Aspen in the Sunlight - A Year Like None Other

'Just look at the facts,' the source said. 'They're as plain as the nose on Snape's face. Potter and the Malfoy boy [sic Draco Snape] were down in those dungeons with that man for months. They weren't seen by a single soul during all that time. Even the headmaster was barred from entry. And then the next thing we know, Malfoy [sic Draco Snape] was accused of murdering a girl! I don't have thing against either one of them; they were both fine boys before Snape got his hands on them.

'But apparently the staff here thinks whatever Snape taught them is fine. When they came back to classes, Potter was using that filthy dark language for all his spells and nobody said so much as a word of objection. You never know what it is that he's actually casting. He might be pouring hexes left and right, for all we know. But the boys act like it's just fine and proper and they've corrupted the other students into thinking the same! It's time the public knew just what sort of school Albus Dumbledore has been running. He could have taken the lead here in condemning these aberrant magical practices. Instead, he's been rewarding Potter and Malfoy [sic Draco Snape] with ice-cream parties! It's an outrage, through and through!'

The source also said, off the record, that he caught the brothers cheating with a dark artefact and that they attacked him when he tried to take it away. The incident was then covered up by the school and ever since, the source has been constantly watched and threatened to prevent him from saying anything.

"I thought 'off the record' meant something wasn't going to be printed," Harry mumbled.

"Well, clearly Aran is a fool to have trusted Skeeter at all," Hermione put in. "But we'll show her--"

Harry pretended to study the article while he thought about that. "Um . . . brilliant idea, but don't you think she's got herself registered by now?"

Glancing around to see if he was still being stared at, Harry noticed Draco stomping his way over from the Slytherin table.

"She must have," said Ron, his hands balling into fists. "Otherwise she'd never have had the nerve to print that big bloody load of lies, would she now? Just look at it! Facts all screwed up, a right ugly headline over the whole thing, and just like before with Malfoy, a so-called source whose head is stuck straight up his arse!"

Draco had arrived by then, but he didn't react to Ron's comment. Instead, he shouldered his way in next to Harry and dropped a roll of parchment on top the newspaper as he sat down. "Good thing Severus got us that solicitor, Harry. Have Hedwig deliver this, will you? We'll sue Skeeter, the Daily Prophet , and Aran for libel!"

Harry sighed. He knew that his brother meant well, but this was clearly another instance of his impulse control issue. They couldn't bring anyone to court without revealing things that needed to be kept secret.

"What do you mean you've both got a solicitor?" asked Ron, his eyebrows drawing together. "What would you lot need a solicitor for?"

Uh-oh. Harry's arms started itching even worse. Unable to stand it, he gave up scratching and started more-or-less clawing at one spot on his left arm. He'd have given his vault for a needle right then, but now it seemed like every eye in the Great Hall was on him. He certainly wasn't going to transfigure anything using Parseltongue. Even though no one would know what he was doing, they'd stare at him simply for doing it!

"My fortune's been restored to me, and more than that you don't need to know," said Draco calmly.

It was one thing to say that, but sooner or later Ron would have to know, Harry supposed. How was Ron going to feel to know that Harry had had loads of money to give away, and he'd given it all to Draco?

After a few moments another hand stilled his. Harry looked up, a little bit alarmed, but no one else seemed to realise that his brother had reached under the table and grabbed his wrist.

"Harry," said Draco in a low voice. "I think we'd better go find Severus."

Harry nodded shakily and reached out to grab the newspaper so they could bring it along. He noticed there was actually blood under his fingernails. Draco saw it too, he thought.

But nobody else, thank God.

Harry and Draco had almost reached the front of the hall when a commotion at the head table grabbed everyone's attention. Snape was stalking toward Aran, a copy of the Prophet clenched in his hand. He looked for all the world like some apocalyptic angel of death. Robes flapping behind him, boots clicking ominously on granite, his face was contorted into a mask of rage the likes of which Harry hadn't seen since Snape had caught him poking into his private memories the year before.

Harry wondered if he'd looked as frightened and ready to bolt as Aran did, now. The man jumped to his feet, but then seemed to realise he had no hope of getting away. In the next moment, he actually closed his eyes, just like a small child who thought that if he didn't see the monster, it couldn't see him.

Severus Snape saw him all right. His angry black gaze was focused on nothing else. Walking straight up to the man until he stood just a few feet away, Snape raised his wand and held it levelled at Aran's throat.

Oh, God . Harry started to hold his breath. His father was going to kill Aran. Right here, right now, in front of hundreds of witnesses. Draco must have thought the same; he cried out with a strangled sort of squeak.

Snape's stance remained rigid, his wand arm not wavering in the slightest as he called out in a booming voice, "Aaron Alexandros Aran! You have publicly slandered me! You have cast dishonour upon my good name! You have reviled my son for the world at large to see! In front of all these witnesses, I demand satisfaction as is my right!"

Aran's eyes snapped open. "What? You-- I-- I did nothing of the sort!"

Snape took the paper clenched in his other hand and stepping forward two quick strides, smacked Aran in the face with it. "Do you deny being the scurrilous source for this disgusting rag of a periodical?"

His furious gaze clearly promised murder no matter what Aran said.

"I-- I--"

"Answer me, you knave!" roared Snape. "Answer me or I swear by Merlin's beard I'll silence you now and forever!"

"Of course I wasn't the source!" said Aran in a shaking voice. "I wouldn't do that to Hogwarts. Albus, tell him I wouldn't do that!"

The instant Aran denied Snape's accusation, Harry could feel magic tingling in the air. A rush of icy wind flew through one of the high windows in the Great Hall. Instantly, the temperature in the large room dropped several degrees. As visible as a dense fog, the gust of wind swooped down and looped itself several times around Aran and Snape both, binding them together in a sort of hazy cocoon.

"No," gasped Aran, his mouth dropping open in unmistakable horror. " No. "

"Yes," said Dumbledore quietly as the icy wind stopped moving. "The elements themselves have spoken." A crackling sound accompanied his words. Harry saw icicles beginning to form on the strands of his father's hair and on Aran's fringe.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Harry asked, his voice pitched to a low whisper.

It was Ron who answered. Harry hadn't even realised his friend had followed him to the front. "It's a duel, it is!" he said, bobbing his head up and down. "I don't think there's been one in ages. Harry, your father's going to wipe the floor with that git."

Harry frowned. There were duels all the time at Hogwarts, but they didn't usually come accompanied by freezing winds. Clearly his confusion was written all over his face, since Draco took it upon himself to explain.

"It's a formal duel, Potter," the other boy drawled. "This isn't a game, or sport, or practice. This is the real thing . See that fog? It means that Aran has accepted. Now, he has to fight Severus, like it or not. Because if he won't . . ." Draco's grin was positively evil in delight. "Severus is allowed to kill him outright, and not even the Ministry could do a thing about it. Ancient magic."