Rita Skeeter.
That was the woman's name.
For anyone who didn't know or had never heard her name, the first time they saw her appearance, they would be enthralled by her great beauty. She was a striking figure, with a sharp, angular face framed by a wild cascade of platinum-blonde hair that seemed to shimmer under the slightest light. Draped in elegant, if slightly flamboyant, robes that hinted at her flair for dramatics, the woman carried herself with a confident air that made it clear she thrived on attention and intrigue.
Well, that was for those who didn't know her. However, if Albert went outside of his office and asked around, nine out of ten students would stiffen immediately when they heard her name, with one of them being clueless because he or she was a muggleborn first-year student who still didn't know a lot about the wizarding world.
Hell, some even called her 'She-who-must-not-be-named', putting the woman at the same caliber as the dark lord. After all, even though she didn't have powerful magic or something like that, she had already ruined so many lives with the quill in her hand.
However, that was Rita Skeeter in the outside world. In front of Albert, though, she would never be anything more than the meek little girl who always hid behind his robe, always flinching over the slight contact from any strangers.
Well, not that Albert could blame her, of course. After all, she was one of the three victims who were defiled and humiliated by the centaur named Gali in the past, but in the end of the incident, it was Albert who saved the day. Unlike the other two who were traumatized by the experience and asked to be obliviated, though, Rita Skeeter decided that she didn't want to forget this painful experience, wanting this to be something that could build her into a tougher person.
Well, that was what she said at that time. However, the psychological burden that she suffered from the incident was too much, and coupled with her being a muggleborn in the era where the dark lord rose for the first time, everything was too much for the girl to bear. That was when Albert entered the equation.
As the one who was responsible for ending the incident, Albert still kept in tab with all of the victims. Even though unlike the other two who managed to live normally soon, the girl was struggling to adapt to her trauma, Albert could see the fire in her eyes, the grit and determination to overcome her situation. That touched him a little, and to make her way smoother, he decided to grab her under his wings. This not only gave protection against the rain and wind outside, but also gave the girl a confidant, someone who she could trust no matter what happened. After all, not a single person could strive in society without someone to back them up and support them psychologically, and Albert decided to be someone like that for Rita Skeeter.
At first, everything was transactional, though, with Rita Skeeter using his name as an umbrella. However, as time went by, their feeling was also developing to a new level. No, it was not the kind of romantic that everyone thought, but the sibling affection that was developed after protecting each other's back for a very long time.
That was why, even until now, twenty years after they met with each other for the first time, Rita Skeeter and Albert still treated each other like they were brother and sister.
"It is good to see you healthy after disappearing for so many years, Brother." Rita smiled with only one corner of her lips twitching, somehow feeling sarcastic. "I didn't expect that after so many years retreating from society, the first time you did after coming back is to accept the job in Hogwarts."
"Are you still holding a grudge for me not contacting you first? I thought I had already been forgiven, you know?" Albert smiled helplessly, tidying up his desk and preparing tea for the woman. "Oh, Mister Diggory, Miss Lovegood, let me introduce you to her. This is Rita Skeeter, an annoying woman who I am sure you both have heard about her reputation outside. Rita, this is my student, Mister Diggory and Miss Lovegood." He introduced the woman to two students who were still stiff on the couch after meeting the woman who their parents always told them to not get involved with.
"Uh… Hello, Madam Skeeter." Cedric greeted awkwardly.
"Amos's son, huh?" Rita hummed, then smiled mischievously. "How is his meeting with the Romanian foreign minister?" The woman snickered a little when she saw Cedric's body stiffened instantly. It was always good to tease a younger generation like this.
"Don't tease him too much, Rita." Albert just said, yet there was no heat in his tone. "Also, Cedric, I know the members of your family, just like any other high-end families outside, always learn occlumency when they are about to enter Hogwarts. Why would your reaction be so big? Are you out of practice that even such small news is enough to catch you off guard?"
Cedric couldn't help but blush when he was reprimanded by Albert. After all, what his professor said was indeed true. As for the news being treated as a small matter, he also couldn't blame Rita and Albert here. While the meeting between his father and the Romanian foreign minister was a secret from the public, those who knew where to poke would be able to find it easily, and there was no one better to investigate something like this other than the woman in front of him.
"Oh, it has been a long time since I tease someone from the Diggory family. How time passes so quickly…" Rita sighed, leaning her body back against the couch while also taking the snack on the table in an unladylike manner. Cedric widened his eyes when he saw this, yet quickly turned his face away as the deep red hue formed on his cheek. "Oh, it is always funny to tease the men from your family. You guys are always perfect in everything, yet always be the first one to feel flustered in a conversation." Rita giggled merrily.
"Ahaha… Thank you?" Cedric scratched the back of his head sheepishly, not knowing how to respond.
"Don't worry, Dear, it is just a playful banter. You don't need to be so stiff in front of this old lady." Rita smiled genuinely, which only frightened Cedric as the smile itself was far more terrifying than anyone he had ever met. Rita herself didn't care about his reaction, knowing that this was the effect of the monster persona that she built for herself in public. Then, her eyes turned to the eccentric blonde next to Cedric and her eyes softened a little. "So, you are Pandora's little daughter, huh? I didn't expect that you were this big already." She hummed softly, her gaze was melancholic.
"You know me and my mother?" Luna widened her eyes in surprise. After all, in the twelve years she had been living in this world, the girl had never met this woman at all.
"Oh, of course, I know about your mother! She was my best friend, after all!" Rita dropped the bomb casually, not even bothering to look at the two teenagers' surprised reaction. "I also attended her marriage, your first bathing moment, and even her funeral! Unfortunately, due to my bad reputation, I didn't dare to reveal my relationship in public, or my enemies would have to hunt your family like crazy just to get me. So, don't let this news spread, okay?" She winked knowingly at Cedric who was blushing at this sudden act.
Luna's gaze was far away, yet there was no hint of dreaminess that was usually on her face. She looked sad, as if remembering something painful in the past. "I didn't know you were mommy's best friend. Daddy has never said about it before."
"Oh, Dear, I am so sorry for not telling you about this." Rita sighed, rising from her seat before engulfing the girl in a bear hug. She knew that even though Luna inherited her father's eccentric personality, this also became a mask to hide her pain from losing her mother at a very young age. Without even realizing it, a single tear dropped from the corner of Luna's eyes, feeling like the dam was broken inside her heart.
"I… I miss her…." Luna suddenly sobbed silently. "I really miss her so much…" Tears flowed down her face freely as all the suppressed feelings were finally about to be vented out.
"I know, Dear… I really miss her too." Rita whispered softly, rubbing Luna's back soothingly. "Just let it out, Dear. Let your mother know that you really miss her… Let her know…"
And that was the final nail in the coffin. Right after that, cries finally broke in Albert's office, as the two people, a woman and a girl, were finally grieving for the important woman in their lives who left the living plane first.
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After a while, Luna was finally calm enough to breathe. However, her appearance was a mess that even she herself who had never cared about it felt embarrassed. After all, right now, she faced the woman who was her mother's best friend, and the girl didn't want to leave a bad impression.
In the end, the girl asked permission to leave so that she could fix her appearance first, and Cedric volunteered to help her do that. Both adults – Rita and Albert – stared at the door where the two teenagers left for a while until those kids disappeared from sight before Rita heaved a sigh.
"What a poor girl. This should be her first time grieving about her mother after a while. What the hell is that idiot Xeno doing there?! Can he take care of his own daughter?!" Rita clicked her tongue in annoyance.
The Xeno that she was talking about was Xenophilius Lovegood, the patriarch of the Lovegood family and also Luna's father. Albert just rolled his eyes when he heard Rita complaining about Xeno, knowing full well that the woman just wanted to use this chance to express her dissatisfaction toward the man she considered a rival.
Yeah, after delving into the newspaper business for so many years, Xeno was the only person who Rita acknowledged to be as good as her. Hell, even the chief editor of the Daily Prophet where she sent her article was far below her, or at least that was her opinion. However, what made her feel infuriated was that while Xeno could produce a good article once or twice, the man was more interested in the gibberish and nonsense conspiracies inside his head, making him being looked down on by the others in the news industry.
This made Rita dissatisfied with Xeno's attitude, thinking that the man was looking down on her for not giving his best in this line of work. Albert knew this one-sided rivalry, so he just rolled his eyes whenever Rita talked about him.
"So, what is so urgent that you decide to use our secret channel to contact me?" Rita asked, going straight to the point.
"Sit here and listen carefully, because this is also related to the girl," Albert said solemnly, and knowing that this should be something big, Rita followed the instruction, waiting patiently for him to explain. She also didn't have any reaction even though the woman just heard the girl who was her best friend's daughter also was also related in this matter, knowing that if something bad happened, Albert would use his connection to get the girl out of the storm.
After that, Albert spent the next thirty minutes explaining this matter from A to Z, from his suspiciousness toward Luna's bullies to the exaggerated report that Madam Pomfrey gave even at the risk of breaching her healer oath. To her credit, Rita didn't have any fluctuation in her emotions, waiting patiently until Albert finished the story so that she could grasp the core of this matter clearly.
In the end, after listening to the entire story, the first question coming out of Rita's mouth was, "So, how did the old man react?" There was a hint of hatred in her voice.
"Professor Dumbledore? Of course, like usual, he uses the 'wait-and-see' approach here.' Albert sighed helplessly.
"Tch! As expected, that old man is too cowardly to act big. For all the titles he has, he sure is useless whenever something like this happens." Rita sneered venomously at the mention of the headmaster.
Yeah, after the incident with the centaur in the past, Rita still had a deep grudge against Dumbledore for letting the centaur's descendants live and even punishing Professor Sprout who she saw as her savior because of her reckless behavior. No matter how Dumbledore explained that he couldn't do anything because of the complicated history between centaurs and humans, Rita had never believed that Dumbledore really couldn't do anything. After all, the old man was a chief warlock, the leader of all the magical races in Europe. Once he wanted to do something, the centaur wouldn't be able to stop him. So, she made a conclusion that the old man didn't want to make a big deal about this incident because the three victims were just muggleborns, which only made the hatred inside her heart burn more fiercely.
Fortunately, Albert didn't tell her about the centaur's descendant still being alive and hitting on Luna a few days ago, or she would have gone rampant already. It was okay if her going rampant was destroying everything with her magic, because that was something that could've been fixed in a blink. However, the way Rita went rampant was with her quill, and the damage was something that sometimes was even irreversible.
"Well, let's forget about Dumbledore for now. It would take a long time if you started ranting about him, after all." Albert said, not even bothered by the glare sent by the woman in front of him. "Right now, I have this list of all the Ravenclaw alumni who work in the ministry, and I want you to investigate them all. Find a deeper connection between each one of them, like if they were involved with each other during the recruitment phase or something like that. Well, you know about this matter the best. Just find any clue that could put us at an advantage when we finally encounter them."
"Sure. I can see a few familiar names here." Rita said, her eyes scanning the paper that Albert had just given. "So, what do you want with the information?"
"For now? Nothing." Albert answered, He sighed at the disbelief gaze from Rita. "No matter how much you hate Dumbledore, at least you know that he is right about one thing. Except for the systematic bullying inside the house that somehow was inherited into the newest generation, this group of Ravenclaw group has never done anything criminal that warrants formal investigation from the DMLE. Hell, even the Knight of Walpurgis the dark lord formed before it turned into the current Dark Eather also received the same privilege, being able to do anything as long as they hadn't broken any law yet."
"….. What a disgusting law." Rita sneered in disgust.
"Well, that is how it works, and you know it best." Albert just shrugged. "Also, be careful when you are investigating. They are a bunch of claws, and in some parts of life, their cunningness and resourcefulness are far more terrifying than a bunch of snakes. They even know the Greek's forced written unbreakable vow and revealed it to me a few days ago, which means they have a lot more unimaginable magic under their sleeves. If you get caught, you know how to contact me, okay?" He said, his expression was solemn.
Rita couldn't help but smile when she saw a hint of protectiveness in Albert's tone. Even though she was already an adult, which women didn't like to have someone protecting them fiercely like this?
"Don't worry, Brother, I won't be reckless. You know my skill in investigating." Rita said confidently.
Albert nodded, then as if remembering something, he added, "Oh, just have your eyes on the names there for the next few days. Once anyone on the list starts to talk about me, you can start investigating them thoroughly."
"Sure." Rita nodded. However, she was curious. "What are you going to do in the next few days, by the way?"
"Well, it is easy." Albert grinned ferally. "Since they have a spy who reports the situation here, I will take all the bullied claw students under my wing. Let's see who will react first once I poke their nest…"
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A few days had passed since Albert's last meeting with Rita, yet there was still no news coming to his ears. Well, it was understandable, since investigation was never something that could be done in one night. If anything, no news was good news here, as that meant Rita hadn't been found by the target yet.
Albert also started to observe the bullied Ravenclaw students, ready to get involved if something went wrong with them. From the second and third years were the students with Chinese roots, Su Li and Cho Chang. However, for the latter one, to his surprise, the bully wasn't as excessive as the others, as the girl was also under Marietta Edgecombe's protection. However, if anything, this only made him worried, as the professor wondered what kind of twisted plan Marietta Edgecombe and her mother, Marjorie Edgecombe, had for Cho Chang.
Still, there was nothing big happened for the next few weeks, which meant they decided to lay low for a while. Even Fred and George also couldn't find anything wrong with the claws in the last couple of days even though they had been eyeing the intelligence house closely. In the end, the investigation met a dead end. As long as the enemy didn't make a move, Albert could only wait patiently, staying passive until they made a splash.
This stressful atmosphere lasted for almost the entire October, until the big day finally came. It was the day where the gate between the death and the living plane became so close, the day when the dark lord was also vanquished by the Boy-Who-Lived. It was the Halloween day, or people in the magical world knew it best as Samhain Day.
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Author note
I make a site for anyone who want to support me. If you are willing to help, you will also be able to read this story up to chapter 24. If you are interested, you can visit patre0n/BlankNotes04. Please, support this work too! I hope that you are satisfied with this story! Thank you!