After repeatedly confirming that she could no longer use magic, Rita Skeeter completely lost her mind. Sitting in the chair (which had been enchanted to restrain her), she opened her mouth wide, yet spoke in a gentle tone:
"You did this, didn't you? I swear, I'm going to file a complaint against you with the Ministry of Magic. What gives you the right to do this to me? Give me back my magic."
The Gentle Tone Charm made anyone shouting or yelling speak at a normal volume and in a normal tone. Brian had recently learned it while reading, and it was very useful.
"I'm afraid the Ministry of Magic won't take the case, Ms. Skeeter. There's no such terrifying spell as one that 'takes away someone's magic' in this world."
Brian took a sip of hot milk and continued unhurriedly,
"Even if such a spell did exist-as you just said, the Ministry can't open a case without evidence. Oh, if you're going to mention checking my wand-I happened not to use one just now. Incidentally, the Ministry does have ways of detecting an Animagus. If what you said earlier was simply an attempt to deceive me, then unfortunately, your lie failed."
"You. You. You."
Rita Skeeter's chest heaved violently. Without the Gentle Tone Charm, those broken utterances would surely have ended in exclamation marks and left people's eardrums aching for quite a while. Presumably, having her own words turned against her didn't feel very pleasant.
"You're restricting my freedom right now. That's illegal." Her eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets.
Brian thought about it, realized Rita did have a point, and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, strictly speaking, I have broken the law. When you tried to scratch my face with your nails, I used magic in self-defense.