Pointless {Harry Potter X Female OC}

Y4: Only The Beginning

TW: possible triggering topics

"Very clever. Granger,"

When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had only scattered memories of the next few days. It was as though he had been through too much to take in anymore.

The recollections he did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggorys that took place the following morning.

They did not blame him for what had happened, actually, both thanked him for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.

It was with a heavy heart that Harry packed his trunk up in the dormitory on the night before his return to Privet Drive. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced.

When he, Violet, Ron and Hermione entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing.

The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colours for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. They were there as a mark of respect to Cedric.

Professor Dumbledore stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall became very quiet.
"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. We are all facing dark and difficult times. Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, kind, and brave because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

⚯🔮📖⚡

Harry's trunk was packed; Hedwig was back in her cage on top of it. He, Violet, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Hogsmeade station.

The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on its way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

Harry, Violet, Ron and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves. Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, Raven was staying with Draco, and Crookshanks was curled up in Hermione's lap.

Harry noticed a copy of the Daily Prophet in Hermione's bag. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he really wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, seeing him looking at it, said calmly, "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me. Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."
"He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Ron. "Not on a story like this."

"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her. I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush.

"How was she doing it?" said Harry at once.
"Bugging," said Hermione happily.
"But you said they didn't work -"

"Oh not electronic bugs," said Hermione. "No, you see...Rita Skeeter" - Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph - "is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn -"
Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out of another bag.
"- into a beetle."

"You're kidding," said Ron. "You haven't...she's not..."
"Oh yes she is," said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them.
Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle.

"That's never - you're kidding -" Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes.
"No, I'm not," said Hermione, beaming. "I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing."

"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!"
"Exactly," said Hermione, "And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."

"When we saw Malfoy under that tree..." said Ron slowly.
"He was talking to her, in his hand," said Hermione. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid."

"Huh, and here I was, thinking Pansy was spilling the tea," Violet chuckled.
Harry looked at Violet, startled, it was the first thing she'd said this entire train ride.

"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."
Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her school bag.

The door of the compartment slid open.
"Very clever. Granger," said Draco.

"Hello, dear cousin," Violet greeted cheerfully, "I hope your not leaving my owl alone to fend for herself. You know she likes to- "
"Jump out of windows," Draco said, "Lorenzo's watching her. Rather suicidal that bird is."

"So," said Draco continued, "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favourite boy again. Big deal."
"Somebody died, Draco," Violet told him.
"Yeah, just some Hufflepuff," Draco shrugged.

"He was a human too," said Hermione defensively.
Violet made eye contact with her cousin, "Out. We'll discuss this at home."
Draco nodded and walked out, but not before leaving Harry with one last teasing statement.

There was an ulterior meaning behind Draco's questioning. Voldemort was back. Both cousins knew what was about to happen now and dreaded going back to their shared estate.

"We're here," Hermine acknowledged, standing up and grabbing her bags.
Harry left the compartment before they could say another word. Violet, Ron and Hermione each followed him out, bags in hand.

Harry's Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very tightly when she saw him and whispered in his ear, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry."

The four Gryffindors bid each other goodbye. Harry turned to Uncle Vernon and followed him silently from the station. There was no point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the back of the Dursleys' car. As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come...and he would have to meet it when it did.

A/N:
I published this book in August 2021. It's been a while but we're finally done with year 4. Thank you so so much for reading. See y'all in year 5 ;)