Chapter 636 Evan's Trap
"By the way, why are so many goblins following him?" Harry asked.
"According to Bagman, they are looking for Crouch and want to help him. Crouch is still unwell. He hasn't been to work!" Ron explained, diverting his thoughts from the golden egg and waving his hand disapprovingly. "To me, maybe Percy is poisoning him. He probably thinks that if Crouch leaves, he will be appointed head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
Hermione shot Ron a look of 'don't joke about such things'.
"It's odd, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch... They would normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," commented Harry.
"Percy mentioned that Crouch can speak a bunch of different languages," Harry said. "Perhaps they need an interpreter."
"Don't worry about those unpleasant goblins," Ron said, looking at Hermione. "Are you thinking of starting the S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins?"
"Goblins don't need protection," Hermione said sarcastically, taking another sip of her butterbeer. "They are very cunning and quite capable of standing up to wizards. They're not like house-elves, who never stand up for themselves!"
"Great!" said Ron, looking strangely at Evan, who was not involved in their conversation.
He was constantly writing complex magical formulas on parchment to analyze the minimal magical power consumed by Apparition.
Ron leaned forward, trying to see what Evan was writing.
Just then, Rita Skeeter opened the door and walked in.
Today she wore banana yellow robes; her long nails were painted bubblegum pink, and she was accompanied by her chubby photographer.
They purchased drinks and made their way through the crowd to a nearby table.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched her, and Evan looked up.
Rita Skeeter was speaking rapidly and seemed very pleased about something.
"He didn't seem very willing to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why do you think that is? And what is he doing with a group of goblins in town anyway? Showing them around... what nonsense... he was always a bad liar. Do you think something is amiss? Should we do some investigating? 'Disgraced former Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman...' A good start to a sentence, Bozo... we just need to find a fitting story..."
"Enough; you're trying to ruin another person's life!" Harry yelled angrily and couldn't help but stand up.
The noise in the pub suddenly stopped, and some people turned to see what was happening with Harry.
Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jewel-framed glasses upon seeing who had spoken.
"Harry, Harry Potter," she said, beaming, "How delightful! Why don't you come and join...?"
"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," Harry said furiously. "Why did you treat Hagrid that way? He didn't offend you, why did you do that to him?".
Rita Skeeter raised her sharply defined eyebrows, and a flash of pride crossed her face.
"Our readers are entitled to the truth, Harry. I'm just doing my..."
"You're lying. Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"
Remembering Hagrid's sad look, he felt an unusual uneasiness in his heart and shouted with the loudest voice.
This time, the entire pub had fallen very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was watching from behind the bar, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the tankard she was filling with mead was overflowing.
Rita Skeeter's smile faltered slightly, but she regained it almost immediately. She opened her crocodile-skin bag, took out her quick-ink quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father figure?"
"Enough!" Hermione stood up abruptly, her butterbeer held in her hand like a grenade. Her body trembled slightly with anger, as if she had never seen such audacity in a person.
"You're a dreadful woman," she said through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you? You just want to lure people in, anything for a story, and anyone will do, right? Even Ludo Bagman..."
"Sit down, foolish girl, and don't speak of things you don't understand," Rita Skeeter said coldly, her eyes hardening as they landed on Hermione, not as friendly as when she looked at Harry. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair stand on end... though perhaps you don't need it..."
He glanced disdainfully at Hermione's tousled hair, and his Self-Adapting Quill moved back and forth over a piece of parchment on the table.
"Come on, Hermione, don't argue with people like that. It's not worth it," Evan said softly, placing his parchment on the table.
Rita Skeeter looked at Evan as if she had just seen through him, her eyes falling on the thick parchment. She could clearly sense it was a dreadful pattern.
Under the influence of some kind of curse, a person's soul on the parchment was being dragged, with a pained expression on their face. Beneath the image were intricate magical symbols and formulas, followed by a scene in which a person was consumed by fire.
Undoubtedly, these were dark magic things, extremely malevolent, terrible dark magic.
Even muggles who had not learned magic could guess what those figures represented by looking at those patterns.
Evan was trying to persuade Hermione to sit down, and then, as if he suddenly realized something, he quickly turned over the parchment he was holding in his hand.
In that way, it seemed as if he was afraid of being discovered, casting an uneasy glance at Rita Skeeter.
Upon seeing Evan's action, Rita Skeeter seemed to have had a thought and smiled again, satisfied.
―Come on, Bozo,― Rita Skeeter suddenly said, laughing heartily with Evan and Harry. ―Harry, if you ever wish to discuss Hagrid with me, you will always be welcome! ... and you, too, Evan!
They simply exited the pub, without even touching the drinks they had purchased.
If Evan guessed correctly, he would probably return in another form to find out what was in the parchment he had just shown.
It was a sensational piece of news not to be missed!
Indeed, all of that was the result of dark magic he had studied, and it was the trap that Evan had specially prepared for Rita Skeeter.