Secrets, Lies and the Daily Prophet (Alt. Fifth Year Fic)

Chapter Thirteen: Hate Mail

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

The next day Harry brought the newspaper clipping from The Daily Prophet with him when he went to Professor Figg's house.

She looked grimly at the text and shook her head. "There's nothing we can do about this. If we attempt to get a retraction, they'd only use this as a further excuse to twist the truth. I'm sorry, but I know how this publication works and there's not much we can do about it."

Harry then told her about the Witch Weekly article that had made Hermione out to be toying with his and Viktor Krum's affections and how it led to her being inundated with hate mail and Howlers. Professor Figg frowned and then led Harry up the stairs to the bedroom with the surveillance equipment.

"I hadn't meant to show this to you Harry, but I don't see any reason why not at this point. Do you see this monitor?" she pointed to the screen on the desk that Snowy was perched at. Harry nodded as he peered closely at the display.

"This shows the neighbourhood for several blocks surrounding your aunt and uncle's home. There are various charms and enchantments that detect magical activity and also repel other activity. On my house I have a charm that repels owls. Like I mentioned before, I find that owl post is far too unusual for a plain Muggle neighbourhood. Besides, your aunt was well aware of owl post due to your mother and I could not risk her ever seeing an owl here and realizing that I was a witch."

Professor Figg then pointed at the centre of the map and Harry realized it was Number 4 Privet Drive.

"On the roof of your house is also an owl repellent charm. I had that in place and active until I knew you'd get the acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Until then I didn't want anyone sending you letters, greetings or fan mail. So any owl posts would have been returned to sender. I can reactivate that charm for you, temporarily if you'd like. At least until the furor of the article wears off in a week or two," she suggested.

Harry thought about the undiluted bubotuber pus that Hermione received in one letter and then he thought of how his aunt would react to Howlers.

"Maybe that would be best. But what will happen to my owl, Hedwig?" he asked.

"Well, I think you should send word to your friends that they won't be able to contact you by owl post until your birthday because of security concerns. All mail will be returned to sender. I'm sure that Hermione will understand completely. You might want to remind Ron of the letters that she received and then I'm sure he'll understand it, too. You should also have Hedwig stay at either one of their houses until your birthday. Then we'll try lifting the measure for a day or so and see how things work out. Maybe you should go home, write a quick note to Ron and send Hedwig away. You can tell your aunt you forgot something in your room. By the time you return I'll have reactivated the charm and you won't have to worry about receiving any mail today."

Harry looked at the monitor with amazement. "This is really cool. I haven't seen anything like this at Hogwarts."

"Thank you," she said being very pleased. "I've been working on these security measures over the years and it really improved after I took an electronics course a few years ago at the local college. I thought I could use a mixture of magical and Muggle technology to create the most powerful security field on your behalf."

"Mr. Weasley would be very impressed."

"Yes, I'm sure he would be. But he's not going to see anything about this place until after this detail is no longer necessary, then I'll show him everything. I don't want him grousing about Muggle protection acts. I hide everything magical in my house so that none of my neighbours will detect anything untoward and I don't want anyone knowing my business in the magical world. It's funny, your godfather thinks this is a little too high tech. He keeps talking about making an enchanted parchment to perform the same duties." She looked at her watch, "You might want to get going back to your house and send that letter. Otherwise your aunt might soon be pelted with Howlers."

That got Harry moving quickly. He took the steps downstairs two at a time. When he got to the living room he found a spare piece of parchment and scribbled a quick note to Ron telling him about the temporary ban on owl posts at his house and to please notify Hermione and have Hedwig stay at either of their houses until she could return at his birthday. He addressed the outside of the scroll and ran quickly back home to Privet Drive. His aunt was startled to see Harry come in the door.

"I forgot something, Aunt Petunia!" as he bounded up the stairs to his room. He noticed that there were three owls already beating their wings outside his window. He walked over to Hedwig's cage and opened it. "Hedwig, I've got a letter for you to take to Ron Weasley. See those owls? There's bound to be more coming and I need to make them stop for a little while. So please stay with either the Weasleys or at Hermione Granger's house for a few weeks. One of them will send you back here at my birthday, but until then...you'll have to stay away."

Harry stroked her feathers and gave her some owl treats. "I'm sorry about this, but that's the way it has to be."

She hooted and extended her leg for Harry to tie the letter to it. He raised the window and Hedwig hissed at the other owls that were fighting to get in. They hovered in midair allowing her to leave. After Hedwig flew away, the three owls flew into the room, dropped their letters at Harry's feet, and took off. He said a few silent thanks that none of those were Howlers. He snatched them up and closed his window, locking it. Then he ran down the stairs and out the front door trying to ignore his aunt's scowling face as he ran past.

As he ran back to Professor Figg's house he saw a flock of owls flying towards his house, but suddenly they turned around and flew back in the direction that they had come from. Harry was out of breath when he opened the door to her house. Sirius was trying to stifle a smile when Harry collapsed in a chair panting.

"I see you've gotten some fan mail. Did you read it yet?"

Harry shook his head, still gasping for breath.

"Let me see them," as Sirius reached for the pieces of parchment held in Harry's hands. Sirius scanned them and frowned, "Well, it's what we expected. The Daily Prophet is using you and Professor Dumbledore as a means to sell papers and create a scandal. Too bad they didn't get to the real story, but that's not what they're interested in. It's a shame that the only daily wizarding paper is a scandal mongering rag. The only upside is that they regularly attack the Ministry of Magic for its incompetence, but now when the Wizarding World could truly need informing about Voldemort's return they get a load of crap instead."

Sirius crumpled up the letters, "You don't want to see them Harry. There's no truth or reason behind them. I don't want you to even think about this for awhile, there's far more important work to be done."

By this time Harry had caught his breath and he nodded to Sirius. "So,what's my first lesson? I brought my wand."

Author's note: Next up, Harry starts taking private magic lessons with Sirius and Professor Figg.