Harry entered the Common Room with Neville and found it unusually crowded.
Apart from the first-year newcomers, everyone seemed to be there.
"Harry." Dean Thomas was the first to spot Harry. He immediately stood up and waved him over repeatedly.
"What's going on?" Looking puzzled, Harry walked over with Neville.
"Harry, there's something we want to tell you," Seamus Finnigan said before Dean could speak.
"What?" Harry was bewildered. Almost everyone was looking at him now. Although Harry often attracted stares wherever he went, being watched by this many people had been relatively rare since his second year.
Of course, far more people must have watched him during last year's Triwizard Tournament. But he had been focused on the competition then and hadn't seen them.
Now, with dozens of people watching him, Harry actually felt a little nervous.
"My mum wasn't going to let me come to Hogwarts," Seamus said, looking indignant. "I can't believe she actually believed that rubbish in the Daily Prophet. It actually said you were a liar who never told the truth and was always trying to get attention. It even called Dumbledore a senile old fool!"
"Yes, I saw that paper too." Harry nodded. Seamus's attitude made it clear that he didn't believe that view. Judging by the expressions of the Gryffindor students around them, everyone else probably felt much the same.
"I argued with my mum all holiday." Seamus looked very pleased with himself as he said this. "Harry might be a bully with a vicious tongue, and he certainly does like showing off, and, well, he often fools his classmates too. But Harry would never lie about something this important."
"Exactly!" The young Gryffindors around him nodded in agreement.
Harry: ???
*Wait, Finnigan, I really appreciate you wanting to support me, but you