"Well, then, dear Miss Anna," Rita Skeeter said affectionately in the cramped broom closet, calling Anna by her name, even though they were not very familiar with each other.
"Hello, Ms. Skeeter." Anna adjusted her sitting position, trying to find a comfortable position in the broom closet.
God knows why Rita Skeeter was so fond of the broom closet. When Professor Mcgonagall had tried to arrange an empty classroom for her, she had flatly refused. "Professor Mcgonagall, I'm not sure if there's anything hidden in those empty classrooms that will interfere with my interview."
Professor Mcgonagall rolled her eyes.
But one thing was for sure: Rita Skeeter believed that the broom closet was absolutely safe and that no one was listening in. Most importantly, no one else was present, so she could tamper with the content of the interview as she pleased.
Anna also liked the broom closet. It was a must-have place for hide-and-seek. It was dark and damp, so very few people came here, and very few people could find anyone hiding here, no matter who they were.
"Just call me Rita." Skeeter smiled. "I believe that the next interview will quickly bring us closer to each other."
"I hope so." Anna kept smiling.
Skeeter took out a handful of candles from her crocodile skin pouch, lit them up, and let them float in the air, lighting up the broom closet.
"Do you mind if I use a shorthand pen?"
Skeeter said to herself, staring into Anna's eyes. "I think you won't mind. You're a Muggle, aren't you, Anna?
A shorthand pen is the standard of a magic reporter. You may not know... "
"Yes, I don't know, Ma'am." I know very well. I also know that you're a beetle spirit.
"You've learned something new." Skeeter took out a green feather pen and a roll of magic parchment, which she placed on a wooden box.
Anna frowned, because she saw Ms. Skeeter put the tip of the feather pen into her mouth in an extremely unhygienic manner, as if she was tasting something delicious.
As a talkative reporter, Skeeter still lacked a sense of safety.
If someone wanted to kill Skeet, all they had to do was get the juice of the widow's toadstool on the tip of her steno pen. It would be too easy.
Skeeter placed the drool-stained quill on the parchment. "Test. I'm Rita Skeeter, a reporter from the Daily Prophet."
The quill began to move quickly. 'A charming smile. When Rita Skeeter smiles, all things lose their luster. Thirty-eight years old, golden hair emitting a gentle glow. She uses words as a weapon, piercing through the lies of the world …'
Then he would weave an even bigger lie.
Anna shifted her gaze away from the parchment. To be honest, the text was completely unrelated to Rita Skeeter. It even stung her eyes.
"Well, looks like the quill is in good shape today." Skeeter tore off the parchment, folded it, and put it in her bag. She leaned forward slightly to Anna. "So, Anna, did you go to Azkaban with Headmaster Dumbledore in August?"
Before Anna could say anything, the quill began to move across the parchment. 'Dry mud-colored hair, pale face, obviously malnourished. The fragile girl before me stared at me with her green eyes full of fear, as if she wanted to tell me something, but perhaps she was warned by Dumbledore, she hesitated and did not dare to speak …'
"Yes," Anna raised her eyebrows. "But it was just a legal education event, nothing special. Headmaster Dumbledore did not warn me …"
'The girl trembled as she defended Headmaster Dumbledore. It seems that she was indeed warned about what to say and what not to say. I can't help but feel sorry for her. An eleven-year-old Muggle girl, why would she fall into Dumbledore's secret conspiracy …' The quill was filled with thoughts.
"Anna, look at me, will you?
Don't keep staring at the quill. "Rita Skeeter tried to turn Anna's face back to her, but Anna deftly avoided her.
"Your quill is doing its own thing," Anna said calmly. "Do we really need to continue?
It's not recording our conversation at all. "
"It's just some artistic embellishment, girl." Skeeter waved her hand. "Words need artistic embellishment …"
"Your embellishment has rubbed away the truth."
"No, you're wrong, little girl." Skeet sat up straight, put down his crossed legs, and put the tips of his hands together. "The truth will be revealed after processing, a truer truth. I will make everyone think that this is the truth."
Anna stood up. "Madam, I don't think it's necessary to continue." She walked to the door and put her hand on the doorknob.
"Anna, I have to remind you, if you want to end the interview now," Rita Skeeter said, still sitting in the same place, "I don't know what this quill will write."
Anna's back was facing Skeeter. She fiddled with the doorknob, making a clanking sound as if she was hesitating.
"Is it the Hogwarts secretly suppressing the little Muggle wizard, or is it Headmaster Dumbledore's secret conspiracy?" Rita Skeeter paused for a second. "Or maybe you and Headmaster Dumbledore have some unspeakable relationship."
"Are you trying to say that Headmaster Dumbledore is a pedophile?
And that he likes little girls? "Anna turned around.
"I didn't say that, child." Rita Skeeter smiled. "But I don't know what this quill will write if you end the interview early."
"Let's continue." Anna stepped back from the door, put her wand back into her sleeve, and sat back in her original position.
"Very good." Skeet glanced at Anna's green patterned robe. "I like Slythrin's students. They are shrewd enough to know how to do things that benefit them. A wise man submits to circumstances."
"You're also Slytherin's student?"
"No, I'm from Ravenclaw." Skeeter wanted to end the topic as soon as possible. "Let's talk about you. Why did Headmaster Dumbledore take you to Azkaban? What's so special about you?"
"Since you were a student of Hogwarts," Anna did not answer but continued the previous topic. "Why did you slander the Hogwarts?"
The quill quickly wrote, and some interesting content appeared strangely. 'The girl Anna did not answer reporter Skeeter's question. Instead, she threw out another sharp question. This is rare, and reporter Skeeter is stumped.'
'The Hogwarts had a great influence on Ms. Skeeter in her teenage years. What happened that caused this beautiful student to drop out of school …'
Dropped out. Rita Skeeter dropped out of school.
Rita Skeeter quickly tore off the parchment on which the quill had written, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it rudely into her bag.
"Magic objects always make mistakes. Maybe I should change my quill."
After a short silence, she resumed her nonchalant attitude. "Speaking of slander, how can this be called slander?"
"I'm just peeling off the surface layer by layer to show the real thing," she said quickly. "Sometimes, a lot of people need this kind of truth."
Anna and Skeeter looked at each other. Anna smiled, showing her white teeth. "Well, Ms. Rita, I believe we're much closer now. Then I'll tell you what you want to know."
Anna leaned forward. "Headmaster Dumbledore took me to Azkaban in the name of legal education. In fact, he wanted to confuse the public with only one goal —"
"That is, to help Sirius Black escape."
"…" This was what Skeeter wanted to fabricate, but now Anna said it out loud.
Skeeter frowned. She did not expect to hear such a 'truth.' Her quill stopped moving. "Are you serious?
Wait … Why? "
Skeeter could not believe that her absurd artistic creation had become reality. She cowered and did not dare to write the 'truth' in the article. She tore off the paragraph she had just written.
"Why would the greatest light wizard of this century release the Mystery Man's most loyal follower, the murderer Sirius Black?" Rita Skeeter's voice trembled. She did not dare to imagine what it meant.
"Maybe they're on the same side?" Anna told Skeeter's fear.
"No matter what, this is the truth. I've told you." Anna stared at her. "Why, do you dare to write it?
Write it in the newspaper? "
Rita Skeeter did not dare. She even wanted to stay far away from the Hogwarts, imagining that the world of magic was about to change.
Her presumptuous behavior was based on the fact that Dumbledore was the greatest light wizard of this century. He was a good man who valued morality and abided by the law. That was why she dared to write all kinds of rumors. She believed that the good Principal Dumbledore would not do anything to her.
Rita Skeeter hurriedly packed up her interview materials. "Anna, I'm glad you accepted my interview. I think it's about time. I don't think there's any need to continue …"
Anna sat where she was and did not respond.
Rita Skeeter stood up and walked to the door.
The door could not be opened. "Araho Open!" Rita Skeeter took out her wand and used the Unlock Charm on the door.
It still could not be opened.
"All the locks of the broom rooms in the Hogwarts have an Anti-Araho Open Charm," Anna's voice came from behind Skeeter. "But it's easy to open the door. Pick the lock, or …"
There was the sound of metal colliding. "Found Felcs' key."
"Hey!
Is anyone there?
Is there anyone outside?! "
Rita Skeeter screamed. She even used the Loud Voice Charm on herself, but there was no response from outside.
"Silent Charm," Anna's voice sounded a little happy. "I just learned it. No one will answer you even if you scream yourself hoarse."
"Little girl, you're just an 11-year-old child who has mastered a few low-level charms." Rita Skeeter calmed down. She even felt that her cry for help was too silly. "Do you really think you can control me?
A reporter who has experienced all kinds of emergencies? "
"I just need to subdue you and wait for my partner to come to me." Skeeter's big red lips cracked into a smile. "That's not bad. I can also expose Dumbledore's conspiracy and seek protection from the Ministry of Magic as a weakling …"
"Petrify all of you!" Rita Skeeter cast a spell on Anna.
"You wish, Ms. Skeeter." Anna took out Ichiro Takeuchi's metal wand and nimbly dodged Ms. Skeeter's spell. She came close to Ms. Skeeter's face and waved the metal wand at Skeeter's head.
"Ah!"
The fox screamed when its tail was stepped on. Ms. Skeeter fell to the ground and lost her ability to fight.
The wand fell to the side and was picked up by Anna.
A wizard met an assassin disguised as a wizard in a narrow space. "You … My partner will find me … Let me go …" the unlucky Skeeter muttered.
Anna took out the teddy bear ring and skillfully put it on Skeeter's finger. "No, he won't."
"I'll say you turned into a beetle and flew away."
Rita Skeeter fainted.