Knowing One's Limits

"Morning, Bozzo."

Rita Skeeter, carrying a crocodile-skin handbag, stepped into the Daily Prophet headquarters and greeted the short man seated at a desk drinking coffee.

"Anything new today?"

"Someone tipped us off that Dementors entered Hogwarts without the Ministry of Magic's permission. Dumbledore seems pretty angry about it." Bozzo pulled a sheet of parchment from the pile of documents beside him and read aloud. "But the Ministry has temporarily sealed off the news, so the specifics are unknown."

"What else?"

After taking the coffee her colleague handed her and thanking him, Rita Skeeter listened intently as Bozzo went over the news stories worth investigating further.

"There's more news about Black. Someone spotted him on the outskirts of London again, but Black had already escaped before the Ministry people arrived." Bozzo continued, "As for the incident where a Hogwarts Hippogriff attacked a student, Mr. Lucius Malfoy intends to file a formal complaint. He wants the matter handed over to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. We could go interview Mr. Malfoy."

"What about Albert Anderson?" Rita Skeeter asked after draining her coffee. "Doesn't the Wizengamot intend to award him the title of 'Wizengamot British Youth Representative'?"

Rita Skeeter believed Albert Anderson, who had won two international awards, was fully qualified for it. If even he was not qualified, then no one truly was.

"Apparently there is such a thing." Bozzo lowered his gaze to the parchment and said softly, "But quite a few people don't want the public to know about it."

"This is yours."

As he spoke, Bozzo took an envelope from a drawer and silently handed it to Rita Skeeter.

"How rare. It's been ages since I received one of these, and there's even more than I expected." Rita Skeeter tucked the envelope into her crocodile-skin handbag