"Heavens! Hermione, I can't believe what your boyfriend has done!"
Ron's exclamation drew plenty of looks at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle.
But those looks soon drifted away again. Even the first-years had long since grown used to his outbursts.
Hermione was holding a bowl of pumpkin soup, looking rather distracted. Hearing Ron's exclamation, she turned her head. "Sorry, what did you just say?"
Ron's face was flushed with excitement. Waving a copy of the Daily Prophet, he said, "I'm talking about Vaughn! He actually wants to abolish the use of Dementors at Azkaban!"
"He's completely mad! Those villains locked up in Azkaban don't deserve sympathy!"
"Just look at what it says!"
Ron unfolded the newspaper, pointed at the picture accompanying the front-page headline, and said loudly, "Sirius Black, the informer who betrayed Harry's parents, an unforgivable villain, has escaped!"
"Someone like that should be locked up in Azkaban and tormented by Dementors every day!"
"If they stop using Dementors, what's the point of putting villains in prison? Are they supposed to go there to enjoy themselves?"
But Harry and Hermione paid no attention to Ron's endless chatter. Hermione snatched the Daily Prophet from his hands and leaned close to Harry, quickly scanning its contents with him. Last night, even when she returned to her dormitory, Hermione had still been basking in happiness. She had even had a lovely dream, leaving her rather distracted all morning.
Of course, she subscribed to the Daily Prophet too. She had simply tossed it beside her bed when the owl delivered it that morning.
The front-page article in today's paper had clearly been written by a journalist brimming with malice toward Vaughn. Aside from a few brief passages reporting events, the entire piece was an attack on him.
[I