An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Fifty-Three

The next morning, I started my week with my usual run before meeting Myrah in our favorite empty classroom. I'd started working through breakfast sometimes as well as dinner, especially since it meant seeing less of Umbridge, so Myrah and I had grabbed some toast and (in my case) coffee, then spent the morning practicing mermish together. We'd gotten good enough to communicate in mermish only, no English, and although we probably sounded ridiculous and made many mistakes, it still felt like a major accomplishment.

We left the classroom and split just in time to make it to our separate first periods, and as soon as I walked into the greenhouse for Herbology, I noticed the twins giving me concerningly intense stares.

"...What?" I asked, crossing the room quickly to join them at the far end, away from Professor Sprout. She was usually pretty chill, so she probably wouldn't care about us talking while we worked, but it never hurt to be safe instead of sorry.

"You missed it," said George, a dark excitement lacing his words. Fred nodded next to him.

"Look at what came this morning."

Fred held out a magazine to me with the kinds of crazy design and decoration usually only found on tabloids splashed across the cover. I read the headline for the featured article, and my heart stopped in my chest:

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

Just as suddenly, my heart restarted, and I could feel it like a massive lump in my throat. I looked quickly between the twins, clutching the newspaper to my chest.

"Is this real?" I hardly dared to hope.

"It's real," said George with a grin. "Now, the Quibbler's not necessarily the most respected publication, mind."

"And Harry got a bunch of letters this morning from some people who said they still didn't believe him," Fred continued with an eye roll.

"But," said George, leaning forward with a grin. "He also got a fair number of letters from people saying they believed him. And you should've seen Umbridge's face when she read the title- she turned about ten different shades of bright red."

Finally, a smile broke out on my own face. Hermione, that absolute genius of a girl, had done it. She'd found a platform for Harry to get the truth out that hadn't been completely muzzled by the government. That girl was incredible.

"You can keep that copy if you want to read the interview," said Fred, him and George turning back to their work stations now that class had officially started. "We've got loads more."

"Thanks, guys. Holy shit, I can't believe Hermione actually did it."

They both gave me a knowing smile, and I took a few more seconds to stare at the magazine cover pronouncing the truth before carefully tucking it into my bag. Honestly, I didn't really want to read the interview, mostly because I had no desire to relieve any part of that night. But knowing other people would hear the story, that we might finally have made a difference in getting people to understand and prepare? It felt incredible, and the magazine represented hope for all of us as far as I was concerned.

Of course, Umbridge couldn't let that hope exist in peace for more than a few hours. Before lunch, signs had been hung from every blank spot of wall and then some, announcing the newest educational decree:

--- BY ORDER OF ---

The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts

Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven.