Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 873: Big News
Big news … this was definitely the big news that would shock the entire wizarding world, but there was still a key problem.
Rita had recovered after a brief shock.
“I can write!” she said baldly. “But the Daily Prophet wouldn’t print it, and no media would publish such reports. In case you haven’t noticed, nobody believes this cock-and-bull story. Everyone thinks you’re delusional. Now, if you let me write the story from another angle…”
“We don’t need another story about how Harry has lost his marbles or bashing Evan!” said Hermione angrily. “We’ve had plenty of those already, thank you! All we need now is the opportunity to tell the truth!”
“There’s no market for a story like that,” said Rita coldly.
“You mean the Daily Prophet won’t print it because Fudge won’t let them,” said Hermione irritably.
Rita gave Hermione a long, hard look. Then she said in a businesslike tone, “All right, Fudge is leaning on the Daily Prophet, but it comes to the same thing. They won’t print a story that shows you in a good light. Nobody wants to read it. It’s against the public mood.”
“So the Daily Prophet exists to tell people what they want to hear, does it?”
Rita sat up straight again, her eyebrows raised, and drained her glass of firewhisky.
“The Daily Prophet exists to sell itself, you silly girl,” she said coldly.
Hermione kicked Evan hard under the table to make him speak.
“That’s why we want to cooperate with you!” said Evan. “The Daily Prophet made a big mistake in this matter. They helped Fudge hide the truth. I think this is a good opportunity to surpass them. You know, I also run a newspaper…”
“Yeah, Hogwarts Magic!” said Rita contemptuously. “I heard you’ve been hiring ghosts to write articles.”
She had always been dismissive of such small newspapers, but the exhibition of Hogwarts Magic was really fierce in the past two years. It stood out from many small media, such as The Quibbler and Twenty-five Ways to Mingle with Muggles, and its exhibition degree was amazing.
In Rita’s view, Evan and the others were just lucky and happened to encounter some vital news.
The Basilisk attack at the beginning of its establishment was the biggest news hotspot in the wizarding world that year. This incident itself was not only exciting enough, but also revealed the past of Voldemort’s youth, and set off an upsurge to discuss the history of the Four Founders of Hogwarts.
With this incident, the public in the wizarding world was to remember the newspaper Hogwarts Magic.
In particular, the original collaboration between Hogwarts Magic and the Daily Prophet, which successively published and reprinted many of the above reports, made a name for the newly established Hogwarts Magic News.
Everyone was very interested in a newspaper created by the young wizard himself. After the Basilisk’s incident, they continued to order several issues out of curiosity. The reports written by ghosts were also very interesting, and there were details that everyone did not know.
Besides, the analysis of Evan’s magic research had most importantly opened up new ideas for many professionals.
These were all the knowledge that Evan had obtained from Tom Riddle’s diary. After sorting it out, he selected the knowledge that could be published in the newspaper. This allowed Hogwarts Magic to quickly occupy the market on a small scale.
At first everyone thought this was the limit of Hogwarts Magic. When Sirius escaped from prison, Evan and the others got first-hand information. Needless to say, its influence even extended to foreign countries and the Muggle world.
As an exclusive report, Hogwarts Magic once surpassed the Daily Prophet and became the most popular newspaper in the wizarding world by virtue of this hot news. It was less than two years since its creation.
This incident was considered a miracle in the wizarding world, and the discussion about Evan later became a hot topic.
Everyone thought that Evan and Hogwarts Magic were just a fluke. When the heat was over, they would soon be forgotten. But who knew that in the summer of the vampire attack in the Albanian forest, they also got first-hand information.
This was probably the worst evil in the wizarding world after Voldemort’s failure.
But because the incident happened in a too remote place, and all the people who died were Dark Wizards and desperadoes, the incident did not attract much attention at first, because the entire wizarding world was paying attention to the upcoming Quidditch World Cup final.
But the subsequent vampire attack at the World Cup re-excavated this forgotten incident.
After Sirius’s prison break, Hogwarts Magic expanded rapidly. Once again, in the Daily Prophet, the world-class duel between Evan and the vampire leader Caresius attracted more attention.
So far, Hogwarts Magic could be regarded as the top media in the wizarding world!
Then the Triwizard Tournament took place at Hogwarts, which attracted the attention of the entire European wizarding world. Everyone was optimistic about Hogwarts Magic exhibition, and believed that by virtue of its geographical advantages, its circulation volume might reach a new high.
Even Rita couldn’t help taking the opportunity to run to Hogwarts to see what had happened to Evan.
Who would have thought that it would turn out to be such a result in the end, and who would have foreseen that the Triwizard Tournament would come to an abrupt end?
With the collapse of the exhibition momentum of Hogwarts magic, under the joint suppression of the Ministry of Magic and the mainstream media of the whole wizarding world, the volume of Hogwarts magic was getting lower and lower, and it had now dropped to less than a quarter of its peak subscriptions.
In Rita’s opinion, it was because Evan and his friends didn’t know what readers wanted to see.
Their previous success was only accidental, and a great situation was wasted.
“But you’re right. This matter conflicts with the public mood. No one wants to believe that Voldemort has returned. It’s not time yet. We can wait for a while,” said Evan.
Rita looked at him in surprise, wondering what Evan meant.
“The fact that You-Know-Who came back is true and unmistakable. The Ministry of Magic doesn’t want people to know this news, but there will be more and more evil things that they cannot explain in the wizarding world. What we need to do now is to let people know about these things. Until the right time, we will announce his return,” Evan continued. “We’re here to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with you to cover this series of events and special reviews. If you agree, Hogwarts Magic will publish all the articles you write, and the price will be paid according to your remuneration in the Daily Prophet…”
“What do you mean?” Rita asked, “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Of course they won’t let the outside world know, for example, Harry has been attacked by Dementors just a few days ago…”