Chapter 471: Dedicated Rita Skeeter

When everyone returned to Stoat Mountain, the noisy sound disappeared from their ears in an instant, leaving only the crisp chirping of insects.

Cedric wanted to go to the other side of the village, so he separated from them after descending Stoat Hill, while the others continued walking forward.

In the cold moonlight, everyone walked through the village of St. Catchpole, chatting and walking along the wet path towards the burrow.

"You said you saw Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry asked in surprise, looking at Kyle.

“I just glanced at it, and I don’t know if I saw it wrong.” Kyle said, “But the man’s teeth are indeed white and bright, and he also has blond hair, very similar to Lockhart.”

"You must have read it wrong," said Ron. "Lockhart is still in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries at the moment. How could he go to the Quidditch World Cup?"

"No." At this time, Mr. Weasley, who was walking at the front, suddenly said: "If I remember correctly, he was cured a week ago...just when Fudge visited St. Mungo's.

“And when he comes back, the ministry will have a lot of money.”

“Lockhart donated it?” Ron asked doubtfully.

"It doesn't count as a donation to the Ministry of Magic." Mr. Weasley said. "I also heard someone mention it when chatting. It seems that Lockhart realized his mistake and decided to donate all the property of Gringotts. , to compensate those whose experiences he had stolen and to help them recover their memories.

“In addition, he also transferred all the sales rights and royalties of all books to the Ministry of Magic to help wizards who have damaged memory and need treatment.

The two people in the same ward with him were the first batch of beneficiaries. "

"The entire property... plus the income from all the books?" Ron was surprised: "None of his books are cheap. How much does this cost? Is Lockhart willing to do it?"

“I don’t know the specific situation.”

Mr. Weasley said, "But it should be like this. His book can be resold anyway, but the names in it have been changed to the people who have actually done those things."

"So, Lockhart is fine now?" Harry asked.

"Needless to say." Ron curled his lips, "Think about it, last year when he was a professor, everyone in Hogwarts bought seven of his books, which is tens of thousands. It's so big, plus the galleons I saved before... those galleons will definitely pile up into a mountain.

In front of so many gold galleons, I think everyone will forgive him..."

"But this is wrong!" Hermione frowned: "He should be punished."

"No, I think this is the biggest punishment." Ron said.

In his opinion, there is no more terrible punishment than this.

Mr. Weasley didn't speak either.

In fact, regarding Lockhart, his original thoughts were the same as Hermione's, but when he thought that the Longbottoms could benefit from this, his thoughts were shaken.

This can be regarded as a coincidence. After Lockhart was sent to St. Mungo's, he was placed in the ward where the Longbottoms were, and they naturally became the first beneficiaries.

Kyle nodded beside him.

Probably Lockhart didn't want to stay in St. Mungo's forever, nor did he want to go to Azkaban, so he simply chose to spend money to buy peace.

However, from the fact that he could still go to the Quidditch World Cup, I guess the former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor might have saved some money and not handed over all the money.

His books are very popular. As long as the donated gold is shocking enough and guaranteed to satisfy everyone, no one will care even if he hides it secretly.

The few people chatted all the way and soon passed through the village of St. Catchpole. When they reached the end of the path and turned a corner, the Burrow suddenly appeared.

There was a shout from the path.

“Oh, thank God, thank God!”

Mrs. Weasley had obviously been waiting for them. She ran over in her slippers. Her face was pale and nervous, and she was holding a rolled-up "Daily Prophet" in her hand. "Arthur, I'm so worried. Fortunately, you are all fine..."

She stepped forward to hug Mr. Weasley, and the newspaper fell limply from her hands to the floor.

Kyle picked him up casually.

　　【Horrifying scenes at the Quidditch World Cup】

The title is very attractive, and there is a large photo below, showing a panicked crowd and a messy camp.

"Is it so fast?" Kyle said in disbelief: "Isn't it just over now, and it has been reported?"

"The owl arrived half an hour ago." Mrs. Weasley said. "I was wondering why the newspaper was delivered at this time... I didn't expect such a big thing to happen. Merlin... the Dark Mark..."

Kyle opened the newspaper.

Several heads behind him also came together, everyone wanted to see what the newspaper said.

This newspaper is much thinner than normal. It was obviously produced at short notice to gain popularity. The contents above are all related to the Quidditch World Cup.

“The Ministry of Magic is panicked...security is lax...dark wizards are on the loose...serious dereliction of duty...disgrace..."

Ginny read the above article and shouted angrily: "Didn't the person who wrote this article see that even people like Dad who are on vacation are rushing to the front?"

"She won't see it...even if she sees it, she won't write it." Charlie pointed to a name in the newspaper, "Look who this is, Rita Skeeter, almost all the articles he wrote are fabricated. "

"This woman is specifically against the Ministry of Magic." Percy said angrily, "And she must know that almost everyone in the Ministry has gone to the Quidditch World Cup camp, so she distributed this newspaper overnight."

Harry raised his head... and looked at the name Rita Skeeter.

He remembered the report about his speeding drive to school last year, which was also written by this woman.

"Well, don't worry about it, you'll be fine." Mrs. Weasley led them towards the house.

Arriving in the small and crowded kitchen, she made everyone a cup of hot cocoa, but Mr. Weasley insisted on changing it to aged fire whiskey.

Ten minutes later, Mrs. Weasley brought another large plate of sandwiches. This was the fastest thing that could be made.

But no one is in the mood to care about what to eat at this time.

　　After staying up for so long, being a fire dragon and being riotous, everyone's spirits have been tense. Now they suddenly relaxed and returned to a familiar and safe place. It was inevitable that they were a little sluggish, and they just wanted to lie in bed and have a good sleep.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to understand this, so she didn't ask anything, and after everyone had finished eating, she rushed them upstairs, leaving Mr. Weasley alone here.

Kyle returned to his home.

The lights were on in the room, but there was no one.

There was a plate on the table, which contained a few slices of steaming fried eggs and bread. Next to it was a copy of the Daily Prophet, which was exactly the same as the one he saw just now.

I think Chris and Diana must have rushed back to the Ministry of Magic overnight after receiving the news.

It is conceivable that because of Rita Skeeter's report, the Ministry of Magic should be very busy in the next few days.

But what Kyle couldn't understand was that Chris and Diana, one from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the other from the Department of Mysteries, had nothing to do with this riot, and they actually returned to the Ministry of Magic overnight.

There is no way that the riots involve Veela and leprechauns.

…

(End of this chapter)

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