The weekend passed all too quickly and all too soon we were eating breakfast before having to go back to classes. It was at this time though that a flock of owls flew in delivering mail. It was emotionally difficult for me, knowing there wasn't anyone outside the school that would even consider sending me anything, so I was very surprised when an owl dropped a rolled up parchment in front of me. Seeing the other kids give owls some food off their plates, I followed suit and parted with one of my strips of bacon.

"I didn't know you subscribed to the Daily Prophet, Holly." Tracy said as she was opening hers.

"I don't." I replied questioningly, as I too opened mine. The front page caught my attention. Gringotts was broken into for only the second time in history. The target was vault 713, but bank employees said the vault account was already closed and all contents removed prior to the break in, and that no other vaults showed any signs of tampering. "Vault 713… wasn't that the vault that McGonagall took something out of?" I thought to myself.

I was broken from my thoughts as Tracy said "Holly! You made the paper! Page three." Before I could say anything she started reading.

"The Girl-Who-Lives a Dark Witch?

11 year old Holly Potter, daughter of James and Lily Potter, started her Hogwarts education only a week ago, but she has already made a name for herself. This reporter has received tips from several students that all would like to remain anonymous, that Miss Potter has used black arts curses to attack fellow students. If that were not enough, Miss Potter has also revealed the fact that she is also a parselmouth, an ability that is known by the wizarding world as the mark of a dark lady in the making, and is constantly using this blackest of magics to scare and intimidate both student and professor alike. This reporter is shocked that legal actions have not been taken against Miss Potter, and urges the DMLE to investigate the issue.

Rita Skeeter"

I was in shock. Pansy tried comforting me, but I violently shrugged her hand off my shoulder. I was hurt, and filled with rage. I got up from the table and stormed off. As I left the table I threw my copy of the Prophet into the air, pointed my wand at it and shouted "Confringo!", the paper exploding in flame until there was nothing left, and I ran out of the Great Hall in tears.

I ran to the restroom in the dungeons. Nobody uses this one unless they absolutely have to due to a particularly annoying ghost inhabiting one of the stalls. I was there sitting on a toilet crying, wishing I could get my hands on that reporter. How could she publish such hateful things about someone without even getting her facts straight? My pity party was cut short as a voice called my name.

"Miss Potter?" McGonagall's voice still had that stern tone, but it was warm and reassuring at the same time. When I didn't answer, she said "Miss Potter, I know you're in there. Come out and talk."

"Go away!" I shouted at her.

She walked to the stall door. "Now Miss Potter, there is no reason to act like that. Now I understand that the infamous Rita Skeeter has just released a most unflattering article about you, yes?"

"Yes..."

"Well you can't trust anything that that woman has to say. She has built her career on slinging dirt at whoever she can, regardless of the facts. Why, I have half a mind to go to her office and slap some sense into her myself. And I would bring you with me just to watch it happen."

That got a chuckle out of me from between my sobbs. 

"Now come on out of there. We'll get you cleaned up and sorted."

I exited the stall and McGonagall gave me a hug. "Thank you." I said, "But why did you come? I thought Professor Snape would be the one to find me."

"Even though I am not your head of house, you are still one of my students, and one that needed comforting." She broke the hug and asked me, "And did you really want Professor Snape to be the one to talk to you about this? If so I'll gladly let him try comforting an eleven year old girl next time." 

I couldn't hold in a laugh at that thought, and from McGonagall's smile she was having difficulty keeping from laughing too. I dried my eyes and we headed towards her charms classroom. 

While we were walking I asked her about vault 713. "What was in vault 713 that someone would go through so much trouble to try and steal?"

"As I said before Miss Potter, that is Hogwarts business and nothing you need to be concerned about."

"But if someone broke into Gringotts, what's to keep them from breaking in here? And if they do, won't that put students at risk?"

"A valid concern Miss Potter, but I can assure you that it, as well as this school, are well protected. And that includes the student as well." It was clear that I wouldn't get any information out of her, so I left the matter alone and we walked the rest of the way in silence.

_________________________________________

"Holly!" Susan's voice called from behind me. Turning around I see her sprinting down the corridor. Either she had been running for a while, or she's out of shape, because as soon as she reached me she doubled over with her hands on her knees and taking large gasping breaths.

"Susan, what's wrong!? What happened!?" I asked with concern.

With her head still staring at the stone floor, she held up a finger, her lungs still trying to provide her body with much needed oxygen. After what seemed like forever, though it probably wasn't any more than a minute, she straightened up and said, "I just got an owl back from my aunt. She said that the DMLE is basically forcing the Daily Prophet to write a retraction to the article they wrote about you. I thought you'd want to know."

I let out a little chuckle. "That's good, but you didn't have to almost kill yourself delivering the message."

"Well…" her hands were now clasped behind her back and her body was twisting back and forth and her head was hung low. "I was wondering if I could accompany you to dueling practice." Her tone was soft and innocent, but her face looked like she was guilty of something.

"Sure, but we will have to check with Professor Flitwick to make sure it's ok. I don't know if we're allowed to bring spectators."

"That's ok." She said as she hooked my arm in hers and we started walking together towards the dueling room.

Professor Flitwick said there weren't any problems with spectators, and it sometimes gets rather packed, especially leading up to the school tournament. The first class was a little lackluster. There were only 14 of us in the club, but Flitwick said there are usually a few students joining after Christmas break. We were each handed a parchment with a list of spells we were not allowed to use, and then Professor Flitwick had a duel with each of us to gauge our abilities. He started with the oldest kids and worked his way down. With me being the only first year that meant I was last. I'd like to say I did better this time than the last, but it felt to me I did worse. Maybe it was because I saw some of the spells the other kids were doing, their repertoire was much larger than mine. 

Once again though, our duel was action packed. I started off with a silent stunner, and tried my hardest to keep firing as many spells as I could as quickly as possible. Unfortunately I didn't notice the rope that was conjured behind me until it had already slithered around my feet and was dragging me off the platform. Professor Flitwick vanished the rope as soon as I hit the ground so I could stand up, which to my embarrassment was to an applause from the entire room.

Susan came running up to me and threw her arms around me in a hug. "That was so amazing. I've never seen anyone duel like that, and I've seen how the aurors train." When she broke the hug and we were looking at each other, I saw a puzzled look on her face. "What happened to your eyes?"