Beside it were several eye-catching headlines:
Shocking! Ministry of Magic attempts brutal interrogation, gets demolished instead!
Hogwarts third-year sweeps through Ministry of Magic, Aurors powerless to stop her!
Dumbledore's heir? The terrifying Library Witch!
Hermione's mouth twitched. Now she understood why everyone was looking at her like that.
She hadn't expected the Daily Prophet to move so quickly. It had only happened yesterday, and today it was already in print and being distributed everywhere. No wonder it had topped the wizarding world's sales charts for years. They knew their stuff.
The papers had probably spread everywhere before Fudge had time to react. Otherwise, he certainly would never have allowed a report like this to be published.
Western reporters worked fast. Even the wizarding world couldn't escape that rule.
Harry edged over cautiously, his face displaying a complicated mix of "Are you okay?" and "You're freaking amazing!"
"Hermione, is everything it says here true?"
He knew the Daily Prophet liked to exaggerate the facts to grab attention.
Unfortunately, this time it hadn't.
Hermione put down the newspaper and nodded lightly. "Yes. That's right. I did it."
"Gasp-"
A chorus of sharp intakes of breath rose around her, instantly making the Great Hall feel wonderfully warm.
The students stared wide-eyed, as though they were looking at some prehistoric beast.
They knew Hermione was powerful, and they knew she had a forceful personality, but they hadn't expected her to actually dare take on the Ministry of Magic head-on!
And she had even demolished it!
This was just... too thrilling!
Ron gazed at Hermione in admiration, his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.
"Hermione, you... you're incredible!"
He was so excited he could barely string his words together.
"Even the Ministry of Magic couldn't beat you. You're just... just... fucking-bleep-awesome!"
Ron racked