The Hidden Hero

Chapter-18 The Third Task

Harry's bravery in trying to save all the hostages won him acceptance from most of the students. They grudgingly forgave him for having submitted his name into the Goblet and became generally cordial to the young boy.

The next few months seemed to promise a welcome lull for Harry. He intended to spend a lot of time practicing new jinxes and hexes in case they would come in handy for the next task. But, he wasn't particularly worried. The third task seemed far away and, best of all, it was the last one. He just had to get through that one more day, and this tournament would finally be over.

Unfortunately, Harry's piece of mind was disturbed by an unexpected revival in the public's interest in the home life of the missing Harry Potter. It started with an article published in the Daily Prophet, written by Harry's least-favorite journalist, Rita Skeeter. Harry had been eating breakfast when the owls had arrived with the morning mail, carrying copies of the Daily Prophet to those students who had a subscription. Hermione, who liked to know what was going on in the wizarding world, received her copy as always.

As she opened the paper, Ron looked over her shoulder and, seeing the headline, said loudly, "Hey! What's that about Harry Potter?" Students nearby looked up and Harry, who was sitting next to Ron almost choked on his pumpkin juice.

Seeing the interest of everyone near her, Hermione obligingly started to read the article aloud:

Harry Potter's Tragic Childhood Revealed

By Rita Skeeter

The Boy-Who-Lived may be lost but he is not forgotten. Ministry officials claim that they continue to search diligently for Harry Potter, who has been missing for close to four years. The trail has grown cold with the passage of time.

This reporter has done what any competent investigator should have done ages ago: I returned to the scene of the crime to search for clues. "What crime?" you ask. This reporter can now exclusively report that a foul crime was indeed committed. A crime that the Ministry hoped to conceal. A crime against the boy hailed by so many as the beacon who brought light to the world of darkness created by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. For, this reporter has learned that Harry Potter was the victim of foul child abuse.

"What!" yelled Ron.

"Shhh!" said Dean. "Keep reading, Hermione!"

I spoke with Harry's Aunt Petunia, sister of Lilly Potter. I wanted to know why a young boy would run away from home and whether his family had any ideas as to where he would have gone. What I learned was shocking indeed. In her own words, Petunia Dursley admitted, "I have no idea where that unnatural spawn went. And, I don't want to know. I told him when I demanded he leave this house to just keep away from my family. I told him I wanted to forget he ever existed."

Yes, everyone, Harry Potter did not run away, as has previously been assumed. Instead, he was kicked out of his home at the age of 10. As shocking as this is, the reason will be even more so. Why did Petunia Dursley, the natural protector of her orphaned nephew, turn her back on young Harry? Because, Petunia admitted, she had finally realized that Harry possessed magical ability. "When the boy apparated onto the school roof, I couldn't hide from the truth any longer. We tried to beat it out of him for years, but it didn't work. He was one of those foul creatures– a wizard!"

Fury filled in the air. "Stupid git!" "Evil b-tch!" were among the curses thrown about by the students. As Hermione read, more and more students clustered around to hear. Harry saw that similar pockets of students were grouped every few feet along the Gryffinder and other dining tables around the other Daily Prophet subscribers, who were also reading the article aloud. Harry, using a napkin to mop up the spilled pumpkin juice, tried to hide his expression. He felt sick and wasn't sure why.