Before Rita Skeeter could identify it carefully, a deep and deep voice suddenly came to her ears.
The middle-aged Auror named Kingsley looked at her in confusion. He moved slowly, his burly body intentionally or unintentionally covering most of Rita's sight, and to his right was a half-open door.
An empty office with the words "Auror Reception Room" written on the door.
Rita suddenly came to her senses, looked away, and asked with a smile as usual.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say? I might have slept too late last night and was a little distracted—"
"For some reasons - you know, Aurors always have a lot of secrets, especially Mr. Scrimgeour, and his office may not be suitable for - well, the media - so after careful consideration, we decided to
The venue for today’s meeting has been temporarily changed to here.”
Kingsley replied with an undiminished smile, pointing to the big words on the door panel as he spoke.
Rita glanced at the Aurors sitting in the "back half" and asked hesitantly.
"Let me ask you a question, the gentlemen sitting over there seem to be..."
"A little nervous? That's normal."
Kingsley shrugged his shoulders and took over Rita's words.
"You must be aware that the Ministry of Magic has recently opened up a number of Auror positions to the society - after slightly relaxing the performance requirements, we have recruited a group of wizards with rich life experience, many of whom have served as bounties
It will obviously take some time to get used to such a change in hunter's identity, but you can rest assured that we are all law enforcers fighting for the peace and order of the magic world."
After a short pause, Kingsley looked at Rita Skeeter with curiosity.
"What's wrong? Are there any Aurors you know over there?"
"No, I just took a look -"
Rita Skeeter smiled politely, suppressed her confusion, and followed Kingsley into the office.
The office was very empty, except for a round table, a few chairs, and not even a decent cabinet.
Kingsley led Rita into the room and sat down before leaving. After the door to the reception room was closed, the sights and sounds of the Auror headquarters outside were completely isolated. Rita Skeeter sat alone in the empty reception room.
In the room, I was going through the final psychological struggle in my heart.
In the mission statement before departure, the "organization" clearly told her that there would be someone at the Ministry of Magic secretly protecting her.
However, apart from Tonks, Rita didn't find any other member of the "organization" along the way.
What makes her even more uneasy is...
Compared with the past few months, when the protection was so tight that not even a flying insect could sneak into it, this time whether she was going to the Ministry of Magic or exposing Lockhart's dirty information to the Ministry of Magic, the confidentiality of these links was too rough.
That's it, or in other words - the level of trust in her has been raised too high.
Judging from the worst-case scenario, if she directly reports on the "organization" during this conversation, it may cause a devastating blow to subsequent plans.
You know, according to the rumors Rita discovered, it is not uncommon for the Ministry of Magic to secretly use "truth serum".
unless……
Rita Skeeter tried to flash through her mind the wizards she met along the way and the introduction to the mission.
Obviously, Tonks is definitely not the only "organization" member of the Ministry of Magic, and it is highly unlikely that she is a formal member who is "secretly covering" her operation - if those big shots are not bluffing - then they are waiting
After a while of secret conversation, it became clear that among the employees of the Ministry of Magic who appeared next to Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour, there must be some high-ranking member of the "organization".
Yes, that’s absolutely it!
Rita calculated it several times in her mind and nodded with certainty.
Because only in this way can the "organization" make amends as soon as possible when she "said something wrong".
As for who is the undercover lurking in the Ministry of Magic, just look at other wizards who appear for less reasonable reasons besides the Minister of Magic and the Director of the Auror Office, and pay a little attention to the comparison of the number of people, and you can roughly guess those "
The names of the members of Lurking in the Dark.
At this moment, the door to the Auror reception room was pushed open.
Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour strode in.
Then……
The door to the room was closed again.
"Well, Miss Rita Skeeter, let's cut this short—"
Rufus Scrimgeour looked over Rita like an old lion surveying its prey.
His tawny hair and thick eyebrows were mixed with streaks of gray. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses were a pair of sharp eyes. Although he was a bit lame, he walked with the grace of a meteor, making people immediately feel that he was a sharp person.
, tough guy.
"What kind of information do you have about that famous wizard? You should know the price of teasing an Auror, right?"
"I……"
Rita Skeeter, who was still looking at the door in a daze, was stunned for half a second.
If she remembered correctly, at the previous press conference on the werewolf siege, the speech of the director of the Auror Office was the only one who could have a chance to escape unscathed from the subsequent denunciation storm. In the "Daily Prophet" reporters' comments
During the chat about the next minister, many people believed that unless there was a third magical war in the future, it would be absolutely impossible for Scrimgeour, the director of the Auror Office, to be elected as the Minister of Magic.
But if a conflict does break out, and the Ministry of Magic enters a state of tension, the biggest vested interest will be...
At this moment, the words Tonks said this morning suddenly flashed in her mind.
"Rufus Scrimgeour, very good."
Rita's pupils shrank slightly, and there was a chill in her heart.
She suddenly remembered where she had seen the uncomfortable feeling of the "new Aurors" outside.
A few months ago, when she was dragged out of the magic trap by the field wizards of the Tianming Group, the unsmiling field staff gave her such a depressing atmosphere. This was a kind of depressive atmosphere that came from long-term collaborative training.
A feeling of suffocation and oppression.
"Oh, Rufus, don't be so impatient... Miss Skeeter is not a criminal awaiting trial."
Cornelius Fudge shook his head, looked at Rita expectantly and said, "If I remember correctly, your previous letter said that this content will be related to the reputation of a famous wizard in the magical world.
A wizard who works at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."
"Yes, yes. But this involves the safety of the students, as well as justice..."
Rita quickly made up her mind and nodded extremely seriously under the gaze of Cornelius Fudge.
"Mr. Minister, Mr. Scrimgeour, I have reliable evidence here. Gilderoy Lockhart, who is now working at Hogwarts, the anti-dark magic hero who was famous in the wizarding world, is actually a
A liar who uses the Forgetting Curse to impersonate others."
"What's even more shocking is that Professor Dumbledore seems to know part of the truth..."
"Oh! Miss Skeeter, that's a pretty serious accusation."
Cornelius Fudge said softly, his expression was serious, but a trace of uncontrollable excitement flashed deep in his eyes.
"You should know what this means. Even if only one of the two is established, it will be enough to open a formal wizard court case - the two people you are talking about are honorary members of the Anti-Dark Arts Alliance and the chief of the Wizengamot.
Magician. Oh, Rufus, it should be safe for us to talk here, right? It's not that I don't trust the Aurors, but this matter may be extra... extra cautious and taken seriously..."
"Of course, this is even safer than my office -"
Rufus Scrimgeour frowned, his face so gloomy that it looked like it was about to drip.
"Gilderoy Lockhart? I remember that he was selected as an honorary member of the International Anti-Black League some time ago. He enjoys the same freedom of travel as Aurors from various countries in the global wizarding community, as well as assistance when vicious incidents occur.
Law enforcement powers… Do you have any evidence for your accusation?”
"Yes, this is not a trivial matter. Do you have any evidence?" Fudge said.
"The evidence is solid," Rita said firmly.
"Are there any witnesses or physical evidence? You can't convict based on letters or anything like that."
"Yes, all of these," Rita said.
"What do you think? Scrimgeour, what are you going to do now?"
Cornelius Fudge frowned heavily and turned his head to look at Scrimgeour.
"There is nothing to hesitate, verify the evidence, arrest, and try-"
"However, this may involve accusations against Albus Dumbledore..."
"Not yet. Besides, I have always been suspicious of descriptions after 'shocking'."
Scrimgeour said without hesitation, looking at Rita thoughtfully for a few seconds before continuing.
"As for Professor Dumbledore's subsequent events, we have to wait until Gilderoy Lockhart's crime is established before there is room for discussion. If Miss Skeeter's evidence is clear and accurate enough, maybe we can get it in the next few days.
Come to a conclusion - of course, the specific handling and coordination are naturally decided by you, Mr. Minister. After all, our Auror's work scope does not include those complicated communication matters..."
"Well, that's what I said -"
Cornelius Fudge nodded in agreement, his eyes shining with excitement.
"In short, once the Aurors have made preliminary decisions, I will convene a ministerial meeting immediately."
"Professor Dumbledore is old, and it is inevitable that he will be deceived by a few people with ulterior motives. As the Ministry of Magic that maintains the order of magical society, we still have the responsibility to help Hogwarts find the bad apples and fill the loopholes... So, Ski
Miss Te, shall we begin?"
"Okay, Mr. Minister..."
Rita Skeeter replied calmly, smiling slightly.
She took out the parchment from her handbag and the magic quill hovered over the paper.
"The first is the book "Wandering with Werewolves". Due to the Ministry of Magic's operation some time ago, I planned to write a side story about fighting werewolves, but during the process of collecting materials, I found that the story of this book is actually based on
An old American wizard. He was the real 'hero' who saved a village from the scourge of werewolves, and this was just the first victim..."
In the early preparations, the "organization" provided Rita with five complete chains of evidence.
However, she only planned to tell the Ministry of Magic about three of them for the time being.
As a journalist, she is well aware of the pressure of timeliness and urgency. If the Ministry of Magic had obtained all the information from the beginning, they would undoubtedly have invested a lot of time and effort in the process of identification, discussion, and planning.
energy.
But what if...
…
Noon the next day.
Ministry of Magic, Cornelius Fudge's office.
boom!
Cornelius Fudge slammed his fist on the table, making the coffee cup clink.
"Check! Who leaked the news——"
On the desk in front of him, there was a copy of today's "Daily Prophet" spread out. The huge headline that caught his eye was:
[Shocked! Gilderoy Lockhart publicly admitted that the prototype of the protagonist of "Walking with Werewolves" was someone else!]