You Understand Politics Now Too

It was only then that Rita finally understood Veratia's spirit.

As a paparazzi reporter, reading between the lines is her basic skill.

No one knew exactly what Rita and Veratia said inside the house, but seeing the relieved look on Rita's face when she left, everyone had a general idea.

"So?" Harry asked Veratia as he walked into the room. "Did she agree?"

"I gave her a reason she couldn't refuse," Veratia said with a smile. "Don't worry, I didn't force her. And you should know that the Daily Prophet won't bow to anyone."

"But they are very agile," Sirius said from behind.

"Yes, but the Daily Prophet will not bow to anyone," Veratia repeated.

When Rita returned to the editorial office, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She's still terrified, extremely terrified.

There was even a little regret.

"I was so stupid, so stupid." She paced back and forth in her office, muttering to herself, "I only knew that woman's last name was Grindelwald, and that she was a perfect news story, but I forgot that her last name was Grindelwald, and that she was a born evil, ruthless Dark Wizard..."

But it was too late for regrets. With Veratia holding a hold over her, she naturally had to obey Vivi's orders.

She had no choice but to obey. Not only had she been caught red-handed, but just as she was muttering that Veratia was a "naturally evil Dark Wizard," a burning pain suddenly shot through her back.

"Woohoo!"

Her screams echoed throughout the entire editorial department.

"What's wrong, Ms. Skeeter?" someone knocked on the door and asked with concern.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Rita shouted. "I just kicked a table leg! I'm fine!"

The people outside were skeptical, but since Rita said nothing was wrong, they didn't ask any further questions.

Rita had no idea what had happened; a curse had been placed on her back...

Anyone who dares to resist that woman will suffer the same pain they just experienced, a pain that burns their soul.

She had no doubt that anyone who dared to do anything to wrong Ms. Grindelwald would be burned to ashes by the cursed flames.

She worked in the editorial department all night, making several revisions before finally finalizing the news article.

The next morning, Grimmauld Place, Number 12 received a copy of the Daily Prophet.

This time, Rita didn't tell any fabricated gossip, but instead seriously recounted Regulus Black's heroic deeds to the readers.

Under her portrayal, Regulus Black became a hero who endured humiliation and only allied with Voldemort to deliver a fatal blow at a crucial moment.

The letter also included a photograph of Regulus Black, a thin young man who looked frail and weak, which aroused the sympathy of some of the witches.

As a journalist, Rita understands readers' psychology very well.

"Looks like Rita isn't entirely hopeless after all," Sirius said with a chuckle, holding his newspaper. "I think she can still speak human language."

"She must have been scared, otherwise, given her personality, it's unlikely she would have compromised."

Although Dumbledore said this and his expression was calm, Sirius could still see the schadenfreude in Dumbledore.

It's not surprising that Dumbledore acted this way, after all, Rita had made quite a few jokes about him back then.

But Dumbledore, as a legitimate White Wizard and Hogwarts Headmaster, naturally couldn't find Rita Skeeter and give her some irresistible reasons to refuse.

Rita also grasped this point, so when she was writing gossip about Dumbledore, her pen almost Mars on the paper.

The effect was immediate; the new issue of the Daily Prophet caused a huge stir in the Magical World as soon as it was published.

Tragic heroes like Regulus deserve even more sympathy.

Many witches were instantly filled with sympathy upon seeing Regulus's photograph.

"Regulus Black is a hero!"

Letters like these fell like snowflakes and were delivered to the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry of Magic was in a terrible predicament, but had no way to get rid of it.

Even when Fudge was giving a speech somewhere, he was asked, "When will Regulus Black be exonerated as a hero?"

"We guarantee that we will exonerate him once the truth is uncovered!"

As a seasoned veteran Fudge certainly wouldn't give a direct answer, but only gave an ambiguous reply. In any case, as long as the facts were clear, he would definitely exonerate Regulus —but if the facts weren't clear... or rather, when the facts would be clear, then the initiative would be in his hands.

Politicians are generally insecure and like to be in control, as this is the only way to remain invincible.

But here's the problem: you win and win and win, but in the end you end up losing everything.

The Daily Prophet certainly wouldn't stop at just one article. In fact, Rita had already prepared a series of moves to Regulus Black—or rather, she wanted to use this opportunity to curry favor with Miss Grindelwald.

She's a reporter with a keen sense of smell. Grindelwald... oh, the news of Gellert Grindelwald's prison break has spread all over Europe, and this Miss Grindelwald is from Austria, so she's obviously a descendant of the old Grindelwald.

Investing in her early on is a sure-fire way to make money.

Rita's life principle is this: you may make a small profit, but I will never lose.

For several days, the Daily Prophet's pages were filled with the story of the Black family's struggle—the story of how they fought against the Dark Lord.

First, Sirius Black, in order to rebel against his family, resolutely decided to join the bright Gryffindor, and then Regulus Black had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of taking over the baton of the family's "Pure-blood glory".

In Rita's writing, Regulus becomes someone who doesn't want to join Voldemort but is forced to join the Death Eater under his parents' earnest expectations.

If no one from the Pure-blood families, long-established Slytherin Black family home, were to join the Death Eater, they would become a laughingstock throughout the British wizarding world.

After joining the Death Eater, Regulus gradually realized Voldemort's reactionary nature, so he decided to take this opportunity to endure humiliation and gain Voldemort's trust, and then deliver a fatal blow to Voldemort at the crucial moment.

Sirius's story is a familiar one, with a touch of fantasy adventure added. In short, the two Black family home brothers became incredibly popular and were the talk of the town among wizards in the British wizarding world.

Rita's subtle and euphemistic writing even carries a hint of politicization.

Some people, after reading the Daily Prophet's article, even had the thought, "It would be great if Black worked at the Ministry of Magic."

Although everyone knows that The Daily Prophet likes to make things up and talk nonsense, people still enjoy it.

Moreover, Sirius Black was a wrongly convicted criminal by the Ministry of Magic, and the truth of the matter was made public some time ago; it was no secret.

With these two factors combined, the Daily Prophet's report on the Black family became believable in the eyes of wizards.

Moreover, the fact that the Ministry of Magic has not denied the report is sufficient to demonstrate its authenticity.

Inside the Black family home, Sirius was also busy in the study, experiencing both pain and joy.

The days following Christmas are the full moon days, Professor Lupin is busy taking Wolfsbane Potion and hiding, so he has no time to appear in front of everyone.

Otherwise, Sirius could have dragged Lupin along to help with the work.

Sirius was busy replying to a recent surge of enthusiastic fans.

Yes, ever since the Daily Prophet published the heroic deeds of the Black brothers, a significant number of wizards have become fans of the Black brothers.

The biggest reason was that Rita published photos of Sirius when he was young, as well as photos of him now, on the front page.

Sirius even carefully groomed himself to take this photo.

"Your appearance is also an advantage, Sirius," Harry said as he fixed Sirius's hair. "What we need to do now is to make the most of all your advantages and take this opportunity to build momentum among ordinary wizards."

Sirius listened, completely bewildered.

Veratia, on the other hand, looked at Harry with approval. "You've started to understand politics lately, haven't you?"

Harry gave her a smug look in return.

"Where did you learn all this?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Oh, Mr. Septimus taught me that," Harry thought for a moment, then added, "Septimus Malfoy, you should have heard of that name."

Sirius counted on his fingers for a moment, then looked up and asked, "It should be Lucius Malfoy's great-grandfather, right?"

"Yes, he's also Cassandra's father," Harry said with a chuckle.

Sirius's lips twitched. He had overlooked one problem—that this godson's seniority might be a little too high.

If it weren't for their status as Godfather and godson, he would probably have to address Harry as at least as "great-uncle."

In the field of political science, Mr. Septimus spared no effort in teaching Harry, even breaking down certain points in detail to teach him, using all sorts of cramming methods.

Harry didn't dare to resist or say no at first. Through constant exposure and instruction, although he didn't learn everything about Mr. Septimus, he still learned quite a bit.

The Minister of Darkness from a hundred years ago, learn from him and you will...

He didn't dare to ask why he had to learn these things; he just learned whatever was taught, showing a willingness to accept anything.

But it should be said that Harry is not stupid.

"Fame is a fickle friend," Sirius wrote earnestly in his reply, muttering to himself, "I may be adored by wizards right now, but the next second I could be thrown into the dust by something—the higher I'm lifted, the harder I'll fall."

"It's certainly good to be prepared, but Fudge is the one who'll get a real hard fall into the mud," Veratia said, arms crossed.

She has a lot of opinions about Fudge now, and Harry doesn't know why.

"Yeah?"

Ron looked up and saw an owl fly in from outside.

The owl flew through the air like a missile, following a whirlwind trajectory, and then landed squarely in Ron's arms.

"Oh, it's Errol."

He reached out and took the letter from Errol, opening it as he said, "I really don't understand why Mom would let Errol deliver the letter. We already have a young owl— Errol is so old, he should be resting, not flapping his wings and attacking me to deliver the letter."

Errol seemed to understand Ron's words and nuzzled Ron's hand with his head.

"Let's see what the letter says?" Hermione asked from the side.

Ron opened the letter, glanced at it, and then said to Sirius, "Oh, it's Papa who asked me to give Sirius some greetings—I see, they sent the letter from Romania to home, and then Errol had to fly from home to bring it here... Papa said he'll come to visit you at Grimmauld Place, Number 12 at the end of the Christmas holidays, Sirius."

"I welcome them," Sirius said gently.

He had a good relationship with the Arthur Weasley family from the beginning, because an elder of the Black family home had married Septimus Weasley, and Sirius was Gryffindor who had defected from the Black, so the Arthur naturally liked Sirius very much.

It should be said that, apart from the Pure-blood Slytherin family, other wizarding families all quite liked Sirius.

When the Godfather was young, he was handsome, elegant, and polite, which naturally won the favor of the parents.

Harry's grandparents, in particular, liked Sirius even more than James, which made James jealous for several days.

"But speaking of which," Veratia asked again, "Does the Godfather have any plans? I mean, which department of the Ministry of Magic does he intend to go to?"

"That's Harry's Godfather, how did he become hers?" Cassandra muttered to Pabbie in the doorway.

Pabbie was wrinkling her nose and picking at her fingers, her lips pursed so much they could almost hold three Licorice Wand between them.

"Let's go to the Auror Office," Sirius said to Veratia as he carefully placed the letter he had written into an envelope. "I've always wanted to be an Auror."

"The current Head of the Auror Office..." Veratia thought for a moment, "Rufus Scrimgeour, right? I remember him, he looks like an old lion, and his temper is just as bad. Maybe we can think of a way to change his position..."

"Where will the changes take place?"

Harry looked at Veratia with utter incomprehension. How could you say it so casually, as if you were the Minister for Magic?

Of course, Harry isn't so lacking in emotional intelligence that he would blurt things out directly.

(Something came up at home today, so I'll call 4000 first.)

(End of this chapter)