Before the Tournament
Rita left the Chamber of Secrets.
By day, she remained a special correspondent for the Daily Prophet, tirelessly gathering news suitable for reporting. After work, she automatically transformed into an intelligence agent stationed abroad for the Sleeping Dragon Society, inputting all the intelligence she had gathered that day into Two-Way Mirror encrypted with triple alchemical locks using the "Hidden Dragon Cipher" personally written by Skylar.
The other end of the Two-Way Mirror is directly connected to the intelligence group led by Susan Bones of the Sleeping Dragon Society. This method of operation bypasses the intelligence delivery process of House Elf, allowing intelligence to be delivered to the target faster and more efficiently. However, the collection and production of materials for this type of Two-Way Mirror is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive, making it impossible to promote on a large scale. For the time being, it is only used by Rita.
Rita's intelligence network is very extensive, with well-trained informants and intelligence personnel, and its coverage is quite astonishing. Her addition immediately more than doubled the sources of intelligence that Skylar received every day.
Susan's intelligence team suddenly felt a lot more pressure on their shoulders. Decrypting, analyzing, and integrating the intelligence they had collected, and connecting two seemingly unrelated pieces of information, were not simple tasks. Their manpower was suddenly stretched thin.
To address the intelligence team's manpower shortage, Skylar allowed Susan to borrow or transfer personnel from other groups for assistance. However, Skylar knew that this was merely a temporary solution. To completely eradicate the problem, magic would ultimately be necessary.
Drawing inspiration from how Muggle solved big data analysis in the era of information technology, Skylar needed an "artificial intelligence" with independent thinking capabilities, an alchemical creation similar to Aquila the Eagle or the Sorting Hat. The former was created by Ravenclaw himself, while the latter was a product jointly created by the Four Founders.
The Four Founders each had their own strengths and were all top figures in their respective fields. The breadth and depth of their combined knowledge was something that Skylar could not match. However, Skylar had his own advantages. In the more than a thousand years of development in the Wizarding World, although many powerful Ancient Magic had been abandoned, magic had greatly improved in terms of practicality, convenience, and versatility.
Moreover, over the past thousand years, while the number of exceptionally talented wizards may not be countless, they are certainly not few—alchemists such as Paracelsus, Nicolas Flamel, Cornelius Agrippa all possessed unique abilities that surpassed their predecessors. The era in which these predecessors lived was much more open than that of over a thousand years ago; wizards no longer hoarded their knowledge, and these renowned wizards were willing to write and publish books about their research, sharing their knowledge openly and advancing the development of the entire magical world.
Of course, they must have had many secret techniques and skills passed down as the foundation of their respective families, which were the basis for their descendants to maintain the family's strength. But it cannot be denied that in their time, the mobility and accessibility of knowledge had already progressed much more than in the time of the Four Founders.
Skylar possessed the complete legacy of Nicolas Flamel, and he had also collected almost all the "non-secret" legacies of other famous alchemists. He had a considerable amount in the Malfoy Family Library alone, and had also gathered much more from Skylar 'Black Family Residence and Ella Cottage. Standing on the shoulders of so many predecessors, Skylar believed that one day he would be able to develop and create his own "artificial intelligence."
A few weeks passed quickly, and June 24th arrived in the blink of an eye.
This day was the last day of exam week, and also the day of the finals of the Triwizard Tournament.
On the day of the competition, the breakfast table for the young wizards was bustling with activity.
The flapping of wings came from above—the messenger owl had arrived.
Harry was initially delighted to receive a lucky card from Sirius Black. Although it was just a plain piece of parchment with nothing written on it and only a muddy paw print, Harry loved it because, in his heart, Sirius Black was his only family. However, his good mood didn't last long—
A screeching owl delivered the morning edition of the Daily Prophet to Hermione as usual. She opened the newspaper, glanced at the front page, and immediately spat a mouthful of Pumpkin Juice all over it.
Ron snatched it away, glanced at the headline, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Impossible! Of all days, it has to be today, that old cow!"
"What?" Harry finally couldn't help but ask, "Rita Skeeter wrote about me again, didn't she?"
Although Ron and Hermione both wanted to hide the newspaper, they couldn't resist the pressure of Harry's angry and somewhat dangerous gaze and tone, and Ron finally handed it over very reluctantly.
Harry opened the book and immediately saw his own photo, with the caption prominently displayed:
Harry Potter - Disturbed, Emotionally Dangerous
The boy who defeated the Mysterious Man is emotionally unstable and may be quite dangerous, according to special correspondent Rita Skeeter. Recent startling evidence has revealed Harry Potter's strange behavior, raising questions about his suitability for a high-stakes competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even for attending Hogwarts.
The Daily Prophet exclusively reports that Potter frequently suffers from seizures at school, complaining of pain from a scar on his forehead... Last Monday during Divination Class, Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter rushing out of the classroom, claiming the scar was too painful to continue the lesson... Senior experts at St. Mungo's's say Potter's brain may be affected by the Mysterious Man's magic, and his insistence that the scar is still painful indicates considerable mental confusion...
The Daily Prophet also uncovered some disturbing details about Harry Potter, which Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had been carefully covering up... Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student at Hogwarts, is known to speak Parseltongue, was once considered the heir to the Chamber of Secrets, and is the mastermind behind the attacks on numerous students... He also befriends Werewolf and Giant, and is capable of anything for power...
Parseltongue have always been considered practitioners of Dark Arts. In fact, the most famous Parseltongue of our time is none other than the Mysterious Man himself. An unnamed member of the Dark Arts Defense League stated that he believes any Parseltongue should be thoroughly investigated... Similarly, those who associate with evil beings like Werewolf and Giant are typically violent...
Albus Dumbledore should consider whether it's appropriate to allow such a boy to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. There are concerns that Potter might resort to Dark Arts in his eagerness to win. The third competition will be held tonight.
Let's not talk about how annoyed or angry Harry was.
At the Slytherin table, Draco's three henchmen were doubled over with laughter.
Although Draco didn't childishly mock or provoke Harry as he did in the original story, nor did he tap his forehead with his fingers, make a crazy face, or stick out his tongue like a snake, the young wizards still couldn't help but chuckle at Draco's masterpiece. Even Theodore Nott, who was usually quiet and disliked getting involved in such gossip, had a hint of a smile on his usually indifferent face.
"Haha, you're something else!" Blaise Zabini patted Draco on the shoulder. "I'm sure Potter and the others are disgusted to death right now. I doubt many people will sympathize with him..."
"That's for sure," Pansy chimed in. "That skinny monkey with the lightning scar should take a good look in the mirror. What makes him think he can compete with our Skylar for the championship of the Triwizard Tournament?"
Skylar smiled faintly and remained silent.
Skylar is no longer as concerned about the Harry, Harry, and Meghan Markle's activities as he was in previous semesters.
Previously, his interest in Harry and his friends wasn't to allow the author to pad the plot with unnecessary words—anyone who thought that would have poor reading comprehension. The real reason was that Skylar wanted to reap the Fawley of being able to predict the plot, maximizing the profits that came with it. That's how he became the hero who killed the Basilisk, obtained the raw materials from the Basilisk's corpse, and gained his first halo of fame.
Now, his fame, connections, and resources have far surpassed Harry's. Harry, as a plot device, is practically worthless to Skylar. In other words, Skylar no longer needs to pay attention to Harry and his friends, nor does he need to concern himself with the direction of the original storyline.
He has his own path to walk!
Draco's prank on Harry through Rita, in Skylar's view, was at most satisfying Draco's own wicked sense of humor. As Draco said, since he didn't have to do it himself, there was no risk or cost, so why not? Therefore, while Skylar wouldn't encourage Draco to do this, he wouldn't stop Draco either.