Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 571 A Terrible Report

The following week, Evan asked Professor Lupin to assist him in selecting a list of classical music pieces.

He embedded them in beautiful shell products and prepared to take them underwater to deliver them to the Merfolk.

Amidst his busy schedule, November soon arrived, and Rita Skeeter finally published her article on the Triwizard Tournament.

With the publication of this report, Evan's peaceful life was immediately shaken.

Rita Skeeter was a master at creating rumors. Her article was not so much a report on the tournament but rather a highly embellished life story about Evan and Harry.

Since Evan declined her interview at that time, Harry remained the primary source for the story.

Much of the first page of the newspaper had been devoted to a secretly taken photo of Evan and Harry together.

The entire article, which continued on pages two, three, four, six, seven, and twelve, focused exclusively on Evan and Harry; occasionally mentioning Ron, the names of Fleur and Krum, misspelled, were inserted in the last line of the article, and Cedric was not mentioned at all, as if he didn't exist.

In Harry's words, this article induced a sense of shame and discomfort in his stomach. Rita Skeeter had quoted awful things about him that he didn't recall ever saying in his life.

"I suppose it was my parents who gave me the strength and courage that have sustained me to this day.

I know they would be very proud of me if they could see me now.

Yes, sometimes at night I still cry for them, I'm not ashamed to admit it.

But Rita Skeeter had gone beyond transforming his "um" into long and sickening sentences. She had also interviewed other people about him.

"Harry has finally found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says Harry is rarely seen without the company of Hermione Granger, a strikingly beautiful Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school."

Then, Rita Skeeter goes on to write: According to our reporter's thorough investigation, Miss Granger appears to have an ambiguous relationship with another famous boy at Hogwarts, Evan Mason.

Evan was captivated by Miss Granger, and the two often avoided Harry and others to be alone.

It remains to be seen whether Miss Granger is toying with the feelings of the two boys or if Evan is actively pursuing Miss Granger, but so far, kind-hearted Harry clearly knows nothing about it.

In summary, she portrayed the relationship between Evan, Harry, and Hermione as a tangled love triangle.

Furthermore, from Rita Skeeter's words, she more or less hinted that Evan was very fickle in this part of the article. In circumstances where Harry and Hermione had developed a relationship since the first year, it seemed to ignore the friendship and steal Hermione from his good friend Harry.

If this page was still just a gloomy speculation, then the next page was a total blast.

Rita Skeeter's purpose was very apparent. She wanted to sully Evan's reputation; it was the price Evan had to pay for offending her.

She chose a very good starting point. First, she played the emotional card and portrayed Harry's solitary and hardworking image as the savior.

This also aligned with what most people in the magical world knew about Harry and was something that garnered sympathy. In such circumstances, it was both wondrous and challenging for Harry, with his miserable life experience, to find his first love.

Then, at this point, the relationship between Evan and Hermione emerged.

The following page added a sour touch, describing the ambiguous relationship between Evan and other girls, such as Fleur, Gabrielle, Luna, Cho, Ginny, and so on.

It listed all the girls he was close to. In her description, it seemed as if Evan was pursuing several of them simultaneously. His relationships were unusual; he was dating multiple girls at the same time. True or false, it was hard to tell, according to Rita Skeeter.

Reading her article, Evan was bewildered. Not only was he taking the initiative to pursue girls his age, but he was also starting to court sisters simultaneously and younger girls like Gabrielle.

Without mentioning the wizards from the outside world, the Hogwarts students felt a sudden awakening after reading it. After going through this article, it seemed as if they had just discovered how chaotic Evan's private life was.

At the end of this page, Rita Skeeter also speculated on why Evan was capable of doing that.

She suspected that he was secretly brewing love potions and aphrodisiacs, causing girls to lose their senses and become obsessed with him.

She urged the school to investigate the matter and prohibit the abuse of drugs and magic by young wizards.

However, she still maintained a positive attitude towards Evan's magical power.

Having gathered Evan's disorderly private life, the next page transitioned to the topic of the Triwizard Tournament, focusing on Ron.

Ron was also one of the champions she portrayed most. Rita Skeeter depicted Ron's poor performance at school, which was not exaggerated since Ron's usual behavior was quite bad. She didn't need to fabricate it; she could just present him as he was.

After a brief introduction, she began to question Ron's qualifications as a champion.

From Rita Skeeter's perspective, young wizards as talented as Evan and Harry did not become champions, while Ron did, obviously because someone was manipulating things behind the scenes in this tournament.

The role of Ron's father in the Ministry of Magic was also highlighted, and Rita Skeeter believed it was due to the good relationship between Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore, Mr. Fudge, and Mr. Crouch.

At the conclusion of the article, Rita Skeeter hoped that the Ministry of Magic would provide an explanation to all and stated that she would continue to monitor the situation.

This report was truly dreadful, akin to casting a large stone into a tranquil lake, suddenly causing ripples.

Now, no matter where Evan, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went, there were always people pointing them out.

At this juncture, the outcome wasn't truly as adverse for Evan.

The reputation and strength of Evan were there, and the young wizards still admired him.

The boys expressed their admiration and envy for Evan's ability to go out with so many girls at the same time, with at most a few words of envy. The girls hoped to be able to communicate with him. There were many people who had fallen in love with Evan. If Evan was making love potions, they actually hoped to receive some.

As for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the impact of the report was not as easy.