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HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:

THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED

AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

As soon as Professor Malfoy heard about the article, he had it banned from Hogwarts. But he inadvertently helped spread it by doing so— students became more determined for everyone to know, though they had to take extra care not to have it in plain sight either by disguising it or wiping it blank. Pretty soon, everyone did know about it. And more importantly, many began to believe Harry.

Even the teachers were pleased, though they couldn't outright show their support. But Professors Sprout and Flitwick gave Harry points for minuscule things such as passing a watering can or practicing the charm. Snape didn't give points, but he remarked that Luna was doing well in Potions. Harry passed the message to Luna, who beamed.

The only negative response to the article came from the children of the mentioned Death Eaters. Harry caught sight of Crabbe, Goyle, and Theodore Nott glaring at him furiously. Even Draco didn't look keen about the article. Harry tried to talk to him, but Draco just turned away at every opportunity.

"It's like we were never friends to begin with!" Harry said to Fred during lunch.

Fred went to make a scathing remark, but Luna forestalled him with a warning look.

"It's not easy unlearning how you're raised," she said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll come around."

"Yeah," Fred said even if he had his doubts. "Malfoy can't avoid you forever."

Harry shrugged. "So how many copies have sold?" he asked Luna.

Luna beamed. "Enough for Dad to have to reprint! He can't believe it, he says people seem even more interested in this than the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks!"

"That's great!" Harry said. "Well, except for the Snorkacks."

Luna didn't seem to mind. "The Snorkacks can wait. You-Know-Who is more important."

It was only too bad his Occlumency lessons weren't going as well. He was distracted by his dream, in which he had slipped into Voldemort's mind again. After that, he became too fired up to properly block out Snape, who ended up calling Sirius and Remus through.

"There must be a reason why Harry still has these dreams and visions if he's doing what he's supposed to be doing," Remus said after Harry explained.

"Is there any point in continuing these lessons?" Harry asked.

"Even disregarding the Dark Lord, Occlumency is a good skill to have," Snape pointed out. "So no. Besides, the headmaster is adamant you learn it."

"But—"

A muffled commotion interrupted Harry.

"What the hell was that?" Sirius said.

"Did you see anything unusual on your way here, Harry?" Snape said.

Harry shook his head. Snape swept out of his office to investigate.

Harry remained in his office. "Has Dumbledore spoken to either of you?" he asked his parents.

Sirius gave Remus a swift look. "No."

Harry felt a flash of irritation. "Nothing?"

"Harry—"

"Why am I being kept in the dark?"

"You know why, Harry," Remus said with far more patience than Harry felt. "Because Voldemort can look through your mind. Sooner or later he's going to find out about your connection and use it to his advantage."

Harry could feel his frustration ebbing away in the face of Remus' calm demeanor. "But it just feels like I'm so useless."

"You're not useless," Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Trust me, Harry, you're doing brilliant. Now," he went on, bouncing a little, "care to share how your date went?"

It could not be more clear he was trying to distract Harry, but Harry took it anyway. "We... we may have... kissed a little bit more... intensely?"

Sirius shot Remus a delighted look. "Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

Remus sighed. "Who initiated it?"

"Fred did." Harry didn't tell them he had copied Sirius by climbing into his lap.

But his reddening face said enough, which made Sirius whistle. He turned to Remus, who grumbled something under his breath and slapped a Galleon in Sirius' outstretched hand.

Harry sighed. "You bet on me?"

"Yep!" Sirius said gleefully, while Remus added unnecessarily, "I lost."

When Harry returned to the Ravenclaw common room, he found many students in groups. The girls were especially excited, so Harry slipped up to them.

"What's going on?"

"Didn't you see?" Padma said. "We have a new Divination teacher."

"I was finishing a potion," Harry explained. "And what happened to Trelawney?"

"Malfoy said she was sacked," Lisa said. "But Dumbledore hired the centaur Firenze."

"And he's very handsome," Sue added.

"I bet you'll be wishing you're still taking Divination," Padma teased Harry.

"If he doesn't predict my death ten times in one year, maybe." Harry left the girls and went to his dorm to escape.

Thankfully, his dormmates were less talkative.

"Where have you been?" Michael said.

"Potions, remember?" Harry replied, beginning to remove his robes and grabbing his pajamas.

In hindsight, Harry probably should have taken Trelawney's dismissal as a sign, even if he didn't believe that she was an actual Seer.

One month later, the D.A. had finally begun practicing the Patronus Charm. Harry reminded them that performing it in a safe, Dementor-free environment was different from doing it with them.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy," Cho said. "They're so pretty!"

"They're meant to protect you," Harry said. "But I agree, they are pretty."

He looked over at Fred, who had a frustrated expression on his face as only a silver whisp came out.

George was trying to encourage him. "Just think about your date with Harry or something," he said, only half paying attention as his own wand produced the same result.

Fred rolled his eyes. "You say that like Harry's the only thing on my mind." He paused. "Okay, fine, I'll try."

He closed his eyes. "Expecto patronum."

Silver flashed from his wand once more. Harry only caught a glimpse of a long snout and pricked ears before it was gone.

Nearby, Ron's wand had produced a dog. It ran around him, tail wagging. Hermione's Patronus turned out to be an otter.

There was a tugging on Harry's robes and he looked down to see Dobby's huge eyes staring up at him. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently.

"Dobby can't say."

Harry remembered who he belonged to and felt something heavy drop in his stomach. "Malfoy's coming, isn't he?"

Dobby nodded.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed at the rigid students. "RUN!"

Everyone bolted for the door. Fred hesitated next to Harry, but Harry shook his head. "I'll be fine. Just go."

Fred didn't move at first, but George grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

"George, let go," he snapped.

"No. The less of us in trouble, the better."

The irony of the statement was not lost on either of them, but the seriousness of the situation left no time for even a smile.

They reached their common room with no trouble.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ron said, taking a seat next to Fred.

"How bad?" Fred asked, knowing better than to dismiss his little brother.

Ron could only shrug.

"I'm sure Dumbledore will help him," Hermione said.

Ron looked at her, exasperated. "What can Dumbledore do against the Ministry? If Harry's caught, he's screwed."

He was right, Fred knew, yet he also believed Dumbledore would have a plan. Oh, if Harry got in trouble, Fred would make sure Lucius Malfoy regretted it for the rest of the year...

"You will not do anything to antagonize Professor Malfoy further!" Hermione's voice said sharply.

Fred jumped and glared at her. "Who said I wanted to do something to Malfoy?" he said, all the more indignant because he knew she had caught on.

"You did," George put in unhelpfully. "You started muttering under your breath."

Fred turned his glare on his brother for a second before speaking to Hermione. "And if Harry decides to antagonize Malfoy?"

"He wouldn't," Ron said. "Would he?"

Hermione shook her head confidently. "Of course not! He's not the vindictive type."

Remembering how Harry had reacted to Rita Skeeter's articles the previous year, Fred was sorely tempted to correct Hermione. Plus there were his parents. Remus and Sirius were Marauders— they'd know exactly what to do. The thought calmed him down somewhat.

"Look," Hermione went on, apparently thinking Fred was no longer thinking of revenge, "see if Harry's still here tomorrow and if he is, you won't have to do anything."

Fred shrugged. If Harry was caught, he doubted any of them would still be here tomorrow.

But they were. Fred barely registered the notices that Lucius Malfoy had replaced Dumbledore as headmaster in his quest to find Harry. He had no been expelled, but from what Fred heard, something had happened in the headmaster's office.

Rounding a corner, he nearly rammed into Harry himself and only just managed to stop himself.

"Harry!" he exclaimed. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Fred noticed he looked a bit frazzled. "What happened? Were you caught?"

"Yes. And no." Harry explained how Dumbledore had pinned the blame on himself and escaped.

"Dumbledore'll be fine," Fred declared. "He wasn't gone forever back in fourth year— your second— this won't be any different."

Harry shrugged, not arguing but also not verbally agreeing.

At that moment, George came walking around the corner. He wasn't able to stop himself in time and ended up crashing into Fred.

"Sorry, I was looking for— oh, there you are, Freddie." George looked at their arms, which had instinctively wrapped around each other to keep from falling. "I'm not interrupting you again, am I?"

"Not like that," Harry said, stepping away from Fred. "What's got you in a mood?" he asked, noticing George's expression.

George gave an ill-tempered snort. "Just had a run-in with Montague. He tried to dock points off, but I shoved him into the Vanishing Cabinet."

Harry made a noise that sounded partly amused, partly alarmed. "Won't you get in trouble?"

Fred waved a hand dismissively. "Who cares at this point? No, George and I have a plan. You might want to get to the Great Hall if you want to avoid suspicion."

Harry raised his eyebrows but slowly turned and walked off.

George clapped a hand on Fred's shoulder. "Ready?"

Fred grinned. "Let's go."

Take a guess as to what Fred's Patronus started to form