Chapter 920: The Role of Rita

"Don't say unnecessary words, Rita..." Fan Lin said a little coldly. Although Rita's abilities were there, her lack of dealing with Hermione was also written on her face.

"Okay, okay..." Rita was a little impatient, "Although you are capable, I am obviously better at this, otherwise you wouldn't have put me back in the Daily Prophet."

"Daily Prophet? Aren't you fired?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Interests and values, there is nothing that cannot be compromised." Rita said, looking a little upset, "Okay, let's not talk about this, before that..."

Rita said, looking at Harry over her glasses and adding, "How do you feel, Harry? Betrayed? Mad? Misunderstood?"

"Of course he's angry," Hermione said harshly, clearly. "Because he told the Minister of Magic the truth, and the Minister acted like an idiot and didn't want to believe him."

Rita said nothing, lowered her glasses and stared at Harry, as if to see through him, and removed her fingers from the button of her purse.

"That crap you and Dumbledore told everyone about You-Know-Who's return, and that you were the only witness?"

"I'm not the only witness," Harry shouted. "There are a dozen Death Eaters. Do you want their names?"

Rita took a breath and fumbled in her purse again, staring at him as if Harry was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"A big headline: 'Potter's Accusation.' A small headline, 'Harry Potter points out the Death Eaters among us.' And then, underneath it, a picture of you, 'Survived the You-Know-Who.' The boy, Harry Potter, fifteen years old, angrily accused some prominent wizards of being Death Eaters yesterday. '" The elation was gone from her face, pen in hand, mouth half-open.

"But of course," she said, putting down her pen and glaring at Hermione, "the Prefect doesn't want this story to be published, does she?"

"Actually," Hermione smiled sweetly, "This is what the prefect wants to do." Rita stared at her and then looked at Fanlin, but Fanlin seemed to let Hermione make the decision. But it made Rita a little shocked, and Harry and Luna also stared at Hermione.

Hermione, on the other hand, hummed softly to the tune of "Weasley is Our King" and stirred her drink with a cocktail onion on a stick.

Rita asked in a quiet voice, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "About the truth, all sides. It's like Harry was writing. He'll give you all the details, he'll tell you the names of the undiscovered Death Eaters he saw, he'll tell you what Voldemort looked like —Oh, hold on tight," she said scornfully, throwing a napkin on the table, and when she mentioned Voldemort's name, Rita jumped and knocked her whiskey glass over her. The front of Rita's scruffy raincoat was stained, but she still glared at Hermione.

Then Rita said candidly: "The Daily Prophet won't print it. You may not have noticed, but no one believed his ridiculous story. Everyone thought it was his delusion. Now, if you asked me to write —”

"We don't need to write a story about Harry losing his toy!" Hermione said angrily.

"We already have a lot, thank you for that! I want him to have a chance to tell the truth!" Rita said coldly.

"You're saying that the Daily News won't print it because of Fudge's ban," Hermione said impatiently.

Rita looked at her for a long, fixed moment. Then she leaned over the table and said in a business-like tone: "Yes, Fudge is in the paper, but that doesn't make any difference. They don't run a story. Glorifying Harry. No one wants to read it. It's contrary to what the public wants. The last Azkaban breakout has made people uncomfortable -"

"That means newspapers only exist to publish the news people want to see, right?" Hermione said sternly. Rita sat up straight, raised her eyebrows, and downed the whiskey in one gulp. "Newspapers exist to sell, you silly girl," she said dryly.

"My dad said it was a terrible newspaper," Luna said, interjecting unexpectedly. While stirring the drink, she looked at Rita with her big, bulging, somewhat fanatical eyes. "He publishes important stories that he thinks the public needs to know. He doesn't care about money."

Rita looked at Luna with disdain. "I suppose your father runs a silly country newspaper?" she said. "Probably about twenty-five ways to confuse yourself with a Muggle, and the date of the next sale?"

"No," Luna said, dipping the stir stick in the drink, "He's the editor of Wizarding Weekly." Rita snorted loudly, and everyone around them looked around in shock.

"A story that he thinks the public needs to know is important, eh?" Luna said dryly. "I can use its content to fertilize my garden."

"Well, now you have a chance to taste it, don't you?" said Hermione cheerfully. "Luna said her dad would be delighted to read Harry's interview and publish it -"

Rita glared at them both for a moment, then laughed loudly. "Wizard Weekly!" she said, laughing. "Do you think people will take what's written in it seriously?"

"Some people don't," Hermione said in an equally loud voice. "But there are so many holes in the Daily Prophet's news about the Azkaban prison break. I think a considerable number of people would rather look at other better explanations, if they have a choice, even if it is published in-" She glanced Glancing at Luna, "It's in an unusual magazine that we and the others will read too."

For a moment Rita was silent, but her eyes glanced intelligently at Hermione, and her head cocked again.

"Well, even if I do this," she said suddenly, "what's in it for me?"

"I don't think Dad pays people for submissions," Luna said dreamily. “They submit because it’s an honor to see their name in print.” Rita. Skeeter seemed to take another gulp of foul water, and she turned her head towards Hermione.

"You want me to do this for free?"

"Yes," Hermione said quietly, taking a sip of her drink. "Otherwise, as you know, I will most likely inform the Magic Council that you are an unregistered Animagus. Of course, the Daily Prophet may pay you more because you will be able to Provides inside information on Azkaban.

Rita looked as if she wanted to rip the little paper umbrella off Hermione's drink glass and poke it up to Hermione's nose. Rita said, her voice trembling slightly. She opened her crocodile bag again, pulled out a piece of parchment, and raised her quill.

"Daddy will be happy," Luna said cheerfully. A muscle in Rita's jaw twitched.

"Okay, Harry?" Hermione turned to Harry, "Are you ready to tell everyone the truth?"

"I suppose so," Harry said, watching Rita place the quill on the parchment.

"Excuse me, Rita," Hermione said calmly, sucking a cherry from the bottom of her cup. (To be continued)