The Professional Rita Skeeter

When everyone returned to Stoatshead Hill, the clamor instantly vanished, leaving only the clear chirping of insects.

Cedric needed to go to the other side of the village, so he parted ways with them after descending Stoatshead Hill, while the others continued onward.

In the cool moonlight, the group walked through the Ottery St. Catchpole, chatting as they made their way to the Burrow along the damp path.

"You said you saw Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry asked Kyle in surprise.

"I only glanced at it, and I don't know if I was seeing things," Kyle said. "But the man's teeth were definitely white and shiny, and he had blond hair, just like Lockhart."

"You must be mistaken," Ron said. "Lockhart is still at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries; how could he possibly be watching the Quidditch World Cup?"

"No," Mr. Weasley, who was walking at the front, suddenly said. "If I remember correctly, he recovered a week ago... around the time Fudge visited St Mungo's's."

"And after he returned, the department received a large sum of money."

"Lockhart donated it?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"It's not exactly a donation to the Ministry of Magic," Mr. Weasley said. "I only overheard someone mention it in casual conversation. Apparently, Lockhart realized his mistake and decided to use all of Gringotts ' assets to compensate those whose memories he stole and to help them regain their memories."

"In addition, he also transferred all the sales rights and profits from the books to the Ministry of Magic to help wizards with memory loss who needed treatment."

The two people in the same hospital room as him were the first beneficiaries."

"His entire fortune... plus the proceeds from all his books?" Ron exclaimed in surprise. "None of his books are cheap. How much would that cost? Is Lockhart willing to part with it?"

"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics either."

Mr. Weasley said, "But that should be the case, anyway, his book can be resold, only the names in it have been changed to those of the people who actually did those things."

"So Lockhart is alright now?" Harry asked.

"Does that even need to be said?" Ron curled his lip. "Think about it, when he was a professor last year, everyone in Hogwarts bought seven of his books, that's tens of thousands of Galleon, plus what he'd saved up before... those Galleon would definitely pile up into a mountain."

With so many Galleon in front of him, I think anyone would forgive him...

"But this is wrong!" Hermione frowned. "He should be punished."

"No, I think this is the worst punishment imaginable," Ron said.

Losing tens of thousands of Galleon at once... just thinking about it made Ron feel a pang of pain.

In his view, there was no punishment more terrible than this.

Mr. Weasley remained silent.

Actually, his initial thoughts on Lockhart were the same as Hermione's, but the thought that the Longbottoms could benefit from it made him waver.

It was somewhat of a coincidence that Lockhart was placed in the same ward as the Longbottoms after being admitted to St Mungo's's, making them the first beneficiaries.

Kyle nodded beside him.

Lockhart probably didn't want to stay in St Mungo's forever, nor did he want to go to Azkaban, so he simply chose to pay for peace.

However, the fact that he was still able to attend the Quidditch World Cup suggests that this former Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts must have had a backup plan and hadn't handed over all the money.

His books are very popular. As long as the amount of gold he donates is impressive enough to satisfy everyone, no one will care even if he secretly hides a little bit.

The group chatted as they walked, and soon they passed through the Ottery St. Catchpole. They turned a corner at the end of the path, and the Burrow came into view.

A shout came from the path.

"Oh, thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Mrs. Weasley had clearly been waiting for them, and she came running over in her slippers, pale and nervous, clutching a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Arthur, I was so worried. Thank goodness you're all alright..."

She stepped forward and hugged Mr. Weasley, the newspaper slipping limply from her hands to the ground.

Kyle picked it up casually.

[Terrifying scenes from the Quidditch World Cup]

The title was catchy, accompanied by a large photo showing a panicked crowd and a chaotic campsite.

"So fast?" Kyle said incredulously, "The matter has only just ended, and it's already been reported?"

"The owl delivered it half an hour ago," said Mrs. Weasley. "I was wondering why the newspapers were being delivered at this hour... I never imagined something so serious had happened, Merlin ... the Dark Mark ..."

Kyle opened the newspaper.

Several heads also crowded around from behind, all wanting to see what the newspaper was saying.

This newspaper was much thinner than usual, clearly hastily produced to capitalize on the hype, and all its contents were related to the Quidditch World Cup.

"The Ministry of Magic is in a state of panic... law and order are lax... dark wizards are at large... serious dereliction of duty... a disgrace..."

Ginny read the article aloud and angrily exclaimed, "Didn't the person who wrote this article see that even Dad, who is on vacation, was at the forefront?"

"She won't see it...and even if she did, she wouldn't write it down." Charlie pointed to a name in the newspaper. "Look who this is, Rita Skeeter. Almost all of his articles are fabricated."

"This woman is deliberately going against the Ministry of Magic," Percy said angrily. "And she must know that almost everyone in the ministry is at the Quidditch World Cup camp, which is why she sent out this newspaper overnight."

Harry tilted his head back... to look at the name Rita Skeeter.

He remembered that the report about him driving a speeding car to school last year was also written by this woman.

"Alright, never mind that, it's good that you're all alright." Mrs. Weasley led them toward the house.

Upon entering the cramped kitchen, she made everyone a cup of hot cocoa, but Mr. Weasley insisted on replacing it with aged Firewhisky.

A dozen minutes later, Mrs. Weasley brought in a large plate of sandwiches, which was the fastest she could make.

But at that point, no one was in the mood to care what to eat.

After enduring so much, with Dragon and riots, everyone's nerves have been on edge. Now that we've suddenly relaxed and returned to a familiar and safe place, it's inevitable to feel a bit listless and just want to lie in bed and get a good night's sleep.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to understand this as well, so she asked nothing and, after everyone had finished eating, sent them upstairs, leaving Mr. Weasley alone there.

Kyle went home.

The lights were on in the room, but no one was there.

On the table was a plate with a few steaming fried eggs and bread, next to which was a copy of the Daily Prophet, exactly the same as the one he had just seen.

It's likely that Chris and Diana received the news and rushed back to the Ministry of Magic overnight.

One can imagine that the Ministry of Magic will be quite busy in the days to come because of Rita Skeeter's report.

But what Kyle couldn't understand was why Chris and Diana, one from the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the other from the Department of Mysteries, had anything to do with this riot, and why they had even returned to the Ministry of Magic overnight.

It's impossible that Veela and Leprechaun were involved in the riot.