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~ Corvus Black - POV ~
~ Hogsmeade, Highlands, Scotland ~
It's been a few days since I've had to compensate the Weasley family for their supposedly 'dead' pet rat Scabbers. The confrontation had started off quite tense; considering I am a Slytherin and a Black, on top of which I am heir of the family, a family which historically leaned more towards the dark instead of the light which the Weasleys have always been entrenched in. Along with being aligned with the light the whole Weasley family seems destined to be sorted into Gryffindor, atleast for these last couple of decades, not that I've looked into past Weasleys and the houses they were sorted into. So having a Slytherin; one so high up in the houses hierarchy as well, coming up to a group of Gryffindors, especially the whole of the Weasley family within Hogwarts at that, had caused them to be wary of my intentions.
Anyway, my approach had caused them to tense up, especially the younger boys; Percy, who was a second year, and the twins Fred and George, who started Hogwarts this year and have already developed a reputation as a couple of troublemakers. Though that initial tension was dissolved rather quickly by my quasi-friendship/rivalry with both of the eldest of the Weasley brother's, Bill and Charlie. More Charlie actually as we were in the same year, Bill Weasley being the eldest and two years our senior so my interactions with him were minimal at best and he would be graduating this year so he's been more focused on his N.E.W.T. exams and less on inter-school rivalries.
Charlie Weasley and my sort-of-friendship with him began as a rivalry in our first year at Hogwarts when we competed for the top spot in the first years academically. We then competed against each other from our second year onwards in our respective houses Quidditch teams, both of us had made the team as Chasers. Slytherins had been dominating for the past four years with me as their star player, not that I put much stock in the games myself, it was just a good way to build my reputation as both an academic and athlete, boosting my already impressive standing with the Slytherins, though he didn't seem to see it that way.
Our rivalry though really came to a head last year when Charlie had worked up the courage to finally ask out Nymphadora, who he's had a crush on for some time. The moment he got rejected was also the moment that the school rumor mill found out about Nymphadora and I being a couple. Not that we're were hiding it or anything but at the time the relationship was new and we'd been taking things slowly. Though Charlie and the whole school hadn't seemed to have noticed until Nymphadora said we were an item when Charlie asked why she was rejecting his confession.
After the initial awkwardness from the rejection and some mocking from the school; which the latter only happened because he, for some foolish reason, thought it was a good idea to ask her out in front of a crowd of people in the great hall. Which did not work out for him. A few weeks after that he was back to being his usual popular self, and the rivalry had also ramped up for him. While I was partially enjoying the fact that my relationship with Nymphadora, who was one of the most sought after girls in the school, was now an established fact and the envy of many guys and girls. But either way, a tentative friendship began between us after he had accepted the rejection and he actually tried to get to know me and found out that I wasn't like the usual pure-blood scions.
As for the compensation for their 'dead pet rat' Scabbers, I had offered to pay for my owl 'killing' him with either ten Galleons, which is what an new owl would cost, or to replace the rat, however much that it would cost. Of course they took the ten Galleons but only after they were assured by Charlie that I wasn't looking down upon them for their families financial situation and that the offer was genuine. Which should have been obvious but I understood that the difference in both of our pure-blood families financial statuses would make it seem like I was looking down at them.
After that was taken care of I began to get the board set for getting my dog brained brother out from his extended and unofficial stay with the dark and dreary cells of Azkaban. Obviously I couldn't just hand Pettigrew to the Aurors and hope for the best, I needed a plan and a discrete one at that. Luckily I had a girlfriend whose father worked within the judicial circle of the wizarding world. All I had to do was write him a letter partially explaining the situation and asked him to discreetly look into Sirius' nonexistent trail documents and having him start building a case with that as the basis of which we can get the case reopen.
Truly simple work. The hardest part was actually just having to let Nymphadora in onto what I was doing and why. She was angry with me for not telling her about it at first but when I informed her that it was mostly Black family business, and that I'd not even informed my grand uncle Arcturus about the situation yet she easily forgave me. She still tried to convince me to take Pettigrew straight to the Auror offices within the Ministery of Magic but I was able to convince her that we had to wait until her father completed his investigation and we hard a solid case to present to the Wizengamot.
There's one final thing that I think will make this plan of mine go off without a hitch, which is why Nymphadora and I are now headed towards the Shrieking Shack on our Hogsmeade weekend. There's a certain beetle that I want to have under my thumb for this endeavor and future use.
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~ Rita Skeeter - POV ~
'A journalist's duty is not merely to report what happened. It is to tell the story people will remember.' That has always been my one true philosophy when it comes to journalism, my one true guiding principle. Truth is important—but boring truth isn't enough, that doesn't necessarily mean I believe facts are worthless. But I believes facts without narrative are useless.
The problem, at least in other people's eyes, is that when the evidence doesn't provide the story I want, I'm perfectly willing to manufacture the missing pieces. I've always understood something that many so called respectable journalists might dislike admitting: people don't buy newspapers because they want raw information. They buy them because they want;
scandals, drama, heroes, villains, secrets, romance, betrayals, and outrage. Therefore, I sees myself as more as an entertainer as much as I am reporter.
Plus, I don't always need to invent everything, some time's I just take a genuine fact and change its framing. It's the fault of the readers that they often times remember implications of the article rather than qualifications of the source. I've never necessarily cared whether a source is trustworthy or not, I care whether the source is; interesting, believable, useful, and most importantly quotable.
'A source doesn't need to tell the truth. They only need to provide a compelling story.' Which is why I've come to the half forgotten and reportedly haunted shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. A letter from an anonymous source saying they got a story for me, and big one at that. But of course I wouldn't just show up because of some letter and definitely not without checking around the place in my Animagus form.
I had already scoured the surroundings as a beetle to make sure this isn't some remnant of the Death Eaters trap for me. I had made a few enemies in their circles with my scathing reporting on the Death Eater trials before the Council of Magical Law, including the trials of people such as Igor Karkaroff and Ludovic Bagman.
'Luckily it doesn't seem to be a trap of any sort.' I surmised after an extensive check of the shack. 'Ah, and it seems my anonymous source is finally here, and he seems to have brought a date. Tch, seems like like source is still just some handsome schoolboy and his girlfriend. Hmm, but I still sense a story, my journalistic senses are tingling... might as well hear them out. I'll judge if it's worth my time after. Oh, seems like the girlfriend won't be staying for this, pity, oh well, at least I'll have the pretty-boy all to myself.'
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~ Corvus Black - POV ~
Honestly I had forgotten about Rita Skeeter, well that's not completely true, she just hadn't seemed an important enough character to remember. Even though she played an integral part in the books and was heavily featured in the Goblet of Fire, I've always found her character to be just someone who added some flavor into the story. Maybe thats because I didn't really pay attention during Hermiones' character arcs as much, especially the whole her and Krum and their relationship being written about by Rita.
Either way, it was a few years ago, in '86, when Rita Skeeter showed up at Hogwarts as a guest lecturer that I remembered her character and Animagus form and how useful it is. As soon as I remembered it, it accrued to me how useful someone with her disposition would be to have under my thumb. So I sent her an anonymous letter with a big story to tell, which I luckily had, but mostly I wanted this meeting so I could blackmail her into signing a magical binding contract.
I'd probably feel badly about it if I didn't know what she was willing to do for a story... Actually, who am I kidding, I don't feel anything about what I'm about to do to her. She's an amazing resource for spying and collecting information and I'd rather she be bound to me instead of running around causing trouble for me down the line. Perception is a powerful tool and having a reporter in your back pocket is an easy enough way to shape the world's perception of you or your interests.
Plus, with my meta-knowledge and my seer abilities, I could make her career flourish thrice over, and all I'll require is her absolute loyalty, and even then not for long. I don't plan to stay in this universe for long after Voldemorts return, especially since that's how long Grindelwald estimated he would need to track down some hidden magic and buried and forgotten treasures of the past.
As I was lost in thought Nymphadora and I finally came to a stop before the entrance of the Shrieking Shack. I had already convinced Nymphadora to play Auror and check for any one lurking around the area looking suspicious after she assumed that Rita Skeeter had yet to arrive. But with my senses I had already spotted the inconspicuous beetle on top of a banister in the foyer watching us.
'Seriously, it's the middle of winter, why would a beetle be out and about, makes me almost want to reconsider my recruitment of this witch.' I thought to myself after Nym had left my side to look for any suspicious. 'Might as well get this over with, I can always correct her stupidity of situational awareness some other time.'
"Why don't you come down from there and join me Ms. Skeeter? Or would you prefer Rita the Beetle?"
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