An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Fourteen

As soon as we got within sight of the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley came charging out to meet us. She was in hysterics as she hugged the twins, and Mr. Weasley had to help her on her way back into the house.

We all collapsed at the dining room table together as Mr. Weasley started reading the newspaper article on the event aloud.

"I knew it," he sighed heavily. "Ministry blunders... culprits not apprehended... lax security... Dark wizards running unchecked... national disgrace... Who wrote this? Ah... of course... Rita Skeeter."

Not a name I'd heard before, but one I made note of now. Who wrote an article like that without a single mention of the people who'd put their lives at risk to protect everyone from the horrible mob?

"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" Percy yelled. Apparently, he knew exactly who Skeeter was and had strong opinions of her. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans—"

"Do us a favor, Perce, and shut up," said Bill with a yawn. Percy didn't look happy about it, but he obliged.

"I'm mentioned," said Mr. Weasley, bringing all our attention back to him.

"Where?" asked Mrs. Weasley, nearly spitting out her tea. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"

"Not by name," said Mr. Weasley, his eyes scanning the page. "Listen to this: If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen."

I gasped at that last part, not because I was worried but because it was so blatantly a lie. This reporter was probably getting the first word out to people that something had happened. Spreading rumors like that would only make people panic, thinking one of those 'bodies' might be a family member!

"Oh really. Nobody was hurt," said Mr. Weasley, sounding frustrated more than outraged. "What was I supposed to say? Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods... well, there certainly will be rumors now she's printed that."

I snorted in disgust. What kind of a "journalist" behaved like that?

If I were being completely honest, though, I knew exactly what kind. Everyone in my family had dealt with that kind of journalist before, and my dad and I especially had been dealing with them for a long time.

Still, behaving like that after a crisis was a lot different than spinning a bunch of BS stories about someone's personal life just because you were bored.

Mr. Weasley and Percy wasted almost no time getting changed and rushing to the Ministry to help deal with the PR crisis they now had on their hands. They'd left the incriminating newspaper on the table, and I glared at it as I sat in my chair, too tired to do much else as Ron, Harry, and Hermione filed out of the room too.

"You alright there Alexa?" asked Bill, looking slightly concerned at the deep frown on my face. Several of the Weasleys around the table were looking at me curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, snapping out of it a bit and looking back up. I got a few looks that said they wanted an explanation for my strong reaction, so I obliged. "My dad and I get that kind of... ridiculous press from the media pretty regularly. There was a pretty big thing a while back... well, let's just say it was a crisis that some of the media turned into an excuse to criticize the people who risked their lives.