Chapter 586: Rita Skeeter's Rejection
Chapter 586 Rita Skeeter’s Rejection
"Yes, Mr. MacPhail, I saw the resurrected Voldemort, and I know very well the ritual he used.
"Professor Dumbledore is not joking, he is really back. If necessary, I can attend your meeting at any time and answer some questions..."
Diagon Alley, Leaky Cauldron.
Kyle was sitting in a place where there were relatively few people, writing a reply to Doug McPhail on parchment.
During the period after the holidays, he often received similar letters asking him if he had really seen the resurrected Voldemort.
Most of the people who wrote letters were magical animal experts whom I met last time at the Romanian Fire Dragon Sanctuary.
For example, Professor Locknear of Beauxbatons, Mrs. Rozino who studies fire dragons in North America, and Hagrid's favorite, Mr. Lima, who published "The Monster Book of Monsters".
I think it was Dumbledore who told Newt, and then Newt found them.
Then there are those who awarded him the Order of Merlin before.
Doug McPhail is one of them. This morning is the second time he has written to inquire about the authenticity of this matter.
However, it can be seen from the scrawled words on the parchment that even though he already knew the news, his heart was still not at peace.
In the letter, he also mentioned that Dumbledore was planning to hold a meeting in his own name to explain the matter in detail and formulate a series of subsequent plans.
He wanted to know if Kyle would attend the meeting. If so, he would not ask some questions in the letter.
To be honest, Kyle didn't actually get the news from Dumbledore, but he didn't mind making an extra trip if necessary.
Kyle handed the written reply to Laton who was standing aside. The owl grabbed the envelope and squeezed out through the skylight with difficulty, leaving a few feathers behind.
“Tom, have a couple of butterbeers,” Kyle said loudly, “and have you ever thought about opening the windows wider.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary.”
Old Tom at the bar raised his head and looked at a few owl feathers on the ground, "If you could replace it with a normal owl, you would find that the window is just right.
"Merlin's Beard, what did you feed that owl, dragon's liver? Or did you use a swelling spell on it?"
Kyle shrugged, noncommittal.
However, the person sitting opposite him was amused by Old Tom's words, and let out a harsh, somewhat artificial laugh.
“The winner of the Triwizard Tournament used a swelling spell on his pet owl. It’s a really good topic. Can I write about it?”
“What do you think?” Kyle said without raising his head.
Rita Skeeter raised her eyebrows and said no more, but her hand kept pressing on the fancy automatic quill.
"Do you know how much torture this is for me?" she couldn't help but say.
"Just because I don't want you to write about me using a swelling curse on an owl?" Kyle asked: "No, it was just a joke from Old Tom."
"You know that's not what I'm talking about." Rita Skeeter lowered her voice.
“Dougal MacPhail, Minister for Magic, the Resurrection of You-Know-Who, and Dumbledore’s Personal Meeting in 1858.
“Any one of these three pieces of news is enough to shock the entire magical world...but I can’t write anything. Isn’t this torture?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, I didn’t stop you from announcing the news of the mysterious man’s resurrection to the magical world, did I?”
At this time, Old Tom happened to come over with two glasses of butter beer and a plate of butter biscuits.
"How much."
"It's not necessary this time." He showed a few shaky teeth, "Congratulations on winning the Triwizard Tournament. Hogwarts has not won this honor for a long time."
"If that's the case," Kyle said. "Then another glass of Ogden gold mead."
“No problem, please pay ten galleons first.”
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to invite me?”
“Butterbeer and biscuits only,” Old Tom said calmly.
“Then don’t do it…it’s so stingy.”
Old Tom turned around without saying a word and returned to the bar. Kyle pushed one of the bottles of butterbeer to Rita Skeeter and continued: "In fact, if you are really willing to report the news about the mysterious man, not only will I not stop you, but I will also give you a generous reward. .
"How about a hundred galleons per article... You only need to write ten articles in a row and you can get all the prize money I won in the Triwizard Tournament."
“Very tempting offer.” Rita Skeeter said, but she did not answer Kyle’s question directly. Instead, she picked up the butterbeer and took a sip.
“To be honest, when it comes to making up stories, you are more suitable for this job than me. I almost believed it just now.
“But now, if you don’t have anything else to do...I’ll go back and write tomorrow’s front-page article.”
She stood up and said, "The Daily Prophet has urged me many times... Oh, thank you for the butterbeer."
"Are you scared?" Kyle said with a smile, "This is the first time I know that you are also scared sometimes."
The next second, the butterbeer glass hit the table hard.
“I, Rita Skeeter, have never been afraid to publish anything!”
The movement here attracted the attention of many people, but when they saw it was Rita Skeeter, they all turned their heads silently.
No one wants to come into contact with this guy who is good at telling trouble, if they still care about their reputation...
Rita Skeeter didn't care about what was going on around her. She took a deep breath and said word by word: "But I won't and can't publish articles that people don't like. This will make my reputation plummet.
“I don’t know what game you are playing, but I know that if I tell everyone that the mysterious man who triggered the magic war more than ten years ago is back, guess what will happen?
“They will treat me like Xenophilius Lovegood and my career will be over. I will never make such a stupid decision!”
“Even if I use the photo as a bargaining chip?” Kyle asked calmly.
This time, Rita Skeeter was silent. She sat down again, picked up the butterbeer on the table and drank it.
After a long time, she said: "I can pay for that photo, with all my savings."
“I’m not short of money,” Kyle said.
Rita Skeeter fell silent again.
Although the things she wrote before had a lot of artistic processing, they were all based on an extension of a small part of the truth.
She has never written about something as false as the resurrection of a mysterious man.
Rita Skeeter can imagine that if she really writes this, not only the people who read the Daily Prophet, but also the Ministry of Magic will not let her go...unless the mysterious person really appears later.
But this is impossible, everyone knows that the mysterious man has been killed by the savior, Harry Potter...
Resurrection? Do not make jokes.
Although Dumbledore said the same thing, no one believed it, including her.
The only person in the wizarding world who is still alive after being hit by the Death Curse is the famous Harry Potter, but he was not dead at the time.
As for those who died and were resurrected...none of them, including the most famous dark wizard in the Middle Ages, the despicable Herbo.
The most they can do is become ghosts.
"I don't understand why you do this, just to scare other people? If so, you can completely change the reason, or just leave it to me. I will write it for you. There is no need to use the name of the mysterious person. This is A taboo!”
There was a hint of pleading in Rita Skeeter's tone, "It's not worth it, and you will also be affected. You just won the Triwizard Tournament and are a member of Sir Merlin. There is no need to talk to Dumbledore." Going crazy with that Potter! It's not worth it!"
Kyle just looked at her calmly and said nothing.
Rita Skeeter's expression kept changing, and finally her expression gradually turned gloomy and fierce.
"I would rather go to the Ministry of Magic right now and admit that I am an Animagus." Rita Skeeter lowered her voice and said firmly: "But don't even think about it, I swear!"
Although if she does this, she will no longer be able to get any secret information, and may also face various investigations, and even pay a high price for it, but at least it is better than being directly reported by Kyle.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and her expression became more and more fierce.
“I will disclose every word you said today and tell everyone that you, like Dumbledore, are out-and-out lunatics and idiots who want to sensationalize!”
…
(End of this chapter)