"Zen I want to clarify exactly what we are agreeing to," Fleur said. "We promise not to tell anyone zat you're an animagus and we will 'ave Mr. Malfoy's former 'ouse-elf speak with you. We also will give you an interview with 'Arry and give you a story on Sirius Black with ze possibility of an interview with 'im. You will write ze truth of ze attack on my sister and start working toward apologies to 'ermione, 'arry and ze others. In ze future you will only print ze truth about any of us, including our friends and family."
"What if the truth doesn't reflect well for you or your families?"
"We would prefer if you ask us first to clarify, but if it is a verified truth and not taken out of context, we won't stop you from printing it," Hermione replied.
"And how do we confirm this deal? Do we take an Oath?" Rita asked.
"We both know zat magical oaths are both dangerous and can be ineffectual depending on ze interpretation of ze oath. We each 'ave something ze other wants, so we can leave it at zat."
"I think I can agree to that," Rita agreed and had to admire the young French witch. Rita reached into her handbag and pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill. Harry noticed it was not her Quick-Quotes one. She looked at Gabrielle. "Now young lady, tell me what happened…"
An hour and a half later, with breakfast entirely missed, Rita had her story including the fact it is impossible for a part Veela to transform unless very angry or scared, neither of which would have happened if she had been the one to initiate the attack. Harry promised to have Dobby meet with her at the same tree they had captured her earlier and because they didn't want her to know where they were, they returned her wand and requested she turn back into a beetle. She was put back in the jar and covered and a short time later she was flying away in search of Draco Malfoy to listen to what he would tell her.
Later that evening Rita was sitting at her desk. She thought about the four youngsters that had captured her. She considered the deal they had agreed upon and Rita knew that it was generous indeed. She looked over at the rolls of parchment of the notes she had taken from her conversation with the crazy house-elf. It definitely was enough to protect her from Lucius Malfoy. She looked back at her parchment in preparation to write her article. "If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it well," She thought.
June 3rd 1995
The next morning Harry and his bondmates were all at the table eagerly waiting for the newspaper. They were still worried that Skeeter might decide to renege on their deal. As they ate their breakfast, Malfoy and his two bodyguards strolled over shortly after he arrived in the hall. Harry and his bond mates all pulled out their wands.
"Well Potter you might want to say good bye to your…uh.." A sneer broke across his face, "girlfriend. I'm sure once word gets out about her attack on me, she'll be forced to leave the country. We don't like things like that around here."
"We both know who attacked who Ferret. Tell me, did you get the urine stains out of your robes, or did you have to buy new ones?" Harry asked and could feel the anger Malfoy had for him. At that moment owls came pouring into the Great Hall and another sneer broke out over Draco's face.
"Enjoy the news Potter. I know I will," He laughed as he turned and walked back to the Slytherin table.
The Prophet delivery owl landed in front of Harry and he quickly took his copy of the Daily Prophet. Similar owls were giving copies to Hermione and the Delacours. Nervously he unfurled the paper and breathed a sigh of relief when he read headline.
Beauxbatons Student attacked at Hogwarts
By Rita Skeeter
It was brought to this reporter's attention that an attack had happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the afternoon of May thirty-first. As I set off to investigate the event, I was under the impression it had been a Beauxbatons student who had attacked a Hogwarts student. I am saddened to say I was mistaken. Based on my full investigation of the accounts of that day, it is my belief, and based on the punishment meted out to the Hogwarts student in question, the belief of the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore that it was in fact Draco Malfoy, only son of Lucius Malfoy, who instigated the attack upon Gabrielle Delacour. Miss Delacour is a student of Beauxbatons, daughter of Alain Delacour the Deputy Minister of Magic of France, sister of the Beauxbatons Triwizard Champion Fleur Delacour and last but not least, the love interest of our own Harry Potter.
In my interview with young Draco Malfoy, his renditions of the events were implausible at best and closer to impossible to have occurred. He asserted that while he and his friends, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, were taking a stroll near the greenhouses, Miss Delacour, who is quarter Veela, transformed and attacked them without cause. I found the explanation wanting. Though he claimed that he suffered serious injuries including being hit by Veela flame, there was no record of him reporting to the school nurse. Also my own investigation indicates a less than full Veela cannot shift without feelings of intense anger or fear, neither of which would have happened if the events happened as described. I spoke to the young French student and found her version of the events more likely. She told me she was attempting to attend an afternoon Herbology class when young Malfoy and his two friends confronted her in an isolated area. After making disparaging remarks about her, Draco Malfoy attempted to at least grasp the young witch in a sexual manner and possibly was attempting a full sexual assault.
It is this reporter's opinion that the attack was by Mr. Malfoy upon Miss Delacour and only the fear she felt of being alone and under attack by three older students caused her to protect herself the only way she could. Even then she did not attack. An eyewitness to the events confirmed this. The eyewitness who doesn't wish to be identified had this to say. "Draco only fell down in fear as he urinated on himself while his friends were running away as fast as they could."
Though the punishment given to young Malfoy was a start, I call upon the Headmaster of Hogwarts to take steps to ensure the protection of those who are visitors to our country and I call upon the Ministry to consider if actual charges should be filed.
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