Chapter 63 You are worthy of it!
Another gloomy, rainy day descended, the sky hanging low as a ceaseless drizzle fell.
Gilderoy Lockhart, unusually, wasn't spending time with the young witches and wizards today, having given everyone a break. This was because he had a scheduled interview with Rita Skeeter, the reporter from the Daily Prophet (Chapter 033).
Securing the top spot on the bestseller list for six consecutive years was the perfect opportunity to boost his personal brand.
In truth, the timing was a bit delayed. However, with Dumbledore's increased control over Hogwarts, Rita had to pen a full seven sincere letters to finally secure this interview.
"Oh, my dear little junior, you've been terribly unkind this time! Couldn't you have chosen a different location for the interview since I couldn't get in? Hogsmeade, perhaps?"
Rita began complaining the moment she pushed the door open.
She was a witch in her late thirties or early forties, dressed smartly in a tailored, fitted navy blue dress. As she spoke, she casually tossed her small purse and a rolled-up newspaper onto the desk and began to adjust her large, golden wavy hair in the dressing mirror beside the office.
Lockhart shrugged, walked out from behind his desk, and sat down on a nearby tree stump.
This had once been a large tree, accidentally destroyed by Goyle in the Dueling Club. Afterward, Malfoy, with his cronies, made some half-hearted attempts to salvage it, only to finish it off completely. Cedric Diggory, a fourth-year student, couldn't bear to see it go to waste and used magic to transform it into a tree-stump tea table, perfect for brewing tea and creating a cozy corner.
The Earl Grey tea had cooled slightly and was now just right for drinking.
He poured a cup for Rita and himself, took a sip, and wasn't too bothered by her grumbling. "You know how it is, Rita. The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts is cursed by You-Know-Who. I have to be cautious; I can't just wander around."
"Now that's an interesting tidbit!" Rita's eyes brightened. She pushed up her jewel-encrusted glasses and reached for her small purse, intending to pull out her notepad.
"Dumbledore obviously doesn't like people talking about that. You know, it makes it difficult for him to recruit professors every year," Lockhart reminded her with a smile.
"Oh!" Rita rolled her eyes, tossed her purse back onto the desk, and then curiously flipped through the papers on the table.
Besides being a reporter, she was also an author. Although she didn't particularly care for the direction of Lockhart's writing, she had a good sense of the quality of manuscripts.
Hmm, her own creative direction...
Rita's most notable achievements in the original timeline were writing biographies of three headmasters of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... and not getting killed for it!
Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
Severus Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?
In addition to these, she also wrote Harry Potter's biography, Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side of the Demobilisation, and Man or Monster? The Truth About Newt Scamander.
She seemed to have an innate sense of who she could provoke and who she couldn't.
Dumbledore, after reading her articles, merely commented that they were "charmingly distasteful." Newt Scamander, after she wrote her fictionalized biography of him, simply clarified some of Rita's claims in the latest edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Emmm...
Lockhart's assessment of this was that the remnants of Ravenclaw had their own unique ways of courting disaster.
Back in their Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw alumni gatherings, they often joked with each other—they most likely wouldn't end up in Azkaban; it was more probable they'd be killed in some dark corner by a wizard seeking revenge for their malicious deeds.
Gilderoy Lockhart was one such person.
Mundungus Fletcher was another (Chapter 17, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, a thief and trader of magical artifacts).
Rita Skeeter was the same kind of character.
She was always adept at twisting facts, offering newspaper readers the most sensational news.
Whatever the readers wanted to see, she would report, even if the content was fabricated, even if the readers sometimes knew the information might be made up.
But everyone loved to read it.
Her favorite pastime was targeting celebrities. Sometimes, to obtain firsthand information, she would even use her Animagus form to transform into a beetle and eavesdrop, or use Veritaserum, a potion strictly forbidden by the Ministry of Magic, to influence important figures into revealing secrets.
A very bad person, but extremely useful when used correctly.
Rita was the kind of reporter who could easily save the sales of The Quibbler magazine with just one well-written article.
"Merlin's saggy bloomers!" Rita exclaimed, her eyes fixed intently on a piece of manuscript in her hand. "What am I seeing?!"
The paper didn't contain much, just the title and the list of creators. Almost screaming, she said, "Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter?!"
Lockhart quietly sent the startled dark creatures back to their enclosures, gesturing for Rita to calm down and have some tea.
Rita seemed so excited that the teacup in her hand trembled, spilling some tea and wetting her clothes. She simply stared wide-eyed at Lockhart, chattering incessantly, "Gilderoy, you have no idea! I've wanted to interview Harry Potter for ages!"
"Back then, he was just a little kid living on Privet Drive. He seemed to be living a very unhappy life, wearing ill-fitting hand-me-downs, his hair looked like a dog had chewed on it, and he was bullied by his cousin and his gang."
She rolled her eyes. "The Boy Who Lived living such a miserable childhood! It would make so many people cry! I have to let everyone know this news. But Dumbledore found me and sternly warned me that if I dared to disturb Harry Potter's life because of this, I would face terrible consequences."
Well then.
She knew that not every wizard had the same excellent taste in clothing as she and Lockhart did. The vast majority of wizards didn't know what Muggles considered normal attire, and many wizards who went to visit little Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with his appearance.
She had interviewed some wizards back then, and some even thought Harry's clothes were cool.
Lockhart smiled slightly, raised his teacup in a gesture, took a sip, and said, "Clearly, you complied. It's fortunate you're still alive."
"Hey~" Rita pouted unhappily. "It's simply against the basic principles of a reporter! The Boy Who Lived shouldn't be living like that. It breaks my heart."
"Give me a break," Lockhart said, not wanting to argue with her about this. He steered the conversation back to the book. "What do you think of this book?"
"Excellent!"
"Yes, it couldn't be more perfect!"
Rita didn't care about the book's content; she just stared intently at the list in her hand, looking at it over and over again.
"Malfoy... Parkinson... Weasley... Longbottom..."
She knew the value of this list. She looked up at Lockhart, increasingly aware of how much more important her junior schoolmate had become.
Being a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry provided such opportunities—to build relationships with the heirs of various prominent families.
Lockhart, as expected, had set his sights on these individuals as soon as he arrived. He was also very capable and adept at leveraging his strengths, using the book as a way to elevate these relationships to a higher level.
Her red-nailed fingers slid across the list, finally stopping at Hermione Granger's name. She looked at Lockhart with some eagerness. "Granger, is she a descendant of Hector Dagworth-Granger?"
Lockhart was taken aback. "Who?"
"Mr. Granger, the founder of the Extraordinary Society of Potioneers. He's mentioned in The Tales of Beedle the Bard," Rita said urgently.
Lockhart shook his head. "I don't think so. Miss Granger comes from a Muggle family."
"Oh, I see." Rita was instantly disappointed. She just looked at the list, her eyes darting around, and suddenly they lit up. "Hey, Gilderoy, I've noticed that she's the only witch from a Muggle family on this list!"
Lockhart wasn't sure what Rita was getting at. Everyone had their own area of expertise, and he couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled. "Yes, so?"
"I think you can start promoting your new book with her!" Rita's face was flushed with a feverish excitement. "What's she usually like? I mean, in terms of her studies? Is she also a Ravenclaw?"
Lockhart shrugged. "No, she's a Gryffindor. An exceptionally brilliant student, the kind of academic prodigy that even Ravenclaws envy. She has immense talent in all areas of magic, Rita. She's a rare all-rounder; you can't define her solely by her house."
Rita blinked and let out a silent "wow." A smile suddenly spread across her face. "What do you think of this? Using her as a selling point. Yes, Muggle-born, yet she's suppressing a whole crowd of pure-blood children, even making the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, pale in comparison..."
She even stood up excitedly, pacing around the office. "Gilderoy, I don't know if you've been paying attention to social issues since you started teaching at Hogwarts. Recently, Dumbledore brought a Death Eater to the Wizengamot for trial, and everyone's been discussing pure-bloods and Muggles..."
"And this!"
She pulled out the Daily Prophet she had just brought from the table, gesturing for Lockhart to look at the front-page headline—Gringotts Robbed Again! Sources Claim Dumbledore Was Seen at the Scene!
In the middle of the report was a blurry photograph that looked like it had been taken secretly.
Gringotts...
Robbed again? Oh, the last robbery was last year when Dumbledore placed Nicolas Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone in Gringotts, attracting Voldemort's attention.
As for this time, if Lockhart wasn't mistaken, it was probably one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Hufflepuff's cup!
Old Voldy had entrusted it to his most loyal follower, Bellatrix, who had placed it in what was said to be the most secure vault in the world, at Gringotts.
He listened impassively as Rita excitedly shouted in his ear, "You have no idea! It's said that more Death Eaters who escaped arrest over a decade ago have been captured!"
"Now is precisely the most intense moment in the struggle between the pro-Muggle faction and the pure-blood supremacists..."
"Haha, everyone is afraid to say anything, many influential people are silent. It's the best time for our promotion."
"Hermione Granger, this Muggle-born witch among a crowd of pure-bloods, will rise to prominence, becoming the most watched star, igniting all public opinion, becoming the focus of everything, and your new book will sell like crazy because of it!"
She turned to look at Lockhart, her eyes practically popping out with excitement, her voice becoming shrill. "What do you think?"
"Fantastic!"
Lockhart gave her a thumbs-up. "I'll make sure to write about your grand public relations push for your epitaph after the furious Dumbledore buries you alive!"
"!!!"
Rita felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, chilling her to the bone.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.
Rita had good relationships with people from ancient families like the Malfoys and Parkinsons. She had even been planning how to get some benefits from them after this publicity push, but she suddenly realized she didn't have the power to get involved in this.
Not just her, probably even the Malfoys wouldn't dare to provoke Dumbledore from this angle.
It was too painful.
She sighed regretfully, folded the manuscript, put it in her handbag, and said somewhat helplessly, "Then we'll just have to warm things up from the most common angle. Don't worry, besides Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, I'll contact the heads of the families or the parents of everyone else on the list for personal interviews. I believe they'll be happy to promote the book's sales."
Knew you were going to do that all along.
Lockhart smiled and pulled a manuscript from a nearby bookshelf. "This is an interview transcript of Harry Potter's professor, the internationally renowned author and magical master Gilderoy Lockhart's evaluation of his favorite student, Harry Potter. I think you'll need this."
"!!!" Rita was stunned. This was her job!
Just like today's interview was just a formality. She had already written the articles that needed to be published before the scheduled interview. She had only come today to see if there was any news.
She stared blankly at him for a moment, then whistled. "You really are something, Gilderoy Lockhart!"
What she really wanted to say was that the old Gilderoy wasn't this impressive.
Being a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry really made a difference.
Next, the two chatted happily. They both knew what kind of information the other wanted to know and kept within their respective boundaries.
However...
This seemingly ordinary and leisurely chat between old classmates ended with a terrified scream.
Lockhart turned his head towards the office door with a look of bewildered surprise. A large commotion of young wizards could be heard from there, as if something had happened.
Rita suddenly jolted up, her eyes gleaming, and the Quick-Quotes Quill and notepad in her bag floated out, like a cat that had smelled blood.
"What happened?"
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