A copy of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore sat high on the mantle, given the position of honor like one would give their most treasured picture. Rita Skeeter looked up from her visitor on this Christmas Eve and grinned at her masterpiece-the gold lettering that proclaimed her name and the weary-looking photograph of Albus Dumbledore.
"Well, thank you for granting me this interview on Christmas Eve," the reporter said, drawing her attention back to him.
"It's no problem," Rita said with a grin, her hand stretching out to force a teacup into his hand.
"What are your future plans?" the reporter asked after gingerly placing the cup on a side table and checking that his Quick-Quotes Quill was properly transcribing what was being said. "Any more delicious exposees in progress?"
"Oh, I don't know," Rita responded, waiting a reflective second. "I worked so very intensely for the last book, and I consider it to be possibly the masterpiece of my career. I might just take a well-deserved holiday for a bit." She poured another cup of tea for herself and then looked pleasantly back up t the man sitting in one of her armchairs.
"On the subject of your masterpiece," he continued, "there has been some controversy about the truthfulness of it, possibly in response to the sheer number of accusations you pour on the late Dumbledore. How do you respond to the people saying that you fabricated parts of the book just for profit?"
"Well, I'd say that those people don't have the sources I had while writing the book," she replied. "All this ruckus comes out of the belief that Albus Dumbledore was a saint, and honestly they needed to be enlightened about the faults of Hogwarts' so-called most beloved headmaster."
"There was the one subject that dumbfounded readers so much: the supposed friendship between Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. In particular, it is the thing that caused the most outrage in the public. What do you say to those in doubt?"
Rita looked at him for a moment before launching into her reply. "There are photographs of them together. You can't forge that."
"Very well. Thank you for taking time out of a day reserved for family to do this short interview."
"Oh, my pleasure."
Afterward, the two cups of cold tea sat in the same places as Rita Skeeter opened the paper on Christmas mornig and smiled when she saw the article.