Chapter 471: The Dedicated Rita Skeeter
Chapter 471: The Dedicated Rita Skeeter
As the group returned to White Weasel Peak, the bustling sounds around them faded away, leaving only the crisp chirping of insects.
Cedric had to go to the other side of the village, so he parted ways with them after descending the peak, while the others continued on their way.
Bathed in the chilly moonlight, they strolled through the village of St. Kachel, chatting as they made their way along the damp path towards the shack.
"You said you saw Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry asked, looking at Kyle in surprise.
"Just a glance, I'm not even sure it was him," Kyle replied. "But the guy did have strikingly white and shiny teeth, and golden hair, just like Lockhart's."
"You must have seen wrong," Ron said. "Lockhart's still at St. Mungo's; how could he possibly be here watching the Quidditch World Cup?"
"No," Mr. Weasley said suddenly, from the front of the group. "If I recall correctly, he recovered about a week ago... right around the time Fudge visited St. Mungo's."
"And after he returned, the ministry received a substantial sum of money."
"Donated by Lockhart?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a donation," Mr. Weasley said. "I overheard someone mentioning it in passing, but apparently, Lockhart recognized his wrongdoing and decided to compensate for it by offering all his Gringotts assets to those whose experiences he had stolen and help them restore their memories.
"On top of that, he transferred all the sales rights and proceeds from his books to the Ministry, to aid witches and wizards with memory damage who require treatment.
The two people who shared a ward with him were the first to benefit from this."
"All his assets... plus all the proceeds from his books?" Ron exclaimed. "His books are anything but cheap; that must amount to a fortune! I can't believe Lockhart would be that generous."
"I'm not entirely sure of the details," Mr. Weasley admitted. "But that's how it should be. His books are back on the market, though, with the names changed to those who actually accomplished those feats."
"So, Lockhart's off the hook now?" Harry asked.
"Of course," Ron scoffed. "Think about it, last year when he was a professor, everyone at Hogwarts bought seven of his books—that's tens of thousands of Galleons right there. Add that to whatever he had saved up... those Galleons could pile up into a mountain.
I doubt anyone could resist forgiving him when faced with that much gold..."
"That's not right!" Hermione frowned. "He should be punished for what he did."
"No, I think this is the harshest punishment he could get," Ron argued.
The thought of losing tens of thousands of Galleons made Ron's heart ache. In his opinion, there could be no worse punishment.
Mr. Weasley remained silent. Initially, he had shared Hermione's sentiment, but the thought of the Longbottoms benefiting from this changed his mind.
It was quite a coincidence that Lockhart had been placed in the same ward as the Longbottoms, making them the first recipients of Lockhart's compensation.
Kyle nodded in agreement. Lockhart probably didn't want to spend eternity in St. Mungo's or end up in Azkaban, so he opted to buy his way out of trouble.
However, the fact that he was able to attend the Quidditch World Cup suggested that the former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had kept some gold for himself.
His books were incredibly popular, so as long as the initial donation was impressive enough to satisfy everyone, no one would care if he had tucked away a small fortune for himself.
As they chatted, they soon left St. Kachel village behind, and turning a bend at the end of the path, they found themselves facing the shack once more.
Mrs. Weasley, who had clearly been waiting for them, came running out in her slippers. Her face was white, and she looked terrified. She was clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand.
"Arthur, I've been so worried! I'm just glad you're all safe..."
She hugged Mr. Weasley, and the newspaper slid from her hand to the ground.
Kyle picked it up casually.
Terror at the Quidditch World Cup
The headline was eye-catching, accompanied by a large photograph depicting a panicked crowd and a trashed campsite.
"So soon?" Kyle exclaimed in disbelief. "The event just ended. How did they report on it so quickly?"
"An owl delivered it about half an hour ago," Mrs. Weasley said. "I was wondering why they would send a paper at this time... I never expected such a major incident. Merlin... the Dark Mark..."
Kyle unfolded the newspaper.
Several curious heads gathered behind him, as everyone wanted to read the article.
This edition was noticeably thinner than usual, apparently rushed into print to capitalize on the sensational news, and all the content was related to the Quidditch World Cup.
"Ministry in chaos... Lax security... Dark wizards running rampant... Gross negligence... Disgrace..."
Ginny read aloud from the article, her voice indignant. "Does the writer not see that even those on vacation, like Dad, were at the forefront of the response?"
"She wouldn't have seen that... and even if she did, she wouldn't have written about it." Charlie pointed to a name on the paper. "Look who it is—Rita Skeeter. Almost everything she writes is fabricated."
"This woman is always stirring up trouble for the Ministry," Percy said angrily. "And she must know that most Ministry staff are at the Quidditch World Cup campsite, so she rushed to publish this."
Harry looked up at the name—Rita Skeeter.
He remembered that this was the same woman who had written about his wild flight to school last year.
"Never mind that now," Mrs. Weasley said, ushering them toward the house. "I'm just glad you're all safe."
In the small, crowded kitchen, she made hot cocoa for everyone, though Mr. Weasley insisted on a glass of aged Firewhisky instead.
About ten minutes later, Mrs. Weasley brought in a large plate of sandwiches, the quickest meal she could prepare.
However, no one was in the mood to eat much.
After enduring such a long night, facing both a dragon and a riot, everyone's nerves were still on edge. Now that they had finally returned to the familiar and secure surroundings of the Burrow, a sense of lethargy set in, and all they wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep.
Seeming to understand, Mrs. Weasley asked no questions. After they had all eaten, she sent them upstairs, leaving only Mr. Weasley behind.
Kyle returned to his own home.
The lights were on in the house, but no one was there.
There was a plate on the table with some freshly fried eggs and toast, along with a copy of the Daily Prophet, identical to the one he had seen earlier.
Chris and Diana must have also received the news and rushed back to the Ministry.
One could imagine that the Ministry would be very busy in the coming days due to Rita Skeeter's report.
However, what Kyle couldn't understand was why Chris and Diana, who worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the Department of Mysteries respectively, would rush back to the Ministry because of the riot.
Surely the riot didn't involve creatures like veelas and goblins?
...
(End of Chapter)
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