Uncovering the Truth
Like Rita had prophesied, her article sent the wizarding world into uproar. Her first article had only been the overture to months of sensational stories. People were eager for stories of Harry Potter and his past. And as she never really liked any of the stupid Lockharts that were making so much money for made up stories that even she wouldn't have written; she knew she at least needed a nugget of fact to spin a story of guesses and assumptions around to not be sued. So she happily tore the lies that had been made up by Romanio Lockhart apart and told the real story of Harry Potter, a boy who had to grow up way earlier than any child should. While she didn't get many details on the treatment of Harry, she could find out that there had been physical and emotional abuse included.
She went to Harry's old primary school and got interviews with Mr Miller and Mrs Jannison, the two people Harry had mentioned by their jobs. Those two gave her the image of a boy who had had it very hard but didn't give up and by his own effort went to the top of his class and also became one of the best if not the best football player in his age group. They asked about how Harry was fairing and she could tell them that he had just managed to get his godfather who had been framed for a crime he didn't commit out of prison by asking inconvenient questions and that he would probably get to live with him in the future.
After hearing that the two told her even more stories, being happy that Harry was finally getting some justice and happiness. They told her about their observations, Mr Miller about how he had taken it upon himself to make sure the boy got to an appropriate weight once he had noticed his small frame. Mrs Jannison that Harry had a fierce determination to get what he wanted by working for it. And how much the boy despised bullies. It was good material. Here she could paint a picture that would touch the people of the wizarding world emotionally. And it was all the complete truth. She got pictures from the Dursleys, listened in on conversations they had in their house about the trial and how everything was going down the drain because of the freak.
She questioned the neighbours and got a bulls-eye when she found Arabella Figg, a squib, living in the neighbourhood. While Mrs Figg was reluctant to give her all the information she wanted, she had no problems to tell her exactly what kind of despicable monsters the Dursleys were. The lies they told about Harry, how they neglected the poor boy, how they were obsessed with normalcy while being the worst kind of monsters.
She also looked into the Barty Crouch affair. Her beetle form came in very useful. She landed her next great coup when she found out that Barty Crouch had hidden his supposedly dead Death Eater son at his home for years and faked his death with the help of his wife. She heard the house elf talking to somebody when there was nobody to be seen. The words 'Master Barty' were an indication what was going on and she could confirm it once Barty Senior came home. Her next headline, after she had informed the aurors; of course she had collected the condemning evidence before. Knowing a few tricks of the muggle reporters came in handy. She didn't know that much about muggles, but more than the average witch or wizard. For example that their cameras were easier to hide. So she got a few very good pictures of Barty Crouch Jr in his bed, it had been difficult to manage without the house elf noticing, Barty Crouch Senior using the imperius curse to keep his son under control, some documents that were incriminating and the copies of records of people he sent to Azkaban without trial.
With a little potion used for developing the muggle film, she got the normal moving wizarding pictures and nobody was any the wiser. Yes, another career destroyed. Her name became feared in the ranks of those that had to hide things. And the best thing was that they couldn't even say she had made up the stories that she printed. Because this time she hadn't. Her editor had given her a massive bonus for her stories. The circulation of the Prophet had increased massively and the subscriptions shot up.
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