Rita Skeeter's Scoop
Before New Years, Siria received over thirty letters from students with questions. The number increased when the Hogwarts Herald put up notices in each common room about a new "Ask Siria" column. People could write to Siria under a penname for advice or answers. With every letter Sirius sent, he sent a new resource for her to better answer the questions she received. When the post-Yule Ball Hogwarts Herald was reprinted by popular demand, Cedric slipped in a notice about "Ask Siria," which caused more letters to arrive. By the time Rita Skeeter's article came out, she was too late for the students or parents of Hogwarts. Dumbledore even addressed some of the parents concerns with the simple statement of "I have known a gay man for many years and not once has he caught the interest of a man who was not already interested in men."
Terry Boot put the Hogwarts Herald copy into Siria's hands. "Look at this!" He exclaimed and flipped through. Cedric gave "Ask Siria" a column on the front and the entire back page. "Lily and Dean were fine with it!" Terry said at the look of wordless wonder on Siria's face. "He just moved their comics up," Terry told her and flipped to the page. "It goes to print tonight, so you'll want to double check."
"I know when it goes to print," Siria blushed as she looked over her glasses at him.
"Right, duh," Terry shook his head with a smile, "it's just… it's exciting." He patted her arm. "You're pretty cool." He told her then left for the Ravenclaw table and she sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"When are you going to tell me where you sneak out to?" Hermione asked as they headed to the Room of Requirement. "I know it isn't the Room… I" she sighed. "I snuck out after you."
"Hermione, you could be expelled, snuck out?" Ron asked as entered the Room.
"What do you call what we do every night?" Hermione shook her head and sat down. "Really, Siria. Where are you going?" Siria scratched the back over her neck and looked sheepishly over her classes.
"I'm practicing." She murmured.
"Are you going into the Lake?" Hermione asked. Her brow was knitted with worry.
"I wouldn't swim alone— especially there." Siria leaned against the wall as she sat down. In a month and a half, she would be swimming alone, in the Lake for the second task.
"Look," Siria said while she pulled her aquatard from her bag, "I'll take you one day, but I need to be aloneish sometimes."
"Aloneish?" Hermione repeated. Siria shrugged and went behind the recently formed curtained section of the room to change. "Who are you with?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione," Siria could hear Ron whisper, "what if she's…" Siria shook her head and drew the curtain back.
"I'm not hooking up with someone." She told them as she waited for the small pool to form. Ron rolled the jar of gillyweed to Siria. "Where is everyone?" She asked and put a handful of the slimy gillyweed into her mouth. It still felt like trying to swallow a live eel.
"They'll get here eventually." Ron shrugged. "Or they're afraid of catching your gay." He rolled his eyes. Siria dove into the water. It was easy to treed with the gillyweed in her system and she couldn't breathe out of water. As she went under, she caught Hermione say "that isn't funny— that's why Dumbledore made that statement."
The act of being underwater was almost as comforting as it was unsettling. When Siria closed her eyes, it was almost like being asleep. The unsettling feeling usually occured when she remembered her spells didn't work right. So far, she had made several jets of hot streams, but nothing else. Her silent casting was even worse. With the Tournament as her main focus, everything that wasn't necessary had been dropped. Sirius had stopped visiting to give her more time to prepare or sleep.
Rita Skeeter celebrated the Sunday before term with a new article, about Hagrid.
[Book: B4, 437-440 Rita's article about Hagrid, without Malfoy & Crabbe's bit about the Hippogriff & flobberworm changed with them telling Rita another student was maimed and Crabbe was bit by a salamander.]
"I'm not going to the Sunday group." Siria said and stuffed the paper back into Hermione's hands. "I'm going to check on Hagrid," she looked to Ron who nodded. Ernie Macmillan and Lily Moon came over the the Gryffindor table with Cedric.
"So you've seen this new pile of garbage too," Ernie shook his head at the paper in Hermione's hands. "Doesn't she have anything better to do than ruin people's lives?"
"Are we running interference?" Lily Moon asked. "Interviews, positive cartoons?" She gave a sideways glance to Cedric and whispered "negative Rita ones?"
"How are we helping?" Cedric asked. Siria smiled at them and looked to Hermione and Ron.
"Well, smartest witch of her year & best strategist of his, how are we?" Siria asked them. Ron's face turned the color of his hair, but sat up straight and smirked to Hermione.
After Hermione and Ron proposed their plan, the others set out to set things in motion while Siria and Ron went to see Hagrid. They pounded on the door of his cabin, but Fang's roaring barks were the only reply. "Hagrid!" Siria called. "It's us!" She slipped down and leaned against his door. "Hagrid, if you're in there, I wouldn't care if you were half manticore half dementor, you're you." she said. Ron looked to Siria with an apologetic look. "You didn't write the article, don't look so sorry."
"Maybe we should come back later." Ron suggested. Siria pulled her legs to her chest and shook her head.
"You go ahead. I'm free until practice." She told him. Ron put his bag down beside Siria and sat with her.
"Naw. I'm free too." He shrugged. She nudged her shoulder into his with a smile and unspoken "Thanks."
Though they waited for hours, Hagrid either was not home or did not want to see them. Ron and Siria returned to the castle for dinner. She picked at the food Hermione put on her plate, while Ron inhaled anything within reach. Hermione tried to cheer Siria up with the knowledge that they would see Hagrid tomorrow. It lasted until Monday morning, after Herbology, when a stranger was outside Hagrid's cabin.
[Book: B4, 435-441 Grubbly-Plank is there & shows the girls unicorns while the boys are to listen from a distance. Parvati comments she wants Grubbly-Plank to stay because that's what she thought Care of Magical Creatures would be.]
"But Hagrid!" Siria stressed. Sure, his lessons had gotten a little boring since the Hippogriff incident, but that wasn't Hagrid's fault. Sirius had made sure Hagrid didn't let them near anything dangerous until next year. Siria looked over her shoulder, back at Hagrid's closed up hut, as they continued toward the castle. Maybe she could talk Sirius into letting Hagrid teach what he wanted. After all, she had enjoyed the Hippogriff lesson until Malfoy ruined it.
"Hagrid could do lessons like that too!" Siria told them.
"He doesn't though. Have you seen the monsters the sixth years have been wrestling?" Lavender asked. "Those giant, shelled, rocket lobsters are monsters." She shuddered.
"You're welcome to like Grubbly-Plank, but she's not staying!" Siria said as she crossed her arms. She turned to Hermione.
"Please tell me things are going well?" Siria requested. Hermione tilted her head from side to side.
"Well, Ernie Macmillan's mother replied and has written to her friends for support letters. I just don't know how well students will respond after that Grubbly-Plank lesson." Hermione confessed.
"That lesson was awful!" Ron rolled his head back. "It must have been nice for you two, but I was stuck with Malfoy— behind the paddock." Siria clicked her tongue and looked to Hermione.
"It wasn't fun for the guys, so we'll poll them." Siria suggested.
"We can't poll only them." Hermione told Siria. "We'd be no different than the Daily Prophet. I'll think of something fair."
"Fair? When have they fought fair?" Siria cried. She looked to Ron for support.
"They do fight dirty— it's mostly lies in their articles." He agreed.
"I won't let the Herald sink to their level. We can still get Hagrid back." Hermione argued.
When the mid-January Hogsmeade visit arrived, Maddy insisted they all take the day for some much needed air. Hermione tried to protest, but was overwhelmingly outvoted. She, Neville, Ron, and Siria headed down to the village together. "Well, someone figured it out too." Neville said as Viktor Krum dove into the freezing waters of the Lake (B4, 433). Ron and Siria shivered. Neither could imagine the waters being much warmer in February, but at least she would be eating Gillyweed.
[Book: B4 444-445 The Three Broomsticks is crowded and they see Ludo Bagman, who appears to be getting harassed by goblins]
Siria flattened her Transfigured red hair down and tugged her hat a little lower. She turned to keep her face away from Bagman. "What is it?" Hermione asked. With her head lowered, Siria leaned toward the middle of the table, as did the others.
"For starters, I don't know if I trust anyone that agrees with Rita Skeeter on anything, but he tried to offer me advice on the first task," she muttered. Hermione gasped and pulled back.
"He what?"
"It's not that big a deal," Ron tried to reason. "He probably offered every—" but Siria was shaking her head. "I mean, it's not like we're playing by the rules anyway."
"It's not like Siria was entered by the rules," Neville mumbled into his butterbeer.
"The difference, which you all seem to not be seeing, is that he is a judge!" Hermione hissed the last word between clenched teeth. She glared over her butterbeer, to where Bagman was still cornered by the goblins. "Serves him right."
[Book: B4, 449-451 As Bagman leaves, Rita enters. Hermione calls Rita out for ruining people's lives & Rita says she knows things about Bagman that would make Hermione's hair curl "not that it needs it"]
"I'd rather have curly hair than a rotten core!" Hermione barked at Rita. Rita's smiled flickered again. "Let's go, wouldn't want you to rub off on us." Hermione added and led the way. Ron caught Neville's arm, which stopped his fall, and the four headed out.
[Book: B4, 451-453 Ron tells Hermione that she'll be next, but Hermione says Rita can't scare her into hiding. They hurry to Hagrid's cabin, where Dumbledore is, and Siria says they still want to know him.]
"We don't care what that—" and Siria said a word she knew she shouldn't, but had heard Chloe call Beatrice in accounting it when she was furious. Hermione and Ron stared at Siria with dropped jaws and Neville knocked his mug over. "I'm sorry Professor," Siria told Dumbledore, "but also not sorry at all!"
[Book: B4, 453-456 Dumbledore says he's gone temporarily deaf and couldn't hear her. They then get Hagrid to agree to come back. Hagrid tells Siria he would love for her to win and show people you don't need to be a pureblood.]