"Of course we don't believe it!" Harry let go of Draco and turned to look earnestly at Hermione. "But other people might."
Harry sighed and explained, "You were missing for too long. At first, when rumors said something might have happened to you, none of the students took them seriously. Everyone thought, how could the Witch of Gryffindor possibly die?"
"But more than a year passed, and there was still no word from you."
"The rumors got more and more outrageous, and everyone at Hogwarts grew anxious. They didn't think Dumbledore would hurt you, but something really might have happened to you."
"After all, with your temper, if you were still alive and saw what the Ministry of Magic was doing, you'd have jumped out and torn it down all over again. With no news for so long, we were afraid something really had happened."
Harry continued:
"Besides, if you were still around, how could you stand that old hag Umbridge, who got sacked from the Ministry of Magic because of you, being rehired and sent to Hogwarts as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor and acting headmistress?"
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. So that was it.
No wonder Harry had kept calling her the "pink toad."
"Then who was the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor last term?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Still Professor Moody, but the real Moody."
Harry's voice was full of resentment. "He was supposed to keep teaching us this year, too, but the Ministry of Magic barged in and forced that bloody pink toad on us, stealing Professor Moody's job."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I thought it might have been Snape. Looks like he still hasn't got what he wanted, even after all these years."
Hearing Snape's name made Harry even angrier, his resentment turning to deep