My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 392, Page 389: Interview

Lynn was extremely embarrassed by the stunned expressions on Hermione and Harry's faces.

He coughed twice and glared at Skeeter.

"Don't give me this nonsense. Hogwarts is doing very well under Professor Dumbledore's leadership. I'm only asking you to come and spill the beans because there's other news."

Skeeter realized at that moment that she seemed to have said something wrong, and she quickly changed the subject.

"You mean Mr. Belloc? I guarantee that whatever the news is, it will definitely be on the front page of tomorrow's Daily Prophet!"

Lynn pulled Ron over, eager to show off, but Ron always seemed a bit timid in these kinds of situations.

"Just the day before yesterday afternoon, a terrible attack occurred inside Hogwarts Castle. Sirius Black, who had escaped from prison, sneaked into Hogwarts Castle and attacked a student."

When Lynn got to this point, Skeeter's eyes lit up.

Lynn wasn't lying to her; it really was big news about Blake.

Even without her deliberately trying to flatter, this kind of news definitely deserves to be on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper.

Skeeter's shorthand quill was flying across the blank parchment, writing long passages of words, and she herself was beginning to become quite serious and perceptive.

Having worked in the corporate world for so many years, Skeeter could clearly understand Lynn's current intentions.

All she needs to do is honestly report this news; she doesn't need to do anything else.

Doing more means making more mistakes.

"The student he attacked was the one next to you, wasn't he?"

Skeeter shifted his questioning focus to Ron, who seemed to have recovered from his initial nervousness. His face flushed, and he spoke fluently.

"Yes, he attacked me that afternoon on my way back to the dormitory and used a petrification spell on me."

"A petrification spell? He tortured you? Tortured you about Harry Potter?"

No, he didn't.

Skeeter was genuinely interested in this matter.

Everyone speculated that Black escaped from Azkaban to come to Hogwarts to seek revenge on his master from Harry Potter.

However, an attack did occur at Hogwarts, but only Harry's friend was attacked, and he was interrogated about matters unrelated to Harry.

Such news can perfectly pique the viewer's desire to continue watching.

The biggest event in the wizarding world recently is Black's prison break.

Everyone knew he was a dangerous individual; his notoriety was widespread, and his every move attracted attention.

Just like the infamous terrorists of the past.

Now they're not bombing skyscrapers anymore, they're going to the Pentagon to steal intelligence.

What kind of information he wants to obtain, and what he intends to do, naturally piques the interest of onlookers.

"So what did he interrogate you about?"

Ron gradually got into the zone and spoke with a slightly excited expression.

"He interrogated me about where my mouse was. Oh, right, this one, my pet Scabbers, who had just gone missing before Blake attacked me."

I told him that Scabbers was missing, and he was very angry. I could tell he was furious. Then he cast a stun spell on me and I don't know anything anymore.

As it turned out, Banban came back on its own yesterday!

Ron's acting was so realistic that he might have actually believed it to be true.

He held up the old, weary-looking mouse lying in his palm.

He positioned his forelimb, with a missing finger, directly towards the camera behind Skeeter, allowing the photographer to clearly capture a picture of him and the rat in his hand.

After hearing his story, Skeeter looked completely distrustful.

As for Lynn, whatever he says goes.

Even if he said Voldemort had been resurrected and turned into a blonde little girl, Skeeter would take it as fact and report it on the front page of the Daily Prophet.

But she would question what Ron said.

"Why would Blake be interested in a mouse?"

Skeeter frowned as he looked at the gray rat in Ron's hand, not even wanting to touch it with his own hand.

Ron was getting anxious.

"Professor Dumbledore can testify for me, and Lynn can also testify."

Skeeter turned his gaze to Lynn.

Lynn nodded to her: "I can vouch for what Ron said; it's all true."

With that statement, no matter how bizarre the story may seem, it must be true!

Skeeter then questioned Ron again about the background, including what was so special about his rat and whether his family had any previous grudges against Black.

Finally, before dinner began, she amassed a thick stack of original press releases and took her leave with the photographer satisfied.

On the way to the auditorium for dinner, Ron was unusually excited.

This was the first time he had ever been interviewed at such a high level, and he was the only interviewee throughout the entire interview; even Haris Skeeter didn't say much to him.

Hermione, however, clearly realized that this unscrupulous reporter from the Daily Prophet who came to Hogwarts must have some kind of secret relationship with Lynn.

"Did you bribe her?" Hermione whispered in Lynn's ear.

Lynn raised an eyebrow: "How could that be? I didn't give her a single penny, and she wouldn't dare take my money."

"Then why does she seem to listen to you so obediently?" Hermione looked at Lynn with suspicion. Her intuition told her that there must be something shady going on between this reporter and Lynn.

Lynn blinked. "Would you believe me if I said I own half of the Daily Prophet and that she's actually trying to curry favor with me?"

"How could that be? That's the Daily Prophet, the most authoritative newspaper in the entire British wizarding world. Even if you're rich, you couldn't possibly control it!"

The Daily Prophet's shareholding is indeed very dispersed; its main shareholders are actually pure-blood families.

These people clearly understand the importance of controlling public opinion.

However, they did not want any one company to monopolize such an influential newspaper, so they dispersed the shares, with each company taking a small share, creating checks and balances within the newspaper.

But now, all the pure-blood families' businesses have fallen into the hands of old John, including their shares in the Daily Prophet.

The scattered shares held by these families combined amounted to nearly 50% of the total shares, making old John the largest shareholder of the newspaper.

But no matter what methods Old John and Lynn used, they could never completely control this dominant newspaper.

Because the second largest shareholder of the Daily Prophet is the British Ministry of Magic.

(End of this chapter)