Change the Future

GOF 22

Rory headed to breakfast with Harry, Ron and Hermione the twins both still fast asleep. Ron's fear that the house-elves would send substandard food up to the Gryffindor table because Hermione had insulted them proved false; the bacon, eggs, and kippers were quite as good as usual. When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.

"Percy won't've had time to answer yet," Ron said. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday." they had decided to write to Percy for any information about Crouch.

"No, it's not that," Hermione said. "I've taken out a subscription to the Daily Prophet. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."

"Good thinking!" Harry said, also looking up at the owls. "Hey, Hermione, I think you're in luck" A grey owl was soaring down toward Hermione.

"It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. "It's -" But to her bewilderment, the grey owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.

"How many subscriptions did you take out?" Harry said, seizing Hermione's goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter first.

"What on earth -?" Hermione said, taking the letter from the grey owl, opening it, and starting to read. "Oh really!" she sputtered, going rather red.

"What's up?" Ron said. "It's - oh how ridiculous -" She thrust the letter at Harry, who saw that it was not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Prophet.

YOU ARE A WICKED GIRL. HARRY POTTER DESERVES BETTER. GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM MUGGLE.

"Hate mail" Sirius says trying not to smile.

"They're all like it!" Hermione said desperately, opening one letter after another. "'Harry Potter can do much better than the likes of you' 'You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn' Ouch!" She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" Ron said, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.

"Ow!" Hermione said, tears starting in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.

The hall fills with winces.

"You'd better get up to the hospital wing," Harry said as the owls around Hermione took flight. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone "

"Come on Hermione I'll walk you" Rory says standing up leaving her plate of food still untouched.

"You left your food when people were distracted" Hermione says looking at Rory.

"I used peoples distractions to hide things a lot"

"Thank you Rory" she says through tears.

"Aww has Potter dumped you" They see Pansy standing there laughing.

"Why don't you just shut up" Rory spits out.

"Oh didn't see you there under that hideous scar. Moved on to the final Weasley boy now. I mean I thought he'd be a bit young for you but guess you can't afford to be picky can you" Rory ignores her comment, placing her hand under her sleeve. 

"Rory" Regulus looks at her.

"Yeah"

"Can you burn yourself?" Everyone looks between the screen and Rory realising.