The last days of March passed rather quietly, and Alastor Moody's purchase came on an overcast morning.
A dozen owls landed on the great hall table with a huge package in tow, their feathers ruffled, when Professor Moody asked a few students to take the poor little creatures to Madam Pomfrey for treatment.
"A long flight!" Moody said, "There aren't many people you can trust these days, and you can't be too careful when it comes to safety."
"That lowlife ruined my collection," he said in a thick voice, "I spent decades on it! That Sneakoscope works incredibly well and can monitor schemes within a kilometre radius. The only problem is that it's too sensitive, which is why I moved to an isolated area, otherwise it would just keep shrieking ..."
Professor Marchbanks and old Vera also left the school on that same day, Professor Marchbanks took the report provided by Felix, according to her, trying to get the Ministry of Magic to recognize a new profession is not an easy task, "They will pull a lot of irrelevant issues, such as the salary for the new department." She complained loudly, "It would always be delayed in irrelevant things, but I'll try to make it happen!"
"You're staying over during Easter break?" She looked at Felix, who responded by saying he would be here on April 17, "The day after Easter? I'll remember to schedule the meeting for that time."
"What do I need to prepare for this?" Felix asked.
"Shut them up with irrefutable facts!" Professor Marchbanks gently shook his hand.
Old Vera invited him to be a guest at the Ancient Rune Society for the summer before he left, and Felix agreed, but he would never join the society - he needed to see more " positive " changes - unless they offered the title of president of the Ancient Rune Society.
And so April came.
The vegetation in the school quietly turned green and the climate became favourable. In addition to the change in weather, the professors of different subjects all moved forward with their revision, and the students complained about the large amount of homework assigned, even creating a strange culture of comparison.
"I studied until twelve o'clock last night." A fifth-year student said in the lounge, "finishing that damn history of magic paper!"
" The guy's got three months to go before he's liberated, though, doesn't he?" Ron said sadly, comparing the two answers as he too fretted over the History of Magic paper, "First it was goblins, then vampires, and now it's turned into centaur ... What the hell is wrong with Professor Binns? Is the ghost cake in classroom seven not up to his taste?"
"These are the knowledge that must be learned." Hermione said while looking through today's newspaper.
"I know, but I don't care one bit about what the centaur chief said when he refused to accept the 'human' term of address, and the significance of the Centaur Liaison Office, a department that according to my father has never really been used, and no centaur has ever actually walked in there!" Ron muttered incessantly, his resentment visible to the naked eye and his voice getting louder, "It's become a public joke, if you look at anyone and don't like them, just pray he gets sent to the Centaur Liaison Office because it won't be long before he's fired - Harry, what's the word? "
Harry, who has been working on his Divination class assignment, peeks over and stares at his assignment for a few moments before saying in an uncertain tone, "Bangers?"
"It's a Banshee," Hermione said calmly from the sidelines, clutching a large book, "The Centaur has a grudge against Banshees and Vampires, and has clashed throughout history, which is one of the reasons they refuse to share the name 'human'. "
Ron didn't listen at all as he mimicked Harry's handwriting and drew a haphazard pattern, eventually comparing the lengths and concluded it with a small poem, "Great job." He said happily.
Hermione glanced at it and said mockingly, "Whose poem is this?"
"I wrote it myself." Ron closed the paper decisively.
"Good for you, breaking up a long sentence into seven or eight paragraphs." Hermione said, as Ron smiled and stuffed the paper into his book bag, "It's actually eight paragraphs ... Any news? You've been reading that for half a day."
"There's been more and more discussion about ancient runes," Hermione said, "It's like a hurricane, Rune cards are selling like hotcakes ... A lot of people are waiting for a new book from the professor, they obviously know who is the source of the change. "
"And we benefit from that, don't we?" Ron said with a grin, he recently in a rather good mood, last week 'Future World' company employees came over to give them a reward, a full 80 golden galleons, according to Neville, he even smiled when sleeping.
Hermione did not pay attention to him, as she continued to look at the newspaper, "I always feel that there is a person missing, how she did not comment on this big event is too strange ..."
"Who do you mean?"
"Rita Skeeter." Hermione said.
"Isn't it perfect, that nuisance disappeared, maybe she was beaten by someone." Ron guessed.
"She's writing Regulus's biography." Harry looked up and said, "Or maybe she's just hiding from the limelight."
"Oh ...," Hermione said in a long-drawn-out voice, "that makes sense."
"What's wrong?"
"You are not aware of what she has written in her new book, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if she was captured by the Dark Lord one day, but she still has the guts to do this, are you sure?" She asked, looking at Harry.
"I don't know why." Harry shrugged, "But Sirius said her attitude was serious, and she took the manuscript to him every once in a while, other than that she didn't see anyone at all for the rest of the time..."
"How's Sirius's job, is he fitting in?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, "I can't believe he managed to stay in one school for so long."
"He's fitting in quite well there," Harry said, "He mentioned that he figured out a way to deal with the students."
"He didn't hex the students, did he?" Ron asked, and Harry didn't answer; he couldn't rule out the possibility.
April 7.
'Future World' company launched the magic projector with the footage simultaneously, during that day the new product was sold at 40% off, for a total of 120 golden galleons. The price is not low, but it still attracted a considerable amount of attention.
Especially when combined with the news of the hottest tournament at present, it has set the market on fire as soon as it appeared, selling 150 sets in the first week, and that's not counting the orders from abroad. It was a good start, although sales would certainly decrease and stabilize in the future.
With that came a lot of talk about the Champions, and it was as if the wizards had entered Easter early, with many owls flooding the campus every day. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade featured with the posters of the Champions in their support.
It was in this atmosphere that Rita Skeeter emerged from a rented room opened by a muggle.
She tidied up her manuscript with a satisfied expression. Under great pressure, she exerted herself like never before, and this book, if published, would surely set off the market.
And ...
"Those peers of mine are not that low level, either." She mused, a press card with her picture and title placed on the table - a trainee reporter at The Times.
Yes, she had disappeared from the wizarding community for a while, not because she was hiding behind closed doors, but because she had temporarily disassociated herself from it.
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