A Different Halloween

Chapter 27

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That morning's edition of the Daily Prophet once more rocked their readers' worlds, this time for a totally different reason. News of the attack on the Longbottoms was being ruthlessly suppressed to give aurors as much time as possible to arrest any death eaters named. Since Severus Snape had narrowly escaped being hanged, Peter White had kept his word and led with Dumbledore's revelations. The headline terrified witches and wizards the length and breadth of the country, it also played directly into Barty Crouch's hands.

The Dark Lord – Gone for good or merely on vacation?

Yesterday the offices of the Daily Prophet were graced by a visit from our esteemed Chief Warlock and Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. The old wizard was concerned that this newspaper's stance on the death eaters could encourage vigilantes to seek their own form of justice and vengeance.

He also forcefully expressed his opinion that Voldemort may one day return. His reasoning behind this extraordinary claim was that the dark lord had undergone numerous dark rituals and, apparently, there are some that would protect him in this situation. Dumbledore also claimed that no body being found added credence to this opinion. Why the Chief Warlock chose to inform the Daily Prophet rather than the relevant department at the ministry is a mystery that only Albus Dumbledore knows the answer to.

The Daily Prophet also had trouble understanding his conclusion that the paper should lean more toward leniency for Voldemort's followers because of this. Let us state clearly here that would go against everything the Daily Prophet stands for.

We at the Daily Prophet think that the slightest possibility of the dark lord making a reappearance creates an immensely strong case for the ministry dealing with as many of his followers as possible, and quickly as the great Albus Dumbledore couldn't suggest a timetable for this event to take place. There should be no sympathy for these witches and wizards who proudly hid behind their death eater masks and their former master, only justice. They made their choice and now must pay, pay in ways they never thought possible.

Our country should not be found wanting again, it should also send the clearest signal possible to those that might be tempted to join this or any other aspiring dark lord what the cost they will pay is. As well as securing convicted death eaters in Azkaban for a long time, their vaults should also be emptied of gold. This windfall could then be used to fund the growth of our hard pressed auror force. Let's face facts here, the convicted death eaters won't be needing it where they are going and it also takes funding away from a returning Voldemort.

With all his followers safely locked away in Azkaban and their redistributed wealth beefing up the auror corps, a returning dark lord wouldn't be nearly as effective in his megalomaniacal crusade to have the entire world bow before him. Perhaps next time he could even be finished off for good? Rest assured, the Daily Prophet will keep its readers informed of any and all developments. We look forward to the Chief Warlock being questioned by his fellow members of the Wizengamot.

Barty Crouch couldn't help but think the fates were finally helping him, he expected the ministry to be again inundated with owls today. That he could honestly say that the ministry was actually doing what the vast majority of these owls were demanding should ease him into the vacant minister's chair when Bagnold retired in December. The current minister had decided to retire before Voldemort made that decision a permanent one, retired rather than deceased was what she was aiming for. Today's Prophet would ensure Millicent didn't consider changing her mind. The Daily Prophet had also changed dramatically since the demise of the dark lord, publically attacking death eaters last week would have seen the building burned to the ground with the staff locked inside. Their brave stance was making the entire wizarding community of Britain take a good look at themselves, something that boded well for their country.

The public backlash against Dumbledore would also set the old wizard up for the blows Barty intended to rain down upon him. He was heading to St. Mungo's to see if the Longbottoms were ready to travel to Hogwarts and confront the headmaster, Barty intended to invite himself along. He was going to make this phase one of his new bringing down Dumbledore strategy. The youth of Britain's magical world attended Hogwarts from the age of eleven to eighteen. They were there to be educated and return home as adult witches and wizards, not to be recruited by death eaters and branded like cattle. Barty would admit he failed his son but also felt there was enough blame to go around. If he became minister, he would ensure that Hogwarts actually met their duty of care. No parent should ever be put in the position that he was.

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James was watching the little bodies entwined while sleeping and really couldn't help but smile, he was joined in the doorway by Lily carrying Neville. "I know they look cute but you were supposed to wake them, not stand there grinning like the village idiot. You know Harry can be a handful in the morning and takes time to wake up."

James could clearly hear the amusement in Lily's voice and knew he wasn't in any trouble, that was until he said the first thing that came into his head. "If you think he's a handful in the morning, wait until you try to separate those two!"

Lily's maternal instincts kicked in at once, "What do you mean? Is there something you're not telling me?"

James tried to explain his thoughts, "I know Harry is going to be a powerful wizard, from what you've told me Hermione is set to be a powerful witch too. I think their magic made a connection that morning in the waiting room. How else do you explain them being instantly so comfortable with each other?"

Lily was now staring at the two sleeping children with different eyes, "What does that mean or what do you think it will mean for them?"

"I think they will always be close, 'bestist' friends at the very least. That was one of the reasons I bought the house next to this one. I was pleased to see them both quite happily playing with Dudley and Neville as I was worried they could have ended up focusing on each other and ignoring everyone else. It's far too early to say yet but we could be looking at our future daughter-in-law lying there."

Lily was astonished at this news, she understood how unusual the events of that morning were but to go from that to marriage was quite a leap. "Are you sure and what do we do about it?"

"No I'm not sure and we do absolutely nothing! We just let nature and magic take their course and keep a close eye on them."

Lily nodded before asking her next question, "What do we say to Dan and Emma?"

James placed his arm around his wife, "At the moment, nothing. You've known about magic for ten years and still have trouble accepting what I'm saying, the Grangers haven't known about this for ten days. They're coping remarkably well but that might be a step too far at the moment. There's nothing to be gained from worrying them with this just now, let's leave it a while and see how the kids are."

"Should we be worried about this?"

Dan had a wide grin on his face now, "If our Harry eventually marries his childhood sweetheart, a girl we've watched growing up with him, I for one will be a very happy and proud parent!"

"Well I think the proud parent should get in there and wake them, Emma will have their breakfast ready shortly."

Emma was currently in the hall behind them. She was wondering what as keeping their guests this morning and had heard most of what had been said. She was annoyed that she and Dan weren't going to be told but then understood James's reasoning. They were still only toddlers and, from what she was hearing, even James wasn't sure about this. He wanted to let the kids grow without any interference in whatever their relationship was or would be, Emma was in complete agreement with that. If it did eventually lead to them spending their lives together then all four parents would have had many years to get to know their child's intended spouse. Emma found that idea quite appealing, she turned and left before any of the Potters spotted her there.

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