THE LIGHTNING LORD

Chapter 23 : Rita's quill strikes again

Harry entered a compartment of the Hogwarts Express. The past few days had been a roller-coaster ride that was Remus Lupin. He was so glad that Aquila had calmed him down during that confrontation with Lupin and had spent half an hour afterward flying in the storm, while the large Thunderbird tried to calm him down. This resulted in Harry spending the next few days in isolation, with no contact from anybody as he worked on his Occlumency. He didn't want to lose control like he just did so he started by accessing small parts of Voldemort's memories which showed his wide range of spells he had learnt from all over the world. He would have to learn them himself, but at least he knew where to look and could easily master them. Completely receiving Voldemort's knowledge was too easy. Harry still had a long way to go, but he was confident he would get there.

He sat down on the seat, enlarged his trunk, and removed Tango, his Crup from the cage. The puppy barked and licked Harry's face. He smiled and petted the dog. Slowly, people started entering the train and a few minutes later, Daphne entered with a wide smile. "Hey Harry, I lo-wait, is that a Crup? When did you get one? He's so cute!" she said.

Tango wagged his tail and licked Daphne's fingers. "This is Sirius's gift to me. I named him Tango. He really is adorable, isn't he? By the way, did you like my gift?" he asked.

Daphne's eyes lit up. "I love it. Thank you so much, Harry. I wear it every day, see?" she said showing the heart shaped diamond bracelet that Harry had got her. "And the wand holster was incredibly thoughtful. Did you like our gift?" she asked.

Harry's smiled "I loved it. But you didn't have to spend so much and buy me a Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick. I would have been happy with a simple book or candy" he said. Harry still wasn't used to receiving presents. He had been really touched when his godfather had got him a dog and the Greengrasses had bought him a broomstick. While he preferred to use his eagle form to fly, he couldn't play Quidditch without the broom. Aquila had more than once said how odd it was that broomsticks didn't have wings.

When the rest of them started to arrive, both Harry and Daphne went back to their expressionless mask. They may have decided to show their true selves to each other, but that didn't mean they would do so in front of their friends. They had discussed that a few days ago. While they considered the others friends, it didn't discount the fact that Harry and Daphne preferred to be alone and it just meant they were closer to them than the others in school, nothing more. The others all found Tango to be very adorable, and that's when Neville came in holding a newspaper.

"Guys, is it true that you're betrothed? The whole train is buzzing. The Prophet came out just now, and its front page news. Here, take a look" he said handing the paper to them. Harry and Daphne groaned when they saw the paper. They had been hoping it would stay secret for some more time.

BOY WHO LIVED BETROTHED TO GREENGRASS HEIRESS

By Rita Skeeter

It has come to the notice of this reporter that Hadrian James Potter, the Boy Who Lived and Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter is betrothed to Daphne Elizabeth Greengrass, Heiress Presumptive of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass.

The marriage contract seems to have been drawn up in the year 1824 by William Potter and Steffen Greengrass and it seems to have been implemented by the two eleven-year-olds. The exact nature of the contract has not been revealed, but many have speculated that it took effect due to Lady Daphne being the Heiress of House Greengrass.

Are Lord Potter and Lady Daphne happy being betrothed to each other? Or will this relationship cause problems for them as well as the power chain in Wizengamot? This reporter will work towards finding out more about how our beloved hero feels about being trapped in a contract with a girl he might not be interested in.