Chapter 653: Rita: How can news lack artistic processing? (Edited)

Satisfied, Rita packed a stack of parchment and her shorthand quill into her crocodile bag and told Luna that she would soon send the final draft to her father.

"Then you better hurry," Luna said seriously, "My father has been working on a wonderful article about the Blibbering Humdinger. It's a very important article, and if you delay, it'll have to wait for the next issue."

"Sorry, what did you say?" Rita Skeeter seemed confused.

"The Blibbering Humdinger," Luna patiently explained, "It's a magical creature with a huge nose..."

"Ah... well, thank you for the explanation. I'll send the manuscript to Mr. Lovegood as soon as possible..."

Rita smiled superficially, feeling a bit regretful that she had to publish an article in such an unreliable magazine like "The Quibbler."

After Luna's interruption, Rita was in no mood to stay, so she bid farewell to Fish with a hug and quickly left Hogwarts.

"Luna, do you think Xenophilius will be alright?" Fish asked with concern after Rita had left. "According to Rita, both the Ministry and the Death Eaters might go after him, nya."

(?ω?)

"Of course, Dad has published many articles exposing the Ministry and Fudge before this, and there haven't been any problems," Luna replied confidently.

"That's because the previous articles were all nonsense..." Hermione muttered on the side, earning a glare from Luna.

Before they could argue further, Harry spoke up to distract Luna. "And the Death Eaters, they're not like the Ministry of Magic."

"That reporter dared to write this article, so, of course, my father dared to report it!" Luna nodded her head, and her radish earrings bobbed along, then she added after a moment, "And I'll write a letter to warn Dad too."

As odd as it may be, Luna still feared Voldemort and the Death Eaters as much as any other wizard.

Harry left the Room of Requirement with a sense of excitement and anticipation. He couldn't wait for Luna's father to publish the story, and Umbridge must be getting quite a look at it by now.

But his good mood only lasted for the rest of the evening, and it wasn't until after dinner that Harry snapped out of it. Tonight, he had to go see Snape for Occlumency practice!

And there was a good chance Snape would see what had happened earlier this afternoon...

He tried to talk to Hermione and Fish, but they had both slipped away somewhere after dinner.

"Isn't Fish still here? I don't think Snape will punish you for that..." Ron tried to console him, but his tone sounded guilty, clearly not fully believing what he said.

However worried Harry was, he still had to learn Occlumency, so he made his way to Snape's office with some trepidation.

"Get ready, we're starting," Snape, uninterested in wasting time with Harry, raised his wand as soon as Harry entered. "Legilimens!"

Just like with Fish's Legilimency, he read Ginny's memories, and the more Harry desperately wished Snape wouldn't find out, the more memories of the afternoon flooded his mind.

After a few moments, Harry, having managed to break free, looked at Snape with a pale face.

"Hmph..." Snape's mouth twisted slightly downward in sarcasm, "Seems like our great star is showing off again."

Harry's face turned red instantly, but at the same time, he felt relieved that Snape had said that, so he wouldn't be bothered by it, and that Fish was involved, so it wouldn't leak to Umbridge.

Snape seemed to have read his mind and mocked, "I'm not interested in your fame plans, so organize your thoughts, clear your mind, and get to work!"

He thundered and used Legilimency on Harry again.

...

Harry and Fish had been interviewed by Rita, and the truth about Voldemort's resurrection quickly became known to the members of the Order of the Cat.

This time it wasn't Fish who let it slip, but Hermione, who took the initiative and told everyone during the assembly.

"I'd love to see Umbridge's reaction to that." Dean said.

His words were widely supported by the Cat Knights, and it was clear that Harry wasn't the only one with such expectations.

After some lively discussions, everyone began practicing the Patronus Charm again, and it seemed that many of them had made significant progress as a result of the good news.

However, none of them, apart from Fish and Harry, had managed to summon a fully-formed Patronus.

And so, the month of February was quickly approaching.

That morning, Fish was sitting with the group at the long Gryffindor table, having breakfast as usual, occasionally feeding Hermione a piece of food.

Everyone else was having breakfast and chatting in small groups about various topics.

However, things changed when the first owl delivering a letter flew into the Great Hall.

A large number of owls flew towards the long Gryffindor table, delivering a letter to Fish and Harry, along with two copies of the February issue of "The Quibbler."

On the cover, Harry smiled shyly, while the restless Fish blinked, mostly seen zooming past or suddenly appearing from the edge of the magazine's head.

Below the title and edition number of "The Quibbler," there was a line in red: "The truth the Ministry of Magic has been hiding: You-Know-Who is back!"

"That's great, isn't it?" Luna approached the Gryffindor table and squeezed herself between Fish and Parvati. "They came out yesterday, and I asked Dad to give one to each of them. I think these are all readers' letters."

She raised a finger towards the owls that still filled almost a third of the long Gryffindor table.

"Hurry up and help Fish take all the letters, Fish isn't full yet!"

(´ω´)

Fish put down his knife and fork and quickly retrieved the envelopes from the owls' legs, asking for help from the students beside him.

Everyone chuckled and reached out to assist him and Harry in retrieving all the letters.

With Fish and Harry's permission, the group opened the letters.

The letters were mixed, from those who believed in Fish and Harry to those who didn't.

But perhaps because Rita Skeeter's article was so well-written and perfect, or because of the influence of those who had met Fish, there were many more people who believed them, and Fish received many more positive comments than Harry, and several witches even sent him their pictures...

Of course, these were confiscated by Hermione and other female students.

In Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, there were members of the Order of the Cat who had requested copies of "The Quibbler" and passed them around, discussing them, and even a curious Slytherin had asked for a copy.

Dumbledore also had a copy of "The Quibbler" in his hand at that moment, sipping his porridge and reading it with delight, seemingly informed by Snape. Apart from him, Snape and Professor McGonagall each had a copy.

Umbridge didn't realize the situation on her side because there was too much commotion on the Gryffindor side, so she quickly got off the teachers' table and stood behind Fish and Harry.

"What's going on here?" She asked in her fake sweet and youthful voice.