https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-385-Rita-Skeeter-s-Escape-Part-2/12956269/
Chapter 384: Rita Skeeter's Escape
Chapter 384: Rita Skeeter's Escape
As Rita Skeeter found herself in this predicament, she couldn't help but wonder how many times she had regretted her choices. Yet, deep down, she knew that when faced with a crossroads of fate, making such a decision was inevitable.
There was no other way; curiosity not only kills cats but also journalists who love gossip.
Initially, it all started when Wade Grey entrusted Rita Skeeter with the task of tracking a group of suspicious werewolves.
On that ship, Rita Skeeter inadvertently discovered that some Ministry officials were also using this slow Muggle mode of transportation, a slow Muggle vessel, hoping to catch some juicy information.
The juicy information turned out to be explosive.
A Ministry of Magic official named Umbridge, with her peculiar appearance and behavior, opened Rita's eyes to a whole new world.
Rita, with her extensive knowledge, was amazed by Umbridge's eccentricity.
"I believe Muggles are not worthy of survival—of course, they already exist in this world, and occasionally, they can be of some use. After all, someone has to do the work."
"So, we can be a little more lenient towards them—allowing those with dirty bloodlines to live."
"I think if wizards could rule Muggles, we should eliminate the disobedient ones and domesticate the rest like livestock."
"They shouldn't be educated, nor should they have the power to wield weapons. Muggles just need to learn to work."
"As for the Mudbloods born from Muggles, they shouldn't be allowed to hold wands; it's too dangerous for wizards."
"I also hope the Ministry will implement new policies to strengthen the management of non-human creatures."
"For example, expanding the werewolf capture team and restarting the vampire purge—these are all necessary."
"Giants, Veela, fairies, centaurs, and mermaids should all be strictly managed by wizards... They must prove their worth."
"Of course... I think it's better to kill all the giants. The existence of such creatures is to prove to us that the Creator isn't perfect..."
The other Ministry officials sitting nearby were of lower rank than Umbridge, and they openly supported pure-blood ideology, wishing for wizards to have greater power. Therefore, Umbridge spoke without restraint.
She genuinely believed there was nothing wrong with her statements. Umbridge, from the bottom of her heart, considered her views to be correct and just, even if others didn't understand. She felt like a lone voice of reason.
It was precisely because of this self-assurance that Umbridge, whom many considered terrifyingly evil, could even cast a Patronus Charm, further reinforcing her confidence.
She didn't notice that even the wizards she considered her "peers" showed discomfort on their faces when they heard Umbridge's cold-blooded and cruel measures.
She also didn't realize that at that moment, in the corner of the room, on the curtain rod hanging by the window, there was a tiny beetle.
Rita Skeeter recorded all of Umbridge's statements—she had a pile of such dirt, waiting for the right moment when Umbridge lost her power to reveal a big scoop.
How does one become a successful gossip journalist? It's all about the accumulation of small details over time.
For the rest of the time, Rita almost forgot about Wade's request, focusing solely on collecting Umbridge's dirt. The more she tracked, the more she felt she had stumbled upon a treasure trove.
However, Umbridge's position as the Deputy Minister of Magic made Rita Skeeter cautious, forcing her to suppress this information like the others.
But when she returned to Britain, she suddenly realized that Umbridge's position wasn't as stable as she had thought—
Minister Fudge intentionally found two opportunities to take away Umbridge's important work and assign it to others, instead giving her the task of inspecting the quality of cauldrons.
This was essentially the work of interns.
Rita Skeeter confirmed that Umbridge had been abandoned by the center of power and immediately prepared to reveal the dirt she had gathered. However, considering that the position of Deputy Minister hadn't been truly abolished, Rita decided to test the waters with a scandalous story first.
This time, however, Rita Skeeter, known for her habit of exaggeration, kicked a metal plate far beyond her imagination.
Umbridge behaved like a loyal dog in front of the Minister of Magic, eager to show her devotion, but within the Ministry, she held considerable power and controlled many lower-level staff.
Soon, Rita Skeeter faced retaliation and had to flee Britain in a hurry.
Fortunately, Rita's Animagus form had never been exposed, and Voldemort's "borrowed" Invisibility Cloak made her escape relatively smooth.
Rita used a public owl at the post office, sending an empty letter abroad, and then transformed into a beetle, clinging to the owl's back. Thus, she flew out of the British Isles with the owl.
She was supposed to arrive in open-minded Denmark, but unexpectedly, a Muggle ship knocked her down while flying over the sea.
Rita crashed onto the deck with the owl, and the poor owl died instantly. However, the beetle flapped its wings just before landing and settled safely in a pile of hemp ropes on the deck.
At that moment, Rita thought it was just an unfortunate accident.
—Although I've never heard of Muggles eating owls, maybe these guys have special preferences?
Muggles are so barbaric and rude.
Rita thought disdainfully, then considered how she would continue her journey.
It wasn't that she couldn't Apparate; it was just that Rita's skill in Apparition wasn't sufficient to support her across the vast sea, and she didn't want the tragedy of dismemberment to happen to herself.
Soon after, she heard the conversation between the two Muggles—
"How could there be an owl on the high seas?"
"Owls are wizards' messengers, and almost all wizards use owls to send letters—those poor guys, they're so far behind the times."
Rita's heart skipped a beat.
Do these Muggles know about the wizarding world? Did they intentionally shoot down the owl?
Then, she heard heavy footsteps approaching and quickly squeezed her tiny body further into the gap between the hemp ropes, peeking out.
A man with tanned skin picked up the dead owl and removed the letter.
"What's written on it?" asked a curious young fisherman.
"Strange..." the older man muttered, "It's a blank piece of paper."
He examined the paper, turning it over and over, and even rubbed it, as if suspecting some hidden mechanism.
Then, he folded the blank paper and said, "Maybe it's written with invisible ink, and this address needs to be investigated as well."
"Could there be wizards living there?"
The young fisherman licked his lips and asked eagerly.
"Perhaps." The older man replied, "Or maybe not."
"Lev, have you ever seen a wizard?"
"No, but I've heard that not only can wizards make themselves invisible, but their houses are also invisible. How about it? Don't you want to become a wizard too?"
"Who wouldn't?" The young fisherman replied frankly, "If I could become invisible, I'd go steal from the bank's vault and never worry about money again."
The older man burst into laughter, "Don't envy them, maybe one day we'll have magic too!"
The raspy laughter seemed to echo in her ears, making Rita shiver.
Perhaps it was the Ministry of Magic's persistent vigilance and adherence to the Secrecy Act that had deeply influenced the Muggle world, even someone as self-serving as Rita Skeeter instinctively thought—The Secrecy Act must not be violated.
Hearing these two Muggles casually discussing the wizarding world in a mocking, familiar tone made Rita feel extremely uneasy.
The beetle's antennae quivered, and her sixth sense screamed at her to leave immediately.
But...
She didn't know how far she was from land and dared not Apparate randomly. Coupled with her confidence in her survival skills, Rita ultimately decided to stay put.
—I'll leave when the ship docks! she thought to herself.
—Just find any bush or forest to hide in, it's easy for a tiny beetle to find a place to hide, who could possibly find me?
Moreover, after transforming into a beetle, as long as she could control her craving for normal food, a few crumbs of bread or vegetable leaves would be enough for her to survive.
A few drops of dew on a leaf could satisfy a small beetle's needs.
The fishing boat sailed for several days on the sea, and Rita endured, not once transforming back into human form.
During this time, she crawled around the ship, hiding and eavesdropping, and finally managed to piece together the identities of a few people.
They belonged to a Muggle organization called "The Organization," and everyone on board was aware of the existence of the wizarding world. They believed that wizards had always been demons who spread plagues, created chaos, started wars, and tormented Muggles.
They despised the existence of wizards and envied their powers.
Rita repeatedly heard them enthusiastically discussing how they would capture wizards and send them to research labs to "slice" them, transplanting their magical abilities into members of the organization.
Although they didn’t know how to transplant it—seeming as if magic power was stored in some bodily organ—everyone firmly believed that the research lab would eventually figure it out.
Even if they hadn’t succeeded yet, it was only because the "research samples" were insufficient. They would definitely succeed in the future!
Just the thought of the "happy life" they could lead with magic was enough to keep them discussing enthusiastically for hours, making their voyage across the vast sea seem less tedious.
Only a beetle cowered in the crevice of a wall, trembling with fear.
Compared to these Muggles, Voldemort seemed almost kind.
A few days later, the fishing boat docked.
The beetle couldn’t wait to fly off the boat and hide in the shrubs by the shore.
Rita Skeeter glanced back at the fishing boat and the few people waiting on the dock, secretly noting this place. She flew away, clinging to the grass, the joy of freedom and safety resonating in her heart.
After flying a considerable distance, Rita Skeeter transformed back into her human form, intending to find someone to ask where she was and then decide whether to Apparate or find a Muggle mode of transportation.
“I need to have a good meal… I’ll order foie gras with red wine and French escargot, paired with lobster and oysters, and a steak, and a stew…”
Rita Skeeter muttered to herself, feeling that her starving stomach needed to be comforted.
She ran her fingers, painted with red nail polish, through her somewhat unruly golden curls, feeling a bit annoyed—finding a satisfactory hair salon was no easy task.
Rita Skeeter tried hard not to think about the dangerous things.
“I’m just a journalist,” she told herself. “It’s better to leave this kind of trouble to Wade Grey—after all, he wants to investigate the masterminds behind the werewolves.”
“But these guys are Muggles… Forget it, who says werewolves and Muggles can’t be in cahoots? My investigation results are what they are!”
“Wade Grey and Dumbledore, who’s behind him, are just busybodies. Even if they discover I lied, they can’t do anything to me…”
Rita mumbled to herself as she followed a small path, looking for signs of habitation.
But this place was unusually desolate. Not only were there no people, but even insects were scarce.
From a great height, this wasn’t the continent Rita Skeeter had assumed, nor was it a Muggle country. It was merely a larger, sparsely populated island.
In the center of the island, there was a large cluster of buildings.
But the beetle hadn’t flown high or far enough for Rita to get a bird’s-eye view of the entire island. She was still searching in the jungle.
On a nearby tall palm tree, a hidden camera turned halfway, its lens always focused on Rita Skeeter’s figure.
Soon, a sharp alarm sounded somewhere, accompanied by a man’s furious roar:
“What is this? Who can tell me how this foolish woman managed to get in?!”
…
“Buzz——”
A few seconds later, a shrill buzzing sound echoed across the entire island, the sound waves spreading from the center to all directions.
Along with the sound waves, countless electrical coils hidden around the island rotated rapidly, forming a powerful and invisible electromagnetic field.
The sparse birds took flight in fright, jungle beasts began to run wild, some even crashing into trees. Even the insects hiding in the grass fled in panic.
In the nearby sea, schools of fish quickly swam into the deep ocean. Circular pipes buried in the rock walls injected streams of scalding hot water into the cold seawater, leaving no common marine life in the vicinity.
Rita Skeeter, unaware and walking through the jungle, suddenly felt an intense pain, as if her entire body was being pricked by needles and gnawed by ants. She screamed and fell to the ground, rolling around in agony.
“Ah——”
Her shrill screams echoed through the jungle.
The hellish feeling lasted only a minute, but to Rita, it felt like a year.
When she regained her senses, Rita Skeeter immediately endured the pain that seemed to tear her apart, struggled to her feet, and attempted to Apparate.
—She didn’t even care about her body splitting; even if Umbridge’s people found her, she felt it was acceptable.
Compared to this pain, what was Azkaban?
“Thud!”
She spun in place twice and fell over.
The normally obedient and loyal magic betrayed her will.
(End of Chapter)
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