"Ugh! They couldn't even get the spelling right! Of course it's not contagious!" Hermione was too annoyed at wizarding culture in general to hear Harry. "This isn't a muggle disease, it affects the human brain! Some wizards must suffer it, too!"
"Maybe they do, but they just think it's the Seer's Swoon," suggested Harry.
"That's as bad as muggles a few hundred years ago. They thought it was demonic possession or something. The wizarding world is so backwards!" Hermione grumbled.
"You wouldn't faint from demonic possession," Neville said. "Your body would burn to ashes from the inside out. That kind of stuff is scary, there hasn't even been a dark wizard insane enough to try it for the last few centuries. You-know-who was scary, but at least he isn't crazy enough to try that."
Harry and Hermione stared at him, wide-eyed. "Where did you hear about something like that? Professor Binns never talks about those kinds of things in History of Magic."
"It's a bedtime story, all wizards grow up with it..." Neville told them. "Oh... right, you two wouldn't know about that..."
As they read through the paper, a familiar name came up as Harry expected another slanderous article. This time, though, the article wasn't about him.
Muggleborn Setting Sights on Harry Potter?
By Rita Skeeter
On New Year's Eve, one particular witch seemed to have made a pretty lofty resolution: to snag herself Harry Potter. Sporting an outrageously provocative dress that was obviously of muggle origin, she remained at Mr. Potter's side throughout the night and refused to allow anyone else to dance with him. Mr. Potter, however, couldn't take his eyes off another girl, Fleur Delacour, all night long. One needed only a quick glance to tell his heart lusted after only one other, and it certainly wasn't some muggleborn witch.
She undoubtedly had been determined to make this her night, planning ages in advance. Anyone spending this much time and effort would, of course, have a backup plan in case something went wrong. After handing him a glass of cider to celebrate the new year, Potter collapsed after drinking it.
"I've never seen her look the way she did that night. She obviously used plenty of glamours to primp herself up. You won't believe how ugly she is in class," said Miss Parkinson. "The only thing she's got is her smarts, and you know boys won't ever notice how smart a girl is from across the room. I wouldn't put it past her to try a potion on Potter. She thinks she can outwit the professors."
The aurors have already closed the investigation, saying Mr. Potter would not be pressing charges and, in fact, went to retrieve the suspect from the interrogation himself. They failed to mention, however, how eccentric he was acting the moment he awoke.
"She was the first thing he asked about the moment he awoke," auror Verne, the officer assigned to guarding Potter in Hogwarts' hospital wing, told us. "He was obsessed with her, I'd say. Couldn't have been thinking clearly to do what he did." The auror declined to comment further under orders from his captain.
How does a boy go from stepping all over his date's toes while watching another girl on the dance floor , then collapsing after a drink, to dashing across the castle to "save" a muggleborn witch? You don't have to be an arithmancer to see how this adds up.
"Alright, she can slander me all she wants, but you're off limits," Harry growled. "Keep the map on you, and find her during the Trial of Water."
"This article is... so... racist!" Hermione looked aghast. "She didn't even bother writing my name! She just kept calling me the 'muggleborn girl'! This is... I can't... ahhhrg!" She threw the paper down in disgust.
"I didn't really notice," Neville said sheepishly. "I mean, I know she was talking about Hermione, but this is pretty normal for newspapers. Muggleborns don't really get mentioned by name in the papers unless they do something really amazing. Or marry into a wizarding family." Both Harry and Hermione were shocked at the insight into wizarding culture that Neville had provided them. It seemed that, while the general attitude among the students was pretty accepting of muggleborns, that was a relatively new idea that had only come after the last war with Voldemort ended. It was no wonder he managed to gain such a strong following twenty years ago.
Their sour mood didn't abate by the time they arrived in potions class, but that worked to Harry's advantage. He walked into the room feeling very vindictive. In Harry's absence, Neville had taken to partnering with Hermione for their potions, and as a result, his potions were far better than before. Harry didn't want to ruin a good thing, and he was prepared for his own potion to get rather messy.
"I see the great last-place champion has finally decided to grace us with his presence," drawled Snape as Harry entered to classroom. The Slytherins laughed. Harry stayed silent, knowing he'd be using his "champion immunity" to limit that day. Seeing no reaction, Snape continued to taunt Harry. "I suppose losing so badly has made you finally realize that flying on a broom all day won't win you the tournament, hm? I'm afraid to say that you won't be able to make up for your poor performance by attempting to learn something now."
"I sure won't!" Harry agreed enthusiastically. Everyone turned to stare at him. "Using potions in a duel is against the rules. I'm just here out of curiosity. You're not going to teach me anything useful, Snape." The Gryffindors were shocked by his candour, while the Slytherins were glaring at him venomously at the slight against their head of house. Well, they won't be focusing on Hermione now, Harry thought. Part one: success!
"Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter, and another ten for not addressing your professor properly." Snape snarled.
"You can't do that, Snape. I'm not a student in your class, and you're not my professor. I told you, I'm just a visitor today, as the non-affiliated fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament." Harry snickered to himself.
"I can't teach an insolent brat like you!" shouted Snape angrily.
"Can't teach, period," muttered Harry. "Are you going to start the lesson, Snape?"
With his jaw clenched tight, the Potions professor indicated on the board the ingredients for the reinvigoration potion. "If you've all studied the formula over the holidays as I asked, you should know the exact order these ingredients combine together to create the Reinvigoration Potion. You will all work in pairs, except you, Potter. I can't have a dunderhead bringing down the quality of one of the real students' potions."
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