Chapter 731: Self-awareness
Chapter 731: Self-awareness
"Good morning, Bozo."
Rita Skeeter, clutching her crocodile-skin handbag, stepped into the headquarters of the Prophet Daily and greeted the short man sitting at a desk, sipping his coffee.
"Any news today?"
"We've received a tip that Dementors entered Hogwarts without the Ministry of Magic's permission, and Dumbledore is said to be furious about it." Bozo pulled a piece of parchment from the stack of documents beside him and read aloud, "However, the Ministry has temporarily blocked the information, and the specifics are unknown."
"Anything else?"
Rita Skeeter took the coffee handed to her by her colleague and asked, "Thanks. Now, what else is worth digging into?"
"There's more news about Sirius Black. He was spotted in the outskirts of London, but by the time Ministry officials arrived, he had already escaped." Bozo continued, "Regarding the Hogwarts Thestral incident, Mr. Lucius Malfoy intends to file a formal complaint and have the matter handled by the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. We can pay Mr. Malfoy a visit for an interview."
"What about Albert Anderson?" Rita Skeeter asked after finishing her coffee. "Isn't Wisengamot considering bestowing upon him the title of 'Wisengamot Representative of British Youth'?"
Rita Skeeter believed that Albert Anderson, having won two international awards, was more than qualified for such recognition. If he wasn't, then who else would be?
"It seems so." Bozo's eyes fell on the parchment, and he said softly, "But quite a few people don't want this information to get out."
"Here's yours."
As he spoke, Bozo pulled an envelope from his drawer and silently handed it to Rita Skeeter.
"It's been a while since I've received one of these, and the amount is more than I imagined." Rita Skeeter stuffed the envelope into her crocodile-skin handbag and asked curiously, "Any particular reason?"
"That genius seems to be a Muggle-born wizard," Bozo whispered, afraid of being overheard.
"Damn."
Rita Skeeter's expression suggested she thought he was joking.
"Are you sure about that kid's identity?"
"Why would I lie?" Bozo asked, confused.
Rita Skeeter's intuition told her that Albert Anderson was definitely hiding something and was certainly not a mere Muggle-born wizard.
A wizard of Muggle birth could never have achieved such heights. Yet, she dared not dig deeper into his identity, sensing that doing so might bring about her demise.
He was a formidable character, the kind one should avoid provoking.
Just look at the unfortunate Bernard, the former guild leader. His life had taken a turn for the worse ever since his cheating was exposed. The Outstanding Potioneer Association's doubts about him could no longer be contained.
"He's quite generous," Bozo reminded her kindly. "Let's not discuss this further."
"I know the rules. Please continue."
Rita Skeeter had no intention of getting entangled in what was likely a conflict between two factions. Being dragged into such a mess would bring nothing but trouble.
"The Irish team has just been interviewed. They've switched to the newly released Firebolt brooms and are favorites to win the Quidditch World Cup next year."
"The Thunderbolt Broom Company has launched a new model that allegedly rivals the Firebolt series, but they've encountered some problems during testing and don't yet have a suitable finished product."
"Anything else?"
"You've also received several letters with no return addresses, right?" Bozo asked with a smile. "Which story will you pursue first?"
"We can pay a visit to Mr. Lucius Malfoy." Rita Skeeter replied without hesitation. "I'm sure he'll be delighted to welcome us."
After saying this, Rita Skeeter returned to her desk and wrote a letter to Lucius Malfoy, scheduling an interview for the afternoon.
Her eyes scanned the letters on her desk, and she picked out the ones without return addresses.
Indeed, even if there was a sender's address, Rita Skeeter would still be extremely cautious when opening the letter.
It couldn't be helped.
Rita often received ill-intentioned letters, most of which contained dark curses or malicious envelopes. The best course of action was to burn them immediately.
However, one particular letter caught Rita Skeeter's attention. On the envelope was written: 'Dementor Riot, Savior Almost Falls to His Death, Photos Included.' Well then!
Upon reading this letter, coupled with the news she had just heard, Rita Skeeter guessed who the sender might be. She took out her Veritascope and examined the letter to ensure there were no curses on it before donning her dragon-hide gloves and carefully opening the envelope with her letter opener. She then pulled out the letter and the accompanying photographs.
The content on the letter was brief, simply introducing the cause, process, and result of the incident. But this information was more than enough for Rita Skeeter, especially with the inclusion of several photographs—irrefutable evidence.
As for the Ministry of Magic's reputation? Who cared?
At the very least, Rita Skeeter didn't. This wasn't the first time she had done something like this, and people had the right to know what had happened.
Moreover, Rita Skeeter couldn't refuse such a big scoop.
What a dangerous guy! Rita Skeeter couldn't help but marvel inwardly as she began to write about the incident, casually questioning the authority of the Ministry of Magic along the way.
This was all second nature to Rita Skeeter—one-quarter of the content was true, and the remaining three-quarters were pure fabrication.
It took her just an hour to complete the initial draft.
"Bozo, please take these two photos and the manuscript to the chief editor. I think this bombshell is more suitable as the headline news for today. We need to get this done before the Ministry of Magic catches on and prevents the Prophet Daily from publishing the report."
"Where did you get this information?"
Bozo was shocked by the content of the report, even though he knew that most of what Rita Skeeter wrote was false. But with the inclusion of two photographs, it was very convincing.
Although the photos were a bit blurry, it was clear that they were taken at Hogwarts School.
"I don't know either, but the person who sent me the letter obviously had no reason to lie, especially since they even provided photos." Rita Skeeter didn't think Albert would deliberately play a prank on her.
"This time, Fudge is going to be in big trouble," Bozo muttered.
"No, he won't."
Rita Skeeter understood Fudge well. After serving as the Minister of Magic for several years, he had become adept at dealing with such situations.
The chief editor of the Prophet Daily, Barnabas Cuffe, had a good sense of timing. During the time when everyone was flipping through the newspaper, he suddenly changed the headline news of the Prophet Daily, catching the Ministry of Magic off guard. Before they could react, everyone knew about the Dementors going berserk and attacking Harry at Hogwarts.
Fudge learned about this incident when someone sent him a letter scolding him for causing Harry's death.
In Rita Skeeter's writing, the Savior, Harry, was presumed dead after a fall.
After reading this, Fudge locked himself in his office, furious and smashing things. No matter how one looked at it, this incident was due to his negligence.
Of course, Fudge wouldn't admit that it was his fault, especially since Harry Potter wasn't even dead.
Fudge knew exactly how to handle this situation.
As the Minister of Magic, he simply had to gloss over it lightly and assure everyone that the Dementors would not appear at Hogwarts again. With that, the incident would be over.
He would receive some criticism, but Fudge didn't mind; he was already used to it.
However, Fudge didn't know that all of this was within Albert's expectations, and that Albert had also conveniently dug a pit for him and was ready to kick him into it.
(End of Chapter)
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