Written for: QLFC, Daily Prophet contest.
Falmouth Falcons, Seeker
Mandatory: Captain Jack Sparrow: Write about someone being ostracized by their friends/group
Word count: 941
Muggle Blood
"I knew it!" Bellatrix Black cried vehemently to the full common room, raising her hand, with a torn piece of parchment, high above her head. "Skeeter is a fraud!"
Rita Skeeter's attention flew up from her book, eyes training on Bellatrix, who was giving Rita a venomous sneer. Bellatrix was still standing at the edge of the common room, almost still inside the corridor that leads to the girls' dormitories. Her breath was coming out in short spurts, and she looked like the perfect mix between smug and disgusted.
"I have always been able to smell something off about her," Bellatrix continued, moving forward a few paces until she was standing directly in front of the green armchair Rita was in. Rita didn't once lower her gaze, her eyes trained upon Bellatrix in almost a bored fashion. "Now I know why."
Rita slowly marked the current page in her book and set it to the side, almost curious as to what Bellatrix had to say next, all the while crafting an article in her head:
Bellatrix Black: Clever or Insane?
The Slytherin, in her fifth year at Hogwarts, is arguably one of the most powerful witches of her age. However, she has been known to be a little unhinged. As an incident in the Slytherin common room unfolds, her fellow house-mates are left to wonder: is she spiraling into an unfortunate bout of insanity, or has she actually managed to dig up some dirt on her rival? We, at Skeeter Press, are still waiting to find out the answer.
"She's got muggle blood in her," Bellatrix snarled, dangling what was in her hand directly in front of Rita's face.
Rita felt her stomach drop to the floor as her eyes met the parchment, torn straight from her diary. She could tell it was hers by the way the 'L's looped and how the 'I's were topped with a dash instead of a dot. Without thinking, she thrust her hand up, making a grab for the offending item, but Bellatrix just cackled and danced out of her reach.
"How do you know, Trixie?" Rodolphus Lestrange question from his place on a nearby couch. Rita looked over only to see the head boy eyeing Rita coldly. She tried to think of what to do, how to stop her secret from getting out, but the only thing running through her mind was another article:
Danger in the Pit of Snakes
Young Skeeter faces the accusation of having muggle blood running through her veins. Her safety hangs in a delicate balance; if her house-mates believe Black's tale, Skeeter may be subjected to attacks and other forms of extreme persecution. The house of Slytherin, mainly those inside whose families are loyal to the Dark Lord, are unwelcoming of anything to do with muggles. This could prove to be a very dangerous time for Skeeter, who has spent the last five years doing everything she could to ensure that no one discovers that her (late) father was indeed a muggle.
Bellatrix nearly skipped over to Rodolphus, her glee evident in every part of her body. "Her diary should be enough to incriminate her," she said, a giggle following her words. "Shall I read it?"
When Bellatrix was met with no resistance from anyone in the common room, she cleared her throat. "Oh Papa, I miss you so much. I still have so many questions I want to ask you, and there's so much we are both going to miss out on. Who's going to give me away on my wedding day? Were you ever upset with Mummy for not telling you about magic until after you were married? Why did you become a journalist? Why did you have to die?"
Bellatrix read the words in a stickily sweet voice, a sneer curling at her lips as she drove Rita further into her fate. She exaggerated some words, like "wedding," "mummy," and "die," and Rita couldn't take it. Snatching her book up, Rita sent one last glare to Bellatrix before storming off down the corridor and into her dormitory.
When she reached her bed, Rita couldn't help but let out a soft sob as she saw the state of everything. Her sheets were in disarray, and her blanket on the floor. The contents of her school bag were strewn haphazardly everywhere, and the words, "Muggle bitches don't deserve to live," were written in a thick, crude paint on the wall behind her bed. Slowly, Rita started to clean it all up, trying not to let any tears fall.
She managed to put everything back the way it was, but no matter what magic she used, she couldn't get the words off the wall.
Rita Skeeter: The Girl Who Lives in Fear
Roughly a week ago, Rita Skeeter's biggest secret was revealed to her Slytherin house-mates at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: she's a Half-Blood. Ever since, things have been drastically different. No one, whether they be Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw, will speak to her; the Slytherins because of her lineage, and the rest because of the house she was sorted into at age eleven. Her classes have become her one solace, as she can't walk through a corridor without being tripped, eat dinner without someone attempting to poison her, or even sleep without putting new protection charms all over her bed (the only time she had forgotten to do so, she had awoken to Bellatrix leaning over her with a gleaming knife in her hand). Will Skeeter make it through her last few years at Hogwarts, or will those loyal to the Dark Lord's cause win?