: "We knocked the troll out."

Rita had a nice stack of parchments rolls by this time. "Amazing," she whispered.

"Yes, isn't it?" Gilderoy said. "Well, I think we are done for the night. We need to head back, curfew is coming quick, don't you know?

"Oh, by the way, here are some official photographs of Harry and Hermione you can use in your stories." He dropped a small bundle on the table. "Both separate and together. Be sure to give proper photographer credit to Colin Creevey, as well as a photographer's fee for each photograph used in the paper."

He ushered the two children out the door, but turned at the last minute to hand her a bottle filled with a silvery fluid. "I think you'll find this most informative, Rita. It corroborates everything they told you about the Troll," he said in a low voice. "You might want to downplay Mr. Weasley's role, he's a bit of a slob and an idiot." Then louder. "I'm not one to tell another how to do their business, but I imagine that you could make those notes last for several days, maybe a week, with a teaser about the Troll at the end of each to build suspense. Oh, and you might want to ask Madam Bones what she knows about a Troll loose inside Hogwarts' protective enchantments, and what the Headmaster told her and the other parents of the incident."

Harry/Gilderoy smiled happily, those stories would be like kicking old Dumbledore in the family jewels.

(◎_⊙)

Rita's articles helped The Daily Prophet set sales records. At first, Harry got hassled by the Slytherins, and especially Draco, about the articles and being an "attention-whore," as one Slytherin put it. Harry used the lines given to him by Gilderoy, "You're just jealous because nobody cares what you do" and "I'm just trying to put the truth out to combat the lies that have been told." They worked surprisingly well. And watching Ron's reaction to the first quote — he turned as red as his hair every time he heard it — was quite entertaining. Each time drove another nail into the coffin of their friendship. It was only Harry's good nature and loyalty that so far had prevented its burial.

Harry still directed quite a few death glares at Gilderoy for the unwanted attention, but the Wizard knew it would pass. On the other hand, Ron was practically frothing at the mouth like a mad dog at the attention Harry received. The fact that Rita mentioned his name, even if it was in a slightly derogatory manner, was not salve enough to sooth his wounded pride and raging jealousy. After all, the articles quoted Harry and Hermione extensively while he appeared as a hapless spectator to Harry's adventures. It was a sharp contrast to his previous boasting to his family and other classmates where he took centre stage and Harry was the lackey.

Gilderoy took great delight in how Rita started and ended every article with his name, describing how solicitous he was of the famous boy, and how the articles would never have happened without his helpful intercession.

It was Harry describing the Sorting Feast, and that Malfoy was the reason he ended up in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, that the excrement hit the revolving propeller for Draco. Almost as one, Slytherin House turned on Draco for ruining their chance to get the Boy-Who-Lived — especially now after the Malfoys' fall from power and there was no fear of retaliation from Malfoy's father. Ron, for once, was the object of much praise and thanks for helping Harry to choose Gryffindor. It did little to assuage his massive amounts of envy and jealousy.

The reaction when the story about the Troll hit, though, was outstanding, from Gilderoy's point-of-view. The included pictures of Harry climbing the Troll with Ron in the background throwing debris shut up many people. It's hard to call someone a coward when you just saw him climbing a fully-grown Mountain Troll to defend a girl he barely knew.

Girls from all Houses began throwing speculative looks Harry's way. Hermione, Gilderoy was pleased to see, never let the Wizard out of her sight and acted a bit possessive when the other Witches tried to separate them. And while some girls taunted Hermione with how she did nothing to defend herself, they always shut up when someone else pointed out that that meant Harry saved her!

And Ron scowled at the downplaying of his role in fighting a Troll. Harry/Gilderoy overheard the twins saying that their parents were equally displeased with that story, though for different reasons. The Headmaster hadn't told them the whole story and that failure disturbed them and shook their trust in the venerable old Wizard.

And Gilderoy's order of a Goblin knife, holster, and a tiny half-ounce vial of Basilisk venom finally arrived. It was a steal at only five and a half thousand galleons — the venom was seventeen galleons a drop! It took only a moment for the knife blade to absorb all but a dozen drops from the vial — what doesn't destroy a Goblin blade makes it stronger. Or, in this case, makes it poisonous in the extreme.

(⊙_◎)

Albus Dumbledore stared at the various copies of The Daily Prophet on his desk. He had just returned from a scathing meeting at the Ministry with the Head of the D.M.L.E., Madam Bones. The Department had been investigating the incident, and many others, on the sly after their interview with Harry the day after his Quidditch match. The articles in The Daily Prophet had just pushed the Troll incident to the forefront.

She had raked the old Wizard over the coals for his actions regarding the Troll incident. Yes, it had happened on Hogwarts' grounds, but the near death of three students, one a Pure-blood, made the matter a D.M.L.E. concern — especially with many members of the Wizengamot demanding answers from her. And his previous explanation that a Troll had managed to get quite close to the Castle and not that the Troll was in the Castle did much to damage his relationship with the Ministry and Aurors. His supporters were unhappy at the revelation but the Wizengamot members who favoured the Dark Arts were incensed at what they termed "his blatant lies."

She had demanded a full report on how the Troll had managed to access the castle, as well as what measures he had put in place to prevent it from EVER happening again.

Dumbledore was left wondering how Gilderoy had managed to get that insufferable Witch Rita an interview with Harry and Miss Granger? When had he done it? This was the third time in as many months that the prancing fraud had managed to surprise him with competency! He was going to have to keep a closer watch on the Wizard.