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Chapter 531: The Beetle and Rita Skeeter
Chapter 531: The Beetle and Rita Skeeter
Resistant to frost, rolling around in the snow?
As he listened to Kyle's description, Harry couldn't shake the feeling of vague familiarity, but he couldn't quite place who it was at the moment.
Just as he was about to ask, there was another knock on the door.
This time, it still wasn't Dumbledore who had come to visit.
"Hagrid, how are you doing? The whole castle is talking about you... Oh, I noticed you boiled some water. Could I trouble you for a hot cup of tea?"
Upon seeing the visitor, Harry exclaimed joyfully, "Professor Black! What brings you here?"
"I've told you many times, outside of the castle, just call me Sirius," Sirius said as he stepped into the room. "Of course, I came because of what I read in the newspaper. I wanted to speak with Professor Dumbledore first, but I couldn't find him."
Hagrid's hut was already small, and now with five people inside, it felt even more cramped.
Harry and Ron squeezed to their left, making a little space for Sirius.
However, just ten minutes later, Connor, Cedric, Autumn, and the Weasley brothers appeared at the hut's door.
This time, there was no room left in the small hut, and they could only stand outside.
Connor immediately spotted Kyle inside the hut and waved, "No wonder we couldn't find you. Looks like you got here early."
"No, I just arrived too," Kyle explained. "Before this, Professor Black and I went to Diagon Alley. You were probably still asleep then."
"Diagon Alley?"
"Yeah, we went to Gringotts to pick something up. We'd planned to go during the holidays, and today we finally had the time."
Connor nodded, not prying further. After all, her main purpose in coming was to visit Hagrid.
Seeing this large group gathered at his door, Hagrid began to sob again, but this time, it wasn't out of sadness.
Hagrid had assumed that once people knew his identity, they would avoid him. Never did he expect that so many would come to see him.
"Thank you... Thank you for still daring to come see me," Hagrid said, his voice thick with emotion as two round tears rolled down his cheeks and slowly soaked into his beard.
"Hagrid, what are you talking about?" Fred said with a mischievous grin. "Our Care of Magical Creatures professor is a half-giant. How could anything be cooler than that?"
"Is he a pure-blood giant?" George asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Can't disagree with that," Fred said.
The two brothers high-fived, their movements perfectly synchronized.
"You see, Hagrid," Kyle said, "no one here cares about your identity."
"But Professor Dumbledore..." Hagrid trailed off.
"I believe the Headmaster won't dismiss you either," Kyle reassured him, patting his arm.
The group didn't stay long.
The bitter cold outside was one reason, and the fact that so many people couldn't fit inside the hut was another. Before long, Hagrid insisted that he wanted some time alone, and he gently but firmly ushered them all back to the castle.
Though Harry and the others had wanted to stay, Hagrid was adamant, and he soon had them all out of the hut.
However, just as they were leaving, Kyle spotted a beetle crawling out from the open door.
"Yeah, let's head back," he said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
After stepping out of the hut, Kyle casually moved to Connor's side and said, "It's a good thing the newspaper only mentioned the half-giant matter and didn't uncover that other incident. Otherwise, things would've gotten even more troublesome."
"What incident?" Connor asked, puzzled.
"You forgot?" Kyle glanced around. "It's not safe to talk here. Let's head back to the castle."
Though Connor felt a bit bewildered, she followed Kyle back toward the castle.
It wasn't until they reached the entrance hall that she cautiously asked, "You're not talking about Louie, are you? That was so long ago. Surely no one could find out about him now."
"You're right," Kyle agreed. "No one could possibly discover anything about Louie."
As he spoke, Kyle pulled out a small vial that had been transfigured from a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean and quickly clamped it over his shoulder.
"Clink, clink, clink..."
A faint tinkling sound emanated from within the vial.
"Is that... a beetle?"
"It's a beetle, but not an ordinary one."
Kyle uncorked the vial, then tilted it slightly, causing the beetle to tumble back inside.
"Am I right, Ms. Rita Skeeter?"
"Rita...?" Connor was taken aback. "You mean that beetle is Rita Skeeter?"
"It's just a suspicion for now, but testing it will be simple... Follow me.
The Bowtruckle, expecting a tasty treat, happily opened its mouth to devour the beetle. However, to its surprise, the beetle began to wriggle and grow larger by the second.
Connor immediately recognized this transformation, having witnessed it before—an Animagus reverting to its human form.
In an instant, the empty classroom was occupied by a new presence: a woman with curly hair and horn-rimmed glasses.
The Bowtruckle, startled by this sudden change, let out a frightened cry and scurried back into Kyle's pocket.
Meanwhile...
"Click!"
Kyle had just captured the moment with his camera.
"What a marvelous performance, the famous Rita Skeeter. Who would've thought you were an illegal Animagus?" Kyle looked up and said with a smile, "I believe we can already predict what tomorrow's front-page headline in the Daily Prophet will be."
"Damn it, give it to me!" Rita Skeeter went crazy and lunged for the camera in Kyle's hand.
But the next second, she was sent flying back even faster, crashing into several desks.
"Stealing is wrong, Ms. Skeeter," Kyle said, brandishing his wand.
Before Rita Skeeter could get up, the surrounding tables and chairs had transformed into ropes, binding her tightly from her feet to her neck. She resembled a cocoon, unable to move.
Her wand, too, had been kicked to the side by a table leg.
"Another illegal Animagus," Connor said with disgust. "No wonder you know so many wizards' secrets. After all, who would suspect a harmless beetle?"
"It's fine. She always has to pay for her mistakes," Kyle said with a smile. "Being an illegal Animagus is enough to send her to the company of Dementors."
"Give it to me!" Rita Skeeter shouted again.
She couldn't believe that her usual foolproof method had failed so miserably against a student.
One could only imagine the consequences when the photo documenting her entire Animagus transformation was made public.
Those people... the officials from the Ministry of Magic, if they found out that her Animagus form was a beetle and that she had been using it to eavesdrop on people, she would be finished. They might even decide to quietly get rid of her.
Therefore, regardless of the consequences, she had to get her hands on that camera. But she also knew that she couldn't overpower Kyle, and using force was definitely not an option.
"I know a lot of secrets," Rita Skeeter said in a hoarse voice. "About Fudge and Dolores Umbridge, and Ludo Bagman. I can trade these secrets for the camera."
"Why would I want to know those secrets? Do I look like I'm bored and looking for trouble?" Kyle shrugged. "So, I think I'll just..."
"Then tell me what to do!" Rita Skeeter interrupted, growing anxious. "Tell me how I can make you give me the camera! I can write articles, lots of articles praising you!"
"I think you've misunderstood me," Kyle frowned slightly. "I didn't mean that, and I don't need you to speak well of me in the newspaper. Moreover, we Hogwarts students would never threaten others to do our bidding. That's against school rules."
Connor pressed her lips together and turned her head slightly, knowing that this particular rule didn't exist in the school rules, but it was definitely a violation of wizarding law.
"However..."
Kyle continued, "I'm feeling quite cheerful at the moment, so I've decided to wait until the next issue of the Daily Prophet comes out before deciding whether or not to release the photo.
"If I'm still in a good mood then, I might not release it at all... It's all possible."
"Then I..."
Rita Skeeter wanted to say something more, but Kyle interrupted her.
"It doesn't depend on you. It simply depends on my mood at the time. So, I wish you luck..."
Kyle waved his wand, releasing Rita Skeeter from her bindings, and then left the empty classroom with Connor.
(End of Chapter)
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