Chapter 85: The Daily Prophet’s Ambiguous Stance
Back in the office, it was already nearing midnight.
Melvin didn’t feel tired at all; instead, he felt refreshed in both body and mind.
Feeling the abundant magic power in his body, he raised both hands naturally and stretched, his mind stirring slightly. Brilliant silver light instantly illuminated the entire room, with light and shadows slowly flowing, and the silver-white covered area feeling like another space.
With sufficient magic power infusion and precise magic power control, without spells or wand, not even silently reciting in his mind, just a thought, the Illumination Charm was cast naturally, almost reaching the point of being at will.
The simple Illumination Charm showed a completely different style, with changes in the intensity and range of the light. Originally just using soft light to illuminate the surroundings, now the dazzling brilliance was almost impossible to look at directly.
He could clearly feel his control over this silver light, with intensity and range adjustable at will.
This was just the simple Illumination Charm. Melvin was certain other magics had similar changes too, but the space here was narrow, protective spells couldn’t be tested intuitively, and attack magic couldn’t be released casually, so it was temporarily inconvenient to test.
“Phew…”
Melvin restrained the magic power throughout his body and closed his eyes to sense carefully.
A brilliantly orchestrated play had unfolded across all of England, with thousands of wizards having their emotions stirred by him. This emotion, through some unknown transformation, turned into faint magic power gathering in his body. The magic power gained tonight was nearly half of his own magic power.
If there was some will other than his own in this magic power, Melvin would surely detect it, at least noticing some clues.
But there was nothing.
Precisely controlling the flow of magic power in his body, all magic power was as controllable as his own limbs, effortless to call upon.
Throughout the entire process, there was no abnormality. There were no strange whispers in his ears, no bizarre knowledge popping into his mind. His memories were still the same ones, neither more nor less.
Melvin quietly felt the magic power; it was still growing slowly, with a slight increase.
It was foreseeable that as the number of viewers increased, during this Easter Holiday, his magic power would continue to strengthen.
The intensity might not match tonight’s, but accumulated, it would still be considerable.
But according to the Wizarding World’s conventional strength classification system, Melvin felt he had already surpassed Senior Aurors and Strikers. He wouldn’t be at a disadvantage against several Deans. With his unique magic power, he could even hold a certain advantage.
As for the realm of legendary wizards like Dumbledore and Voldemort, with few observation samples and data, Melvin didn’t have much confidence yet. But at this current progress, he believed it wouldn’t be long—perhaps not even waiting for Voldemort’s resurrection—before he could step into that realm.
“Thanks to the Horned Serpent…”
……
He got up early in the morning, feeling refreshed.
While washing up, Melvin recalled and confirmed he hadn’t dreamed last night, especially not of anything indescribable. His soul was still his own soul, and his consciousness was still his own.
“Sigh…”
Nicolas Flamel’s words had made him paranoid.
He shouldn’t have listened to his stories.
Melvin fully relaxed and went downstairs lightly for breakfast.
There were few students eating in the Great Hall, only a dozen little wizards scattered across the four long tables, with dark circles under their eyes and looking listless.
“Last night’s Projection Mirror story excited many students so much they couldn’t sleep. After lights out, they made noise in the common room until midnight, forcibly dispersed by the Prefects. Even back in the dormitory, they didn’t quiet down, chattering about the warriors’ adventures.”
Professor Flitwick couldn’t help laughing: “They were shouting in their dreams to defeat Quirinus Quirrell.”
“It looks like they also want to have an exciting and thrilling adventure.”
Melvin smiled back, looking around. Several professors were absent too—the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster weren’t there, and several Elective Professors had left school for the holiday. The Great Hall during the holiday felt a bit deserted.
Professor Snape wasn’t there either, probably affected by last night’s moving pictures.
To show Harry’s inner world, Melvin had specially added many close-up shots of eyes. Those green eyes were clear and pure, the eleven- or twelve-year-old little wizard still childlike, with no obvious male or female features, unclear how similar he was to his mother.
“…”
Melvin held a cup of milk, sipping it slowly, with today’s morning 《Daily Prophet》 spread open on the table.
This newspaper was founded in the early 18th century, initially circulating only near London, publishing obituaries, missing persons notices, and wizard community market news.
Later, to boost sales, it began reporting bizarre events: a wizard who botched a spell and sent himself to the hospital; a witch missing via the Floo Network who reappeared after twenty years as the neighbor village wizard’s mistress; a Ministry of Magic high official who died violently at home, with Malfoy claiming no knowledge…
For a long time, the 《Daily Prophet》, like other regional papers, loved making things up, rarely caring about news accuracy. Later, finding such obviously fake news unpopular, it changed course.
From the 19th century, editors favored eye-catching content, reporters gathered material by any means, recklessly publishing defamatory and slanderous content. With no news-related laws in the Wizarding World and the Ministry of Magic lacking intent to fill the gap, the Daily Prophet editorial department bore no responsibility or consequences.
The current Editor-in-Chief is Barnabas Guffey—his name tells it; he’s a descendant of that Barnabas from the eighth-floor tapestry who taught trolls to dance. Far from foolish, he’s extremely shrewd, mastering the essence of news media.
Under his leadership, the newspaper basically doesn’t target sitting officials, accepts funding from pure-blood families, and doesn’t target those wealthy backers.
With the wings of power and wealth, the 《Daily Prophet》 developed rapidly in a short time, quickly becoming Britain’s best-selling wizard newspaper and the main channel for British wizards to get news.
The newspaper is mailed to subscribers by owl for just 1 Knut, two editions a day: the 《Daily Prophet》 and 《Daily Prophet Evening Edition》, with a weekend special 《Sunday Prophet》.
If news changes, the newspaper’s content changes during the day too.
In a way, it’s a high-quality, low-price product.
Many wizards curse it as the Ministry of Magic’s mouthpiece—seemingly opposing the Ministry on the surface but actually speaking for those officials. Yet across all Britain, there’s no comparable alternative, so they have to grudgingly accept it.
No professional ethics, but professional skills. The film started screening last night, and the newspaper reported it this morning:
「The Wizarding World’s first film aired last night.」
「Projection Mirrors pioneer Wizarding World cinema.」
「Over the next two weeks, 《First-years Stay》 will continue screening, with tavern ticket prices as follows…」
A quick scan of several pages—all praise and acclaim, one after another. One might think this newspaper serves the wizard public.
Melvin was surprised, even suspecting Wright had advertised behind his back. Flipping further, he saw Star Reporter Rita Skeeter’s name and skimmed her report, which felt right.
「The behind-the-scenes secrets of the Memory Projection Mirror, Hogwarts’ hidden conspiracy:
「Special Star Reporter Rita Skeeter reports: The wizard behind production and sales of Memory Projection Mirrors, who just joined Hogwarts this year as Muggle Studies professor, foreign wizard Melvin Levent—his appointment process was highly controversial.
「As a foreign professor hired by Dumbledore, he previously studied at Ilvermorny but didn’t complete his studies or get a graduation certificate. As a professor teaching students, he’s too young and logically unqualified, yet Headmaster Dumbledore strongly recommended him, even rejecting the Board of Governors and Ministry of Magic resolutions for him.
「Madam Marchbanks of the Department of Magical Examinations firmly supported directly hiring Levent as a special advisor to the Administration, fully managing Muggle Studies class, teaching content formulation, exam planning for multiple years…
「Without familiarity with Hogwarts, without consulting former professor Quirinus Quirrell（—that is, the evil dark wizard in the film—unclear if there’s any connection between them）, upon appointment he directly started reforms, completely abandoning previous teaching content and knowledge system, replacing wizard scholars’ textbooks with Muggle-written children’s primers.
「Ignoring actual conditions to deny all prior teaching achievements, scrapping students’ previous accumulations and starting from zero—any hidden risks? The exams testing teaching results are also controlled by Levent, setting standards himself and judging outcomes himself, completely burying possibilities of detecting risks… Reporters interviewed several parents, who expressed great concern.
「The Memory Projection Mirror is a project Professor Levent created in spare time from busy teaching. Around Halloween, he appeared at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade（—reporter unclear on Madam Rosmerta’s specific relationship with Levent, not dwelling here）—using Hogwarts Quidditch Match content to gain fame, drawing massive patrons to the tavern. In just two months, tavern turnover exceeded the previous full year.
「With excess profits, Levent quickly rallied a group of tavern owners to form the Magic Mirror Club, with the Projection Mirror business expanding across England in a short time.
「Astute wizards have surely noticed: this imitates Muggle technology—a magical creation. Levent’s true intentions remain unknown. Dolores Umbridge, Director of the Office for the Misuse of Magic, once filed a prosecution, but the result was the same as last time: Griselda Marchbanks rejected Umbridge on the spot, ending the trial.
「As early as a month ago, taverns nationwide began hyping this film, finally screening simultaneously just before Easter, ending with centaurs hinting the Dark Lord would return. Levent cunningly hinted at the Dark Lord’s resurrection on Easter, sparking much wizard curiosity. Is this horrifying story true?
「The answer is of course no. Though the film notes at the start it’s adapted from true events, it’s just Levent’s little trick.
「Per reporter investigation, dark wizards did infiltrate the Forbidden Forest to attack a unicorn, Ministry Rufus Scrimgeour Director investigated, Quirinus Quirrell mysteriously disappeared the next day… But all this happened after Christmas Holiday. The film swaps event timelines and sequences, fabricating an exciting adventure.
「Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge stated illusory stories are just stories, moving pictures mimic Muggle entertainment—wizards needn’t panic. Additionally, Umbridge claims possible prosecution of Levent for spreading false news and rumors.
「Star Reporter Skeeter will continue reporting for you.」
The article ends here. On both sides of the main text are narrow framed sections with dense text, quoting evaluations from other famous wizards on the film.
「Gilderoy Lockhart: Slightly rough adventure story, first-year challenge parts a bit sloppy, but this story form is novel. If my Eastern snowman hunt were made into pictures, it might be even more exciting.」
「Cetina Warbeck: Professor Levent, like me, is a pioneer in wizard arts. I’m delighted to see novel things emerge.」
「…」
“Is this praise or criticism?”
Melvin read it several times, his expression thoughtful.
Front-page headlines promote him, but Skeeter’s inner pages are negative—same newspaper, same Editor-in-Chief, yet completely different attitudes.
The 《Daily Prophet》’s reports were just warm-up. On the first morning of the holiday, Hogwarts Owlery was packed with incoming owls.
Letters remain the Wizarding World’s main communication method—inefficient, but convenient in many ways. Wizards learned from the newspaper the film’s creator is a Hogwarts professor, so the address was clear. Last night’s subsided excitement reignited upon seeing reports, prompting letters.
Even Howlers.
“Damn Levent! You’re the one**spreading that the Dark Lord will resurrect? Stupid dragon guts, Ilvermorny bigfoot!”
“…”
This wizard’s insults were quite researched. New York wizards experienced bigfoot disturbances, hence calling him an Ilvermorny bigfoot.
Melvin was caught off guard and cursed twice, but with his precise Fiendfyre control now, he swiftly turned the letter to ashes before more filth sprayed.
Not just Levent—other Hogwarts professors received letters from relatives and friends inquiring about the truth, and student parents wrote to kids, trying to piece together truth from clues.
The most letters, of course, went to protagonist Harry.
……
Nearing noon, the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory was still dim, door tightly shut, black curtains blocking windows and sunlight.
Harry lay in bed, drowsily dreaming Hermione forced him to review, piling books on him, getting heavier.
Finally, he was crushed breathless.
“Phew…”
Harry sat up abruptly, spilling a bed’s worth of thick letters in a clatter across the floor.
“?”
Harry was stunned. The last similar scene was at the Dursleys’ Home refusing Hogwarts admission letters.
