More Important Than Any Broomstick [Harmione]

36. The Potter Press

Harry sat nervously next to Hermione at breakfast. When he wasn't touching his food, his girlfriend said, "Come on Harry. You've got to eat!"

"I'm not hungry," he said emphatically.

"The paper's gonna arrive and people will react however they will whether you're hungry or not. At least if people complain, you'll be able to face them on a full stomach," she reasoned.

"But, I, I don't want people to think I'm an arrogant git when they see the paper's name! Are you sure that was such a good idea? Shouldn't we have just called it 'The New Daily Prophet' and put 'Potter Publications' or something in tiny letters on the last page?"

"Remember Harry, we are trying to actually use your fame for a change," she said. Finally, a bunch of owls swooped into the Great Hall, delivering mail. As Harry watched them, he noticed that a lot of the owls were carrying newspapers. One was dropped down right in front of him and Hermione. As the owner, he didn't have to pay the owl before it left. He unrolled the paper and looked at the results of his efforts.

"The Daily Prophet Replaced by the Potter Press

By Miranda Quirke

Following the incident where former Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter, printed unkind and untrue statements about himself and his associates, Harry Potter decided that someone has to make sure that newspapers start printing the truth. 'I decided to take matters into my own hands when I realized that no one was holding the Daily Prophet accountable for the sensationalized and often false stories that it prints, which unjustly ruin reputations of some while boosting the reputations of others.' Numerous people over the last few years have complained that the Prophet has ruined their relationships and sometimes even their lives by printing lies for the sole purpose of selling newspapers. To justify this allegation, we have interviewed at least one person mentioned in every article that Rita Skeeter has published with this paper for the past six months, and have found evidence that she has lied in every single article. Almost everyone she has interviewed, with the single exception of Minister Fudge, has confirmed that she used a Quick Quotes Quill, a charmed device that makes up answers to questions asked, regardless of what the interviewee has said. In other words, it completely falsifies the interview, making it pointless. Ms. Skeeter is not the only reporter that has done this, but she was the most notorious. Mr. Potter decided that this misinforming of the public must come to an end. Therefore, using some of the money he inherited when his parents met their tragic death, he purchased the 'so-called newspaper' and cleaned house... "

He smiled. "Mine, do you realize that this is the first time I read the truth in a wizarding, or probably muggle, newspaper?"

She chuckled, "Yes, Hero. Let's turn to your article, and then I want to read Mrs. Weasley's advise column she insisted on writing."

They flipped through page after page of real news, including the actual story of how Harry ended up in the tournament, how he'd been attacked by Death Eaters since school started, a story about problems in the ministry lately, the section on the muggle world, which even included a summary of British muggle sports news, until they came to the 'Hogwarts Happenings' article entitled,

"The Real Harry Potter

By Harry James Potter

I'm sure that many of you recognize my name as the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and recognize the scar on my forehead, but most people don't really know anything about me. The first thing you should know is that I don't like the fame. I would much rather have not lost my family and lived a normal life than have what happened all those years ago.

After my parents' deaths, I was taken to be raised by muggles who hated everything magical, including me. They never even told me I was magical. They even tried to stop me from receiving my Hogwarts letter until a wizard was sent to personally deliver it to me. Fortunately, I'm now free of them since they gave up custody of me to my godfather, Sirius Black. When I came into the wizarding world, I was overwhelmed by so many witches and wizards staring at my scar and treating me like a hero for something I don't remember doing. The hero of my story is my mother, a brilliant muggleborn witch named Lily Potter (who invented charms for muggle devices that are advertised in this newspaper). She gave her life for me, and that's what somehow protected me from my attacker. The half-blood (son of muggle Tom Riddle and pureblood witch Merope Gaunt) Tom Marvolo Riddle, who rearranged the letters of his name to 'I am Lord Voldemort' which for some reason I don't understand most people fear to speak, even though his made up name has no more power than John Smith) champion of purebloods was really defeated by a muggleborn.