The Helpless Beetle

The scandals in the newspapers still caused Albert some trouble.

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan also sent Albert a teasing letter, congratulating him on winning the International Wizard's Chess Competition.

To resolve the trouble, Albert gave Rita Skeeter an exclusive interview.

The interview took place in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade, which is open all day but rarely has any customers.

In the teahouse, Albert was flipping through the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. Only after hearing his chair being pulled did he slowly raise his head, sizing up the witch who appeared before him, and ask, "Miss Rita Skeeter?"

The witch had her blonde hair styled into elaborate curls, wore jeweled glasses on her nose, clutched a crocodile-skin handbag, and had her nails painted bright red.

If Rita Skeeter had dressed like this in her younger days, she would have been a stylish and beautiful young woman, but she has aged.

"Yes, it's really not easy to interview you, Mr. Anderson."

Rita Skeeter sat down opposite Albert, also sizing up the young, Genius Wizard before her. To be honest, his gaze made her very uncomfortable, giving her the unsettling feeling that she was being seen through.

"Actually, I don't like interviews, and I don't like being too flamboyant."

Albert took a sip of his milk tea and said with a half-smile, "However, you and your colleagues always like to fabricate facts, which has caused me some trouble, so I came to see you."

"People always like to see..." Rita Skeeter narrowed her eyes; she had never seen such a troublesome boy.

"I know," Albert interrupted, "I know, of course I know, that it's about grabbing readers' attention. I've had the same problem in France and United States, and your colleagues love to do it."

After saying that, Albert's gaze fell on the Quill that was writing and drawing in the notebook.

"Never mind that pen, Mr. Anderson, tell me..."

"I suggest you don't use it to record our conversation; it might not be very friendly to you." Albert turned his gaze away from the Quick-Quotes Quill and rudely interrupted Rita Skeeter, saying to himself, "I know very well what kind of journalist you are, and I know very well the purpose of newspapers: to sell themselves, regardless of whether the content is true or false."

As he spoke, Albert finished his milk tea, interlaced his fingers, and looked at Rita Skeeter. Suddenly, he gave her a strange smile, "Everyone has their own secrets, and you're no exception. You're an... illegal Animagus, aren't you!"

Albert spoke the last sentence very softly, so that only he and Rita Skeeter could hear it.

"What..."

Rita Skeeter's eyes widened, her voice filled with disbelief, and she almost spilled her tea. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she said coldly, taking a deep breath.

"Let me see, what is your Animagus?"

"What did you do to me?" Rita Skeeter had a very bad feeling and quickly looked away, no longer daring to look Albert in the eye.

"Oh, it's just a beetle?"

Albert murmured softly, "So, you often use the Animagus to gather information?"

Under the female reporter's horrified and incredulous gaze, Albert nodded to himself and said, "That's right, the Animagus are indeed very suitable for espionage."

"You..."

Rita Skeeter was trembling all over. She felt that the person in front of her was a terrifying devil who had seen through her so easily.

Albert's lips curled slightly as he said softly, "Don't doubt it, I am a Legilimens."

"It's no use, no one will believe it." Rita Skeeter's lips trembled, as if it took a lot of effort to say those words.

"If you've investigated me, you'd know I know many famous wizards and maintain good correspondence with them. Believe me, if I just write them a letter, Azkaban Prison will certainly welcome you." Albert smiled maliciously. "I imagine there are quite a few wizards who dislike you; they'll definitely take this opportunity to kick you while you're down!"

"Fine, what exactly do you want?" Rita Skeeter clenched her fists. She really wanted to cast a Memory Charm on the other person and write another vicious article to ruin their reputation, but she quickly gave up on the idea and slumped helplessly into her chair.

"If you don't want anything, you can order another cup of tea, and we can talk about what to do next."

As he spoke, Albert took a money pouch out of his pocket and pushed it in front of Rita Skeeter, saying calmly, "I want you to help me clear up those damn rumors. I can answer some of your questions and I'll give you a fee."

That's all?

"Of course not. I hope that in the future, whenever news involves me, you can simply ignore it or just ignore it altogether. If you really need to, write to me instead of making things up and causing me trouble."

Actually, this last point is the reason why Albert invited Rita Skeeter out.

He needs to control public opinion, at least to prevent any more of those inexplicable reports from appearing.

Rita Skeeter opened her mouth, her gaze falling on the money pouch, which contained about twenty Galleon.

This amount of money wasn't much for Rita Skeeter, but it would undoubtedly allow her to keep her secret, avoid jail time, complete her work on the Daily Prophet, and even make a small profit.

Most importantly, she had no other choice.

Although Rita Skeeter felt it was absurd to compromise with an underage wizard, she knew that compromise wouldn't do her much harm; at least he had given her hush money, so it wasn't shameful.

"Okay, okay."

Rita Skeeter reached into the purse, stuffed it into her crocodile-skin handbag, then took out a Quill and began asking questions.

"I heard that Mr. Brood. Bard Brod recommended you to participate in the International Wizard's Chess Competition. Is your Wizard's Chess also taught by this former champion professor?"

"Mr. Brood once served as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts, and that's where our friendship began..."

Albert began to recount that history, but it sounded complicated to Rita Skeeter. She felt as if she had witnessed the birth of a genius, and Mr. Brood undoubtedly knew Albert's talent, so he gave him a push from behind, and the two formed a deep friendship as a result.

Then, Albert rattled off a bunch of wizard names, all of whom were very famous in many fields.

Clearly, he wasn't lying before.

"And that beautiful France lady?" Rita Skeeter asked a few more questions before bringing up another topic that interested her.

"Louise Delacour?"

"So that lady's name is Louise Delacour?"

"In fact, I was more familiar with his father, who was a famous Potions, and we corresponded," Albert recalled. "At that time, I met Mr. Dagworth. Hertok Dagworth in France, and during our conversation, he learned that I also knew Mr. Delacour, well, the father of Miss Louise, and invited me to visit him together. We happened to meet on the way."

"As for that photo, it was just a France kiss on the cheek," Albert recalled. "At the time, the reporter was probably taking pictures of Mr. Dagworth and Mr. Delacour shaking hands, and it was probably by chance that the photo was taken. Later, as you know, I became the youngest international Wizard's Chess champion, and your colleagues probably thought they needed to create some hype to attract attention, so they made it up. After all, everyone likes gossip."

"I see. Where is that pretty United States girl?"

In fact, Rita Skeeter was quite shocked by Albert's circle of friends. She certainly knew who Mr. Dagworth was; to be friends with Potions Master, one's skill in Potions must be considerable.

"That's the granddaughter of Mr. Nicholas, the United States alchemist. She also loves alchemy. Mr. Sella and I met her by chance when we went to visit Mr. Nicholas."

Albert thought for a moment and then said, "When I was about to return to Britain, I asked Miss Catherine to take me to Wizard Street in United States so I could buy some souvenirs from the American magical world to give to my friends. That photo was taken at that time. Because I refused an interview with an United States journalist, he, like his France counterpart, fabricated a scandal. Anyway, they didn't have to take responsibility, and everyone likes to see this kind of thing."

Rita Skeeter was a little disappointed; things were going much as she had expected. Still looking for some sensational news, she continued, "I heard that you had some unpleasant conflict with an employee of the Ministry of Magic in the United States."

"An unpleasant conflict?" Albert recalled for a moment and said with a hint of helplessness, "It wasn't exactly an unpleasant conflict; it was just a very unfortunate misunderstanding."

"Misunderstand?"

"Miss Catherine also gave me a kiss on the cheek," Albert said with a hint of exasperation. "The young employee who served me seems to be one of Miss Catherine's admirers. You can probably guess what happened; the jealous young man deliberately caused me some trouble within his job responsibilities. In the end, he even searched me and made a mess of my luggage."

"I think a reasonable apology is necessary," Albert said calmly. "After all, I cooperated fully with all the examinations at the time, and his suspicions caused us unnecessary trouble."

"Jealousy, abuse of power, distortion of facts, and talking nonsense."

"As for why the newspapers said that," Albert shrugged, "I think it's probably because I beat that United States athlete who had a very good chance of winning the championship!"

"Distorting facts and deliberately stirring up conflict." Rita Skeeter became increasingly excited as she wrote, and continued, "Is there anything particularly you'd like to say about this trip to United States?"

"The magical society in the United States is quite different from that in Europe, and even in most other countries. They have many strict laws. For example, once you arrive in the United States, you need to go to the France to apply for a temporary Wand Permit as soon as possible, otherwise you will be breaking the law."

Albert thought for a moment and then said, "I suggest that the American Magical Congress print an entry guide for the Magical Society of the United States, which will detail the legal rules that must be strictly followed after entering the Magical Society of the United States. I believe that doing so will greatly reduce the workload of the France and alleviate the pressure on prisons."

"After all, not all wizards are like me, having thoroughly researched the United States magical community before heading to United States," Albert said calmly, putting down his finished milk tea.

"I will write an article that will satisfy you." Rita Skeeter put away the parchment, her face full of excitement.

"Once you're done, remember to send me a first draft. Don't forget, Miss Rita Skeeter." With that, Albert got up, went to the counter to pay, then borrowed the fireplace in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and flew directly to Diagon Alley.