By the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan huddled together, resting, keeping warm, and passing the time. They chatted idly about trivial nonsense.
Leaning back in an armchair, George flipped through recent issues of the Daily Prophet. After finding and carefully reading Rita Skeeter's reports, he said to Fred and Lee Jordan, who were playing cards beside him, "I've suddenly started to like Rita Skeeter lately."
"Don't tell me you've actually fallen for her." Fred grinned teasingly. "She's nearly old enough to be your mum."
"I mean her articles."
George continued looking through the paper, reading the recent front-page news. He felt there seemed to be quite a lot of information in it. Sirius had already dropped plenty of bombshells a while ago, but the latest issue of Defense Guide had not come out yet. All they could do was see what other major news the Daily Prophet would report—and look for news of Ludo Bagman's misfortune.
Ludo Bagman had nearly taken every Galleon from their pockets. Without Albert, their dream would have ended before it had even begun.
Fred and George had never forgotten that grudge.
"That woman's articles are still as sharp as ever. Anyone she sets her sights on is bound to have a terrible time."
Lee Jordan had also read the articles Rita Skeeter had published in the Daily Prophet over the past few days. He had to admit there was a reason her reports were so popular, even though most of them were complete nonsense.
But everyone loved gossip.
"Sirius really is bold. What he did last time is definitely going to bring him trouble." George kept turning the pages, searching for more news about Bagman.
Ever since Rita Skeeter had exposed Ludo Bagman's scandals with astonishing efficiency, the former