19 – 26 December 1998

Chronology

2nd of May 1998 : Battle of Hogwart

When Harry and Ginny descended from the Hogwarts Express, Molly, Andromeda, Hermione and Ron were waiting for them. But the traveller's attention was immediately captured by Teddy's presence, towards which he ran as fast as he could. The baby wasn't feeling any differently: as soon as he saw his godfather, he started moving his arms and legs frantically and uttering excited cries. Harry took him in his arms and kissed him, making him shake with joy. Harry was surprised to see how much he had changed. He had terribly grown, his little face was a lot more expressive and his fluorescent hair was a lot thicker.

Harry felt strangely overwhelmed. While he was holding the tiny body tightly in his arms, he realised the place that Teddy had taken in his life, and the place he had taken in the baby's one. He was simultaneously proud and touched by this new responsibility.

"His hair has never been this red," remarked Andromeda. "I suppose it's from emotion."

"He recognised me!" cried Harry, ecstatic. "Even though we haven't seen each other for four months!"

"I put a picture of you in his room," explained the grandmother, "and I give it to him every time I read him one of your letters. And he's ten months old now, he isn't a baby anymore."

Harry thought that she was probably also showing him pictures of his parents and he wondered whether Teddy was sad not to see them anymore. The child was currently moving his hands all over his godfather's face with ravishment. When he started to gnaw at his collar, Harry decided to finally greet to the others.

Ron and Hermione had also slightly changed during his absence. He found them a lot more mature. He detected wrinkles in Molly's face that he hadn't seen on her before and he felt that some of her hair's radiance had faded away. Only Andromeda still had the same pained dignity.

They met George and Arthur at the Burrow. Ginny jumped into her father's arms and hugged her brother strongly. Teddy didn't want to leave Harry and he therefore kept him on his lap during the whole meal, giving him his puree and compote. Ginny tried her best to replace him for a while, but the baby refused to eat anything from her, slightly vexing the young girl.

There was a drama when Andromeda tried to take her grandson back at the end of the evening. Finally, Mrs Weasley suggested that the child stay here for the night and started to install a cradle in the room where Harry was sleeping – the twin's old room.

Harry kept Teddy against him until he fell asleep, and he could finally lay him down in his little bed. But his peace and quiet was of very short duration. Not more than five minutes later, the baby woke up in a jolt and started to cry.

Harry rocked him again until his eyes closed. The young man laid him back into his bed and went to brush his teeth. He had to come back to the room in catastrophe, his mouth full of toothpaste, and finish his ablutions with one arm less. He had to do difficult contortions to undress while holding Teddy, trying to explain to the troublemaker that it was time to sleep. Teddy finally dozed away. Harry put him back and went to bed as well. As soon as he started falling asleep, a desperate howl forced him to stand up again.

After three unsuccessful tries, Harry decided to simply shove the child into his bed while wondering how on Earth Andromeda managed to do this every night.

*

When he arrived in the kitchen the next morning with a very enthusiastic Teddy in his arms, Ron and Ginny answered to his 'good morning' with a mocking smile.

"Mr Potter, what effect does it have on you to become a father at only seventeen years?" asked Ron in a perfect imitation of Rita Skeeter.

Harry cast him a furious look and decided not to answer. Ginny showed more solicitude:

"How did you sleep?"

"Horribly," groaned Harry. "Teddy was disturbing me the whole night. I woke up five times with his feet in my face."

Without an ounce of compassion, the young Weasleys broke out laughing. The young culprit seemed to be in an excellent mood as well. He gave Ginny a huge toothless smile and accepted that she gave him his milk.

"Does George live somewhere else?" asked Harry who had seen him leave the night before after dinner, but hadn't wanted to ask any questions in front of Molly.

"He's back in his apartment in Diagon Alley," explained Ron. "He eats here every evening, but he prefers to sleep at his place."

"And... how is he?"

"He finally started manufacturing products again," indicated Ron as if it was a great victory. "Until now, it was Charlie who was in charge of it, and I took care of orders and sales."

"Will Charlie still stay for long?" asked Ginny who was still giving Teddy his food.

"No, I don't think so. He's been offered a job in a Dragon sanctuary in Scotland. I think he's waiting to find the right moment to announce it to Mom and Dad."

"For this kind of news, there's never a right moment," prognosticated Ginny.

"And you, Ron?" wondered Harry. "Do you enjoy doing all this?"

"Yeah, I guess I like selling stuff. Charlie also showed me a bunch of tricks so that I can help George with creating new and old products."

"You're sorted for life, then," smiled Harry. "Are you planning on getting yourself an apartment as well?"

Ron's smile faded.

"Hermione doesn't seem in a great hurry," he confessed.

"She doesn't feel like having to take care of Mr. Weasley's food and washing," explained Ginny. "If you want my opinion, my dear brother, settle down somewhere on your own and learn to look after yourself like a big boy, instead of just counting on Mom and waiting for another kind soul to volunteer. Look at Harry, he's understood it!"

Harry looked at her, uncertain of the signification of this conclusion. Ron, on his side, almost choked on his sausage:

"Are you two planning on living together?" he exclaimed.

"Err," panicked Harry, surprised about the question even though, when thinking about it, he rather liked the idea.

"It's an example," answered Ginny without seeming to remark her boyfriend's emotion. "I just mean that he's not expecting someone to hold his hand and help him to look after a baby. A man who doesn't demand that his partner takes care of all the chores is distinctly more attractive."

"I can't be everywhere," Ron defended himself. "I spend my whole days at the shop!"

"And don't you imagine that Hermione could say the same? She works hard at the ministry as well. Do you think she's going to abandon all of it just to prepare you nice little dishes or look after your laundry?"

Ron, irritated, said in an ice-cold tone as he got up:

"I need to go, it's almost opening time."

"What about your cup, do you think I'm going to wash it for you?" Ginny shouted after him.

"Don't worry, I'll do it," indicated Harry who, even though he agreed with Ginny's reasoning, thought that she had expressed it in a slightly rude manner.

"You know that I like you a lot," smiled Ginny when he walked past her to go to the sink.

"Then I'm particularly lucky," Harry congratulated himself. "And err... well, I mean... You... how would you like to come live with me? After school, I mean."

"We've got enough time to see," tempered Ginny. "I don't even know what I want to do after my NEWTs."

"Don't you have any idea?" he asked her, slightly vexed that she thought of her career when he was talking about their relationship.

"Healer would've interested me, but my marks are a bit too low in Herbology," she answered. "I'd also quite like Auror, I think."

Harry opened his mouth to point out that it was quite a dangerous profession, but refrained himself in time. He finished washing the dishes and turned around to walk back to the table. His first step led him to bump straight into her as she had placed herself behind him. He caught himself on her shoulder and used the movement to kiss her, softly at first, then more and more passionately despite the little Teddy that she was still holding in her arms.

They separated while smiling at each other tenderly. Harry's godson decided he had been discreet enough and started to agitate.

"You can clean his diaper and I'll finish cleaning the kitchen," suggested Ginny suavely, passing him the child.

When the young girl joined him in the living room Harry was busy admiring the baby's crawling technique, who was now moving around on all fours. Andromeda had already told him about it per post, but he hadn't had the pleasure to see it for himself the day before.

"It's the slug stage," commented Ginny while dropping down onto the couch next to him.

"Slug?"

"Yup, when he crawls around the floor drooling."

"Are there other stages?"

"Crazy biter, when his teeth are starting to grow."

"That sounds great," sighed Harry sarcastically.

*

To Harry's great relief, Teddy had accepted to go back to his grandmother's house in the evening, which allowed him to help Ginny prepare the house for the Christmas celebrations of the next morning. These festivities weren't bringing the joy and cheerfulness of the past years. The never-ending jokes to which the twins had accustomed them were painfully coming back into memory, but they nevertheless had it at heart to liven up the living room.

In a nearby forest, they found a beautiful fir tree that they decorated with red ribbons and colourful candles – without forgetting to use a fireproofing charm on the tree. On Molly's wishes, they placed portraits of Fred, Ted Tonks, Remus and Nymphadora over the fireplace, along with Christmas cards that the Burrow's inhabitants had received.

The whole family attended the Christmas meal. Fleur was accompanying Bill, accepting the fact that she would have to listen to Celestina Warbeck's screeching. Hermione was also there – she would spend the following day with her parents and Ron. Percy had also joined the table, as well as Andromeda and Teddy.

The beginning of the evening was a little dreary. Harry thought that if it hadn't been for the child's chirps – who alternated between grand unarticulated speeches and painful demonstrations of crazy biting – the falsely cheerful conversations would've been unbearable. Luckily, the gathering around the fire reserved him more pleasure than he had expected.

It started with the present for Ginny. It wasn't a surprise for Harry, as it had been his idea. He had asked for help from the entire Weasley family and asked Ron to buy it for him. It was in expecting silence that the young girl had unwrapped a long package.

"There's no point in trying to make me believe it's a broomstick," she started, "I've also heard of distortion cha..."

She stopped under a wave of emotion. It was a Lightning Strike, the model she had admired with Harry five months ago. Ginny never could've imagined owning such a treasure. She stayed a long moment brushing its aerodynamic handle, stroking the fine-cut twigs and reading its name on the silver plate, under the tender eyes of her family.

Harry could've bought it by himself, but he had wanted to give the Weasleys the pleasure of giving their youngest child a present that was way over their budget. Seeing them all shining with happiness over Ginny's amazement proved him that his idea was excellent.

While Andromeda completed the present by giving the young girl a new Broomstick Servicing Kit, Harry discovered the new Weasley jumper – the collar was in V this year. He politely thanked Molly and Arthur informed him:

"You've got another present in the garden."

"It's mostly from Arthur," pointed out Mrs Weasley in a half-exasperated, half-pleased tone. "I'm sure you'll really like it."

Ron's smile persuaded Harry to quickly open up the door. It was on the doorstep, gleaming, its leather soft, its chromes sparkling, ready to be ridden.

"How did you manage to get it?" Harry asked Mr Weasley.

"It was in my garden," explained Andromeda. "In many pieces, but we found everything."

"Can it still fly?" wondered Harry.

"Of course," Arthur assured him.

A nudge from his wife led him to quickly add:

"But it's against the law to use it."

"Did you hear?" commented Ron cheekily. "You'll have to make sure no one finds out."

Harry was on cloud nine. He took Teddy from his grandmother's arms and placed him on the saddle:

"Hey, Teddy, would you like to go on a ride on your great-cousin Sirius' bike?"

"Not this evening," said Mrs Weasley strictly. "The Santa Clause Brigade is out and the ministry has probably sent a lot of people to keep them in check."

"The Santa Clause brigade?" wondered Harry.

"Wizards and witches that want to let young muggles dream," said Hermione in a tone that clearly showed her dislike of everything irrational.

"Last year, they distributed medals with a lightning bolt on it," remembered Charlie.

Even George couldn't stop himself from smiling at this memory. Harry's thoughts drifted to his last Christmas evening. In front of his inner eye, he saw a snow-covered Godric's Hollow and the monument in honour of his parents. Hermione's dreamy smile showed him that she too was thinking back a year.

Everyone went back inside to listen to Celestina Warbeck's performance.

*

The 25th of December passed serenely. Ron left to spend the day with the Grangers, and the other family members rested and had a nice feast with leftovers from the day before. Ginny tried out her broomstick while Mr Weasley showed Harry how to use his new motorbike. They went on a very nice ride on the countryside roads and even risked a short flight over the clearing that the inhabitants of the Burrow used as a Quidditch pitch.

When Harry walked into the Broomstick shed to put away his vehicle, Ginny was busy putting down her Lightning Strike. He quickly walked out again, cast an Accio to summon what he needed and walked back towards her with a small packet in his hand:

"Here, it's for you."

"Oh, Harry, you've already really spoilt me. I know that this beauty was your idea."

"It's not a lot, but it's just from me," he insisted.

"I hope that you're not trying to bribe me into liking you more," Ginny joked.

While Harry assured her of the purity of his intentions, the young girl opened the small package. Inside was a box of chocolate and mint-flavoured Cauldron Cakes.

"Oh, I love these," cried Ginny while shoving a sweet into her mouth. "Thanks, honey!"

He hadn't been tempting to bribe her, but he thought he deserved a kiss anyways. Luckily, Ginny seemed to quite agree with him. It was with her lips against his that he realised for the first time how much he really loved chocolate.

*

It was Charlie who broke the permanent Christmas good mood the next morning, announcing that it was his last week at the shop.

"What do you mean?" cried his mother, surprised.

"I'm starting off on the second of January in a Dragon sanctuary near the Sea of the Hebrides," Charlie explained.

"But... what about the shop?"

"Don't worry, Mom," George cut in. "Ron is coping like a boss and the two of us will be perfectly fine."

"But why do you have to go so far?" sighed Mrs Weasley.

"Come on, the Hebrides are in Scotland, it's not at the end of the world. One can apparate easily for the journey."

"You'll continue living here, then?"

"No, I can't. I need to be on site during the night, it's part of my job."

"But..."

"Mom," Charlie interrupted her while taking her in his arms, "I'll come visit regularly, I promise. I declined a job offer in Patagonia to stay relatively close to you. I'm sure you'll even see me more often than Bill."

Mrs Weasley dropped her shoulders in a sign of defeat.

"Dragons are dangerous, you know," she tried again.

"Less than manufacturing George's inventions," assured Ron. "But I'm staying at the Burrow," he added quickly, seeing his mother open her mouth.

"Okay," she gave up. "I'll take care of your trunk, Charlie."

*

Once the three Weasley brothers started going to work again, Ginny and Harry did their best to stay out of Molly's way, knowing that she often expressed her worries and vexation through a kind of cleaning frenzy. They decided to slip away to have a Seeker duel, for which Harry was planning on borrowing Ron's broomstick, as his had stayed at Hogwarts. They were putting on their jackets when they heard Mrs Weasley shout from the living room:

"Goodness me! How dare she? She should be ashamed! How could she write such a thing?!"

"What's wrong, Mom?" worried Ginny while sticking her head into the room where her mother was sitting.

"It's this... this... this vixen of Rita Skeeter!"

"What nonsense did she write again?" asked Harry.

"My poor darling!" answered Molly, leading the young man to grimace as he understood it was about him. "But no one will believe such a compilation of nonsense," she quickly added as though to comfort him.

Harry took the newspaper from her hands and started to read the article in question out loud:

"Harry Potter, the Antihero

Harry Potter is considered today as the saviour of the magical world. He is talked about like a powerful wizard. Many sources affirm that he is the one who vanquished He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, like a Glanmore Peakes  (1) of modern times. But what is the truth about him? Is he really the one who got rid of the terrible Dark Wizard who made us live in terror?

It really seems like no, and it's he himself who affirms it. In a radiophonic podcast, interviewed by a facile puppet, the grand Harry Potter admitted that he had in no way beaten his enemy. "It's just an act of ancient magic, accomplished by my mother," he declared before pointing out, "You-Know-Who was a victim of his own curse". As you can see, our hero is admitting to only have been a simple receiver of motherly magic. What did he then do that was so extraordinary, if one omits his tendency to regularly drawing attention to himself? The only possible conclusion that we can draw is that we are confronted with an impostor who is benefiting from a glory that he acquired without moving the little finger."

"An impostor?" spat Mrs Weasley. "Without moving the little finger? And who's the one who received an Avada from this monster three times in a row, I ask you?"

"Finding himself at the wrong spot in the wrong moment and surviving with unbelievable luck seem to be the only talents that we can attribute to him," continued Harry in a neutral voice. "According to his own statements, the regretted Lily Potter died from trying to save him. The brilliant Cedric Diggory paid Harry's irregular participation in the Triwizard Tournament with his life. How many wizards and witches fell at Hogwarts while waiting for Potter to finally decide to fight?"

"How dare she blame the deaths of Hogwarts on you!" shouted Mrs Weasley, still flaming with rage.

"Not unhappy to be able to stroll around while boasting about usurped achievements, our young prodigy is having a lot of fun to sowing trouble into our brains. His last craze consisted of singing serenades for a Death Eater who exercised his sadism on our children during the last year. According to Harry Potter, this cruel personage would've joined the Dark Wizard's ranks at the demand of Albus Dumbledore. Then, he would've brought help to our so-called saviour. But what help, since we just established that the famous Potter hasn't done anything?

"So-called saviour?" cried Molly.

"The confabulator has of course tried to lead us to believe that he was accomplishing essential actions during his long disappearance," continued Harry, imperturbable. "Which actions? We will never know – our Uric the Oddballis (2) protecting himself with the secret that surrounds Dark Magic. There is no doubt that he was just hiding in the deepest hole he could find while we were suffering from the Dark Lord's regime. It's sad to think that the one we were then presenting as a figure of resistance in reality didn't even care about the fate of those who thought him to be their friend."

"And what was this pest doing, except agreeing with the regime?" thundered Molly.

"The reader should have understood this: every declaration of this arrogant greenhorn should be examined with defiance. Those who support him about and despite everything might be sympathetic in their loyalty, but seriously lack judgement.

Rita Skeeter

Coming out tomorrow: Snape – Scoundrel or Saint?"

Harry, thoughtful, put the newspaper back onto the table.

"How could they publish such nonsense!" exploded Mrs Weasley. "I'm going to write to the Prophet right now to terminate our subscription. And I'll tell them what I think of these atrocities."

Harry and Ginny looked at her with anxiousness. They had rarely seen her in such a temper. Even on the day of the battle, in front of Bellatrix Lestrange, her controlled and canalised rage hadn't impressed them as much as now. Her face was bright red, her movements were jerky, and red sparks were flying from her wand.

Harry didn't really appreciate being insulted by the press either, but he put his irritation to the side to proceed to the most urgent:

"Mrs Weasley," he said in a calming tone, "What this woman writes about me doesn't affect me at all. I know what I did and so do my friends. Do you think that those who came to Hogwarts will believe such nonsense? I really don't care about the opinion of those that weren't even there. If it could've been anyone else, then I wouldn't have hesitated to concede them my fame. What she writes has no importance. Like Professor Dumbledore would say, as long as they let me –" he paused to think of something that was as important to him as a Chocolate Frog Card to his headmaster – "play Quidditch and pass my NEWTs, I really don't care."

"But still..."

"We've got more important stuff to do than to talk about her," cut Harry. "I was planning on doing a broomstick race with Ginny and that's what I will do. Don't give her more importance than she merits," he concluded while pulling his girlfriend into the garden.

Before he left, he quickly grabbed the newspaper from the table. Outside, he dropped it into the snow and set it on fire, which proved to be quite satisfying. The noises coming from inside lead him to think that the Burrow would be subjected to a very thorough cleaning.

"We're wasting such a good occasion for a nice Bat-Bogey Hex," grumbled Ginny. "I don't know what's stopping me from going to visit these brats at the Prophet's headquarters and teaching them to control their publications better."

Despite all the affection he had for her, Harry thought that in this situation, Ginny didn't really help:

"Ginny, please, it's just going to make things worse. Come on, show me that you deserve your broomstick," he smiled and released the snitch.

After facing each other a few times in a row – the Lightning Strike was so fast and agile that Ginny managed to catch the small golden ball in front of Harry's nose twice – they hid in the garden shed, preferring not to be confronted to Molly. While Ginny cleaned her broomstick with a maniacal care, Harry wondered whether he really didn't care as much as he had affirmed to the two women.

In total, yes, he decided. He didn't have any consideration for Rita and what she wrote didn't affect him. To be honest, he had feared a lot worse after his attack on her during the radiophonic interview. He had gotten used to looks and whispers and, after all, why would he care about the opinion of people who actually believed the words of such an acid quill?

The two teenagers briefly went back to Molly, who was casting Scouring Jinx after Scouring Jinx, to pretend they had been invited to lunch by Andromeda and jumping into the fireplace. This completely made-up lie was transformed into a reality when they showed up at Teddy's grandmother's place just before 12 o'clock.

Andromeda had also read the Daily Prophet, but refrained herself from any comments, which was highly appreciated by Harry. He saw Ginny throw furious looks to the copy of the quotidian lying on a shelf, but she didn't dare mention the subject. After a nice meal, they carefully pointed the tip of their noses in the Burrow's living room and saw Hermione in great conversation with Molly. When they entered the room, Harry realised that she was holding the unavoidable newspaper, which seemed to be the centre of the conversation.

"Don't pull such a face," Harry told her. "I really don't know why we should care about what this old vulture says about me."

"I'm not worried about you," Hermione answered dryly, "but about Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"What?"

"Did you read the last sentence?"

"Yes, why?"

"Those who support him about and despite everything might be sympathetic in their loyalty, but seriously lack judgement," cited Hermione. "It's directly attacking the minister. She's trying to weaken his arguments and his reputation. Today, she's discrediting you, tomorrow she'll push in the nail even further by showing that you're saying complete nonsense about Snape – which a majority of witches and wizards are ready to believe – and the day after tomorrow, she reminds the public that Kingsley is a part of those who fought in your name. Haven't you wondered why she's writing this scandalmonger today and not directly after your passage in Lee's podcast?"

"Err, no," admitted Harry, who had only been relieved at the time, without thinking about why Rita hadn't written anything.

"It's because the vote for an official Minister is happening in ten days."

"Is she against Kingsley?"

"I don't even know. I just think she's against anything honest and just and that she enjoys being in the mud."

It had been long since Harry had last seen Hermione in such a temper. The situation had to be critical.

"What will happen if Kingsley isn't re-elected? Who will be Minister then?"

"Silvian Dustan. Don't bother, you don't know him. But anyways, it doesn't really matter; he's just a puppet without intelligence, manipulated by the richest and highest placed wizards, just like Fudge was. This kind of harmful influence is exactly what Kingsley is trying to minimise."

"And how does it work?" asked Harry. "Who votes for the Minister of Magic?"

"The Wizenmagot and the Guild Masters," recited Ron.

"The what?" wondered Harry.

"All jobs in the wizarding world are divided into guilds, and each guild has a Master," explained his friend. "Their role is to make sure that the trades that depend on them run smoothly and to discuss laws that concern them with the Ministry. And every five years, the Guild Masters sit down with the Wizenmagot to nominate the new Minister for Magic."

"And you think they won't vote for Kingsley?"

"In the Wizenmagot, we think that a part of them was bribed by our opponents and will vote against us," answered Hermione. "Luckily, a good number of them agree with our ideas. There is still a marge that is still hesitating. Those wizards as well as the Guild Masters will be extremely sensitive to public opinion. It would be quite a problem if the Prophet made Kingsley too unpopular..."

"And what is Kingsley planning to do to get more votes?" asked Ginny.

"That's his weak point," Hermione admitted. "He absolutely refuses to bribe the Wizenmagot judges with gold or job promises, and also doesn't want to bargain different reforms that would advantage this or this guild. Kingsley's greatest force is you, Harry. You have a great image in front of wizards and Kingsley regularly motivated wizards to fight in your name when he was talking on Potterwatch. If people start to believe that you're an impostor, King's position will be quite weak."

Harry's mouth hung open. He had thought that he was back to being a normal schoolboy, and now, Hermione explained to him that he was still a diplomatic stake. He felt his irritation grow.

"Can't they let me in peace for five minutes!" he groaned. "Politics don't interest me; I just want to pass my NEWTs!"

"If one day you're an Auror, the orders you'll receive will depend directly from the person that'll have the post of Minister," Hermione pointed out sharply. "What do you think? When Fudge was head of government, they were sent to arrest Dumbledore. Under Scrimgeour, they imprisoned so-called Death Eaters without any proof, just to pretend the Ministry was actually doing something. And last year, they captured people just because they had muggle relatives. Politics concern all of us, Harry. I thought you had understood it!"

"Yes, but it's my name they're using."

"That's just how it is, we can't change it. So please stop moaning and let's think about what we can do to save the situation."

While seeing the rabid expression of his three favourite women, Harry thought that if Rita Skeeter's goal had been to poison his life, she had managed quite well.

_____________________________________________

Chat with J.K. Rowling, 30th of July 2007

o I imagine she [Rita Skeeter] immediately dashed off a biography of Harry after he defeated Voldemort. One quarter truth to three quarters rubbish.

o Harry would ensure that Snape's heroism was known. Of course, that would not stop Rita Skeeter writing 'Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?'

(1) Glanmore Peakes (1677-1761): Scottish wizard notorious for having slain the Sea Serpent of Cromer. (Chocolate Frog Card).

(2) Uric the Oddball: Uric was a strange wizard who lived in ancient times. Among other things, he was famous for wearing a jellyfish as a hat. No one knows if he meant to become the weirdest wizard of the ages or if it just came naturally. (Chocolate Frog Card)