Andy did expect that Snape might make big news. However, he did not expect that day to come so early; even more unexpectedly, the news would be so big.
Was Snape mad?
Or has Dumbledore really gone senile?
5 October 1992, Monday.
Hogwarts Great Hall.
During breakfast, a flock of owls flew into the Great Hall, bringing letters and items for the small group of wizards at Hogwarts.
After reading the letters from home, Andy put the letters away and opened the folded newspaper, intending to see if there was any interesting news recently.
Actually, the newspapers in the magic world were quite boring.
After all, the population of the magic world was so small, and there was only a little bit of shit tossed around every day.
But Rita Skeeter's reports were interesting.
She always found the hidden news and reported it. Granted, they were three parts true and seven parts false, with a lot of her own made-up stuff added.
But the made-up stuff was actually pretty funny.
Andy wasn't joking when he said he was her fan.
In the years when he didn't have a mobile phone or a computer, Andy spent his time relying on Rita Skeeter's reports.
When you opened the paper, there was a castle towering above an isolated island on the front page.
It was Azkaban!
As one of the safest places in the wizarding world, alongside Hogwarts, Azkaban detained many criminals and even a lot of vicious Death Eaters.
Since the Ministry of Magic made Azkaban a wizard prison, there had never been a prisoner escape.
The Ministry of Magic had also claimed many times that Azkaban was safe.
But now ...
A corner of Azkaban was blown apart in the newspaper, hundreds of Dementors were also floating around Azkaban Fortress, and there was a constant stream of Aurors Appariting to the isolated island, looking at the Dark Mark in the sky that represented Voldemort with a stony face.
A green skull with a long snake poking out of its mouth.
The photo at the bottom of the front page showed a hard-faced Minister of Magic - Cornelius Fudge. His expression was twisted, and he looked as if he was still in a bit of fear.
"This is ..."
Snape did this?
Andy was flabbergasted.
How could Snape be so arrogant?
What exactly did he and Dumbledore intend to do?
With questions in mind, Andy carefully read the newspaper.
According to the official statement given by the Ministry of Magic, last night around 1 am, a Death Eater clad in a black cloak attacked Azkaban and tried to release those imprisoned Death Eaters.
But with Aurors' heroic counterattack, not only did they kill the arrogant Death Eater on the spot, but they also ensured that not a single prisoner escaped from Azkaban.
During the battle, although one Death Eater managed to escape Azkaban, he died tragically under the Dementor's Kiss.
All in all, Azkaban was safe, the Aurors were heroic, and the Ministry of Magic was able to control the Dementors.
The magic world was even more peaceful.
"Sure enough, there's nothing to see in the official report." Andy quietly muttered.
If you want to read the really fun and informative news, you still have to read Rita Skeeter's report.
Andy searched through the newspaper and indeed saw Rita Skeeter's name in a very prominent position.
This woman's coverage was different.
After eliminating the mumbo jumbo, Andy got the following information.
She claimed that some Death Eaters must have escaped the Ministry of Magic's judgement back in the day by relying on dirty dealings, but due to the excess greed of the Minister of Magic Fudge, they had decided to stage an attack to send a bit of fear to the greedy minister.
She also said that there had been Death Eaters starting to collude in the last month, that they had struck some sort of secret deal, and that one of them was hiding at Hogwarts.
"Awesome!" Andy was impressed.
Rita Skeeter's report, while not naming names, implicitly named a certain pureblood family, as well as Snape.
To shut this woman up, the Death Eaters of that pureblood family would either have to choose to finish her off or offer her a large sum of gold Galleons as hush money.
With the Ministry of Magic in the wind right now, Andy didn't think that the pureblood family would have the courage to eliminate Rita Skeeter.
After all, that woman was famous!
Of course, she was also very greedy, and the gold galleons were enough to pacify her.
That was the fundamental reason why she had survived until now.
After reading Rita Skeeter's report, Andy was convinced that this matter was Snape's doing.
Who else could the Death Eater hiding at Hogwarts be besides Snape?
It couldn't be Lockhart, could it?
But ... why would Snape do this?
Andy quietly analysed in his mind, 'To find Voldemort's Horcruxes? Or is ... Snape an undercover agent, he did this to gain Voldemort's trust?'
Dumbledore and Snape's ultimate goal was to kill Voldemort.
Analysing this as a base, a lot of things are actually quite guessable.
'Voldemort possessed Quirrell to enter Hogwarts last year, it couldn't be that he made some kind of deal with Snape, right?' Andy thought in shock.
After all, it was Harry who brought down Quirrell in the original story, but now that the plot had been messed up by Andy, it seemed to make sense for Snape to go undercover for the ultimate purpose of taking down Voldemort.
"Andy, any interesting news?" Seeing Andy reading the paper half-heartedly, Hermione poked her head over curiously.
"Very interesting news, read it yourself!" Andy handed over the Daily Prophet.
In fact, it didn't even need Hermione to read it, before Hermione could take the paper, a shocked voice rang throughout the great hall.
"Azkaban was actually attacked by Death Eaters!"
"What?"
"It's true! It's a good thing that the Ministry of Magic's Auror killed that Death Eater on the spot, which prevented those prisoners from escaping Azkaban."
"The Ministry of Magic's words can't be trusted, they'll brag one point of credit into ten."
"Show me the paper!"
"..."
Listening to the noisy voices in the Great Hall, Hermione gave Andy a shocked look, "Azkaban was attacked by Death Eaters?"
"Well!" Andy signalled the newspaper in his hand.
Hermione took the paper and hurriedly flipped through it.
Andy, on the other hand, was deep in thought.
If what he had just speculated was correct, then Snape had attacked Azkaban to gain Voldemort's trust.
If he was still on Dumbledore's side, then he would never let any Death Eater escape.
Andy thought of the unlucky Death Eater who had died under the Dementor's Kiss ... It made sense.
"And he left the Dark Mark as a warning!"
But ...
'Did Voldemort not let Snape help him resurrect because he didn't trust him? Or is Snape actually a double agent who still has to help Voldemort spy on Dumbledore?'
Andy thought in his mind, 'This failure ... will it perhaps make Voldemort became more anxious?'
Snape's following days might not be too good.
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