in a brief statement friday night, minister of magic cornelius fudge confirmed that he-who-must- not-be named has returned to this country and is active once more.

"it is with great regret that i must confirm that the wizard styling himself lord — well, you know who i mean — is alive and among us again," said fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters. "it is with almost equal regret that we report the mass revolt of the dementors of azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the ministry's employ. we believe that the dementors are currently taking direction from lord — thingy.

"we urge the magical population to remain vigilant. the ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary home and personal defense that will be delivered free to all wizarding homes within the coming month."

the minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the wizarding community, which as recently as last wednesday was receiving ministry assurances that there was "no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumors that you-know-who is operating amongst us once more."

details of the events that led to the ministry turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that he-who-must-not-be-named and a select band of followers (known as death eaters) gained entry to the ministry of magic itself on thursday evening.

albus dumbledore, newly reinstated headmaster of hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, reinstated member of the international confederation of wizards, and reinstated chief warlock of the wizengamot, was unavailable for comment last night. he has insisted for a year that you-know-who was not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but recruiting followers once more for a fresh attempt to seize power. meanwhile the boy who lived —

"there you are, harry, i knew they'd drag you into it somehow," said hermione, looking over the top of the paper over at him.

"it won't be long until lara's name comes up," said ron from the foot of his bed.

they were in the hospital wing. elara was sitting on the end of her bed with harry and they were both listening to hermione read the front page of the sunday prophet. ginny, whose ankle had been mended in a trice by madam pomfrey, was curled up at the foot of hermione's bed; neville, whose nose had likewise been returned to its normal size and shape, was in a chair between the two beds; and luna, who had dropped in to visit clutching the latest edition of the quibbler, was reading the magazine upside down and apparently not taking in a word hermione was saying.

"he's 'the boy who lived' again now, though, isn't he?" said elara darkly. "not such a show-off maniac anymore?"

she helped herself to a handful of chocolate frogs from the immense pile on her bedside cabinet, threw a few to harry, ron, ginny, and neville, and ripped off the wrapper of her own with her teeth.

"yes, they're very complimentary about you now, harry," said hermione, now scanning down the article. "'a lone voice of truth . . .perceived as unbalanced, yet never wavered in his story . . . forced to bear ridicule and slander . . .' hmmm," said hermione, frowning, "i notice they don't mention the fact that it was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering, though. . . ."

she winced slightly and put a hand to her ribs. the curse dolohov had used on her, though less effective than it would have been had he been able to say the incantation aloud, had nevertheless caused, in madam pomfrey's words, "quite enough damage to be going on with." hermione was having to take ten different types of potion every day and although she was improving greatly, was already bored with the hospital wing.

" 'you-know-who's last attempt to take over, pages two to four, what the ministry should have told us, page five, why nobody listened to albus dumbledore, pages six to eight, exclusive interview with harry potter, page nine . . .' well," said hermione, folding up the newspaper and throwing it aside, "it's certainly given them lots to write about. and that interview with harry isn't exclusive, it's the one that was in the quibbler months ago. . . ."

"daddy sold it to them," said luna vaguely, turning a page of the quibbler. "he got a very good price for it too, so we're going to go on an expedition to sweden this summer and see if we can catch a crumple-horned snorkack."

hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, then said, "that sounds lovely."

elara and harry glanced at each other and looked away quickly, grinning.

"so anyway," said hermione, sitting up a little straighter and wincing again, "what's going on in school?"

"well, flitwick's got rid of fred and george's swamp," said ginny. "he did it in about three seconds. but he left a tiny patch under the window and he's roped it off —"

"why?" said hermione, looking startled.

"oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic," said ginny, shrugging.

"i think he left it as a monument to fred and george," said ron through a mouthful of chocolate. "they sent us all these, you know," he told everyone, pointing at the small mountain of frogs beside him. "must be doing all right out of that joke shop, eh?"

hermione looked rather disapproving and asked, "so has all the trouble stopped now dumbledore's back?"

"yes," said neville, "everything's settled right back down again."

"i s'pose filch is happy, is he?" asked ron, propping a chocolate frog card featuring dumbledore against his water jug.

"not at all," said ginny. "he's really, really miserable, actually. . . ." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "he keeps saying umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to hogwarts. . . ."

all seven of them looked around. professor umbridge was lying in a bed opposite them, gazing up at the ceiling. dumbledore had strode alone into the forest to rescue her from the centaurs. how he had done it — how he had emerged from the trees supporting professor umbridge without so much as a scratch on him — nobody knew, and umbridge was certainly not telling. since she had returned to the castle she had not, as far as any of them knew, uttered a single word. nobody really knew what was wrong with her either. her usually neat mousy hair was very untidy and there were bits of twig and leaf in it, but otherwise she seemed to be quite unscathed.

"wicked witch of the west, she is," muttered elara, and harry nudged her side.

"madam pomfrey says she's just in shock," whispered hermione.

"sulking, more like," said ginny.

"yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this," said ron, and with his tongue he made soft clip-clopping noises. umbridge sat bolt upright, looking wildly around.

"anything wrong, professor?" called madam pomfrey, poking her head around her office door.

"no . . . no . . ." said umbridge, sinking back into her pillows, "no, i must have been dreaming. . . ."

elara, hermione, and ginny muffled their laughter in the bedclothes.

"speaking of centaurs," said hermione, when she had recovered a little, "who's divination teacher now? is firenze staying?"

"he's got to," said harry, "the other centaurs won't take him back, will they?"

"it looks like he and trelawney are both going to teach," said elara.

"bet dumbledore wishes he could've got rid of trelawney for good," said ron, now munching on his fourteenth frog. "mind you, the whole subjects useless if you ask me, firenze isn't a lot better. . . ."

"how can you say that?" hermione demanded. "after we've just found out that there are real prophecies?"

elara's heart began to race. she sneaked a glance at harry, who seemed to feel the same way. they had not told ron, hermione, or anyone else what the prophecy had contained. neville had told them the prophecies had smashed while harry was pulling him up the steps in the death room, and elara nor harry had not yet corrected this impression. elara was not ready to see their expressions when she told them that she would have to die, and there was no other way. . . . she hadn't even told harry, and she was supposed to be his protecter.

"it is a pity it broke," said hermione quietly, shaking her head.

"yeah, it is," said ron. "still, at least you-know-who never found out what was in it either — where are you going?" he added, looking both surprised and disappointed as harry stood up.

"er — hagrid's," said harry. "you know, he just got back and i promised i'd go down and see him and tell him how you two are. . . . elara, wanna come?"

"sure," said elara, pushing up off the bed she was sitting on.

"oh all right then," said ron grumpily, looking out of the dormitory window at the patch of bright blue sky beyond. "wish we could come . . ."

"say hello to him for us!" called hermione, as elara and harry proceeded down the ward. "and ask him what's happening about . . . about his little friend!"

elara gave a wave of her hand to show she had heard and understood as she and harry left the dormitory.

the castle seemed very quiet even for a sunday. everybody was clearly out in the sunny grounds, enjoying the end of their exams and the prospect of a last few days of term unhampered by studying or homework. elara and harry walked slowly along the deserted corridor, peering out of windows as she went. she could see people messing around in the air over the quidditch pitch and a couple of students swimming in the lake, accompanied by the giant squid.

they had just descended the last marble step into the entrance hall when draco, crabbe, and goyle emerged from a door on the right that elara knew led down to the Slytherin common room. elara and harry stopped dead; so did draco and the others. for a few moments, the only sounds were the shouts, laughter, and splashes drifting into the hall from the grounds through the open front doors. draco glanced around. elara knew he was checking for signs of teachers. then he looked back at harry and said in a low voice, "you're both dead."

harry raised his eyebrows. "funny," he said, "you'd think i'd have stopped walking around. . . ."

"your threats have never worked on me before," said elara in a bored tone, "so why would they work now?"

draco looked angrier than elara had ever seen him. she felt a kind of detached satisfaction at the sight of his pale, pointed face contorted with rage.

"you're going to pay," said draco in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "i'm going to make you pay for what you've done to my father. . . ."

"ooooh, i'm terrified," said elara sarcastically. "i s'pose voldemort's just a warm-up act compared to you three — what's the matter?" she said, for draco, crabbe, and goyle had all looked stricken at the sound of the name.

"he's your dad's mate, isn't he? not scared of him, are you?" said harry.

"you think you're invincible," said draco, advancing now, crabbe and goyle flanking him. "you wait. i'll have you."

"if bellatrix bloody lestrange couldn't intimidate me, neither can you," said elara, checking her fingernails.

"you can't land my father in prison —"

"i thought we just had," said harry.

"the dementors have left azkaban," said draco quietly. "dad and the others'll be out in no time. . . ."

"yeah, i expect they will," said harry. "still, at least everyone knows what scumbags they are now —"

draco's hand flew toward his wand, but harry was too quick for him. harry had drawn his wand before draco's fingers had even entered the pocket of his robes.

"potter!"

the voice rang across the entrance hall; snape had emerged from the staircase leading down to his office.

"what are you doing, potter?" said snape coldly as ever, as he strode over to the four of them.

"i'm trying to decide what curse to use on, sir," said harry fiercely.

snape stared at him.

"put that wand away at once," he said curtly. "ten points from gryff —"

snape looked toward the giant hourglasses on the walls and gave a sneering smile.

"ah. i see there are no longer any points left in the gryffindor hourglass to take away. in that case, potter, we will simply have to —"

"add some more?"

professor mcgonagall had just stumped up the stone steps into the castle. she was carrying a tartan carpetbag in one hand and leaning heavily on a walking stick with her other, but otherwise looked quite well.

"professor mcgonagall!" said snape, striding forward. "out of st. mungo's, i see!"

"yes, professor snape," said professor mcgonagall, shrugging off her traveling cloak, "i'm quite as good as new. you two — crabbe — goyle —"

she beckoned them forward imperiously and they came, shuffling their large feet and looking awkward.

"here," said professor mcgonagall, thrusting her carpetbag into crabbe's chest and her cloak into goyle's, "take these up to my office for me."

they turned and stumped away up the marble staircase.

"right then," said professor mcgonagall, looking up at the hourglasses on the wall, "well, i think potter, tonks, and their friends ought to have fifty points apiece for alerting the world to the return of you-know-who! what say you, professor snape?"

"what?" snapped snape, though elara knew he had heard perfectly well. "oh — well — i suppose . . ."

"so that's fifty each for potter, tonks, the two weasleys, longbottom, and miss granger," said professor mcgonagall, and a shower of rubies fell down into the bottom bulb of gryffindor's hourglass as she spoke. "oh — and fifty for miss lovegood, i suppose," she added, and a number of sapphires fell into ravenclaw's glass. "now, you wanted to take ten from mr. potter, i think, professor snape — so there we are. . . ."

a few rubies retreated into the upper bulb, leaving a respectable amount below nevertheless.

"well, potter, tonks, malfoy, i think you ought to be outside on a glorious day like this," professor mcgonagall continued briskly.

elara and harry did not need telling twice. harry thrust his wand back inside his robes and they headed straight for the front doors without another glance at snape and malfoy.

"i think i love her," said elara giddily. "i mean, i've never met someone more badass than mcgonagall."

the hot sun hit elara with a blast as they walked across the lawns toward hagrid's cabin. students lying around on the grass sunbathing, talking, reading the sunday prophet, and eating sweets looked up at them as they passed. some called out to them, or else waved, clearly eager to show that they, like the prophet, had decided they were something of heroes. harry said nothing to any of them. elara smiled politely and waved back.

elara thought at first when she knocked on hagrid's cabin door that he was out, but then fang came charging around the corner and almost bowled her over with the enthusiasm of his welcome. hagrid, it transpired, was picking runner beans in his back garden.

"all righ', harry, lara!" he said, beaming, when elara and harry approached the fence. "come in, come in, we'll have a cup o' dandelion juice. . . .

"how's things?" hagrid asked them, as they settled down at his wooden table with a glass apiece of iced juice. "you — er — feelin' all righ', are yeh?"

elara knew from the look of concern on hagrid's face that he was not referring to their physical well-being.

"i'm doing great," said elara, forcing a smile upon her face.

"i'm fine," harry said quickly. "so, where've you been?"

"bin hidin' out in the mountains," said hagrid. "up in a cave, like sirius did when he —"

hagrid broke off, cleared his throat gruffly, looked between elara and harry, and took a long draft of juice.

"anyway, back now," he said feebly.

"you — you look better," said harry, who seemed determined to keep the conversation moving away from sirius.

"wha?" said hagrid, raising a massive hand and feeling his face. "oh — oh yeah. well, grawpy's loads better behaved now, loads. seemed right pleased ter see me when i got back, ter tell yeh the truth. he's a good lad, really. . . . i've bin thinkin' abou' tryin' ter find him a lady friend, actually. . . ."

elara would normally have tried to persuade hagrid out of this idea at once. the prospect of a second giant taking up residence in the forest, possibly even wilder and more brutal than grawp, was positively alarming, but somehow elara could not muster the energy necessary to argue the point.

"ev'ryone knows you've bin tellin' the truth now, harry," said hagrid softly and unexpectedly. "tha's gotta be better, hasn' it?"

harry shrugged.

"look . . ." hagrid leaned toward him across the table, "i knew sirius longer 'n you two did. . . . he died in battle, an' tha's the way he'd've wanted ter go —"

"he didn't want to go at all!" said harry angrily.

elara's hand immediately moved towards harry's to calm him. hagrid bowed his great shaggy head.

"nah, i don' reckon he did," he said quietly. "but still, lara, harry, . . . he was never one ter sit around at home an' let other people do the fightin'. he couldn' have lived with himself if he hadn' gone ter help —"

harry leapt up again, dragging elara up with him.

"we've got to go and visit ron and hermione in the hospital wing," he said mechanically.

"oh," said hagrid, looking rather upset. "oh . . . all righ then, harry . . . take care of yerself then, an' drop back in if yeh've got a mo. . . ."

"yeah . . . right . . ."