"𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙮"
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IN WHICH ~ Jupiter Cassiopeia Lestrange thought she could escape her family's dark legacy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but in her second year, Tom Riddle's diar...
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"Most things feel out of place these days, especially me."
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Life had somehow gotten worse for Harry, and not just because of the looming challenges of the Triwizard Tournament. Rita Skeeter, a nosy journalist from the Daily Prophet, had recently interviewed the four champions, only to twist her piece into a sensationalized, drama-filled tale centered entirely on Harry's life.
The front page of the paper displayed a huge, dramatic photo of Harry looking overwhelmed, his eyes wide as if caught off guard. Inside, the article stretched across pages two, six, and seven, with every paragraph focused on his "tragic" backstory and "famous" friends, painting him as the star of the tournament in a way he'd never asked for.
Harry slammed the newspaper onto the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, his face flushed. "I swear, I didn't say any of this," he growled, his eyes flashing with frustration. Jupiter picked up the paper, a frown creasing her forehead as she started reading it aloud. Around her, several other Gryffindors leaned in, equally eager to hear what Skeeter had concocted.
"'Harry Potter, age twelve, suspect entrant in the Triwizard Tournament...,'" she began, rolling her eyes. "'I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now... Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it... I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me...' Potter states, his eyes swimming with the ghosts of his past. Harry has at least found love at Hogwarts.'"
Jupiter paused, looking up at Harry. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and he seemed to be holding back an eye-roll of his own. "Keep going," he urged, leaning over her shoulder, his hand planted on the table beside her. She shifted slightly, feeling her head spin under the weight of his closeness, then forced herself to focus on the horrendous article.
"'His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen without the company of Jupiter Black, the daughter of the escaped convict, Sirius Black. Ministry officials say they wonder if the two teenagers' blossoming relationship is linked to the Potters' demise, and that Jupiter has been a ploy in Sirius Black's plan to finish what he started.'"
There was a murmur of outrage around them, and Jupiter's face flushed with anger as she slammed the newspaper back onto the table. The other Gryffindors muttered indignantly, shooting dirty looks at the paper.
It wasn't long before Skeeter's slanderous words fueled a new wave of taunts and jibes in the halls of Hogwarts. Now, it seemed impossible for Harry to walk anywhere without hearing sneering voices calling out after him.
