Once Anne had figured things out, she decided not to dwell on the issue anymore. She was far too busy to spend time worrying. From Monday to Friday, she attended classes at Roland Castle in the mornings, had driving lessons in the afternoons, and still had to carve out time to write her Path to Academic Excellence book series. The publisher had already been urging her for the fourth-year manuscript. That series alone had added nearly 4,000 Galleons to Anne's personal vault.
On top of that, Anne kept a close eye on the international Reeve market over the summer. Her British pound investments were steadily growing as well.
Not to mention, she still had to find time to finish her summer homework and conduct some experiments to test magical plant properties. Since June, she often worked until midnight before finally going to bed.
What Anne hadn't noticed was that since July, Hermione had been calling significantly less. Eventually, the calls stopped altogether, and communication switched entirely to owl post. Even the letters became shorter and less frequent.
One day in August, 12 days before term started, Anne was reading the Daily Prophet as usual when the front page story caught her completely off guard.
BREAKING NEWS!
According to reliable sources from the Ministry of Magic, Harry Potter, known for his attention-seeking antics, will be tried at the Ministry tomorrow for using magic in the Muggle world. This act violates both the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
As everyone knows, both laws are longstanding and reasonable. Every underage wizard is well aware: no magic in front of Muggles.
The charge reads:
The defendant, Harry James Potter, previously warned in writing by the Ministry for a similar offense, knowingly and deliberately cast a Patronus Charm at 9:23 p.m. on August 2nd in a Muggle-inhabited area, in full view of a Muggle. This act constitutes a violation of Section 3 of the 1875 Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, and Article 13 of the International Statute of Secrecy.
That Potter, after a prior offense, would dare break the law again in front of Muggles clearly shows that he is…
The entire front page was dedicated to the incident, while the following pages were filled with routine Ministry activity and gossip columns.
Anne put the newspaper down and sat at the breakfast table, her mind lingering on one word: Patronus.
Harry wouldn't use a Patronus without good reason. There's only one situation that calls for that spell: when facing Dementors.
Dementors? In the Muggle world? And Harry just happened to be there?
That raised serious questions. Anne considered two possibilities:
Someone in the Ministry deliberately orchestrated this. Dementors still guarded Azkaban and were under Ministry control, meaning only someone high up could authorize their movement.
Some Dementors had secretly fallen under Voldemort's control and were acting without the Ministry's knowledge.
Tapping her fingers on the table, Anne kept this suspicion to herself, leaning toward the first possibility as the more likely one.
Just then, Orr, the butler, came over holding a few letters. "Miss Reeve, here's your mail. I thought I'd bring it to you directly."
"Thanks, Orr." Anne took the letters and flipped through them. One was her newly issued driver's license, one was a greeting letter from Vegas in France, and the last was from a magazine editor about finalizing an article draft.
"No owl post today?" Anne asked.
"No, none yesterday either," Orr replied.
Anne held the three letters and nodded. "Alright. Got it."
Orr bowed slightly and returned to the kitchen.
"Seriously? It's been 18 days without a word." Anne muttered to herself. "Whatever, time for class."
She slipped her driver's license into her wallet, slung her bag over her shoulder, and stepped into the fireplace. Tossing in some Floo Powder, she said clearly, "Roland Manor!"
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A few days later, three days before term started, Anne was having breakfast.
"Hogwarts still hasn't sent out the booklist and term letter?" Aaron asked.
Anne cut a piece of beef and replied, "Yeah, I was just wondering the same. It should've arrived by now. Maybe the school's just been too busy lately."
Aaron frowned but didn't say anything. He'd been hearing some troubling rumors lately.
Just then, Orr walked in holding a letter. "Miss Reeve, a letter from Hogwarts just arrived. The owl just dropped it off."
Anne looked up and accepted the envelope. "Perfect timing. Let's see what new books I'll need. I was planning to go to Diagon Alley today to reReeve materials, got a big experiment tomorrow."
She opened the envelope and pulled out two folded sheets of parchment. But something metallic at the bottom caught her eye. Turning the envelope upside down, something fell out and clinked onto the table, a silver and green badge, marked with a large "P" on top of the Slytherin serpent.
A Prefect badge.
"A Prefect badge!" Aaron exclaimed, picking it up like it was a treasure. "It's really the Slytherin Prefect badge! I haven't seen one in years!"
He looked at Anne with pride and warmth. "My Anne's been made Prefect! Amazing! What reward do you want? Anything!"
"Um..." Anne scratched her head. "I don't really need anything... and also, " she looked at the badge in Aaron's hand, "why me? Why would they choose me?"
Aaron patted her shoulder confidently. "You definitely deserve a reward! They chose you because you're outstanding, Anne. Prefects are nominated by their Heads of House, but the final decision comes from the Headmaster. Both agreed you were the right choice. Only 24 Prefects in the entire school!"
He added, knowingly, "There are responsibilities, sure, but there are privileges too. Like your own private bath, very nice for soaking. And you get authority: deducting points, assigning detentions..."
"What kind of responsibilities?" Anne asked, more curious about that.
"Well... it's been a while, so I don't remember exactly," Aaron admitted. "Mostly small stuff. Don't worry, when term starts, the Head Boy and Girl will explain everything."
He then shared stories from his own time as a Prefect at Hogwarts, fun times with his friend Lambert, and their adventures back in the day.
When it was time to head to work, Aaron reluctantly said goodbye. Before leaving, he reminded Anne to let Diana know about this big news.
After he left, Anne spread the letter out. Aside from the standard September 1st term reminder, it congratulated her on becoming a Prefect and instructed her to meet with the Head Boy and Head Girl in the Prefects' compartment of the Hogwarts Express.
"There are only two new books," Anne murmured as she read the booklist.
"Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk, and Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard. Not too bad. I've got a full shopping trip planned for this afternoon anyway, tomorrow's experiment has been in the works for ages."
That afternoon, Anne traveled to Diagon Alley via Floo Powder and spent nearly three hours shopping. She only spent ten minutes in Flourish and Blotts, half of that just asking how her book series was selling.
Back home, she had just finished organizing her supplies when she heard Diana's voice downstairs, asking Orr where Anne was.
Anne opened her door and started down the stairs. As soon as Diana saw her, she let out a delighted cry, rushed up to hug her, and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Mon Anne, c'est merveilleux! I'm so proud of you!" Diana beamed. "We have to celebrate tonight!"
Not long after, Aaron came home early from the Ministry, bringing a few of his Ministry colleagues with him. These were prominent figures from various departments, and he introduced each one to Anne.
Not to be outdone, Diana called up Margaret and her own friends, including some from the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
Suddenly, their home felt like a Ministry-wide gathering. Apart from the Department of Mysteries, nearly every division had someone there. More Ministry officials heard of the celebration and even asked to join. To Aaron and Diana's surprise, even Cornelius Fudge showed up, along with Dolores Umbridge.
Umbridge greeted Anne with a syrupy smile and a painfully tight handshake.
"Why hello, Anne Roland Reeve, Slytherin's new Prefect. I was a Slytherin myself, you know. Such a wonderful House, don't you think?"
Anne quickly withdrew her hand from Umbridge's pink, over-polished grasp and forced a polite smile. She tried to excuse herself, but Umbridge clearly had no intention of letting her go.
Standing a bit shorter than Anne despite wearing heels, she continued in that grating, artificial tone:
"Starting this term, I've been appointed Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! Isn't that exciting? Hardly anyone knows yet. I'm sure the Prefects and staff will need to coordinate closely."
"You've already got your new books, haven't you? Defensive Magical Theory, such a solid book, isn't it?"
Anne thought her voice sounded like a broken record in a fake baby-doll accent, nails-on-chalkboard stuff. Combined with that ridiculous pink outfit, Anne truly had no desire to talk to her. She just nodded mechanically.
With Fudge present, the Ministry officials were visibly more restrained. Amid endless pleasantries and polite chatter, the group, about 30 people in total, had dinner in the backyard before finally heading home.
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If you're enjoying the journey so far and want to read ahead, you can check out 25+ advance chapters on Patreon: Patreon/Crimson_Lore