Lost Memories

xvii. information

"That can't be," I leaned over Harry's shoulder trying to read the letter.

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron, who walked alongside Harry.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.

"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught. . ."

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."

"There they are, there they are!" Pansy Parkinson giggled as we walked up to the Potions class. I saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands — Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Harring! Show Granger, too," Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at me. Catching it, I looked over the magazine just as the dungeon door opened, and Professor Snape beckoned us all inside.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron headed the table at the left of the dungeon, as usual, while I had to sit next to Draco, again. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, I hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the center pages, I found what they were looking for. A colored photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled:

A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in two different girls at Hogwarts: Muggle-born Hermione Granger and Charlotte Harring. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with a personal loss.

Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone can not satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker, and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."

Miss Harring, a bad-tempered but intelligent girl, seems to not be able to choose between friendship and love. At the beginning of the year, Miss Harring was flying solo but found love in her best friend's boyfriend, Harry Potter. Now, following the rejection of Mr. Potter, she's moved on to second-best Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff prefect, Quidditch Captain, and Hogwart's House Seeker. Like her best friend, Miss Harring seems to be toying with both boys' hearts. Although there is no comment on either Mr. Potter or Diggory's opinions, it is quite apparent what kind of girls these two are.

However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interests.

"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."

"Although Lottie is oddly pretty, she has a horrible temper and no personality," Parkinson adds. "She probably convinced Hermione to do it. She may be clever, but Lottie is conniving."

Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that next time, he bestows his heart on worthier candidates and better friends.

Closing the magazine, I threw it into my bag and stared numbly at the blackboard. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione staring at me. Snape continued writing on the blackboard, but my mind couldn't focus. Scribbles were written on my parchment, yet they meant nothing. Going for more ink, I managed to spill the bottle, causing a small spill near my cauldron.