151 The-Boy-Who-Struck-Back (II)

A/N- Some of you guys said that you want longer but weekly chapters while some said that they are fine with daily but short Chapters. So, let's do a poll... Like the preferred paragraph comment to cast your vote...

Additionally, I forgot to post Chapter 128. I only noticed it now and so I posted the Chapter... If you wanted you can check it out, but at this point, it will only look like a filler Chapter.

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~~Jacklyn's Pad~~

Harry just finished talking with both Marvolo and Morfin Gaunt and he barely stopped himself from tossing away the Resurrection Stone as far as he could in frustration. Unlike he expected, summoning the shades of the dead wasn't that hard… Thanks to Gellert's research, it only took him a few seconds to figure out how to use the Resurrection Stone.

Unfortunately for him, that was exactly where everything stopped going according to his plans. He realized that even though he could summon the shades of anyone he wanted, he couldn't make them talk. The first thing Marvolo asked him was if he was a Pureblood or Mudblood. He didn't even want to know what was happening, which was probably the first thing a rational person would have asked.

Alas, Marvolo was anything but rational. Harry had already learned from Himera that the Gaunts were Pureblood fanatics, but to be honest, he didn't expect them to be such vapid supporters of the Pureblood doctrine and since Harry always took pride in being a Half-Blood, against his better judgment, he didn't bother to lie. It was a mistake on his part.

Unfortunately, he had already admitted that he was a Half-Blood in front of Marvolo and the ugly man stared at him like he was the most disgusting thing he had ever laid his eyes upon… Harry hated that look and if he could, then Harry would have brought the ugly fucker back to life, just so he could give him a long and painful death. After learning that Harry is Half-Blood, Marvolo basically refused to even look at him.

Harry was so angry at Marvolo that he simply dismissed the man and decided to summon Morfin to get his answers, but once again, he was disappointed. Morfin was uglier than Marvolo, but that wasn't the problem… The man was barking mad and instead of talking in English, the man only spoke in Parseltongue.

Harry shouldn't have had any problem understanding Parseltongue as he was a Parselmouth, but the insane man was basically hissing gibberish. No matter how much Harry tried, he wasn't able to get an intelligible answer from the man. Sometimes, the man would cuss at a person, but once again, Harry had no idea who, or sometimes, the man started hissing incoherently.

Harry didn't know how sane Morfin was, to begin with, but the man had clearly lost any lick of sanity thanks to his vacation in Azkaban, and much to his frustration, he couldn't use Legilimency on the shades… So, he simply decided to give up and dismissed the shade of Morfin as the man's incoherent hissings were getting on his nerves…

|Are you sure that the others are going to answer?| Lily asked cautiously. Harry was planning to summon Merlin, Morgana, the Founders, and a few more to ask them questions and learn from them, but after watching how both Marvolo and Morfin acted, she was somewhat doubtful that the others would answer his questions.

|I am not going to know unless I give it a try, but I am expecting some of them to act like the Gaunts did| Harry explained thoughtfully. He was angry and frustrated, but that didn't mean that he would completely scrap his plans… At least, now he knew what to expect.

With his mind made up, he decided to take a short break to calm himself before he could summon the shade of anyone else… He wanted to start with a fresh mind and renewed expectations, but before he could summon Norton for some snacks, he received a message from none other than Rita Skeeter, asking him to meet her in a restaurant called Butter & Bells.

Harry had no idea why the woman was calling him, but according to her, it was very urgent…

|Looks like, the others would need to wait| Harry mused internally as he informed his mother about Rita's message. Even his mother started to wonder what that horrid but useful woman wanted from her son. So, after informing Morsi about his sudden departure, he quickly opened a portal and stepped through. He arrived inside one of the alleys near Diagon Alley and his physical features started to change as the portal closed behind him.

Harry had no idea where Butter and Bells was, so he decided to ask for directions. He asked a Wizard and the man was able to point him in the right direction. Harry finally arrived in front of a two-story building, with a banner of Butter and Bells hanging outside the store. He entered the restaurant and he immediately realized that the place was much better than Leaky Cauldron.

Sometimes Harry simply couldn't understand why Leaky Cauldron was the face of the biggest shopping alley of Wizarding Britain when there was already a better restaurant like Butter and Bells as a fitting alternative. Harry looked around for a bit and he immediately found the woman he was looking for… So, without wasting any time, he quickly made his way toward her table as he informed her of his arrival through the mark.

"Hello, Rita" Harry greeted the woman as he pulled back a chair and sat down. "So, what do you have for me?" Harry asked without beating around the bush.

"Aren't you going to ask me if I am alright or not?" Rita asked with a displeased look on her face.

"You are still alive, are you not, Rita?" Harry drawled with a bored look on his face. "Now, stop wasting my time and tell me what you wanted to talk about" Harry continued impatiently.

Rita huffed irritably. "I might have found the person who put your name in the Goblet?" Rita revealed smugly and Harry had to admit, previously she had his attention, but now she had his curiosity.

"Really?" Harry asked as he leaned forward curiously.

Rita looked around before asking him to cast Privacy Wards around their table through her Mark, so cast a couple of Privacy Spells with a snap of his fingers. Satisfied with his action, Rita finally began to speak. "I was at Hogwarts, looking for some scoop or some scandal with some much going on in that school" Rita started to explain from the beginning.

"And that is when I saw Argus Filch using Magic" Rita gasped dramatically and Harry simply looked at her in confusion.

"And that matters to me, why?" Harry asked slowly what the woman was trying to say.

"Because, supposedly, he is a squib and he was using a Wand to cast Magic when he thought no one was looking, but he was wrong. I was there and I only noticed him by chance" Rita whispered furiously even though their conversation was protected by Privacy Spells. "It raised a lot of flags in my mind, so I decided to follow him" Rita continued her story and now Harry could see where this was going.

"I wasn't able to discover much, but I am certain that someone is masquerading as Argus Filch and I also found that Crouch Sr. is in cohorts with the imposter" With that Rita finally finished her explanation.

"I see…" Harry mumbled thoughtfully. "Thank you for informing me of this development. You did good" Harry praised her. While he wasn't a big fan of Rita, he could see her usefulness and he wasn't beyond praising his followers for doing a good job and rewarding them. That would simply make them strive to do better. "Tell me, Rita, is there something I can do for you?" Harry asked and Rita didn't need to be told twice.

While Rita hated being under the thumb of a fourteen year old, she couldn't deny the fact that working for him came with its own benefits. Yes, he had tortured her and then he had forced that brand upon her, successfully enslaving her. Then he also gained access to her life's work and her lifeline… She would never forgive him for that, but a part of her was glad that he had left her alone after that.

Rita was an avid believer of the axiom 'Quill is mightier than a Wand', but she had come to believe that in some cases, that axiom wasn't accurate. When it came to Harry Potter, that axiom was completely wrong… After Grindelwald and his followers joined him, she had finally come to understand how dangerous Harry Potter truly was and the biggest problem was the fact that the boy possessed the power to crush any opposition.

"Can I have an interview?" Rita asked in a hopeful tone. She knew very well where her talents lay.

"About what?" Harry asked, not promising anything.

"About how you feel with your name coming out of the Goblet of Fire" Rita revealed. She knew that she had to start with something easy and she decided to sweeten the request even more. "I promise, I won't spice up the article" Rita promised.

"Fine. You will have your interview, but after I deal with Crouch Sr. and the imposter. I do have some unfinished business with Crouch Sr." Harry declared as he stood up and pulled a pouch out of his robes before placing it on the table. "Treat yourself with some nice food, you deserve it" Harry said as he smoothed his robes before he turned around and started to leave.

To be honest, Rita was kind of taken aback by the gesture… "Thank you… boss" Rita declared to no one with some reluctance while staring at Harry's retreating back…

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