“He miscalculated horribly”, Andromeda smiled at her niece and her husband. “That interview was the stupidest thing he could have possibly done. He forgot he’s no longer in school, and it’s no longer the dark years where the Death Eaters would amplify such nonsense and it would find fertile ground. Half the community saw Harry challenging Voldemort, making him look like a fool and killing him in a duel while Voldemort held the Elder Wand. It’s too early for proper backlash, but I talked to some people and they are furious”, she grinned. “His parents evicted him from their home last night”.
“What?” Harry and Lyra were both shocked. “I thought they would die first and he’d starve in that armchair waiting for mommy to bring lunch”, Hermione joked.
“Well, he obviously forgot that they know things. The actual truth, not rumours they heard somewhere about Harry. Things like Harry saving Arthur’s life, or saving Ron’s life, or training their children to near-Auror level of combat proficiency which made all but Fred survive the most deadly battle in living memory. Not to mention slandering the woman who is publicly accepted as the patron saint of motherhood and who inspired the laws that protect women in general and mothers in particular, and publicly praised his parents before the Wizengamot, while berating her own parents for exposing their only child to mortal peril. Also, Ginny was absolutely furious and made it clear that she can’t wait to move out of the house because she can’t stand him. In the end, it got so heated that Molly and Arthur drew out their wands at him and gave him fifteen minutes to pack and get out. I heard it all from Molly. She’s mortified at his ingratitude and the degree to which he was ready to outright lie and counterfeit history in order to slander his former friends”.
“I expect he’s trying to find a place to live now”, Lyra mused.
“He will find that a harder nut to crack than he expects, since all his school friends owe their lives to Harry, and their mothers all but have house altars dedicated to Lyra”, Andromeda snickered maliciously. “For the first time in his life he will have to own up to his nonsense or learn how to live on his own without either money or a support structure”.
“Idiot”, Viktor mumbled, bringing coffee from the kitchen. “Every single bit of his troubles is self-inflicted”.
“His parents agree”, Andromeda nodded. “He managed to screw up his engagement with Hermione, his friendship with Harry, and instead of getting his life in order he stayed at home, turning into a dark ghoul, annoyed his sister to the point of threatening to leave, and horribly offended his parents with that slanderous interview. They are absolutely mortified and kept calling people to apologise, which is how I heard the story”.
“You know, I thought about him last night – could this have been me? If I didn’t own up to my mistakes and worked to make things better, could I have ended up a miserable, bitter person feeling sorry for myself and blaming everybody else? I mean, my father set me up for failure. He filled my head with the things I repeated and instantly made enemies of all the best people, and then I was surprised when that happened, not understanding what was even wrong with it”, Lyra mused.
“No”, Hermione was adamant. “You were nothing like that. It is true that your father set you up for failure while Ron’s parents set him up for success. He behaved in ways that instantly made him friends with Harry and me. He was insecure, but he was loyal, brave and all that. He had correct political attitudes that he picked up at home. It was no virtue of his own, and your bad mouth was no fault of your own, and yet he reaped the benefits while you suffered the consequences. That part is true. However, you overcame your handicap with courage, dignity, virtue and brains, while he managed to waste all his advantages by slacking, cutting corners, lack of motivation and being an idiot. You went from me having the first impression of you being a spoiled brat and a stupid cow, to me worshipping the ground you walk on. He managed to go from me having a crush on him for years and almost marrying him, to me being so done with him that I never want to see him again or hearing his name”, she smiled, and embraced Lyra who was trying very hard to stop the tears from flowing, with little success.