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"That's quite the coincidence that you are all Seekers … of course it's the second best position … only to Beaters. But I bet there's certainly those out there who would be interested in reading about the fact that all four champions are also Seekers … I wonder what else you all have in common. Now there's a story I'd definitely be willing to pay to read." He paused before looking behind him, "Actually on that note. That's why I came over here. Harry … if you had a second, I'd like to introduce you to someone who wants to talk to you." He smiled to the person who stepped out from behind him. "This here … is Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet."
It took every muscle in Harry's body to prevent himself from flinching when she stepped forward, smiling at him. As it was, he was pretty proud of the fact that he only had to cover up a small wince that he was pretty sure he managed to hide before anyone noticed it.
"Ah … Mr. Potter …" she said in an entirely too cheery tone, "… Ludo here was just telling me all about you. So glad you showed up before we started the Weighing of the Wands …" she paused turning and smiling at Bagman, " … Ludo, you don't mind if I borrowed Harry here for a second do you … I promise I'll have him back in just a jiffy … he might just be the thing I need for my piece."
Bagman looked to Harry before he looked back to Rita, a smile on his face. "Of course." He said loudly before looking back to Harry, "You don't mind do you Harry? It would be a great opportunity, give the public a chance to get to know you and stir up some fans for the tournament … and you, of course."
Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow but before he managed to respond, Rita, taking his silence as acceptance, firmly grabbed Harry, surprising him, and dragged him out of the room.
Reaching the hallway, she stopped as she looked up and down the corridor before spotting a partially open door, which caused her to smile as she dragged Harry towards it.
"Perfect!" She said after sticking her head through the door and withdrawing it. "This will be absolutely perfect, don't want any noise or passing students to distract us from the interview. This will do nicely, and it'll even be cozy, lucky us."
She motioned for Harry to go in first, however when she looked up, she saw that he had not moved.
"Come on, Harry, this is a perfect place for the interview. Most people I talk to are interviews in places like this and they enjoy the setting." She said a little more forcefully, reaching out to grab his shoulder.
He leaned back slightly to avoid her grasp and laughed as he looked towards the open door, "Most people enjoy being interviewed in broom closets. I honestly doubt that would be a good idea. But beyond the rumors that would start … which I could totally do without. I'm pretty sure I should probably have an adult here for the interview. I'm only fourteen … and even if it isn't required … I'd just feel a little more comfortable with one of the professors here."
Rita took a step back in surprise, as a look of annoyance flashed across her face before she managed to hide it under a guise of disappointment.
"Surely that isn't necessary, is it Harry?" She said pleadingly. "I mean of course, you can if you really wanted … or if you felt you had something to hide." She said trying to bait him. "But this would basically just be a small chat between us … just to try and let all those out there who have interest in the celebrity that is Harry Potter get a better look at who he really is. Besides, I graduated from Hogwarts as well … so this could basically just be a chat between friends, how does that sound?"
Harry stared at the slightly older woman, ignoring the pleading look on her face before finally nodding which caused her to smile.
"You know what, I'd actually have no problem giving you an interview, but not today and certainly not in a broom closet. Honestly, I've seen heard about some of the stuff that has been written about me and frankly its utterly … loony. Maybe having the actual truth written down would help others see me as just a normal person that had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, rather than whatever it is that they seem to have built me up to be."
He smiled at the sight of her jaw drop open, "Do … you mean …?"
"That I'd be willing to do a full interview with you …" he paused dramatically, before nodding. "… I do. I suppose if there is one thing I should have paid more attention to when Lockhart spoke it is that fame is a fickle friend …"
Rita cut him off excitedly, finishing the quote, "And celebrity is as celebrity does …" She paused looking at him. "He loved that quote. I didn't realize you were a fan of his? Did it start when he was a professor here? Were you close with him?"
Shaking his head, Harry stifled his urge to laugh at the notion, "Not exactly what most people would call close. I hadn't heard of him before my second year, but we did spend some time together when he was a professor here in that year … but well then everything happened … I didn't know you knew him?"
She raised her eyebrow and smiled, "I had several … interviews with him over the years. Was one of the first that interviewed him seeing him as a great story … person. You don't happen to know what happened to him do you … we had actually been working on another article towards the end of that year when he sort of just disappeared."
Nodding, Harry inclined his head, "I do … I imagine you can find some interesting way to include it in the article you write about me. But I do have a couple conditions for the interview."
Rita frowned for a second before hiding it under a smile and nodding slowly. "I suppose … if you feel that they are necessary. What are they?"
"Well first of all, I actually do want to do the interview with someone I chose present."
She opened her mouth to object but slowly closed it, nodding.
"It's just to make sure that everything I say is correctly interpreted and related to that, I expect that no … journalistic liberties are taken with what I say."
Harry almost laughed at the look of shock on her face when he said this which she tried to eventually hide under a mask of faux innocence.
Smiling at her, he nodded and continued. "I'm working with Professor Dumbledore on something and just found out that a friend of the family or family of a friend … or something like that, is a lawyer. And if he isn't comfortable with libel law, which I'm assuming is a thing in the magical world as well, I'm sure he could pass me along to someone he trusts."
This time he had to fake a cough to hide the smile that formed at the sight of Rita's jaw dropping open. "Harry … surely you aren't implying that I'd ever do something like that? I only ever use my quill to transcribe parts of the interview … any flair is just to make it more interesting for the readers."
At the mention of her quill his eyes widened slightly, "Ah right … probably to be safe … when we do the interview – no Quick Quotes Quill or anything like those …" he said, ignoring the look of surprise on her face as she stared at him, as he shook his head slightly, "… let's just say I had a previous bad experience when someone used one of those and it really didn't turn out good for me but in the end was at least as bad for them. And after all, I just want to make sure that everything said is just noted truthfully. I promise I'll be 100% honest with you during the interview and I imagine that in between talking about what I know with regard to Voldemort's attack of me as a child, the neglect or borderline abuse I faced as a child, the events surrounding Sirius Black last year or those surrounding the Chamber of Secrets in my second year and what happened to Lockhart you'll have plenty to write about that will be interesting to the reader without anything needing to be embellished. And that doesn't even go into my introduction to the magical world or anything that happened to me in the first year."
This time Harry didn't need to hide his smile as Rita stared at him in shock, slowly repeating everything he had listed under her breath to herself.
Eventually she realized she was staring and shook her head to get back in the moment. "You are being serious? How would I know if you are being truthful? How do I know that what you are saying actually happened?"
Harry laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm pretty sure that is your job as a journalist, isn't it? Verify the story and what not. I can only promise to you that I'll be truthful but I'm guessing once you find the support for what I say you'll have quite the article or articles to run. Besides as Lockhart said celebrity is as celebrity does, so I can't see how it would benefit me to lie in my first ever official interview. I imagine it'd probably be in my best interest to tell the truth."
Rita stared at him for what felt like several minutes before finally nodding. "Well, this will be new for me but might as well give it a try. Can only imagine the look of surprise on everyone's face when I tell them I got the rights to an exclusive interview with Harry Potter … it'll be the scoop of a lifetime." She paused looking off into the distance before smiling and nodding. "Ok sounds like we have a deal or is there anything else?"
Pausing, Harry looked up and down the hallway deep in thought, before seeing a painting of a pack of thestrals on the opposite wall which caused him to smile and look back to Rita.
"There is one more thing." He said.
"Of course there is. What is it?"
"Do you work as a freelance reporter or for the Daily Prophet itself?"
Rita raised her eyebrow in surprise at his question for a full second as she looked at him, before shrugging. "Basically, all reporters are freelance, but as it pays the best most of them work almost exclusively with the Daily Prophet … why? Thinking about getting a job when you finish your schooling?" She said with a smile.
Harry laughed and shook his head, "Definitely not. But that's good. Then my only other condition is that these articles are written in the Quibbler and not the Daily Prophet."
Shocked at the statement, Rita dropped the bag with her supplies that she had been holding, seeing to not notice or care as it burst open and scattered across the corridor, including her Quick Quotes Quill which Harry noticed came to a rest against his shoe.
"YOU CAN'T BE …" she cried out before shaking her head, taking a deep breath and starting over. "You can't be serious … there's no way I could accept that … I'd be the joke of the literary world … I'd never be able to show my head …" she trailed off before looking back to Harry who was watching her without saying anything.
"Even if I did accept this … which I won't … why would I ever consider giving my story to that ragtag excuse for a publication. It peddles absurdities and nonsense to a gullible readership. Under Xenophilius Lovegood, the Quibbler, is nothing short of a joke in the wizarding world. Why would you even consider wanting the articles printed in the Quibbler?"
Unable to stop himself Harry smiled slightly at her description of the paper which he supposed had a certain truth to it … certainly much more truth to it than the article she had previously printed about him. Shaking his head to rid himself of the smile, he looked back to her a serious look on his face. "One of my closest friends is Luna Lovegood."
"Oh …" Rita said quietly, staring dumbly at Harry.
"But beyond that, I … don't entire trust the close relationship between the Daily Prophet and the Ministry."
Rita stared at him for several seconds with a raised eyebrow slowly shaking her head. "What about money though? There is no way the Quibbler would be able to pay anywhere near what the Prophet would be willing to pay for this story. I'd lose certain money and almost no one except for the few kooks who read that ludicrous … I mean let's be serious, it's not like the Quibbler has exactly the same readership."
Harry nodded before shrugging his shoulders, "I'm going to imagine that if you write the story on or interview and title it something like "The Boy Who Lives Speaks' or something stupidly ostentatious like that you will get more than enough people willing to buy that edition of the Quibbler if only for that story. Maybe if you are worried about, they upfront price of the article, maybe when you bring the story to Luna's father, offer it to him of a percentage of the increased sale's total compared to the expected profit for that edition … pretty sure that would definitely work out in your favor, and you will be fine. And besides that, I thought most people went into journalism to uncover truths and share stories that had been hidden … not just to make money … or write salacious or outright fake articles."
He paused and nodded, seeing her cheeks redden slightly, although whether from embarrassment or anger he did not know, as she looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
"However, … if I'm wrong … and I'd be surprised if I am. I would be willing to either offer to do a follow up interview or a couple follow up interviews, depending on how much material we cover, under the same conditions as the first one, of course. It would give you a chance to be known as the reporter who interviewed Harry Potter. But honestly, if, as disappointed as I'd be, money was the only thing that was important in this situation, I'd be willing to cover whatever you figured the difference in your pay would be between the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler."
This caused Rita to snap her attention back to Harry. 'There is no way you could possibly cover that."
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry just smiled. "Apparently the Potter Vault is definitely not empty, and this seems like a reasonable enough investment. But beyond that, I actually doubt I'd need to dip into my actual money. I had ended up winning a whole bunch of money at the World Cup, betting on the outcome of the match thanks to a suggestion from my friends, Fred and George Weasley. I can assure you that no matter how significant the difference is between what you make with the Quibbler and what you think you would have made with the Prophet … which I honestly doubt will be significant … I can cover it."
Rita stared at Harry before slowly nodding, not saying anything.
After several minutes of silence, it was Harry who ended up breaking the quiet. "So how about it? Think we might have a deal?"
Harry watched as Rita stared at him for several seconds before looking down the corridor still in shock. Eventually she looked back at him. 'I'll need to think about this … I trust this isn't a limited time offer …?"
Shaking his head Harry smiled, "Take as much time as you need. I'll be around the castle, just let me know if or rather when I need to arrange one of the professors to attend our interview and I'll be there as long as it doesn't interfere with prepping for the tournament."
She looked at him for several seconds before nodding. "You know … you honestly aren't what I expected … you're more … well you are more than the usual kids your age."
Harry paused for a second as he looked at her sadly and nodded slowly. "Honestly … after everything that has happened to me … I've had to grow up quickly." He said, unable to fully hide the bitterness in his voice.
Eyebrows furrowed, Rita looked at him and opened her mouth, which caused Harry to smile as he shook his head and held up his hand. "Sorry, but not giving away any freebies. But I am looking forward to out interview if you decide that we have a deal."
With that he turned, raising his foot slightly more than was necessary and stomped down on her Quik Quotes Quill, smiling at the sound of it snapping under his foot.
Hiding his smile, Harry spun around to face Rita who was looking down surprised at the floor.
"Oh no! I'm really sorry about that. I must not have seen it roll there when you dropped your bag." Harry said, as he reached into his own bag, withdrawing a normal quill. "Please accept this quill until I can get you a replacement … I think I saw one in Diagon Alley that was supposed to be Self-Writing and Magically Accurate – so you can get a more precise transcription of the interviews without having to worry about writing anything down.
Rita looked up and opened her mouth but was cut off again, this time by a voice which came from down the corridor.
"Hello Harry … and … ah … Ms. Skeeter." Dumbledore's voice carried to them as he walked down the corridor towards them.
He couldn't be sure, but Harry thought he saw Dumbledore momentarily look down and note the broken pieces of Rita's quill before looking up and smiling at Harry, his eyes twinkling slightly more than usual.
"I must apologize for disrupting this … interview?" he said, raising an eyebrow as he looked around the hallway, noting her bag and its spilled contents. "But I must insist that I need Harry, as the Weighing of the Wands is about to start and certainly, we need all of out champions present." He finished motioning Harry to join him.
Making his way towards Professor Dumbledore, Harry heard Rita drop to the ground and hastily began to throw her supplies into her crocodile-skin bag.
As he reached Professor Dumbledore, Harry turned around, a serious expression on his face as he looked at Rita, who he noticed had collected all her supplies and was in the process of walking towards them.
"Oh, and while you are taking your time thinking over the interview offer, maybe it would be best if you didn't … bug me." Harry said, turning around and walking with Dumbledore to the classroom where everyone else waited on them, unable to stop himself from smiling at the sound of a small, startled gasp from her and the sound of her bag hitting the floor again, contents once more spilling out into the corridor.
Entering the room, Harry nodded to Professor Dumbledore before making his way over to where the other champions were sitting, grabbing the seat next to Fleu, smiling when she nodded politely when he sat down.
Obviously, they had been waiting for him, as no sooner than harry sat then Professor Dumbledore walked to the judges table and introduced Mr. Ollivander and explained the purpose behind the Weighing of the Wands.
As before, Harry watched as the aged wandmaker came to the center of the room and one by one began inspecting the wands, leaving Harry's wand for last.
"Ah … Mr. Potter … it is so good to see you again." He said calling up Harry.
Harry nodded as he walked towards Mr. Ollivander, passing over his wand to the wizard.
"Aaaah, yes," he said, smiling at the wand, before looking up at Harry. "Just as I remember it … although I must admit it is certainly in better condition that I find most fourth year wands to be …" he paused before letting out a chuckle, "… certainly it's in better condition that even mine was way back when, when I was in my fourth year … something my father found most displeasing …" he trailed off smiling at the judges, most of whom, save Karkaroff, had politely chuckled.
"But I digress," he said looking back to Harry and nodding, before looking down at the wand.
He froze momentarily, before spending several seconds turning it over in his hands and balancing it on his fingers. Eventually he looked back up to Harry. "Curious … very curious …" he raised an eyebrow and took a step towards Harry, quietly mumbling to him, loud enough that only Harry could hear, "It seems this wand is both much better suited for you than I'd expect it to be … almost as if it has spent more time with you than would have been possible since you had first received it but also … it seems to be not as well suited for you than it was when you had picked it up in my shop … as if … well …" he paused again his eyebrows raising again, as he saw Harry's own eyes had raised in surprise. "Though there is no doubt that you still certainly have this wands loyalty."
Smiling slightly, Ollivander nodded at Harry as he took a step back, looking towards the judges, who were all staring at the wand maker, except Dumbledore who was staring at Harry. Ollivander began speaking which caused Dumbledore to look at him, "Curious indeed, but I have no doubt that this wand, as with the others before it, shall perform admirably when needed."
"Aquavini Fontana" he called out, smiling at the fountain of wine which shot out of the tip of the wand before he ended the spell.
Taking one last look between Harry and the wand, he nodded and returned the wand to Harry before looking to the judges and nodding to them, confirming that all wands should be sufficient for the tasks ahead of them.
"You have our appreciation, Mr. Ollivander." Said Dumbledore, who stood and walked to the side of the judge's table. He paused, looking at the camera man who had jumped up, before turning to Bagman. "I would of course enjoy dismissing you to enjoy some time off before supper, but I believe Mr. Bagman has plans for the champions …"
"I do indeed. Thank you, Dumbledore. If everyone would be willing to get up we are going to be taking some photos!" Bagman cried excitedly as he jumped to his feet.
After smiling at the sight of the champions slowly making their way to the front of the room, he turned towards Rita who to Harry's delight was looking frustrated at the piece of parchment in front of her that she was furiously and manually scratching on with the quill Harry had given her.
Frowning at the lack of response, Bagman moved towards her and cleared his throat, causing her to look up in surprise.
"Oh … right … pictures … of course."
Rather efficiently, Rita and the photographer managed to arrange everyone, with Madame Maxime sitting in the center with Harry and Fleur on either side of her and then everyone else slightly behind them.
After finally escaping the room, Harry waved to Cedric, letting him know that he'd be willing to fly with Krum and Fleur, if Cedric or even if Bagman put something together, before heading off on his own toward the Great Hall, sitting next to Ron and his standard heaping plate of food.
'Hey Harry," Ron greeted after managing to finally swallow the mouthful of food he had in his mouth when Harry arrived. "You just missed her, but Lav was just here."
"Oh … Lav was just here?" Harry said, smile on his face as he looked at Ron.
"Er … I mean … Lavender, Lavender was here." He got out amid the stuttering, his face the same color as his hair.
Harry smiled, "Oh ok and what did Lav want?"
"Har har, Harry." Ron said, faking a laugh. "She just wanted to let us know Hermione is alright. Madam Pomfrey might just keep her overnight, but Hermione doesn't really want visitors right now. She'll see us in the morning."
Looking up in concern, he saw Ron nodding, "I know, when Lav … ender, when Lavender, said that I was worried, but she stressed that Hermione was doing well and just wasn't up to seeing us … whatever that meant. She then made me promise that I wouldn't visit Hermione and I'd stop you from visiting if you tried it."
Harry paused for a second, looking at Ron's serious face, before laughing. "Oh ya? She thinks you're able to take me, does she?" He asked a smile on his face.
'You never know Harry, I've been practicing, and I've even read a book …" he paused before sheepishly looking at Harry, "… well most of a book on offensive and defensive magic. So, who knows, I might have a chance. Fighting you can't be that much worse than fighting the twins, can it?"
Laughing, Harry looked down the table to where the twins sat, deep in conversation with a nervous looking second year, before looking back to Ron and nodding, "That's probably not an unfair point. I certainly don't envy anyone who they have it in for.
Ron looked over to the twins who at that moment looked up at him and waved, before gulping and looking back to Harry, steering the conversation towards what he'd been up to.
Skipping the interaction with Rita, he summarized everything else.
After finishing the meal, they made their way up to their tower, only for Harry to be surprised at the sight of a large brown barn owl sitting on his pillow, when he opened his curtains.
Confirming that the room was empty, with the exception of Ron, Harry immediately removed the letter, realizing it was from Sirius.
Harry –
Don't want to go into detail in this letter … especially due to my currently location. But I have arrived to where I had said I was planning on getting to. I'll need to spend a couple days making sure everything around here is safe and secure … but it would be nice to talk face to face soon.
I'm wondering, if you had any … weekends coming up that'd make it convenient, come to the place Prongs, Moony, and Padfoot used to play, and I will find you.
Until then, you better take care.
Sirius
Kind Regards,
FavoriteAuthor
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Story Note 1 – 'It would be best if you didn't … bug me.' Yes this is Harry alluding to knowing Rita's secret but making it carefully enough that while it would hopefully give her pause, it will allow him to deny knowing anything and prevent Rita from bringing it up as she doesn't actually know if he knows anything and asking him would result in her having to admit it in the first place.
Story Note 2 – Sirius not mentioning Wormtail's name in the letter was not a mistake – I believe that if Sirius ever caught up with Peter again in the books … things would have gone incredibly poorly for Peter.
Thanks to those of you out to those of you who enjoy my stories, I promise to keep updating the stories as long as you enjoy them, and a special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to leave feedback or reach out to me directly.
Author Note 1 – All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to what you think! Once again, thanks for all the reviews and feedback on this story, I'm pumped it has been well received. Obviously, I love people telling me they enjoy the chapters (keep it up if you do) but I really enjoy the constructive criticism as well. One of the earliest pieces of feedback I got was that Fred/George dialogue was rough – so as a result I changed it and really like the way it is coming across now (a sentiment that seems to be universally shared by every ones' reviews as well). Also please continue to share ideas or requests as to things you wish to occur in the stories. I love the suggestions. And try to incorporate what I can.
Author Note 2 – I have started posting polls, having been getting really helpful feedback from some readers and thought I would make it easier for anyone to provide feedback on the stories they are liking without having to reach out directly. Thanks in advance for anyone who follows up.
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Ariadne Venegas - Looks like he arrived a little later but still in tome for Rita to pull him aside. Hope you like how their chat was written!
RaiDaniels - Thanks for the review!
cameron1812 - Hmmm ... he's coming up!
MMax - Hope you are all caught up and enjoying it so far!
FlowerChild23 - I think interesting is a pretty good way to describe it, hope it lived up to the expectations!
Abstract01 - That's a fair request, hope this chapter met expectations.
Evergone the Great - Ya I think I caught that on a reread and was like on thats cool, sure would be nice if all 4 were.
Antex - The Legendary Zoroark - Thanks for taking the time for the review! Haha I don't know if I had ever gone that far but definitely agree she definitely was bothersome. Happy the seeker addition has seemed to have been enjoyed and there will be an arc with all of them coming up right after the first task. I imagine Hermione will be able to pull through ... although I can't imagine Nott is in for a good time. And finally thanks! While I thought JK might have overdone the Snape hate for Harry based on hating his dad, transfering it just because he looked like his dad and his dad got the girl he had a weird crush on ... I do think that there is room for a more nuanced look at Snape's feelings toward Harry and Gryffindor ... looking forward to your feedback with how it gets written.
EP - Thanks!
LadyPhoenix68 - I guess we will see what's in store.
zega606 - Thanks! Really appreciate the review! And while obviously Harry's relationships are central to this story am enjoying writing other relationships as well.
TimC34 - Thanks! Without a doubt. While I do think Draco's potential was wasted slightly the way it was written in the books, I think there is potential for him to be a character that is not really Harry's enemy but is neither not really his friend. I think even by that point there was alot of hate between them and Draco's upbringing while certainly colored him to feeling certain ways about things could be slightly altered but not completely changed, especially over a short time period.
littleemberlou - Not too shabby! Haha, while I do not exaclty love Draco, especially the way all his interactions had been written (at least until Harry found him crying in the washroom - which for I think the first time showed he had depth) I think there could be alot of potential for Draco
jkarr - Thanks so much ... hope this was a fun chapter!