Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 498 The Rumors Of Rita Skeeter

Oh, thank goodness, thank goodness! Mrs. Weasley, evidently waiting for them in the front yard, rushed towards them, still in her slippers, her pale and tense face holding a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet.

Arthur! I've been so worried, so worried

She threw her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the Daily Prophet fell from her limp hand to the ground.

Looking down, Evan saw the headline: TERROR SCENES AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP,

Underneath, there was also a flickering black and white photograph of the Dark Mark hanging in the sky.

Evan's stone giant was directly under the Dark Mark, echoing the giant serpent within the skull's mouth.

Not far behind them were the huge ruins of the stadium, silently recounting the tragedy and terror.

"They're all fine!" murmured Mrs. Weasley absentmindedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and looking at them all with red eyes, "Charlie, Bill, Percy, Ron, Ginny, Evan, Harry, Hermione, they are all alive! Oh, kids!"

To everyone's surprise, she took Fred and George and hugged them so tightly their heads bumped.

"Ouch! Mum you're suffocating us!"

"I shouted at them before they left!" said Mrs. Weasley, starting to sob, tears streaming down her face. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if Voldemort had caught them, and the last thing I said was that they didn't take enough ELIXIRS...? Oh, Fred George!"

"Now, come on, Molly, we're all perfectly fine," said Mr. Weasley reassuringly, separating her from the twins and leading her back towards the house.

"Ron," he added in a whisper, "pick up that newspaper. I want to see what it says"

Following Mr. Weasley, Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione gathered to read the newspaper

Unexpectedly, in addition to the front-page photo, there were descriptions and photos of the battle between Evan and Caresius.

In one photo, he was controlling the massive raging fire dragon in the box, and he looked so cool!

The box was filled with horrendous flames, and the fire dragon inside was ferociously roaring towards the people outside the frame.

"This is a good picture" Hermione said softly.

"Evan, look what they're saying about you!" said Harry, pointing to a series of prominent headlines, "The young wizard who saved 100,000 people! The successor to the greatest wizard in the world! The future beacon of hope in the magical world! The young wizard who defeated Voldemort! The Order of Merlin will break tradition and award a student a First Class medal"

Judging by these headlines, this issue of the Daily Prophet had turned into a special edition about Evan.

Indeed, behind the cover, "The Daily Prophet" featured the attack and the appearance of the Dark Mark on two pages, as well as the details of the incident.

Afterwards, it was all about Caresius and the vampires, using a photo of Evan and Caresius in combat. The Ministry of Magic had clearly chosen it carefully.

It seemed that the newspaper had hit the mark, but had not yet reported on the outcomes with the captured vampires

Apart from that, all the subsequent news content was about Evan.

They even placed a photo of Evan battling the Basilisk in the Common Room.

That was the photo taken by Colin. Evan was much younger back then, but it further showcased his charm and bravery.

It was hard to imagine that besides Evan, any other young wizard would dare to face the Basilisk head-on. Even adult wizards wouldn't have the courage.

"These people are crazy!" sighed Ron, looking at all the pages filled with photos of Evan.

Evan is a celebrity now, even more famous than Harry! leaned in Fred and said.

"Yes, the most powerful and talented young wizard in the world; this title is quite appealing, don't you think?" George remarked.

They examined the newspaper over and over again, eagerly reviewing the articles within.

Everyone felt that the Daily Prophet was exaggerating a bit. Although Evan had great merit, there was no need to publicize it so energetically.

But shortly after, when they saw the Hogwarts Magic newspaper, they found it more straightforward.

Besides Evan's story, there was nothing else in that issue!

Due to the popular demand for content related to Evan, he was now the most attention-grabbing magician in the world.

Apart from the vampire attack from the previous night, the Dark Mark, and Evan, no other news mattered.

The news about the previously popular Quidditch World Cup had been relegated to a corner, not even receiving a photo.

That was the current situation. Whether perceived as good or bad, the fact remained that newspapers related to Evan were selling out instantly.

In the coming days, even The Quibbler's sales would increase as it would report on Evan's experience at Hogwarts over the past two years.

Hogwarts' magical newspaper collaborated with The Quibbler during its challenging founding times, and Evan published Luna's articles on the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, with his father assisting Evan in promoting the newspaper and publishing the articles he wrote, which also benefited him on this occasion.

Obviously, The Daily Prophet later achieved great success with Sirius' story. For a few days, it even surpassed The Daily Prophet to become the largest newspaper in the magical world.

Because it was a newspaper created by Evan, with an exclusive interview with him, that was sufficient.

A few minutes later, they took the newspaper inside, and everyone crowded into the tiny kitchen.

Hermione and Ginny brewed a very strong cup of tea for Mrs. Weasley, in which she insisted on adding a dash of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey.

Then, Ron handed the newspaper to his father.

Mr. Weasley flipped through the front page, furrowing his brow, while Percy looked over his shoulder.

"I knew it would be like this!" He said heavily. "Ministry errors... culprits not captured... lax security... dark wizards acting with impunity... national disgrace... They always describe the Ministry of Magic this way. Who wrote this? Ah, of course, it's her... Rita Skeeter."

"That woman has an obsession with the Ministry of Magic," Percy said angrily. "She said that the Ministry of Magic was wasting all its energy and time arguing about cauldron thickness, accusing us of being meticulous, instead of dealing with vampires and dark wizards... can cauldrons..."

"Please, do us a favor, Percy," Bill said, yawning, "and be quiet."

"Hey, my name is mentioned here!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, eyes widening behind his glasses as he reached the end of the Daily Prophet article on the cover.

"Where?" Mrs. Weasley stammered, choking on her tea and whiskey. "I only saw reports about Evan. If I had seen that, I would have known you were alive!"

"Not by my name," Mr. Weasley said. "Listen to this: '100,000 wizards who came to watch the Quidditch World Cup panicked and eagerly awaited news outside the stadium ruins, hoping for a reassuring message from the Ministry of Magic. They were sorely disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the dreadful vampire attacks and the appearance of the Dark Mark, claiming that no one had been hurt, but refusing to provide further information. It remains to be seen if this statement will be enough to quell rumors that hundreds of bodies were removed from the ruins an hour later.'"

"Oh my goodness," Mr. Weasley said exasperatedly, handing the newspaper to Percy. "No one was hurt. What was I supposed to say? Everyone was just scared, and the Ministry had already taken care of everything! This woman actually dared to say that hundreds of bodies were removed from the ruins! Well, there are certainly rumors now that she printed that."