Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 403 The Secret Revealed
Today's lunch was much more lavish than usual, and people sat around long tables in their respective colleges, eagerly anticipating the start of the third project.

Occasionally, a few owls would fly in and drop down the packages they brought.

“Oh, my subscription to The Wizarding Weekly has arrived,” Lavender Brown said happily.

This is a bestselling magazine in the magical world, most famous for its annual Most Charming Smile Award, which allows the winner to have their smiling photo displayed on the magazine's cover that day.

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in their second year, Gilderoy Lockhart, had his picture on the cover five times; he loved it.

Unfortunately, he probably won't have that opportunity again.

The cover of this issue features a witch that Celen has never seen before, holding a burrito and grinning with all her teeth showing.

It's hard to say exactly what the criteria are for that Smile Award.

However, Xilun didn't pay any attention to it.

But five minutes later, Lavender Brown suddenly screamed, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you so easily startled?” Dean Thomas, sitting next to her, asked with a frown.

Lavender ignored him, but jumped up and hurriedly pushed the magazine in front of Siron.

"Quick, you really should take a look at this."

This aroused the curiosity of others, who gathered around.

The first thing they saw was a color photograph of Ludo Bagman, Karkaroff, and Krum, the three of them huddled together whispering something.

Judging from the dark floor around them, they must have been in the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade, because only there would be floors that dirty.

There was also a short article below the photo.

The secrets behind the three-way battle for supremacy: Is this competition truly fair?

He may have tasted the benefits of taking shortcuts; the internationally renowned football star seems to want to apply the Quidditch formula to the Triwizard Tournament. (For those unaware of what happened, you can read an article Rita Skeeter published in the Daily Prophet last year that revealed this.)
Rita Skeeter reports: The star is no longer content with dominating the Quidditch pitch. After teaming up with the Fairies last year, he wants to repeat his old tricks, but this time he doesn't want defeat, he wants victory.

Through the introduction of Durmstrang principal Karkaroff, they met referee Ludo Bagman... Incidentally, Ludo Bagman lost all his coins after the Quidditch World Cup because he bet on Bulgaria to win, but the two still got along well after meeting Krum.

I think this might be because he has found a way to make up for the loss... like betting on Krum again.

……

Rita Skeeter knows how to pick her timing. With only a few hours left until the final match, the revelation that one of the referees, Ludo Bagman, had secretly met with Karkaroff at the Hog's Head has caused a huge uproar at Hogwarts.

Although the article doesn't explicitly state that Ludo Bagman helped Durmstrang cheat, every sentence is suggestive... especially the color photograph.

The Hog's Head has a bad reputation in the wizarding world. It's usually only frequented by wizards who keep a low profile, and the things they discuss there are mostly shady matters.

The fact that they chose to meet in that place speaks volumes.

“Look ahead,” Ron said, pointing towards the teachers’ seating area. The atmosphere there was even more subtle than down below. Madam Maxim was holding a brand-new copy of The Wizarding Weekly and pointing to its contents for Dumbledore to see.

Ludo Bagman, who was always smiling, couldn't laugh anymore and was saying something with a flushed face. He was probably trying to argue that he hadn't done anything and had just happened to walk into the same bar as Karkaroff and Krum.

They were quite far away, and it was difficult to hear what was being said on stage from their seats. They only caught a fragmented sentence when Ludo Bagman stood up excitedly, "If I... help... Krum won't... come in last..."

Then, the referees all stood up and left the auditorium.

Siren noticed that Ludo Bagman seemed a little dazed and almost tripped over the table leg.

“I knew something was off about him a long time ago.” Ron took a big bite of fried fish and mumbled, “Think about the second project. Krum didn’t even manage to rescue the hostage, but he still gave him a very good score. That’s obviously not normal.”

“But Krum is still in last place,” Harry said.

“But he almost beat Fleur,” Ron said, “if Ms. Maxim hadn’t given him that zero.”

The people around were making a lot of noise, saying all sorts of things.

After listening carefully for a while, Xiren realized that most people didn't really believe Rita Skeeter's story.

The reason is quite simple: besides her already poor reputation, there's also what Harry just said... Krum was the lowest scorer among the three champions, so whether he cheated or not was completely meaningless.

"But why did she publish it in the Wizarding Weekly?" Harry wondered. "There are definitely more people reading the Daily Prophet, aren't there?"

“That’s why,” Hermione said, turning a page of the Wizarding Weekly on the table.

They then discovered that there was actually a short passage following the main text.

[Reports indicate that due to Durmstrang's repeated defeats, Karkaroff is increasingly dissatisfied with having only one referee's assistance. According to sources, Professor Durmstrang, an expert in dark magic, secretly left the school last month, seemingly targeting another referee from the Ministry of Magic, and also took two cauldrons of Polyjuice Potion from the school.]

“If this is true, it’s terrifying,” Hermione said. “The Daily Prophet probably wouldn’t dare to report it, but The Wizarding Weekly is an entertainment-oriented magazine, so it doesn’t matter.”

"Is it true?" Ron couldn't help but ask.

……

"It's fake! How could I possibly send Durmstrang's professors to attack high-ranking officials of the British Ministry of Magic!"

In the principal's office on the eighth floor, Karkaroff was already somewhat hysterical, shouting with his neck stiff, "This is slander, shameless slander! I will duel this damned Rita Skeeter!"

"Calm down, Professor Karkaroff, nobody says it's true," Dumbledore said calmly. "In fact, Rita Skeeter frequently publishes false articles, causing a lot of trouble."

"Then do something! Arrest her!" Karkaroff shouted. "I cannot accept such slander! I will protest to the Ministry of Magic!"

“You should talk to Minister Fudge about this,” Dumbledore said, glancing out the window. “He should be here soon.”

……

(End of this chapter)