EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with SIRIUS BLACK!
by Rita Skeeter
Last evening my dear readers, in pursuing the information you need, I met with none other than Sirius Black; the man the Ministry of Magic has been pursuing for two years. As I mentioned in my article yesterday this man who had been accused of betraying the Potters, who had been put in Azkaban for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles on a street in London, was part of the rescue of our own Boy-Who-Lived-Twice. Yesterday I raised the question of why Albus Dumbledore would call upon this man to aid in the rescue of the son of the very people he betrayed. Last night I found the answer to that question and more. In fact it appears this man has been the victim of the greatest miscarriage of justice imaginable. What would constitute such a declaration? Well in preparation for this interview I made a visit to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the records of Mr. Black's trial. No one in the Magical Records Division could find any trace of any file concerning the trial of Sirius Black. In fact the only record they had on Sirius Black was a citation for public urination. Presuming that sometime in the past two years someone had removed the file to aid in Black's capture, I asked for the date of the trial so I could pull the story from the Archives at the Daily Prophet. Again after an hour of searching their records, no one could find the entry for the trial. Infuriating but I just presumed the Ministry being the Ministry had just done a shoddy job of record-keeping again. One of Mr. Black's first answers of the evening put to rest that presumption. "I was never given a trial," Mr. Black said when asked if he could provide the date of that event. "I was sent to Azkaban by Barty Crouch Sr. based purely on the erroneous information provided by Albus Dumbledore that I was the Potter's Secret Keeper." Yes my readers, as I alluded to yesterday, Sirius Black is innocent. He's a man who was left at the mercy of the Dementors of Azkaban for over twelve years without a trial.
As the story unfolded over the next hour, I learned that to further confuse the forces of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Mr. Black had convinced the Potters to use Peter Pettigrew as their secret-keeper when they went into hiding. That very admission brought the man I was interviewing near tears. Though he never betrayed his brother in all but name, he feels the guilt of the Potters' deaths as if he did.
So was it that guilt that brought Sirius Black to fight alongside the forces of light in the graveyard? No my readers, it wasn't the guilt; he was there to fight for the life of his godson. Yes my readers, I said his godson. Sirius Black is Harry Potter's godfather. Everything he has done since breaking out of Azkaban has been to protect the child of his long-lost friend. While the country, myself included, thought he had broken out of Azkaban to kill Harry Potter, I discovered he did it to save the young man. Though he wouldn't tell me how he escaped, he did let me know that he discovered that Pettigrew, in a rat animagus form, was in a position to cause the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice harm. Once he performed his miraculous escape, he proceeded to Hogwarts where he tried to apprehend the traitorous Pettigrew himself. A feat he managed but unfortunate circumstances and the untimely interference of Severus Snape (Potion's Master at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) allowed Pettigrew to escape once again.
I now call upon the Ministry to right the wrong they have done upon this man. Either hold a trial in an open court to rightfully determine his innocence, or admit outright that the man who you currently hold in custody and who has confessed to the crimes that were attributed to Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew is the guilty one. Proclaim the innocence of this man as you proclaimed his guilt. The Daily Prophet stands ready to assist in that announcement.
Expert opinions on how Black escaped from Azkaban. Pg 2
What the Ministry knew. Was there a cover-up? Page 4
Order of Merlin to be rescinded for Pettigrew? Page 5
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HARRY POTTER SOON SO SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO INSURE YOUR COPY OF THE PROPHET.
That story took up the entire front page of the newspaper. The story was published around a picture of a much younger Sirius Black surrounded by the Potters on their wedding day. Lily Potter was in her wedding dress smiling and waving; James Potter wore dark dress robes and had a grin the size of Hogwarts plastered on his face. The younger Sirius had an arm around both of them with a large smile of his own.
"Wow." Harry murmured as he put down the paper. "Sirius might not even need a trial."
"E was never convicted," Fleur said. "Zere is enough evidence to allow your ministry to just proclaim 'is innocence."
"I wonder where we would have lived," Harry asked. His eyes hadn't left the picture in the middle of the story. The sadness that used to settle into his heart every time he saw his parents was surprisingly absent though.
"Where who would have lived?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, I was thinking if all of this had happened last year, and I had gotten to go live with Sirius, where it would have been," Harry said. "He's never mentioned if he has a home or even if any of his family is still alive."
"You know this will be the last time you ever go to that place again?" Hermione asked. "The Dursleys can rot for all I care Harry. So next summer or maybe even some of this summer you can live with him if the Ministry does the right thing."
"Only if there's room for three ladies I happen to be very much in love with," Harry said. Then another thought occurred to him. "Your apology," He said looking at Hermione. "Did she write it?"
Hermione's smiled and turned Harry's paper to page 2. In fairly large letters the headline at the top of the page announced.
A Reporter's apology to Hermione Granger
by Rita Skeeter
As I mentioned in an earlier article, I felt I needed to re-examine earlier stories where I relied heavily on the accounts of young Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy. Due to that examination, I felt I needed to correct a serious inaccuracy and offer a heartfelt apology. There is a young Muggleborn student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the name of Hermione Granger. My readers will remember the name from an article I wrote in Witch Weekly accusing the young witch of possibly using love potions to ensnare the love of Victor Krum and Harry Potter. In that story I used very unflattering quotes from young Malfoy and his friends about Miss Granger.
At this time, I, Rita Skeeter offer my deepest, most heartfelt apology to her for that article and for the emotional pain the story caused her. I recently had a chance to speak to the young witch and found her to be intelligent, charming and very determined. Her support and friendship of Harry Potter, our valiant hero of the graveyard, has enabled him to overcome many challenges in his life. It is a friendship that has existed since their very first year at Hogwarts. In the coming times when our young Hero needs his friends above all else, I can guarantee that this young witch will be the first to stand by his side.
I call upon my readers to help me in correcting the wrong I imposed on the young lady. I ask that you thank her for her friendship and unwavering support of our Hero.
"Heartfelt?" Harry questioned. "She has a heart?"
"One directly attached to her ego," Hermione replied as she spread honey on a biscuit before taking a bite.
"And 'er moneybag?"
'Exactly. She's expecting a hefty bonus for your interview tonight. Harry."
"Do I really have to talk to her?" Harry asked.
"Oui," Fleur replied. "Eet won't be zat bad, and we'll be zere with you. Besides she will eventually be writing about us and we want 'er to keep writing stories like zat," she nodded at the front page of the paper.
"Yeah fine," Harry muttered as he stabbed at his food. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Rita about the questions she was going to ask.
"At least it will be better than the article she wrote about Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said. She turned the prophet to page three where someone had drawn an animated cartoon of Dumbledore putting his head up his backside while another image kept transforming between Barty Crouch Jr. and Alastor Moody depending on where Dumbledore's head was.
The article went to details of how Barty Crouch Junior had been able to polyjuice himself as the famous auror Alastor Moody for a whole year under the very large nose of Albus Dumbledore. Rita held nothing back as she ridiculed the Headmaster. She made it sound like Dumbledore should have noticed Crouch Junior the very night he showed up at the castle. She pointed out events that in hindsight made it odd that Dumbledore didn't realized what was going on.
"I hope so," Harry replied as he watched the animated Dumbledore once again bend at the waist and twist his body in a fashion that was physically impossible before completing the insertion once again. "I sure hope so."
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