Gilderoy's Grand Scheme

Monday's dinner appointment with Rita went about as well as Gilderoy expected.

"Rita, my dear," he greeted her expansively, and swept her and her photographer into the private dining room he had rented at The Three Broomsticks. He made sure his teeth sparkled in the light. He had researched her habits and the meal provided was a fancy Sunday Roast (prepared by Dobby).

Rita took one look at the table and turned a jaundiced eye on Lockhart.

"All right, Gilderoy, what's the deal? You wouldn't waste money on a meal like this unless it was something big."

The Professor grinned. He and Rita knew each other, and both considered the other a con artist.

"Rita, you wound me!"

"Uh, huh. And?"

"Sit, sit, we can talk while we eat."

She sat and pulled out her Quik-quotes pen and a parchment.

"Uh uh, Rita. You shan't need that one. This story is juicy enough you shan't have any need to embellish it."

She raised an eyebrow in doubt, but exchanged the Quik-quotes quill for a standard dictation quill.

"Here it is in a nutshell. House Malfoy is going downhill. Fast."

She sat back in her chair and studied him. "What do you have?" she asked flatly.

He gave her the rundown on what had happened Saturday and Sunday morning, concluding, "And here are copies of the memories to back it all up." With a flourish, he began placing a half-a-dozen memory vials on the table. She watched with wide eyes.

The memories were carefully edited versions of the events of Saturday and Sunday, including the Board of Governors meeting. He also included his memories of Dobby stealing his mail and admitting closing Platform Nine-and-three-quarters. They did not contain some of the things he had explained to Harry.

She stared at the vials hungrily.

"I presume The Daily Prophet has a pensieve," he stated.

"Oh, yes," she breathed softly.

She looked up into his eyes.

"There are several things to note in these. First, one thing I did not mention is that Mr. Draco Malfoy and Mr. Ron Weasley appear to have a love/hate relationship. They are always getting into scraps with each other. Although both deny it, they seem to derive satisfaction from their interactions and seem to seek each other out to pursue them. Don't take my word for it, though, ask some of the students. Perhaps Mr. Malfoy sees Mr. Potter as a rival for Mr. Weasley's attentions and sought to remove him from the romantic field, as it were.

"Second, watch Harry's reactions to some of the things mentioned. They do not jibe with what we've been told about him. I wouldn't mention them yet just take note of them.

"By the way, I don't know if you know this, but it is impossible to be imperiused into taking the Dark Mark. You have to want the Mark. Any hesitation and it shan't take. Just as threatening a family member as blackmail won't work. So Mr. Malfoy and the other Death Eaters have been lying through their teeth.

"Perhaps you can get an interview with one of the Azkaban prisoners and give him veritaserum. It shouldn't be that hard. You should be able to get one of them to agree by simply saying they were imperiused and just don't want to admit they are ashamed of what they did for the Dark Lord. You're smart, you can figure an angle that will work.

"Ask how they get the Dark Mark and what they had to do to get it. I guarantee it will turn your stomach."

He started eating and giving her time to mull over what he had told her.

She asked a few more questions, which he readily answered.

At the end of the luncheon, as they were about to leave, he said, "Rita, you do a good job on Mr. Malfoy, if you can get him stripped of most of his influence in the Ministry, I'll guarantee a one-on-one interview with Mr. Potter. If you can get him censured and bounced from the Wizengamot, or, as I like to call it, the Wizenmaggots, I'll make sure his girlfriend is included. No Quik-quotes quills, though!"

"Potter and his girlfriend?" Harry/Gilderoy could see the greed in her eyes at the stories she could do with that!

"Well, I don't think they realize they're an item yet, but it's obvious to everyone else." He looked her in the eyes, "Rita, play nice with Harry and you'll have a steady supply of block-buster stories for years. I guarantee it. And, you'll be able to publish the definitive Harry Potter biography. With authorized photos."

She stared back, and then nodded.

On that note, they left The Three Broomsticks and went their separate ways.

.....

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