Thinking of William, Scott sent Milton a message in front of him.
[What do you think are the chances of Mr. Graves being elected minister? ]
After a while, William’s reply came.
[In my opinion, less than 30 percent. ]
[Since the mysterious man’s public appearance, and the incident where you and Dumbledore saved so many people together, most wizards trust Dumbledore more than before. ]
[Dumbledore has publicly stated many times that he is optimistic about Burns as the new minister. ]
[People throughout the witch guild are thinking of ways to seize public opinion in order to get more votes. ]
[But I’m not optimistic about them. ]
[Of course, this is just my personal opinion. All results will not be known until the new minister takes office at the end of this month. ]
“Seizing public opinion?” Milton, who also saw the message, was puzzled. “In the British wizarding world, who can rival Principal Dumbledore in terms of reputation?”
Scott glanced at him.
Still too naive, Milton.
“What’s wrong?” Milton asked.
“Let me explain.”
At this moment, Eddie suddenly came up.
“Politics is the dirtiest thing.” He deliberately pretended to know everything. “You don’t understand because you haven’t experienced the things that happened during Muggle party elections.”
Milton asked curiously, “What will they do?”
Facing Milton’s “ignorance”, Eddie suddenly became even more proud.
“Of course I’ll do whatever it takes.”
He smiled slyly.
“In general, they are desperate to promote themselves and use all means to suppress their opponents. They make up beautiful lies to attract votes and spread unfavorable public opinion to discredit their opponents. This is just normal.”
Scott glanced at the slightly greasy smile on Eddie’s face and nodded, “That’s about it.”
“Oh!” Milton was extremely surprised. “They want to discredit Principal Dumbledore and Ms. Burns? How is that possible? Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of this century. This is everyone’s consensus.”
“too naive!”
Eddie gave him a “contemptuous” look, shook his head repeatedly, and continued his increasingly greasy performance.
“Everyone likes to gossip. The greater and pure a person is, the more people like to look for dirt on the other person. This is nature!”
Milton shook his head, still not feeling that people would believe there was anything wrong with Dumbledore.
“This is also normal.” Eddie understood very well. “In the hearts of British wizards, Dumbledore’s authority is as deep-rooted as the terror of the mysterious man.”
Milton said, “Are you contradicting yourself?”
“No, no, no.”
Eddie raised a finger and waved it.
“It’s just that no one has tried to smear Dumbledore before, so people don’t have such a concept in their minds. But that doesn’t mean that smearing is useless. On the contrary, I think as long as someone starts, it will lead to a carnival.”
He was obviously pretending to be serious.
“Just wait and see. I swear by my name as the ‘King of Hogwarts Gossip’. If this is not contained, the final result will definitely be shocking.”
“How is that possible?” Milton said the same thing again.
Eddie chuckled, “I’ve said it before, people just like scandals. The bigger the scandal, the more they like to see it. After watching it, they will still believe it. This is nature.”
“Eddie’s right.”
Roger, who had just walked in, joined the conversation.
“In the Muggle world, what newspapers and media like to report most is the scandal of the British royal family.”
“Don’t forget.” Scott reminded aloud, “Rita Skeeter is also a member of the Guild.”
“oh……”
His three roommates all had their mouths hanging open.
“That woman…”
“It’s incredible…”
“We can already foresee the excitement in the future.”
“Why do I think that even if something like that happened, Dumbledore wouldn’t fight back?”
“We have to do something.” Eddie looked very interested. “I’m afraid Principal Dumbledore himself hasn’t thought about this issue.”
“Because he hasn’t experienced this.” Scott nodded in approval.
“Oh oh oh oh… I’m getting excited!”
Eddie became excited by himself.
“I’ve decided! I’m going to fight Rita Skeeter, the past queen of news! Defeat her head-on in what she’s most proud of!”
He raised his hands excitedly.
“When the old king dies, it’s time for the new king to ascend the throne! This is the time for me, Eddie, the future king of magic media, to make a stunning appearance!”
Scott looked amused, “So are you going to submit an article on behalf of Mr. Graves?”
“this……”
Eddie’s movements immediately froze.
“I…” He slowly looked at Milton, “Milton, I was just joking, hehe, hehe.”
But Milton was just stunned for a moment before he came to his senses.
“I think…if this is useful, it’s not impossible.” His eyes gradually brightened, “I mean, if this can prevent my dad from becoming a minister, I will support you, Eddie!”
“ah?”
Eddie looked at Milton dumbfounded.
“You…you, you, you, are you okay, Milton?” He was so surprised that he stuttered.
“Smear him, it’s nothing.” Milton lowered his eyes, “Make him useless, or he will be safer.”
At this point, he showed a pure smile.
“And this is the price he must pay.”
Oh…
Did he turn evil?
Scott also looked at Milton in surprise.
“What’s wrong?” Milton opened his eyes and looked at Scott and the other two in surprise, “Any questions?”
His eyes were still clear.
Is this natural evil?
Scott complained.
“Oh! Since you don’t mind, Milton, I’ll start preparing for the battle!”
Eddie was excited again.
“Of course, not only Mr. Graves, but also the officials who support him, and Rita Skeeter herself… Oh! I must get the list!”
Scott immediately handed over the list.
“Very good, you wait!” Eddie was full of confidence, “I’ll prepare to submit the article now!”
“Start now?” Milton was puzzled.
“Of course, you have to start cultivating your pen name from now on!” Eddie said, “Otherwise, do you think anyone’s article can be published in the Daily Prophet?”
He hurried to the small desk by the window.
“Oh, it’s too late now! I have to think of a way to write the most explosive article and increase the influence of my pen name as quickly as possible. I can’t get on the Daily Prophet yet, but I got it. The Quibbler should be a good springboard…”
The voice gradually died down.
Under the gaze of Scott and the other three, Eddie had already picked up the feather pen and instantly entered a state of full concentration.
A week later, Eddie successfully published his first publicly published article under the pen name “Hollingworth” on The Quibbler, and he took the initiative to attack Rita Skeeter without any scruples.
“News Queen Rita Skeeter – A Life Built with Vanity and Lies”
In this article, he analyzed Rita Skeeter’s usual methods of concocting hot news in the past from a professional perspective, and analyzed her vanity from an objective perspective.
Of course, the so-called objectivity is only seemingly objective, but it actually carries private goods.
Every part of the article is secretly guiding, and Rita Skeeter is subtly criticized from various aspects such as appearance, professionalism, and morality.
With the help of Luna, Scott and his team got the new magazine as soon as possible.
Although Eddie did not publicly admit that the article was written by him, he made full use of his expertise to fan the flames within Hogwarts, so that many people read the content of the article and aroused everyone’s discussion.
Facing his private complacency, Scott asked him very flatteringly, “What are you going to do next?”
“Next?” Eddie pretended to be deep and said, “Wait.”
“Wait for what?” Roger continued to flatter.
“Of course, wait for Skeeter’s counterattack.” Eddie said.
“Her counterattack?” Milton really didn’t understand, “I have to say, she is more famous than you, maybe you will be at a disadvantage.”
Eddie smiled disdainfully.
“Of course, but it doesn’t matter, everything is under my control.”
Facing Milton’s “knowledge-seeking” eyes, Eddie smiled triumphantly.
“I have to admit that Skeeter is the most watched reporter in the British wizarding world today. As long as I start a war of words with her, I can get the same attention as her in a short time!”
He put on a confident look.
“As long as the topic is heated up, even the Daily Prophet will publish my article for everyone’s attention! By then, they will be eager for us to continue arguing.”
“Have you thought about it in advance?” Milton was shocked.
“Don’t be surprised, haha.” Eddie waved his hand, “This is just basic operation.”
He was obviously very proud.
In order to prevent him from getting carried away, Roger took the initiative to rub him.
“Let me go, oh, if you continue like this, you will lose the friendship of me, a magic media king, oh…”
Just as Eddie predicted, Rita Skeeter published a counterattack article on the last page of the Prophet on the next day.
“Evening paper?” Eddie seemed to have expected this, “At this stage, this matter is only enough to be on the worst page of the evening paper.”
Scott and others ignored Eddie and had already started reading Rita Skeeter’s article defending herself.
“Rita Skeeter, Monologue of a Conscientious Journalist”
Skeeter is not a pushover. She criticized The Quibbler for being an unprofessional gossip weekly based on the past tone of the magazine.
At the same time, she said that she had never heard of a journalist named “Hollingworth” in the UK. She reasonably suspected that the other party did not have the identity of a journalist, and published articles in “The Quibbler” just to attract attention.
And she, Rita Skeeter, is well known to everyone. She has always been a very professional journalist who is trusted by the majority of readers.
Her articles are always published in professional and official media such as “The Daily Prophet”.
She has revealed many truths, interviewed many celebrities, and written personal biographies for many celebrities.
[Without exception, they are all best-sellers, and the people I write about are also very satisfied.]
She believes that she represents authority, the conscience of journalists, and the original intention of digging out the truth of all events for the majority of wizards.
In short, as a professional, she criticized the low level of “The Quibbler” and “Hollingworth” and emphasized her brilliant achievements in the past.
Finally, she even apologized to people for her own affairs.
[Although it was just a trivial slander, I think a professional journalist represents a good reputation, and I have to clarify myself.
Please allow me to apologize for occupying public resources and everyone’s time for this. ]
“Pretentious.” Eddie commented on this.
He chuckled, “But I have thought of how to fight back!”
As he said, he rummaged through the boxes and found an old newspaper.
The newspaper showed a photo of Scott bidding farewell to Milton at Hastings Railway Station.
“Farewell, the boy who was obsessed with Travers has another love?”
“This is the most direct evidence that she manipulated public opinion and made up stories!”
Eddie waved the old newspaper in his hand.
“Look, she wrote Milton as a girl!”
The proud Eddie did not notice that Scott and Milton both turned black.
He continued to speak with interest.
“Scott is a celebrity at this stage, and people will be interested in his news.”
“Also, Milton is Mr. Graves’ son, and he can also attract attention.”
“I will use this wrong report to criticize Skeeter, and it will definitely attract more people to read it!”
“This time, I will submit an article to the Evening Prophet!”
“Are you sure you want this blunder to be mentioned again?” Scott asked with gritted teeth.
“Oh Eddie!” Milton shook his head desperately, “Let everyone forget about it!”
Eddie was stunned.
“You don’t want to?” He was very puzzled, “I’m clarifying the truth for you!”
Scott said unhappily: “Clarify what? Everyone has forgotten about it!”
“Then…”
Eddie looked at Scott, then at Milton, and finally compromised.
“Okay, okay, since you don’t want to, I’ll find something else.”
“That’s right.” Scott immediately encouraged him, “Milton and I are not celebrities, you should find a more influential article and find out Skeeter’s fatal loophole.”
“I know.”
Eddie began to continue flipping through old newspapers.
Scott and Milton couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Everyone finally forgot about the blunder, but Eddie couldn’t bring it up again.
It would not only be Rita Skeeter who made the blunder that would be embarrassed, but Scott and Milton would be even more embarrassed.
Moreover, everyone who knew them knew that it was a blunder, and there was no need to clarify it. If it was mentioned again, it would inevitably be ridiculed.
Forget it.
Instead of looking for loopholes in this kind of gossip article, it would be better to look for loopholes in more professional articles, which would cause greater damage to Skeeter.
