ushernet Chapter 25: The Article
Chapter 25: The Article
A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
Rita's article proves to be everything Harry wanted it to be~
-x-X-x-
The story doesn’t run in the next edition of the Daily Prophet. Or even the next one after that. But then, Harry isn’t too worried. He’d told Rita to do her due diligence with this story and he expected her to follow his orders. In the end, it takes a few days… but finally the Daily Prophet’s headline reads rather damningly.
Sitting there reading the story, Harry remains stone-faced, not wanting to give anything away to those around him. Certain individuals knew Sirius was innocent of course. Dumbledore. Lupin. Him, Hermione, and Ron. Ugh, and Snape.
But the rest of Hogwarts, as they read Rita’s article, are completely blindsided by the thought. As far as they’re all aware, Sirius Black is the man who betrayed Harry’s parents, escaped from Azkaban, and terrorized them all year long last year. In their eyes, Sirius is the reason Hogwarts was surrounded by Dementors all year long.
The article tears that all to pieces and paints a different set of individuals as the villains of this tale. Interestingly enough, Rita doesn’t linger for very long on Sirius’ betrayal of the Potters. She did, however, manage to get a quote from Lupin himself where Remus had said that IF Sirius wasn’t the Potter Secret Keeper, it WOULD have been Peter and that might have explained why they fought just as easily as the opposite being true.
Harry wondered whether Remus had actually given that quote or not. It sounded like he was trying to defend Sirius after spending over a decade believing him a traitor, without exposing the fact that he was in contact with the escaped fugitive. It made sense, but Harry also wouldn’t put it past Rita to just manufacture a quote from Remus without even contacting the poor werewolf. Given Lupin’s status as a ‘magical creature’ in a wizard-dominant magical world, even if he tried to claim he hadn’t said such things to her, no one would believe him over the Daily Prophet’s most sensational reporter.
But that wasn’t even the true meat of the article. Remus’ quote and the idea of Sirius Black not even being the Potter Secret Keeper are barely mentioned before Rita launches into her true goal for the article… exposing a massive conspiracy within the Ministry itself to rob the Black Family of its fortune.
She does so first by exposing the fact that there are no records of Sirius Black receiving a trial. That in the aftermath of the Dark Lord’s Fall, certain Ministry Officials decided there was no need for certain wizards and witches to receive due process. Rita cleverly compares the trials of Sirius’ cousin Bellatrix Lestrange and her cohorts, among them being Barty Crouch Jr., to Sirius’ lack of one. The fact that Bartemius Crouch Senior had been the one to decide Sirius’ fate without a trial, but made sure his own son still got one, is spelled out quite clearly in the front page article.
Furthermore, it seemed Rita really has done her due diligence and re
It’s interesting how easily Amelia believes him. She just nods, her shoulders slumping as she leans back in her chair with a sigh. The Director of the DMLE looks withdrawn and weary, and like she hasn’t slept in days, perhaps ever since the night Harry made her sleep even. He wants to take her to task on that. But this is more important.
Right now is the perfect time to destroy Fudge’s credibility once and for all and begin the process of replacing him with Amelia. But if Fudge fires Amelia first for insubordination, that would be annoying. Which means Harry should help out in some way. But what was the best way to help Amelia confirm the truth of Rita’s article, exactly?
-x-X-x- The Patreon Vote: [X] Offer up 'Harry Potter' as witness - 66%[ ] Offer to bring her Peter Pettigrew - 24%
[ ] Offer to produce Sirius Black himself - 10%
-x-X-x-
If you'd like to read more of my work not seen on this website, check out Hentai-Foundry.com and QuestionableQuesting.com where I have over a thousand stories!
If you'd like to contribute to funding my writing at all, check me out on Patreon.com/Cambrian
Thanks for reading