Chapter 13
A Daily Prophet Discussion
Important Note: Been having health issues – a sharp pain in my left side, that hurts when I take deep breaths - over the past few days that have made it difficult to write. So until I can figure this out, or until it goes away, my writing is going to be slower. I might not be able to do daily updates for a little while. But hopefully, I can have at least a couple updates a week.
Author's Note: I like how some of my readers believe Dumbledore is going to be so easily cowed and defeated after everything that is soon going to be piled on him. It is pretty funny. It makes writing this story so much better! There is a reason Albus Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard in Great Britain. The majority of the sheep believes, as the Leader of the Light, he can do no evil. Eyes will be opened, of course. But will that stop Albus Dumbledore? No… no, it won't.
There is a reason Harry wanted the Dursleys far away from England, and not simply in jail. Far away from England, Dumbledore cannot get them so easily. Do you honestly think Dumbledore will care about Harry's Emancipation when such a thing means he would lose control over him? Why do you think he didn't tell Harry he was Emancipated after the Goblet of Fire spat his name out?
There is also a reason Harry, Hermione and McGonagall aren't going to go after Dumbledore immediately with everything they have. They do not want to underestimate him. They need to be prepared to fight any damage control he attempts once the information gets out. They want to be several steps ahead of him. They will soon discuss all of this in-story, of course. Their next Salvos against Dumbledore actually begins in this chapter.
If you've read "The Ilvermorny Champion", you'll recognize certain parts of this chapter when it comes to the first appearance of the Daily Prophet Headquarters.
Harry may seem… out-of-character in parts of this chapter. That is simply the results of the Motivational Inhibitors being removed from his person. He has more Willpower, and more courage to act in certain ways with certain people.
Warning: Rita Skeeter. It isn't really Rita Skeeter bashing. It is simply Rita Skeeter. That's all I'll say about that!
(Sunday, December 13th, 1994)
Harry and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall as they walked through Diagon Alley toward their next destination. However, the journey took an unexpected turn, when Professor McGonagall led them to a small alley in between a couple of shops. The Lioness of Gryffindor turned to the young pair, removed her wand from her cloak, and waved it around.
"Notice-Me-Not Charm," she explained to her curious Lions, "We have things to discuss before we meet with Miss Skeeter. First, I must ask you: what should I address you two as from now on?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Hermione smiled, then cleared her throat.
"I think you better address us as if nothing had changed in Gringotts today, Professor," Hermione said. "At least, until we must reveal everything that happened today."
"I agree," Harry said.
"As do I," McGonagall said, "I expected such a response. I will address you as Mr. Potter and Miss Granger respectively in class, and in public. I will be the only one who knows about your new titles. Those rings you now wear cannot be seen by anyone you do not wish to see them, until you summon them forth. Not even Headmaster Dumbledore, in all his boasting, can see them without you summoning those rings."
"Well, that's a relief!" Harry said; Hermione nodded in agreement with her boyfriend.
McGonagall smiled. "A lot of important information has revealed itself today. Should we discuss any of it with Rita Skeeter?"
Hermione glanced at Harry with a look that plainly said 'it is up to you'. Harry sighed and thought about his answer to this question. After several moments, he looked at his girlfriend and the Lioness of Gryffindor with a mischievous grin that reminded the Hogwarts Professor of another Potter whom she had seen with that very same expression several times.
"I don't think we outright reveal anything," Harry said, "We can have Miss Skeeter imply one bit of information, but not reveal that we know about it."
He further explained what he meant with that, then he continued. "The rest of the information we can hold hostage. Miss Skeeter is known to slander anybody she wants - witch, wizard or Squib. We trade immunity of several names from her slanderous quill in return for a promise that we will give her several pieces of information over time in which she can write and publish several articles with."
McGonagall stared at Harry for several moments, before a smirk crossed her lips.
"That, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, "is an excellent idea! Even this Lioness of Gryffindor can appreciate a Slytherin idea from time to time. That idea was all Slytherin. What do you think, Miss Granger?"
"Who do we want to ask immunity for?" Hermione asked her boyfriend, curiously.
Harry listed several names, including those he knew were on the Great Alliance. Hermione then suggested a few names like their former dorm-mates – aside from Ron, of course! – and the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Lee Jordan.
When asked if she wanted any of the Professors included, McGonagall suggested Professors Flitwick and Sprout, as well as Aurora Sinistra, Bathsheba Babbling, and Septima Vector, all of whom were her close friends at Hogwarts.
"This is a lot of names, Harry," Hermione said, "Can we promise enough information in the future to make the deal worth it?"
"It will work, Miss Granger," McGonagall said, "Rita Skeeter will not be able to resist temptation of what the Boy-Who-Lived might be able to give her in the future. Things she will not have to outright investigate. Things that will be freely given to her."
"I hope you're right," Hermione said.
"So we've decided what to discuss with Miss Skeeter?" McGonagall asked, "The Second Task, along with the other idea, followed by making the deal? That is all?"
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy, Professor," Hermione said, "So we must be prepared for the unexpected. Other than that, I'm satisfied."
"Me too," Harry said.
"We shall expect the unexpected then," McGonagall said; she dropped the Notice-Me-Not Charm, "Come on, students."
Harry and Hermione followed McGonagall further through the Alley, until they reached their destination.
The Daily Prophet Headquarters was easily one of the most noticeable buildings, if you judged by the outer décor. Only Gringotts rivaled in that category. The "Daily Prophet" logo appeared at least four different times on the building's face, including on its front windows, and above the doorway, as well as higher up along the wall.
The most surprising décor on the front of the building – in Harry's opinion – was the "news ticker" over the large front windows, which had news headlines moving horizontally before apparently disappearing into thin air. The British wizarding world was so old-fashioned and outdated, that this "technology" was quite advanced. The ticker mostly showed off either headlines of the recent edition of the newspaper, or important tidbits in the articles. Harry grimaced as he saw "Boy-Who-Loved! Harry Potter No Longer Single!" and "Azkaban Fugitive Sirius Black Still At Large!" appear across the ticker.
Harry and Hermione stepped inside as Professor McGonagall followed them. The Entrance/Reception Room of the Daily Prophet Headquarters was rather small and simple, and resembled a waiting room at a doctor's office. There were several chairs sitting against walls nearest the front door. Vendors were selling editions of the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and Teen Witch Weekly.
On the opposite side of the room, there was a reception desk, with a witch – obviously the receptionist – sitting there, reading the newest edition of Witch Weekly, and smacking her lips, as she chewed on some Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Behind the desk, there was a door with the words "Barnabus J. Cuffe – Editor-In-Chief, The Daily Prophet" etched onto a golden plaque. There were also two other doors on the left and right side of the room.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "We wish to speak to Rita Skeeter."
The receptionist, young enough that she couldn't have been out of Hogwarts for very long, blew a bubble and popped it. She seemed familiar to Harry, but he couldn't remember who she was. Obviously he had seen her in Hogwarts sometime over his first three years there.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked, in a bored monotone voice – she turned a page of the magazine, not even bothering to look up at Professor McGonagall.
"Does the Boy-Who-Lived need one?" Harry asked, bluntly.
The receptionist choked on her gum, and jumped as she looked up from her magazine. Her eyes searched until she found Harry, and a deep blush formed across her cheeks as her eyes went from his face upwards to his scar. She gave him a saucy grin, then jumped when McGonagall cleared her throat.
"Professor McGonagall!" she said, "My apologies, I did not see you there."
"Apology accepted, Miss Clearwater," McGonagall said. "I am surprised to see last year's Head Girl working here as a receptionist."
Harry raised his eyebrows, as he finally recognized Penelope Clearwater, one of the Petrification victims – along with Hermione - during the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Hermione was frowning as she looked at Penelope. Obviously the girl recognized her. Perhaps, he wondered, seeing her had brought up bad memories?
"Have to start from the bottom before I can become a journalist, Professor," Penelope said, with a glum, yet determined, tone; she cleared her throat, "Right. Rita Skeeter. Follow me, please."
Penelope stood, and the three new arrivals followed the former Ravenclaw Head Girl as she walked toward the leftmost side of the room. She led them through a doorway and into a long, narrow corridor. There were several doors on either side of the corridor. Penelope led them halfway down the hallway, until they reached a specific door. A brass plaque on the door read "Rita Skeeter, Reporter/Journalist, Daily Prophet".
Penelope knocked on the door, then opened it.
"I'm busy, Pennywise!" Rita Skeeter's familiar voice barked, "What do you want?"
Harry rolled his eyes at the obvious foul-up of Penelope's name.
"Do you have time to meet with Harry Potter and Professor Minerva McGonagall, Miss Skeeter?" Penelope asked.
"Harry Potter? He's here? To see me?" Rita asked, her voice transforming into a sugar-sweet tone, "What are you waiting for, then?! Invite him in, girl!"
Penelope turned back to Harry and blushed. Whether it was because of him, or because she was embarrassed at Rita's behavior toward her, he didn't know. She waved a hand toward the room. Harry thanked the former Ravenclaw, then led Hermione and Professor McGonagall inside.
Harry stepped into an extravagantly-looking office. Near the back of the room, a magnificent mahogany desk stood, with Rita Skeeter, dressed in blinding purple and green robes of some sort, beaming at the Boy-Who-Lived. The walls were adorned with what appeared to be articles of past Daily Prophets – all of which were obviously written by Rita herself - as well as moving pictures all of which had Rita with several people who were obviously celebrities and VIPs in Wizarding Great Britain. Behind Rita's desk, there were shelves filled with trophies, medals and awards.
"Harry Potter, welcome to my wonderful office, my home away from my lovely home," Rita said, then she looked at the other guests. "And Professor McGonagall, a delight. And… oh, well, Pennywise did not announce you, Miss Granger! An unfortunate mistake of hers. Good help is so hard to find these days, you know! Wonderful to see the Boy-Who-Lived here, in person, together with his new love interest! Harmony, was it?"
"Hermione," Hermione said, then spelled out her name, and enunciated it, "Her-my-oh-knee."
"Is it?" Rita said, in a less-than-interested tone, "Forgive me. I must have heard wrong and put Harmony in my recent article. Tell me, loves, did you enjoy my article about the pair of you?"
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. "I do not believe this is the time for gossip, Miss Skeeter. We are here for a very important and very serious reason."
Rita's smile vanished from her face as her lips narrowed. "Of course, Professor. Where are my manners?! Sit down, sit down!"
She waved her wand and a third plushy, comfortable-looking chair appeared next to the two that were already sitting on the closest side of the desk. As they did in Gringotts, Harry sat in the center, with Hermione and McGonagall sitting on either side of him.
"A little bird informed me that they witnessed the three of you stepping into Gringotts, and did not leave until a few minutes ago," Rita said. "You were in there for a very long time. Did something important happen? Intriguing events? Something you wish to let me inform my lovely readers about?"
"In the future, perhaps," Harry said, "But not today. We have a couple of stories for you. One for tomorrow's front page, the next for the following day, I think."
"Mr. Potter. Harry," Rita said, "May I call you, Harry? Unfortunately it is not me who decides whether my articles are front-page or not. If the article has a story that is more interesting, more intriguing, more… juicy… than any of the others that are in that day's edition, then it is given front-page rights. But as these are stories given to me by the Boy-Who-Lived, I am sure I can get them to the front page. May I take notes? It is how I work, you see."
"As long as you do not use a Quick-Quotes Quill, Miss Skeeter," McGonagall said, "I've recently discovered they have a very faulty enchantment that makes them write things they did not actually hear being said."
Rita frowned momentarily, before a smile lit up her face. "I've recently made that discovery too. Perhaps you remember an article last month, Harry, which said you were twelve years old instead of fourteen? It was the Quick-Quotes Quill's mistake. Ever since then, I've been very cautious with them. And recently, I've gotten rid of the pesky things entirely!"
Harry wasn't sure he believed her, but he needed her to cooperate with him, in order to get her to write a couple of articles he needed to be seen by the public. So he decided to ignore her lies, for now.
Rita reached for a jar on the corner of her desk, and picked up a rather boring-looking quill that didn't seem to have any place being seen on a desk belonging to Rita Skeeter. She flipped the sheaf of parchment in front of her to a blank piece of parchment.
"You have my attention," Rita said.
"Miss Skeeter," Harry said, "What would you say if I told you that certain Triwizard Tournament officials are planning to break laws during the Second Task?"
Rita's smile turned into a wide grin. "I would say that would be front-page news, Harry. But for it to be headlining news, I would need more details. You have my complete attention, Harry."
"I'm sure you remember the Golden Egg that was retrieved by the Champions during the First Task," Harry said.
"I do remember!" Rita replied, "I've heard rumors that the Eggs have a very important clue inside. Did you decipher the clue? Did you bring your Egg with you?"
"Unfortunately, the clue does not translate well above water, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, "So I could not bring it today. You see, if you opened it above water, it would emit an ear-piercing, devastating shriek that would shatter the glass of, not only your jars on your desk, but the glass on your various awards here." Then he grinned and added, "And any bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey you might have hidden around your… lovely office. It is simply known as the Mermaid's Voice."
Rita stared at Harry for a moment, before she let out a nervous giggle. "Then I suppose it is a good thing you did not bring your Golden Egg with you, Harry. Mermaid's Voice, yes, I've heard of such a thing. If one is below water with a Mermaid, their Voice translates to the listener's native language. So I assume you opened the egg underwater, and listened to the clue? What did the clue say, Harry?"
Harry cleared his throat. Due to his newly discovered Eidetic Memory, thanks to the Blocks and Bindings being removed, he could remember every word, and even the tone of the song. Though he did not sing the song, he repeated it line for line, in a similar tone to the song:
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour — the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
Rita was writing furiously on the parchment in front of her as she copied down the song. Then she read through it a couple of times.
"This is… most intriguing, Harry," Rita finally said.
"It is," Harry said, "But there is something you might be missing, Miss Skeeter. One specific line in that song is mistranslated. It is that mistranslation which brings me here today."
"I'm listening," Rita said.
"'The song says 'we've taken what you'll sorely miss,'" Harry said. "But I believe it actually says 'we've taken who you'll sorely miss.' What this means, Miss Skeeter, is that on the day of the Second Task – or the evening before – the Tournament officials are planning to kidnap innocent students and use them as hostages in the second task. Innocent students, Miss Skeeter. Not volunteers who have agreed to be a part of the Task.
"Victims, Miss Skeeter, who will be kidnapped from their beds and placed at the bottom of the Lake. Tied to stakes, these students will be put under stasis, only to awake when they reached the surface of the water. The Champions will have to rescue them. Innocent, unsuspecting students, who did not volunteer, Miss Skeeter."
"I also happen to believe the Tournament officials will not get permission from their parents or guardians," McGonagall said.
Rita looked at Harry, then Professor McGonagall. Then her eyes finally rested on Hermione.
"Miss Granger would be your hostage, I assume," Rita said, "She will be who you sorely miss, won't she, Harry? Someone you can't live without. Someone who you believe, perhaps, could be the future Mrs. Potter?"
"Please be serious here, Miss Skeeter!" McGonagall barked, making Rita sit straight up in her chair. "Do you not understand what is happening here? The possibility of illegal kidnapping! Criminal behavior! The Champions are not meant to suspect that they would have to rescue actual people, Miss Skeeter?"
"Why do you believe that, Professor?" Rita asked.
"The clue says 'what you'll sorely miss', Miss Skeeter," McGonagall said. "Not 'who'. Think, Miss Skeeter. Use your investigational skills here, young lady! I assume you have some."
Rita frowned as she stared at the parchment in front of her. Then her eyebrows raised.
"Somebody doesn't want the public to know about this," she said. "They're clearly hoping to get away with this criminal behavior. It could be plausible. When the plot is uncovered by the public, and the accusations start flying, somebody – not naming names, of course – would simply use an excuse. 'The victims were perfectly safe, ladies and gentlemen. There was no risk of them being harmed.' But who would be the scapegoat here? Who would be the Voice who would reassure the sheep?
"Albus Dumbledore? His Leader of the Light persona would be a reassuring Voice. But he wouldn't want to deal the backlash, would he? Bartemius Crouch already has a dubious past. They might put him in front of the Killing Curse Squad, so to speak. Ludo Bagman is another possibility. The buffoon is the Voice of the Tournament! He would probably be told that, as the Voice, it would be up to him to reassure everyone, without even knowing he was being used to take the fall."
It was interesting getting an insight into Rita Skeeter's mind. Even Hermione was watching the journalist with curious eyes. Rita realized her audience was watching her. She shook her head, then grinned.
"Forgive me," she said, "Sometimes I lose myself in a story. Especially when it is such a juicy story like this. Now, let's see. Well, I assume the reason you are here, is because you want to stop this from ever taking place to begin with. Of course, the Boy-Who-Loved doesn't want his – future wife, future mother of his children? – to be a victim of the Second Task. So you would do anything to prevent that. Such as coming to me, Rita Skeeter, Star Journalist of the Daily Prophet! You want me to be your Voice! You want me to get this story out there!"
"What I want, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, "is for this information to get out there. For the Tournament officials to feel so trapped that they have to change their plans. That they'll be forced to do away with using human hostages. I want them to have no choice but to have to use the actual clue in the Golden Egg and put 'what' not 'who' we will sorely miss. A material item, Miss Skeeter. An object. Not a person, in other words. I want the public to hamstring the Ministry of Magic and the Tournament officials. I want it to be encouraged – subtly or not – for the 'sheep', as you say, to begin bleating, Miss Skeeter. I want those fools who have put this Tournament together to realize they cannot get away with this criminal behavior!"
Then he sighed. "Unfortunately – unfortunate for you – I cannot be named in this article."
Rita frowned. "I beg your pardon?"
"Albus Dumbledore is watching me, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, "No, I cannot give you more information than that at the current moment. Let's just say Dumbledore has no idea his prized Boy-Who-Lived is currently away from his beloved castle. He has no idea I am meeting with you, Miss Skeeter."
A wide smile crossed Rita's face. "How very… naughty… of you, Harry. Very naughty, indeed! Fine. I will make it appear as if I got this information through my usual sleuthing. In return, I wish to… imply… that Miss Granger, here, would be one of those unfortunate victims of the Second Task – along with whoever is on the arms of the Champions at the Yule Ball."
Harry looked at Hermione, who was biting her lip, taking on a thoughtful stance. Then she looked at him and simply nodded.
"That is acceptable with us," Harry said. "She would very likely be the hostage if the original plans for the task were used. As long as you do not imply it was any of us here who gave you this information."
"I can agree with that," Rita said, "You said something about not giving me information at this current moment. Which means this is not the last meeting you are planning to have with me, I assume."
"We will discuss that soon," Harry said, "First I will give you a teasing sample of this future information. I promise you, this will be another story so juicy that you will want to wait one extra day to publish it, so it can be yet another headlining story."
Rita grinned. "I'm listening, Harry."
"I will tell you," Harry said, "But first, you must promise me one thing, Miss Skeeter. I can already foresee you being able to read between the lines about what I'm going to tell you. You will not release any actual information about me until I give you permission to do so. The information I am going to give you – I want it written as a pure speculation piece, which will have a hint of truth in it."
"One of my favorite types of articles, Harry!" Rita purred, "I am listening with open ears."
"This is merely speculation, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, "A theory. A plausible theory, but a theory, nevertheless. Before the Goblet of Fire was lit, before the Tournament was announced, several individuals sat down to discuss this interesting new event that would take place: the Triwizard Tournament. It was being discussed for several months.
"One of the topics was the age factor. How old did the interested students need to be, to be able to put their names in the Goblet of Fire? Seventeen was assumed. But it was never mentioned implicitly. What was probably said was this: only those students of age will be allowed to be qualified as Champions."
A knowing smile lit up Rita's face. She already knew where this was going, Harry suspected.
"Who are the main faces behind the Triwizard Tournament?" Harry asked, "Let's stick with the names representing the home team, shall we? Great Britain itself. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and world-famous 'Leader of the Sheep!" Bartemius Crouch and Ludo Bagman – The Chosen Bigwigs of the Ministry of Magic. Representatives of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, and the Wizengamot. The reason this trifecta is so important will be revealed soon."
"Leader of the Sheep, Chosen Bigwigs," Rita echoed, with a cackle, "Harry, you have a journalistic mind that I had never suspected! A good apprentice of mine in the future. Something to consider."
"Something to consider," Harry echoed, in faux-agreement.
Translation: Not in your dizziest daydreams, Miss Skeeter!
"31 October of this year," Harry said, "Halloween, anniversary of my parents' tragic sacrifice. I had another terrible, horrible, no good Halloween. The Goblet of Fire – that rude representative of Magic – spat my name out of the Goblet of Fire, and I was involuntarily tossed into a Tournament I never wanted to be a part of. Dumbledore, Crouch and Bagman blathered on about the impossibilities of me being the Fourth Champion of the Triwizard Tournament. They argued for – oh, what must have been nearly an hour, with Headmistress Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff listened and added their own opinions. Of course, I cannot forget the comment of Miss Fleur Delacour, Beauxbatons Champion, calling me a 'little boy'. At least I think that was what she said. French accents, you know. Terribly hard to understand. So it might have been lost in translation. But I digress!
"While all this blathering happened, one particular morsel of important information never came to light. Whether Dumbledore, Crouch and Bagman never knew about it, or simply did not care to voice it, that isn't important. It did not come to light, and I didn't know about it until very recently.
"Long story, short, Miss Skeeter. The Representatives of Hogwarts, the Ministry, the Wizengamot, and Magic herself – through the Goblet of Fire – all agreed on one thing. I was a Tournament Champion. Therefore, Miss Skeeter, I was old enough to take part in the dangerous events. Therefore, in accordance with previous agreements made, I, from that moment forward, was considered, of age."
"You're an Emancipated Minor, Harry," Rita said.
"I'm a what?" Harry said, then waved a dismissive hand, "Sorry, inside joke. Yes, I am. Unfortunately, for you, Miss Skeeter, that information cannot be made public at this moment. It would stir a hornet's nest I would be hard-pressed to overcome at the moment, and I would have to blame you for being the reason that news was revealed. I would be very upset, if that were the case!"
Rita huffed. "I suppose you want me to simply speculate that you are Emancipated, without outright saying it?"
"Yes," Harry said.
"Miss Skeeter," McGonagall said, "It is quite possible this is information Albus Dumbledore does not want Mr. Potter to know. Which is why he didn't tell Mr. Potter about it on Halloween. I happen to believe once this information comes to light through one of your… interesting… articles, Dumbledore will simply call Mr. Potter to his office, and inform him that you, Miss Skeeter, are simply trying to cause gossip and rumors, and that the information is not to be believed. He will tell Mr. Potter that there is no evidence he is Emancipated. That it is completely wrong. Then he will go to the Ministry to try to fight Mr. Potter's Emancipation before it could become official."
"I assume he will be too late?" Rita asked.
"Indeed he will be, Miss Skeeter," McGonagall said. "But that is not for Dumbledore or the public to know at this time. I am going to give you a little insight, Miss Skeeter. Recently I have come to suspect Dumbledore does not have Mr. Potter's best interests in mind, and probably hasn't since the night James and Lily Potter died. Several revelations have been uncovered recently. Several things that will come to light in the future. You, Miss Skeeter, could be the Quill behind the news getting out, but not today. It will come out in time, when we want it to come out. We must do damage control before that can happen, though. I hope you can understand that?"
Rita sighed. "Of course, Professor."
"Miss Skeeter, in the future we will have more information to give you," Harry said, "Information and stories that are more interesting than what we gave you today. When we will give you this information, is our decision. However, if you slander myself, Hermione, Professor McGonagall – or a list of names I am about to write down – the deal is off."
Rita stared at Harry for several moments, then finally nodded. "I can agree to this. Write down the list of those you wish to be immune from my slander, Mr. Potter."
Harry did, Rita gave him writing materials, and he wrote his name, Hermione and her parents and Professor McGonagall to start off. He continued with more names, including all members of the Great Alliance – Lords, Ladies, Heirs and Heiresses. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were included. After a thought, he added Dobby, Winky, Mallory and Sadie as house-elves, just in case. Then he put down Rubeus Hagrid, just because the man was his friend, even if he trusted Dumbledore too much. He then added those names Hermione and Professor McGonagall had suggested.
He finished the list after that, made two copies, and gave one to Rita. The journalist glanced at the list, her eyes going wide at the amount of names there. She pouted for several moments as she perused the list. Then her eyes lit up.
"I do not see Albus Dumbledore or those Weasleys who seem to be your best friends, Harry," Rita said.
"Neither Albus Dumbledore, nor Ronald, Ginevra or Molly Weasley have my trust any longer," Harry said.
"That sounds juicy!" Rita said, grinning. "Will you tell me more?"
"In time, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, with a smug grin. "Maybe even sooner than you think. But not today. When we get our revenge against all of them, we will give you the inside scoop. Then you can slander them all you want. As long as it looks favorable to us and those whom are on the list, you can include us in those articles."
"Why is Sirius Black on this list?" Rita asked.
Harry winked. "Forget you asked me that, and I promise you'll find out before the end of the year."
Rita raised an eyebrow, then she smiled. "Forget what, Harry?"
"I see we understand each other, Miss Skeeter," Harry said.
"We do, Harry," Rita said. "I look forward to what should be a very favorable partnership."
"As do I, Miss Skeeter," Harry said, "I believe we are finished here. We look forward to your article about the Second Task."
"It will be the headline tomorrow morning," Rita said, "I assure you. The… Emancipation Speculation article – shall we say? – will be the headliner for Tuesday."
"We'll be waiting," Harry said.
Harry stood up, and Hermione, McGonagall and Rita followed. After brief farewells with Rita gushing about how it was a delight to be meeting with the Boy-Who-Lived again, Harry led Hermione and McGonagall out of the office.
"Anyone else as uncomfortable as me?" Hermione asked, when they left the building.
"Yes," Harry said, "But I bask in the comfort that will be coming our way, knowing that our discomfort is nothing next to what Dumbledore and the Tournament Officials will soon be feeling."
"Quite," McGonagall agreed. "I look forward to all of it. Especially if it means watching the Headmaster squirm in his golden throne tomorrow at breakfast!"
Harry and Hermione laughed at that.
When she stopped laughing, Hermione looked at her boyfriend, curiously. "You were very… suave… in there with Rita, Harry. Very uncharacteristic of you. What was that all about?"
"Part of it was trying to do my best to convince Rita to agree with writing those articles," Harry said.
"And the other part?" Hermione asked.
"Those blocks and bindings forced on me altered my personality, Hermione," Harry said. "Let's just say I'm going to be going through some changes soon. One of those changes may upset you."
"Which one?" Hermione asked, with a frown.
"The one where I become your rival for the top spot in our year in classes, Miss Granger," Harry said, with a grin.
Hermione grinned. "I don't think that would upset me as much as you believe it does, Mr. Potter."
"I look forward to this new you, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, "But we must be getting back. We'll leave the Alley, and I'll have Dobby and Mallory bring you back, so you do not have to Apparate. Where should we arrive at?"
"The Shrieking Shack," Harry said, grinning.
McGonagall pinched her nose between her fingers. "I'm going to regret this. I just know it."
*giggles and cackles* That was one of the most enjoyable chapters I've ever written. I don't know which was funnier, the last couple of lines, or the fourth-wall-breaking 'inside joke' Harry made. I hope most of my readers were able to figure out that inside joke. I loved writing Rita Skeeter in this chapter. Probably the best I've ever written her. And Harry's behavior was fun to write too. Not sure I'll keep up Harry's behavior all the time. He was kind of showing off, to get Rita to go along with what he was telling her – even if it was the truth.
Originally, the receptionist was going to be a nameless girl. But I decided to have her be Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw Head Girl and Percy Weasley's (ex?) girlfriend. She likely won't be in the story anymore, unless we go back to the Daily Prophet Headquarters in the future. Just a cameo. Rita called her Pennywise, because I couldn't figure out a good last name for her to get confused with.
Additional Note for those of you who complained about the Euro being in my story: Just imagine one of those Rita Skeeter articles hanging on the wall with a headline that says "Wizards discover Euros six years earlier than Muggles intended; Muggles confused, but delighted – blames extraterrestrials!" Then stop complaining about it.
Next Chapter: Harry, Hermione and Professor McGonagall return to Hogwarts, and get some unwelcome news about Viktor Krum. They receive a mirror from Sirius and talk to him. Harry, Hermione and McGonagall will also be talking about a few things – such as their next moves against Dumbledore.
Unfortunately, the 'Talk' I've been teasing won't happen, at least in the next few chapters. I really wanted it to happen next chapter, but I'm having trouble with it, and I don't want it to delay the rest of the story for one particularly difficult scene. The reason for the delayed discussion will be explained in-story, though.