A pack of furious little lions had gathered around the Gryffindor table. Clutching copies of the Daily Prophet, they denounced Rita Skeeter's article as shamelessly turning black into white.
"Scheming little hack who plays with words! She ought to be cursed!" the young witches shrieked.
"We have to teach her a lesson."
"Make her shed some blood. Break a couple of bones." A few older boys cracked their knuckles, putting on a tough front.
"Yeah. A prank isn't going to scare someone like her. It's got to be something that draws blood."
In her article, Rita Skeeter had poured every ounce of spite into smearing Skyl. She listed all sorts of vague, slippery "evidence" and used them to argue that Skyl was nothing but a flashy fraud.
Her evidence included: the fact that he had served as an assistant in Defence Against the Dark Arts and made certain "absurd" remarks in class; a series of selectively quoted student conversations suggesting that the transfer student secretly ran a private society and "recruited" a group of witches as followers; and his attendance record, which showed an "extremely serious" pattern of truancy—habitually skipping classes, never attending some subjects at all, and spending long stretches of time engaged in "unknown activities" outside the castle.
All of this, she claimed, was enough to prove that de Lin was ignorant and uneducated, yet full of "lust for power" and "desire for control". She hinted that he might be a worshipper and follower of You-Know-Who, a young Death Eater who had slipped into the school, harbouring ambitions of becoming the next Dark Lord.
To explain how Skyl could possibly have written a professional Transfiguration paper, the second half of the article described Professor McGonagall's "unusual attentiveness" to him and then insinuated that the real author of the paper was Minerva McGonagall herself. Skyl, according to Rita, was just a smooth-talking little rat who had coaxed the paper out of her and passed it off as his own—an academic cheat.
Worse yet, Rita declared that Skyl was essentially Professor McGonagall's "white glove", a glove-puppet used to publish a controversial paper in her stead so that, if it provoked criticism, the jeers of the academic world would fall on him rather than blemish her reputation.
In her conclusion, the reporter wrote that there was no such thing as a genuine child prodigy. Everything was simply a publicity stunt concocted by Hogwarts, this so-called prestigious school, to burnish its own image. The transfer student de Lin was nothing but a scheming, power-hungry fake who chased titles and favours.
The article's prose was florid and overblown, yet its tone was viciously sharp. Taking its stand on the moral high ground, it thundered against "darkness and corruption", every line dripping with a self-righteous defiance of authority. The piece was riddled with logical holes and contradictions, and the reliability of its sources was dubious at best—but that was more than enough to give the wizarding onlookers a delicious piece of gossip.
Readers could settle into their armchairs with a cup of coffee or tea, nibble a scone, and ride the emotional rollercoaster of the story. When they finished, they would sigh in satisfaction, finally able to fold up the paper and remark to whoever was nearby, "I knew that transfer student was a fraud from the start." "So McGonagall is nothing more than a fame-hungry, hypocritical politician." "Hogwarts has gone to the dogs under Dumbledore."
Because the school's honour was at stake, even students who weren't fond of Skyl were furious. And on top of that, Skyl had his own band of loyal admirers at school. They spanned all four Houses, with witches making up the majority—and those witches included no small number of pure-blood girls.
Gryffindors prided themselves on loyalty; they were more than willing to stand up for their gentle "big brother" de Lin. Ravenclaws respected the wise and therefore stepped forward to defend the young genius transfer student. Hufflepuffs loved to close ranks and treasured the school's reputation, so they joined the chorus condemning Rita as well.
The strange part was Slytherin. In theory, they disliked Gryffindor, and by temperament they tended towards cold selfishness. But they also held a deep reverence and hunger for the strong. Having seen Skyl's magic with their own eyes, more spontaneous and devoted followers came from Slytherin than from any other House.
In one stroke, the Daily Prophet had managed to enrage something like thirty to forty percent of the entire student body. The witches of the Third-Year Fever Dream Sisterhood begged their parents to write letters of complaint about Rita Skeeter to the Ministry of Magic, and eagerly mobilised other students to join in. Led by the Weasley twins, a number of young wizards started making inquiries into Rita's home address and daily routine, planning to "have a nice chat" with her in person.
The teachers also reacted. Professor Quirrell immediately went to Snape to ask for Veritaserum, planning to grab that lying tongue of Rita's and force the truth out of it. Professor McGonagall wrote directly to the Prophet, demanding that they pull the article and have the reporter publish a formal public apology. When Dumbledore learned of the situation, he went to the Ministry of Magic to request that the current Minister, Cornelius Fudge, launch a formal investigation into Rita Skeeter for abusing her powers as a journalist.
The Ministry received so many letters of complaint in a single day that they nearly buried Fudge's desk. Some came from students' parents, others from Hogwarts alumni and graduates.
"De Lin, de Lin… it's that de Lin again. Just who on earth is this boy?" Fudge groaned, at the end of his tether.
"A transfer student, Minister."
"And his file? Where was he born, what's his family background, when was his wand registered, and what about the Trace?"
"His wand was registered last July. Cypress, dragon heartstring. The Trace was placed on him along with the rest of the students in October and has been fixed inside Hogwarts Castle ever since, with no movement. There's no birth information on record. In addition, de Lin has published a paper in Transfiguration Today."
"Sounds like a model student," Fudge said, nodding. His genial face creased with a faint worry. "Very popular, by the look of it. Almost more so than… oh, never mind. In any case, we have to give some sort of answer to all this—at the very least, we need to shut Dumbledore up. Send Rita Skeeter a letter. Tell her to report to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by three o'clock tomorrow afternoon to be examined for abuse of journalistic authority."
The fake-news incident continued to brew and ferment. A few days later, many other newspapers and magazines began running pieces condemning the Prophet's article as shoddy and unprofessional. The Daily Prophet struck back, and the two sides started flinging insults at each other across their editorial pages.
Thanks to that one article from Rita Skeeter, the previously bored British wizarding world suddenly had a great deal to talk about, and newspaper circulation soared.
The protagonist of the story, however—Skyl—knew nothing about any of it and couldn't have cared less. Anyone trying to find him would discover that he had vanished without a trace, as if he were only an outsider to the whole storm.
In truth, Skyl was in the Lands Between conducting experiments, run off his feet. His phone was switched off.
When he finally reappeared, it was already mid-February. Skyl's face was lit with a cheerful smile; he was clearly in a very good mood. The moment he stepped into the Great Hall, everyone burst out laughing. Someone shouted, "de Lin, you've been skipping class again!" He just spread his hands and didn't respond, heading over to the Gryffindor table to find a seat, pour himself a glass of milk, and grab two croissants.
"de Lin, where have you been all this time? Nobody could find you anywhere," Percy said, frowning, somewhere between worried and annoyed.
"What's wrong?" Skyl looked genuinely baffled. "I've been busy with experiments."
"What's wrong? While you've been off doing experiments, we've all been fighting a war against that evil reporter Rita Skeeter to defend your name, that's what!"
The students rushed to explain, all talking at once.
Skyl barely got a few bites of breakfast in before he was surrounded by people checking on him. Everyone had assumed he couldn't handle the slander in the papers and had gone off to hide somewhere and lick his wounds.
The transfer student was amused. He shook his head helplessly. "What on earth? What kind of fuss is this supposed to be? How are things now?"
"Don't worry, we've won a glorious victory!" The Weasley twins thumped their chests, wearing the air of conquering heroes.
Indeed, Rita had paid a price for her moment of spite. Pressured from all sides, she had been stubborn at first. She knew the Ministry would have a hard time actually charging her with anything—at most, they could push the Prophet to pull the article. So she embellished her recent experiences and used them as further proof that she was being "suppressed", riding the wave of controversy to keep herself in the spotlight.
But as anonymous threat letters from Hogwarts students started coming in like snowflakes, she began to feel increasingly uneasy. Two days earlier, a group of terrifyingly dressed unknown wizards had blocked Rita's way home and warned her that if she didn't retract the article, she'd vanish from the face of the earth.
Scared out of her wits, Rita ran to the Aurors to file a report. The Ministry, however, pushed her from one office to another, shuffling and delaying. At last she realised the situation had spun far beyond anything she could control. The witch immediately announced that she would be holding a public press conference and invited de Lin to attend so she could apologise to him in person.
The conference was scheduled to take place in Diagon Alley. On the day, Skyl took official leave from classes, and Professor McGonagall accompanied him to the event.
Journalists from every paper had been waiting with their cameras for ages. The magical flashes captured Rita's forced smile, as well as the calm face of de Lin sitting beside her.
"…Given that my report may have differed slightly from the actual facts and caused this Hogwarts student some inconvenience, I offer my sincerest apologies," she said.
Skyl sat at the centre of the long table, looking out at the crowd. Diagon Alley was as lively as ever. Professor McGonagall, representing Hogwarts, sat on his left. Several staff from the Daily Prophet sat with Rita on his right.
"Done talking?" he asked quietly. He hadn't used an Amplifying Charm; fewer than four people heard him.
Rita's face was painted with garish makeup, her fingers tipped with long, lacquered nails. She looked like a heavily dolled-up anteater. Putting on an eager tone, she cried, "It seems Mr de Lin has already forgiven me. He is a true gentleman, not one to hold a grudge, and he shows a generous kindness to a beautiful lady!"
"That's the last thing you have to say as a witch? Shame. I thought you'd manage something a bit more philosophical." Skyl rose lightly to his feet and turned to look at Rita Skeeter. "Now, please be quiet and listen to me, all right?"
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