Made the Papers

Ron Weasley did not have a pleasant summer vacation.

Not long ago, he had a falling out with Percy over borrowing an owl.

Since that last phone call, Ron has completely lost contact with Harry.

Hermione wrote in her letter that Harry's uncle probably disliked wizards, which was why he forbade Harry from contacting his friends in the Wizarding World, and suggested that Hagrid visit Harry in their place.

Ron also thought Hermione's suggestion was very good, so he wrote a letter to Hagrid, but his owl Errol was too old and he couldn't bear to let it fly too far to deliver the letter.

Since Percy became Prefect, his family bought him an owl, which is why Ron wanted to borrow it.

However, Ron was very annoyed that Percy kept making up lame excuses to reject him.

"Percy still won't lend the owl." Fred, who was playing Wizard Card with Ginny, looked up at Ron, who was coming downstairs in a huff, and asked.

"Hermes has already gone out to deliver the message," Percy explained casually.

"Don't tell me you have an endless stream of letters to send every day." Ron was checking on Errol when he heard Percy's words. He turned and glared at him. "If you're going to lie, at least come up with a better excuse."

In the end, Ron couldn't bear to let the elderly Errol go out and deliver the message to Hagrid for him; crossing most of Britain would be a severe test for an old owl.

"I have," Percy said, his face flushed red as he glared at Ron. "As for who I send letters to, that's none of your business."

Ginny glanced at Percy furtively; she knew who Percy had been writing letters to all summer.

"Has Harry not sent any word yet?" George picked up his drink, took a sip, picked up the Daily Prophet from the counter, and sat down next to Fred.

"No."

Ron thought it was the trouble he caused when he called Harry last time.

At the time, it was Harry's uncle who answered the phone; his tone was very bad, or rather, extremely rude.

Hermione thought Harry might be stuck at home because his adoptive uncle hated wizards, so Hermione suggested that Hagrid go visit Harry for us.

Ron was unaware that Hagrid had also written several letters to Harry, but had never received a reply. He suspected that Harry was in trouble.

However, Dumbledore had warned him before not to disturb Harry's life unless it was something important, so Hagrid didn't have any intention of going to Harry directly.

Of course, if Hagrid knew about Harry's situation, he would probably visit the Dursley himself.

"When I have money, I'll definitely buy an owl myself," Ron muttered to himself as he stuffed the letter back into his pocket.

"Money? You have no hope," Fred joked with a laugh. "Later, when we have money, you can come and work for us!"

"Do you guys have any money?" Ron asked, pursing his lips in dissatisfaction.

He knew perfectly well what Fred and George were up to, but he just couldn't understand where those two got their confidence from, given their family's circumstances, that they couldn't possibly offer them any help.

"This is none of your business." George took a sip of his drink, opened today's Daily Prophet, and spat out the drink he had just taken a sip, splashing it all over Percy's face as he sat across the table.

"What the hell are you doing!" Percy roared.

"Look at today's headlines!" George ignored the furious Percy, spread the Daily Prophet on the table, and excitedly called to the others.

"What's wrong?"

Fred was the first to lean in, and then his eyes widened in surprise. "It really is Albert! That guy actually went to France and got himself International Wizard's Chess Champion!"

The Weasley family children huddled around the table looking at the black-and-white photos on the headline.

That's a photo of Albert holding the International Wizard's Chess Trophy.

Ron looked at the text under the black and white photo and read it aloud softly, "Albert Anderson from Britain has defeated all his opponents to become the youngest champion in the history of the International Wizard's Chess Competition."

Looking at the glamorous young man in the photo, Ron felt a pang of envy.

The opponent was only a few years older than me, yet he had already won the honor of the International Wizard's Chess Champion.

What about himself? Actually, if possible, Ron also wanted to participate in the International Wizard's Chess Competition and achieve the same glory as Anderson.

Unfortunately, he could only dream about it; he couldn't even go to France, let alone participate in the International Wizard's Chess Competition.

"I remember last time that guy wrote that he was going to United States with someone and told us not to send him any more letters!" Fred muttered. "Actually, he probably wrote the wrong address!"

"What are you doing, kids?" Mr. Weasley, who had just finished work, walked in from outside and asked the children gathered around the table.

"We're watching the news about Albert winning the International Wizard's Chess Champion," Percy, still wiping his cheek with a handkerchief. "I never knew he was so good at Wizard's Chess."

"That's just because you don't know it," Fred said sarcastically.

"The Daily Prophet's reporters are looking for him everywhere, wanting to do an exclusive interview with him." Mr. Weasley knew a little about it. "Nobody knows where he is now."

"He said he was going to United States."

"Dad, how did Albert end up in France and even win the International Wizard's Chess Champion?" Ron was very curious about this. He knew that Albert was Muggle-born wizard and was more troublesome than them in some ways.

"It seems someone took him to France." Mr. Weasley didn't really know much about it either. "It's said that Mr. Brood. Bard Brod, one of the former International Wizard's Chess Champion, recommended him to participate in the competition."

"Is that Mr. Brood?" Fred and George exchanged glances. "I remember Albert was quite close to him. In first grade, Albert often went to Mr. Brood's for afternoon tea."

"What's wrong, Percy?" Ginny noticed the change in Percy's expression and asked, puzzled.

"Look here." Percy gestured for everyone to look at the fourth edition.

"Albert is Muggle-born wizard, and there are always some people who can't stand to see him doing well."

Mr. Weasley's tone carried a hint of disgust. "They think he used magic, because it's impossible for an underage Muggle-born wizard to go to France on his own to participate in the International Wizard's Chess Competition."

At that moment, everyone's expression was grim, undoubtedly filled with malicious accusations.

"Of course, the matter was quickly suppressed," Mr. Weasley reassured him. "Fudge certainly wouldn't allow such an article to appear. Britain finally won a championship; wouldn't doing this be a slap in their face?"

"In an interview, Mr. Brood. Bard Brod revealed that he asked an old friend to take Albert to France to compete..." Mr. Weasley pointed to an interview in the Daily Prophet and said, "Many people are very unhappy with that kind of talk."

"Albert knows quite a few famous wizards," Fred suddenly said. "He often corresponded with those famous wizards, so it's normal that some people would defend him."

"No, this is very unusual. In fact, just now, the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office received a large number of reports that a group led by Malfoy had hidden a large number of Dark Magic items in their homes." Mr. Weasley's tone was slightly excited. "They even issued a search warrant, allowing me to take men to their homes for a surprise inspection."

Katrina rushed into the McDougal family kitchen, carrying the Daily Prophet.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. McDougal looked at her daughter with a puzzled expression.

"Have you seen the headline of today's Daily Prophet?" Katrina asked.

"Sit down and talk." Isobel took off his apron, placed a cup of milk tea in front of Katrina, picked up the Daily Prophet, glanced at the headline, and said to his mother, "Katrina probably wants to say that my boyfriend won the International Wizard's Chess Competition!"

"Your boyfriend?" Mrs. McDougal wasn't surprised that her daughter had a boyfriend.

In fact, she had heard Isobel mention him before; he was a boy named Albert Anderson, who was said to be a brilliant genius.

"My daughter certainly has excellent taste," Mrs. McDougal said to Isobel, glancing at the newspaper. "We should invite her over sometime."

"Mm," Isobel replied.

Just then, a woman's voice came from the fireplace.

"Looks like there's something urgent tonight." Mrs. McDougal glanced at the clock. "I might have to work the night shift and won't be able to come home tonight."

After saying that, she crawled into the fireplace and disappeared.

Isobel and Katrina exchanged bewildered glances; they had witnessed this situation countless times before.

Katrina's expression became somewhat subtle as she recalled Isobel's words.

The two sisters sat at the table talking about what was in the newspaper, but they were soon drawn to a photo on page three.

In the photo, a beautiful France girl is kissing Albert on the cheek, with two other beautiful girls beside her.

The Daily Prophet fabricated a romantic history for Albert using a single photograph.

"Isobel, you need to be careful. That guy might be secretly dating other girls behind your back," Katrina said to her sister after staring at the photo for a long time.

There was no way around it; Louise's passionate first kiss was just too seductive.

You're overthinking it!

Isobel remained quite calm and didn't take the matter to heart at all.

"I don't think all foreign girls are this enthusiastic," Katrina pouted. "I just don't want you to be deceived."

"The Daily Prophet always loves to jump to conclusions and create fake news to grab attention." Isobel pointed to the article's author. "Rita Skeeter always likes to spread rumors and distort the facts. Don't you know that?"

Katrina couldn't understand why Isobel was so calm and didn't seem to care about the matter at all.

"Alright, don't worry. Even if they really are rivals, they have no chance of winning," Isobel said calmly. "Besides, they're not even rivals."

Katrina, of course, had no idea that Isobel could ask Albert the truth anytime through the Two-Way Mirror, if she wanted to. As for how to ask without making Albert uncomfortable, Isobel naturally had her own methods.

Moreover, Isobel didn't actually believe it was true. After spending so much time together, how could she, as a Legilimens, not know what kind of person Albert was?

On the contrary, her sister's reaction was somewhat beyond her expectations, causing Isobel to sigh inwardly.

Yes, I haven't missed a single chapter. The story of France will be covered later.