Rita Skeeter was a detestable person, but she was also a courageous one. She had simply chosen to use that courage in the wrong place.
Compared to official history, people preferred sensational stories and embellished legends.
As long as they were scandalous enough and entertaining enough, that was all that mattered.
Rita Skeeter understood this perfectly, and it was precisely because she had seized upon that fact that she rose to fame. That was also where her cleverness lay.
First there was Quirinus Quirrell, then Gilderoy Lockhart, and now Rita Skeeter. Ravenclaw's reputation had taken another hit.
Eda set down the copy of Armando Dippet: Master or Moron? in her hands. It was one of Rita Skeeter's works, a book that had brought her both fame and fortune.
Eda had spent some of her spare time reading quite a few of Rita's works. She discovered that buried beneath pages upon pages of lies was always a tiny fragment of truth.
That was the most insidious approach, and also the smartest one.
Rita Skeeter was not the first journalist or author to do such a thing, nor would she be the last.
Twisting right into wrong, blurring the line between truth and falsehood, abandoning conscience and morality, these things happened every single day in this world.
A clever person slandering and defaming others for personal gain was already bad enough. When that clever person happened to be a journalist, that was what made Rita Skeeter truly unforgivable.
Words were blades. They were the sharpest weapons in the world, capable of killing invisibly while leaving their victims defenseless.
Every writer should remember that, because no one understood the weight of words better than those who wielded them.
Eda paid Rita Skeeter no further attention, nor did she follow the court proceedings that came afterward. Daniel and Sergei knew what they were doing, and someone like Rita simply was not worth any more of Eda's time or energy.
Compared to an unscrupulous reporter, the happenings at school were far more interesting to Eda. While waiting for the second task to arrive, she and the twins noticed something rather intriguing.
They had assumed Mad-Eye Moody had been invited by Dumbledore to keep an eye on Karkaroff. Unexpectedly, Moody was not only watching Karkaroff, he was also closely monitoring Professor Snape.
Dumbledore trusted Snape, and he also trusted Moody. Otherwise, he would never have entrusted Moody with keeping watch over Karkaroff. Yet the two people Dumbledore trusted clearly did not get along.
No, that was not quite accurate.
It would be more correct to say that Moody always interpreted Snape's actions with the greatest possible malice.
Whenever Snape spoke harshly to Harry, Moody viewed it as persecution.
Whenever Snape claimed Harry had stolen the champions' honor, Moody regarded it as proof of his hostility toward Harry.
In short, as far as Moody was concerned, Snape was simply not a good person. He was still Voldemort's former follower, still a Death Eater.
To Moody, the current Snape was merely a vicious wolf wearing sheep's clothing. Once the opportunity arose, he would tear off that disguise and bare his fangs.
Normally eloquent and razor-tongued, Snape became like a beast stripped of its claws and teeth whenever he faced Moody, allowing himself to be pushed around.
Moreover, there was nothing Snape could do about Moody. When dealing with him, Snape even seemed to harbor a trace of fear.
More than once, Eda and the twins watched Moody argue Snape into complete silence. Even Snape, who rarely showed much emotion, was repeatedly angered to the point of nearly exploding.
Was Moody really so distrustful, even hostile, toward Snape simply because Snape had once been a Death Eater?
Eda could not shake the feeling that things were not that simple.
Although his reputation had become rather questionable now, Alastor Moody had once been the most famous Auror in Britain, a man who struck terror into the hearts of Dark Wizards. Yet the Moody of today was nothing like the legendary figure people spoke of.
He truly seemed... mad.
He was suspicious of everything and trusted no one around him. Sometimes he was excessively cautious, while at other times he was strangely careless.
He was also deeply prejudiced, seemingly convinced that people could never change. Once someone became a bad person, they would remain one for the rest of their life.
All of these "mad" traits suited the nickname Mad-Eye perfectly.
Eda simply could not understand why Dumbledore trusted someone like him.
No matter what, Eda herself would never place her trust in someone like that, nor would she entrust important matters to such a person.
Their instability and their tendency to judge everything through past experience would eventually ruin everything.
That was exactly what Moody was like now. Rationality and composure seemed to have become luxuries beyond his reach.
Eda still could not understand Snape, and her feelings toward him were complicated. He had helped her a great deal.
Even though he was genuinely irritating and sometimes made her want to punch him, she simply could not bring herself to hate him.
Ever since the incident involving Sirius, Snape had been deliberately distancing himself from Eda.
At first, Eda thought the Potions professor was simply still angry. But there had to be a limit to how long someone could stay angry, right? Since it clearly was not because of that, then why was Snape acting this way?
She could not figure it out. The question had troubled her for several months now. Perhaps if the detention Snape had tried to give her at the beginning of the school year had actually happened, she might have discovered some clues.
But since that detention never came to pass, Eda was now completely at a loss, as though trying to admire flowers through a veil of mist.
On the surface, Hogwarts seemed peaceful this year. Other than the addition of the champions, nothing unusual had happened. That only proved their opponent this time was an old fox, more difficult to deal with than any enemy before.
The more someone said or did, the easier it was to leave traces. Doing nothing at all was the best way to stay hidden. A true master whose motives remained completely unknown.
An open attack was easy to defend against. A hidden arrow was not.
...
Time continued slipping away, as though someone had cast a spell on every clock, making their hands spin faster and faster. Before anyone knew it, the second task was upon them.
The Black Lake had always seemed like part of Hogwarts itself, lying there in silence. Its vast iron-gray surface and dark, freezing depths seemed to beckon the four champions.
Hogwarts was still bitterly cold at the end of February. Only the gang of tough Durmstrang boys seemed able to tolerate the temperature of the Black Lake.
Led by Krum, those rugged fellows would always swim in the lake. No matter how cold it was, they wore nothing but swimming trunks.
This school year, Eda had hardly gone near the Black Lake at all. She was not one of those fangirls who drooled over muscular men.
Seriously, what was so interesting about muscle-bound guys?
Now, if Fleur Delacour put on a swimsuit and performed a fancy dive, or brought her classmates out for a synchronized swimming routine, Eda might actually have gone to watch.
As for Viktor Krum, he could stay wherever it was coldest.
The night before the task, Eda carefully checked all her belongings. Clothes, jewelry, books, money. Nothing was missing.
Apparently, the "thing she would sorely miss" was not one of her possessions. If it was not an object, then it could only be a person.
Compared to material belongings, people were obviously more important. Feelings were the most precious thing of all.
But she had only just parted ways with the twins, and the other three girls from her dormitory were all still there. Other than them, who else could it possibly be?
They could not seriously throw Professor McGonagall into the lake, could they? Please, have some humanity!
If they really tossed Professor McGonagall into the freezing Black Lake, catching a cold or running a fever would be the least of her problems. Dumbledore himself would probably have to teach Transfiguration afterward.
The next day, February 24, the second task was about to begin.
After breakfast, the students left the castle and made their way across the cold grounds toward the Black Lake.
Eda blended into the crowd, with Fred and George beside her. Clearly, the mermaids had not "kidnapped" either of them the night before. Apparently, even merpeople did not like Dungbombs.
The stands that had surrounded the dragon enclosure back in November had now been set up in tiers along the opposite shore, their reflections mirrored in the lake below.
By nine o'clock, the sun had climbed higher, and Eda finally felt a little warmer. But before she could enjoy the sunshine, she, Fleur, and Krum were led to a tent beside the lakeshore to change.
After all, they were about to enter the water. They could hardly dive in wearing thick winter clothes.
At 9:20, Eda, Fleur, and Krum stood before the judges' table.
Although the Warming Charm kept Eda from feeling cold even in her swimsuit, she still wrapped herself tightly in her cloak while mentally cursing the planner of the second task from top to bottom.
Just what kind of little genius came up with such a wonderfully ridiculous task?
At 9:25, Harry still had not appeared before the judges' table. He seemed to have forgotten that he was supposed to rescue his "Wheezy" as Dobby would call him.
Eda swept her gaze across the crowd. She spotted all her friends sitting in the stands, and she also saw Professor McGonagall.
When she looked away again, she felt completely puzzled.
Who exactly was she supposed to rescue once she got into the water?
Surely it was not Snape.
The thought made Eda look up once more.
...
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