Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Sirius' birthday was one of the best that he'd ever had, and even days later he was still as excited as a toddler on a sugar high. Seeing Rose was especially great, as was having a birthday that was memorable in its simplicity. He missed having her around but he didn't want to put his needs ahead of hers.

After realising just how much they'd fucked up with Rose in her future he'd made sure to always put her first. If she wanted to stay at Hogwarts he would support her, and if she decided to drop out and move halfway across the world he'd go and buy her a house to live in. He was determined to care for her as much as he possibly could, and even more so after she went to so much trouble for his birthday.

A few days after his birthday he opened the newspaper to see what he thought of as a belated birthday gift, morbid as it was.

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LESTRANGE TRIO FOUND DEAD IN AZKABAN

JUSTICE FOR THEIR CRIMES?

As of yesterday evening it has been confirmed that the Lestranges, imprisoned during the war, have been found dead in their cells at Azkaban prison.

Rodolphus Lestrange, his brother Rabastan Lestrange, and his wife Bellatrix Black Lestrange were known Death Eaters who were arrested and convicted after the war for their torture of Lord Frank Longbottom and his wife Lady Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse.

Prolonged use of the Unforgivable resulted in their incapacitation, and the two now reside in the long-term Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

The three prisoners were checked by guards when it became apparent that their usual behaviour had changed.

"She stopped screaming for some reason," said one of the guards, "wondered what the hell she was playing at."

As it turns out, none of them were playing at anything.

After examining the bodies of the deceased prisoners, Ministry officials have proclaimed the cause of death to be inconclusive, though some have speculated that their magical cores suffered a sudden block.

"It's as if they were suddenly cut off from a source of magic or something. Prisoners can't use magic externally, but their core helps keep them alive. They seemed to have been suddenly unable to access their internal magic, which combined with the atmosphere here caused them to die suddenly."

One can only wonder, as this reporter does, exactly how these people died. Was it an inexplicable yet natural occurrence that killed them? Or did someone figure out how to rid our community of criminals such as these and decide to enact justice? Did they do this for their victims?

Nobody can say for certain, but I think we can all agree that the mystery will remain for quite some time.

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Sirius Black sat and stared blankly at the picture of his cousin in the centre of the article, screaming in madness at the camera. While he couldn't say he was sorry in any way, shape or form that the crazy bitch was dead, he was confused as to how they died all of a sudden after ten years in that hellhole. He remembered Bella from Azkaban, always screaming how her 'Lord' was going to save her, and how they'd rid the world of filth together. He'd thought it was hilarious when Rose told him that the 'Lord' the pure-bloods followed so reverently was actually a half-blood with a muggle father.

He picked up his coffee mug and went to take a sip before he froze in realisation. Oh. It was me. I killed them. He put down his cup as he thought carefully over his recent actions. He'd dissolved the marriage between Bellatrix and Rodolphus and cast her out the family just over a week ago.

That was it. Bellatrix, no longer a Black, had died when she lost her connection to the immense strength of the Black Family magic, which was why she'd lasted as long as she had. Her husband and his brother had likewise been relying on the Black magic. The marriage between the House of Black and the House of Lestrange had given them a weaker, but no less useful link to the Black Family magic. The Black family was a lot older and stronger than the Lestrange family, so even a weak link had helped to keep them alive until that link had been broken through the dissolved marriage.

Rubbing a hand over his face he thought about how their supposedly 'superior' family had fallen apart over time. Bella had been mad from the start, Andi'd eloped, and Cissa got stuck in a marriage with an idiot (because he knew damn well that Cissa hadn't gone into that marriage willingly, and she probably only agreed because things could've gone so much worse). Regulus made some bad decisions before practically killing himself, and he'd run away.

The generation before hadn't been much better with his mother and father being cousins, and his favourite uncle Alphard, the playboy that he'd been, finally being disinherited after helping him run away. His other half-decent relatives had had the good idea to marry into other families quickly and get away, like Dorea and his aunt Lucretia.

He knew that he should probably feel guilty that he'd all but murdered his cousin but all he felt was a profound sense of relief. Bellatrix was insane, but the worse part about it was that she was a Black. Women in the Black family were smart and so was she. Smart and insane do not go hand in hand, and she was dangerous to anyone that she thought was in her way. Now she'd never be a danger to anyone ever again.

He hoped at the very least that the Longbottoms would find some semblance of vindication in all of this.

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The youngest Longbottom didn't know how to feel as he read the article at the Hufflepuff table. On the one hand, the monsters that had hurt his family couldn't hurt anyone else any more, but on the other, his parents were still stuck in the hospital, unable to recognise him at all. His hands were shaking and he could almost feel the pitying gazes from all around the hall. Even the other 'puffs looked awkward, as if they didn't know how to treat him or act around him. He realised this must have been how Rose had felt on Halloween.

"Hey, Nev. Have you finished the Transfiguration essay? Kind of long, wasn't it?"

He turned to his left to see Rose sat at the table next to him, casually stealing a muffin and nibbling on it as she looked at him. She's doing what I did for her. On the anniversary of her parents' murder he'd treated her like he did normally, and now she was doing the same for him in return.

Smiling at her weakly he answered. "Yeah, it was long. I finished it, but I might have messed up the part about the practical uses."

Watching the two first-year students discussing their work wasn't all that interesting and the others eventually stopped looking at him and went back to their own conversations.

Rose was glad that he was cheering up, though the boy still looked very conflicted. "It's okay to have feelings that contradict each other, you know. When I found out that Pettigrew was Kissed I was happy because he'd been punished, but I was angry because my parents were still dead. I think it's normal that you wouldn't know what to feel right now, and I know I'm not an expert or anything, but I think as long as you feel something at all then it's okay." She spoke lowly so no one would overhear.

The boy blinked back tears before gracing Rose with a heart-breaking smile. "Thanks Rose, that helped. Really."

Neville Longbottom wasn't seen for the rest of the day, but the next day he was at breakfast all the same with a smile on his face as he laughed with his friends.

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Rita Skeeter was a bitch, plain and simple. She lived to cause trouble and Rose would love nothing more than to get her arrested and out of her life for good. Unfortunately the woman was more useful writing for the paper; she was a genius at digging up things and ruining someone in just a few words. Rose would usually be warier of her own reputation being dragged through the mud, but as someone who now owned 16% of the Daily Prophet, with Sirius owning a whole 27%, the two of them were safe.

Together they were the majority shareholders – the paper had been subtly informed that both shares counted as one – and the staff were now acutely aware of the ramifications of slandering them in their articles. They'd gotten a notice that all of their stories must contain the truth with verified sources that they could produce if asked instead of wild speculation. Miss Skeeter had been rather annoyed until an anonymous note pointed her towards the graves at Godric's Hollow and the home of Bathilda Bagshot.

Rose wasn't forcing her to uncover Dumbledore's many secrets, but if she did, oh well. It would also hopefully be a long-term project to keep her busy until Rose could use her for her own benefit. In the meantime Rose had decided to entice Skeeter into making the first step towards Dumbledore's downfall for her. She didn't care how many people thought that the sun shined out of his every orifice, the old bastard needed to go and fast. Despite what she usually said about him and how she was aggravated by his actions, she had never thought that he was evil, just extremely misguided. Holding three full-time positions by himself at his age was ridiculous, and she'd be more surprised if things didn't fall through the cracks. He simply didn't have enough time to devote to his work and ended up making mistakes.

This was the crux of the issue that she had with him. He made mistakes just like any other person, but his mistakes tended to be big and have very dire consequences for those involved. One need only look at how he'd handled Tom Riddle when he was younger for proof. It didn't take a genius to realise that all Tom had wanted as a child was affection and trust, yet instead of helping him Dumbledore had treated the child as a potential enemy.

He was old, and yes he'd accomplished a lot, she wouldn't deny that, but he tended to present things in a skewed manner to make himself look better; case in point, his relationship with Grindelwald. All for 'the greater good'. That phrase made her want to puke. He never listened to anyone else, thinking he knew best just because he was older.

His actions at the school were awful too. From an adult's perspective, the fact that he apparently hadn't realised a teacher was possessed and allowed a troll to get in to the school was horrifying. He was supposed to be in control of an extensive set of wards to protect each and every individual in the castle, but when Rose considered how many times she'd nearly died here over the years, she could only conclude that the man was negligent at best.

She watched as a flurry of owls descended on the Great Hall with the morning mail, waiting for her daily mail. She always got the newspaper at least and letters from home every few days.

Her beautiful owl swooped down to her gracefully before offering a letter from Amelia and the paper. An outbreak of whispering caught her attention as did a clang from the head table where someone dropped something. She had an idea what was happening and set aside a plate with lots of bacon for Hedwig before opening the paper.

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HOGWARTS: DOES IT CARE ABOUT ITS STUDENTS?

DOES SCHOOL MEAN EDUCATION?

I do not believe I am alone in saying that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a magical place for us all, and I'm not talking about the spells!

As children we're taught that this fantastical castle will be our home, that our House will be our family, and that they will help us and nurture us so we can go out into the world ourselves.

But is this really true? Does Hogwarts care about its students?

This reporter is devastated to admit that this may no longer be the case. I was shocked to find that our beloved school, supposedly one of the world's leading magical academies, is actually one of the worst.

Our students' scores are some of the lowest average grades, with some other schools even offering more classes and more opportunities for its students!

I am saddened by this fact, and I think I can speak for many when I say I am furious that our hard-working and diligent students are being lied to. These children are our future, and being denied the right to be the best they can be is a travesty!

This reporter was shocked to find that the lower teaching standards of Hogwarts may also be responsible for slowly destroying the workforce in Britain. In the past decade the number of adequate Healers, Aurors and Potioneers, amongst others, has been in steady decline.

When asked about their opinion, a former student had this to say: "Potions is really hard at school, especially as the teacher is too strict. He even takes points for breathing! Not to mention if you want a NEWT in Potions you need an O in the OWLs, no exceptions."

This begs the question as to why Potions is carrying on in the same manner despite such results. If such an environment is being perpetuated in our classrooms, then it is no wonder there aren't enough people for these jobs!

It is heart-breaking that such a high standard is slowly destroying the dreams of our youth, and I cannot help but wonder what we can do to change this.

However, it seems even worse is the History of Magic course, where barely two students a year – two! – pass with a NEWT grade in this intriguing subject. I'm sure many readers are familiar with the ghostly visage of Professor Cuthbert Binns and remember his classes intimately, but as adults we must ask ourselves – is this acceptable?

Is it right for our children, the younger generation of our society, to be subject to a sub-standard education because we do not act? No, it is not!

I implore my faithful readers to think about what our future means to you, and what we can do to help our children become what they deserve.

Rita Skeeter

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Rose looked at the paper in front of her with wide eyes, taking in the controversial but completely honest words of her least favourite journalist. The hall was alive with a cacophony of loud and questioning voices, but the only thing running through the last Potter's mind was the ramifications of Skeeter's poisonous words.

"Holy shit."

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I loved that article. Rita maybe a bitch but she knows how to do her work. I mean damn.

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