Vid also unfolded the newspaper in his hands.
A few days ago the incident on the island finally made it to the press, but it was depicted with a casual tone—
[Heroic Action by the Ministry of Magic: Rescue of Muggle Children!]
[Featured reporter Rita Skeeter reports: On December 12th, the British Ministry of Magic, along with civilian wizards, successfully rescued 82 trafficked children from a nameless island near Iceland, 7 of whom were from the UK. Of the rescued children, 4 possess magic ability, but all are beyond school age.]
[It is understood that most of these children hail from North America, Asia, and Africa, with over half from the Middle East. Due to ongoing wars in their countries, children who lost their parents were forced into being commodities for trade.]
[Investigations revealed some children suffered certain degrees of abuse, most showing signs of malnutrition due to inadequate food intake. Following treatment at St Mungo's Hospital, the children's health status has significantly improved.]
[A Ministry spokesperson disclosed that they've contacted the Muggle Government, and these Muggle children will be sent to Muggle Welfare Institutes to seek reliable families for adoption. Children with magic ability will receive funds from the Ministry to study basic magic correspondence courses.]
[In recent years, with frequent cases of child disappearance in Muggle society, Muggle governments in various countries will establish more comprehensive systems to prevent further child disappearances.]
[The author learns of rumors about a child who, due to abuse and harm on the island, spawned an Obscurus and escaped, though this information is yet unconfirmed.]
[Auror Office Chief Scrimgeour stated: "Indeed there are such rumors, the specifics are still under investigation."]
[As is well known, Obscurus is a very dangerous dark magical force, extremely unstable, and difficult to control. If an Obscurus really is rampant on UK soil, how can we ensure our safety?]
[Here, Minister of Ministry of Magic Fudge also calls upon wizard families to strengthen the supervision and education of children. We must work together to create a safe and healthy growth environment for children.]
This report, until the end, did not mention Dumbledore or any of the Hogwarts professors, simply using the term "civilian wizards" to summarize.
—As if the incident was discovered by the Ministry of Magic, who then bravely rescued the children.
Not even the identity of the criminals was mentioned, as if they emerged right from the ground.
Nevertheless, most readers, after reading the report, would naturally assume the criminals received punishment and the matter was concluded.
Indeed—just like Harry at this moment.
He quickly read through the newspaper, muttering as he bit into a piece of bread: "The Ministry of Magic is pretty impressive... I hope to become an Auror after graduation."
Michael widened his eyes, looked at him intently, and saw that Harry seemed genuine, shocked.
—Even without knowing deeper details, had Harry forgotten what Percy Weasley had said during the meeting?
Harry didn't think that much; he had received his own newspaper but hadn't had time to read it thoroughly — but since it took some days to be reported, surely the Ministry had resolved the follow-up issues, right?
At this moment, Harry hadn't been smeared yet by fabricated newspapers, trusting like most ordinary people in official institutions.
He didn't realize that the Ministry of Magic was also made up of self-interested individuals, and perceived it as an authoritative and just entity.
Harry quickly finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth, tucked the newspaper under his arm, and hurriedly said: "I must go... I'll tell Ron and Hermione not to sign up on the stay list..."
Harry dashed away, and Michael pointed to his figure, looking at Vid, incredulously asking, "Does Harry have no doubts at all?"
Vid replied without lifting his head, "He's not a Ravenclaw."
This was hardly a reason, but Michael was immediately convinced.
"...Alright." Michael said helplessly, "He'll find out someday that you can only trust half of what's in the news, especially when it's written by that rumor generator Rita Skeeter."
He flipped through the newspaper, puzzled, "Strange, this article seems different from Skeeter's previous style."
"What's her style?" Vid asked, turning to another page.
"She... would probably write something like—"
Michael thought for a moment, pinching his voice: "We must ponder deeply, what exactly caused this tragedy? Was the Obscurus's escape due to the Ministry's inaction? I've got some insider information; terrifying truths are hidden behind this..." and such.
Vid couldn't help but laugh, as Michael mimicked her so well, he could almost picture Rita Skeeter stirring controversy with those remarks.
Michael, only thirteen, could already discern Rita Skeeter's style from the newspaper. In contrast, in the original book, Mrs. Weasley was often misled by false words, resulting in deep misunderstandings with Hermione.
"Perhaps it's because this time she truly has terrible truths in her possession... She really knows a lot of insider details, and so didn't dare write them up?"