Rita Skeeter has been in a bad mood lately, as she was suspended from her job at the Daily Prophet.
As one of the main editors of the Daily Prophet and the source of guarantee for the newspaper's popularity, Barnabas Guffey's behavior was quite stupid.
A warning from the Ministry of Magic
It was nothing to Rita Skeeter. Since she became a reporter, the Ministry of Magic had warned her 49 times, but they still couldn't do anything about it.
"Tell me, what do you want to talk to me about?" Rita Skeeter looked at the old acquaintance in front of her and asked calmly.
"Because of you, our relationship with the Ministry of Magic in the United States has become quite bad."
Bertha Jorkins, an employee in Barty Crouch's office, was also helpless. She didn't want to deal with Rita Skeeter at all.
However, she had just been rushed from the Department of Magical Transportation to the Department of International Magical Cooperation of the British Ministry of Magic, and was sent by her superiors to deal with her acquaintances and try to figure out the current situation.
Because of the last report, and the overreaction of some wizards, the relationship between the British Ministry of Magic and the American Ministry of Magic became quite bad.
"I'm just reporting it, Jorkins."
Facing the doubts of her acquaintance, Rita Skeeter said calmly, "When I interviewed Mr. Anderson, he said exactly that. I just expressed his meaning."
Of course, Rita Skeeter didn't dare to put all the blame on Albert, otherwise she would probably really have to go to Azkaban.
In the Ministry of Magic, there were already a lot of people who wanted to throw her into prison. Rita Skeeter liked to write sensational false stories about famous people in the wizarding world, which offended many people.
“So, this is all real?”
Bertha Jorkins obviously didn't believe Rita Skeeter's lies. She had worked at the Daily Prophet for a period of time before and knew the kind of person this woman was.
"Of course, that's the truth."
Rita Skeeter was impatient and wanted to end this damn conversation as soon as possible. She felt that she should tell others about the true face of the Ministry of Magic.
"You should know that this kind of argument is not going to get rid of Mr. Crouch." Bertha Jorkins said unhappily, "She really doesn't want to mess things up again. She has changed several departments in the years since she joined the Ministry of Magic."
"This is the truth. You don't understand America, right? Why don't you study it yourself?"
"I heard that you were suspended."
"Don't worry about that. I'll be back soon."
Rita Skeeter was not worried at all about her suspension, as her job was not just writing articles for the Daily Prophet.
Writing for Witch Weekly is also one of her jobs.
Rita Skeeter thought she should write an article about the American wizarding world to make people aware of what the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the UK was doing.
As a result, the Department of International Magical Cooperation received a large number of owl letters, and many wizards believed that Barty Crouch's compromise was an act of weakness.
Bertha Jorkins, who submitted the report, naturally suffered misfortune. She was scolded by Barty Crouch and sent to burn the letters.
Many wizards added some materials to the letters, and God knows what will happen when they are burned.
Jorkins was also helpless, but he still sorted out the matter seriously and submitted a new report.
According to her research, she found that the actual situation was indeed not much different from what Rita Skeeter described.
In particular, the description of the American wizarding world in Witch Weekly, even though it was a bit exaggerated, did not deviate too much.
It is really incredible that such a thing happened to Rita Skeeter, who loves to tell nonsense.
Perhaps, reality has become so exaggerated that there is no need for that woman to exaggerate it further.
After Bertha Jorkins sorted out the information, she took it to the director's office, but Mr. Barty Crouch seemed to be away.
"I don't know if he will take it seriously." Bertha Jorkins expressed her doubts. Barty Crouch hopes to restore friendly relations with the American wizarding community.
"Jorkins," Ludo Bagman inquired, "Is Barty here?"
"The director is not here."
"That's terrible. I have a document here that needs his signature." Ludo Bagman said distressedly, "When Batty comes back, remember to remind him to sign it. He will need it tomorrow."
"OK."
Bertha Jorkins agreed immediately; as an employee in Barty Crouch's office, this was part of her job.
However, after get off work, when Barty Crouch did not show up, Bertha Jorkins had no choice but to send the documents to her boss, Mr. Barty Crouch's home, for him to sign.
The Crouchs were a famous wizarding family, and when Bertha went there, her boss, Mr. Barty Crouch, was not at home.
The house-elf told Bertha that Master Barty Crouch would be back soon and asked her to wait in the hall.
Bertha Jorkins agreed, thinking it would be best to hand the document over to her in person, have her sign it, and then send it to Ludo Bagman.
Putting the document on the table, Bertha drank the tea brought to her by the house-elf.
Just as she was looking at the furnishings in her boss's hall, she suddenly heard a low conversation, as if someone was talking.
Bertha stood up in confusion and walked towards the kitchen in the direction of the sound. The sound became more and more obvious. In the kitchen, the house elf seemed to be talking to a man, but there was no one in the kitchen.
Someone hiding under the Invisibility Cloak
"The house-elf called that man Master?" Bertha Jorkins immediately realized something. Could it be Barty Crouch Jr., the son of Barty Crouch Sr.
However, Barty Crouch's son had died in Azkaban prison.
"Could it be..."
Bertha Jorkins found it hard to believe that old Barty Crouch would do such a thing.
"Why are you here?"
The house-elf noticed someone behind him and turned his head sharply, looking nervously at Bertha Jorkins.
"Who were you talking to just now? It was Barty Crouch Jr., right?" Bertha Jorkins stepped forward.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" The house-elf was nervous, trying to stop the other party from coming forward and lifting the invisibility cloak.
"Jorkins, what are you doing here?" Barty Crouch appeared behind Bertha Jorkins without warning.
"Mr. Barty Crouch, you saved your son from Azkaban?" Bertha Jorkins looked at her boss in disbelief. In her memory, Barty Crouch was a man who hated evil and almost became the Minister of Magic, but he missed that opportunity because his son was a Death Eater.
"Jorkins, you shouldn't meddle in other people's business. This is a terrible mistake. I'm sorry." Barty Crouch sighed, raised his wand and pointed it at the witch in front of him, ready to make her forget this memory.
However, if he wanted to keep the secret completely, he would have to use a powerful forgetfulness spell to make her completely forget what happened today.
Bertha Jorkins, who was under the spell of forgetfulness, was completely dumbfounded.
"Master, she will forget what just happened, right?" The house-elf was trembling all over.
"Yes." Barty Crouch looked at the woman in front of him, shook his head helplessly and said, "I used a very strong forgetfulness spell, which is likely to cause permanent damage to her memory, but there is nothing I can do about it. Who made her like to meddle in other people's business?"