Rita Skeeter Strikes
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

Rita Skeeter was a clever witch. None of her admirers among the readers of the Daily Prophet knew that the Sorting Hat had originally wanted to place her into Ravenclaw, however, allowed her to bribe him into sorting her into Slytherin.

After finishing Hogwarts, she registered her Animagus form with the Ministry of Magic, however, cast a strong charm at the entry that would hide the fact from anyone who was not already aware of her Animagus form.

HP

Hidden on top of the Dursleys' garage, she observed how fifteen-month-old Harry Potter was placed on the doorstep of his relatives' home and resolved to do a thorough research about the baby's life with the Muggles. 'Over five years,' she thought, 'and then I'll hopefully have enough interesting material to publish something nice for the magical world.'

During the following years, Rita spent every free minute roaming the Dursleys' garden in her beetle Animagus form. From time to time, she even entered the house to spy on the small celebrity, knowing that she was safe from view in her beetle form.

If at first, she had been slightly doubtful if she'd be able to write anything out of the normal about the toddler boy who lived at all, she realised soon that the magical world would take enormous interest in what she was going to have to tell them.

During the first year, Harry Potter remained in his cupboard, receiving a small baby bottle of cold milk once a day, only to be taken into the kitchen to get his nappy changed on the cold kitchen floor once a week.

'Dumbledore must be nuts to leave our precious baby here with these idiots,' she thought, feeling very upset not only at the Muggles but also at the head of the Wizengamot. 'But there's nothing that I can do about it right now,' she decided after pondering the small child's matter for weeks. 'If I took him away, it would be child abduction, and if I told anyone, it wouldn't help either, because Dumbledore is too influential and no one would stand up against him.'

She decided to go by her original plan and observe the child at least until his sixth birthday before taking action. In the meantime, she sorted the material, wrote the first draft of a possible article and printed out adequate photographs from her memories that documented the neglect of one Harry Potter by his relatives.

HP

The Dursleys even completely ignored the child's second birthday - much to Rita's annoyance. She spent several hours in the cupboard under the stairs together with the small child, who at one time spotted and very gently petted her. By the time he fell asleep, Rita quickly changed back into her human form to conjure a small stuffed teddy for Harry. She charmed it to be invisible to the Muggles, before she placed it into the boy's arm, smiling when he instinctively pulled it close to cuddle. Ever since then, the boy always kept the teddy close. 'He must have been delighted when he discovered it,' Rita thought, feeling strangely happy at the idea.

When little Harry turned three, Rita did not have to interfere. His aunt give him a present this time. However, Rita noticed soon that the broom that Petunia handed him was not for flying. It was for cleaning the house like she told him, emphasizing that he was already three and a big boy and had to earn his keep.

'I can't believe it,' Rita thought, angrily. However, there was nothing that she could do for the child - apart from occasionally assist his efforts with a little magic.

A few months later, she observed in concern how little Harry climbed onto a chair in order to reach the frying pan and make sausages for his family. From that time onwards, the small boy had to do all the cooking for the Dursleys, however, Rita realised that he never received any food but the small bottle of milk that his aunt gave him every morning.

'He's already four. He needs something proper to eat,' she thought, angrily and once again wondered what she could do to help the small boy, to whom she had already become very attached, even if the child did not even know her.

A few months later, Rita decided to spend the whole Sunday at the Dursleys' residence. Fortunately, there was always a slightly open window somewhere in the house, so that she could get in and out as she pleased.

She realised immediately that little Harry seemed to have caught a bad cold. His cheeks stood red in his otherwise white face, his nose was running, and he was coughing every now and then. However, Harry obediently began to cook lunch for his relatives, and Rita, who was not able to cook anything, greatly admired how adept the small boy seemed to be at cooking at his early age. Unfortunately, Harry happened to sneeze into the almost ready meal, just when his uncle entered the kitchen watching the scene in apparent anger.

"How dare you infest us with your germs and spoil our food, you good for nothing freak?" Vernon Dursley bellowed, before he grabbed Harry by the hair and dragged him out of the kitchen.

Rita observed in horror how the fat man pushed the small boy into his cupboard, not caring that his nephew hit his head against the wall.

'That's it,' she decided in determination. She left through the open kitchen window. Five minutes later, she was back in her office, her quill smoothly gliding over the parchment.

HP

On Monday morning, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and head of the Wizengamot, stared at the headline of the Daily Prophet in shock.

'Harry Potter, the saviour of the magical world, neglected and abused by his relatives' red letters screamed, while the second headline queried, 'Has Albus Dumbledore gone nuts to place Harry Potter with abusive Muggles?'

Eighty percent of the newspaper was full with photographs as well as descriptions of scenes describing and proofing the content of the headlines in every detail.

Before Dumbledore could even begin enjoying his breakfast, the Minister of Magic strode into the Great Hall together with two Aurors.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, you are accused of tolerating child abuse and neglecting Harry Potter. Please accompany us to the Ministry of Magic for an immediate trial," the Minister spoke up, before he turned to Minerva McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall, you will be the headmistress of Hogwarts and head of the Wizengamot until further notice."

With that, the Minister followed the Aurors, who were just leading Dumbledore out of the Great Hall.

"That was a surprise," McGonagall spoke up. "Poppy, please accompany me to the Dursleys to check on little Harry and take him away from there."

"Where are you going to take him, Minerva?" Pomona Sprout asked in apparent concern.

"We'll bring him here for the time being," the headmistress replied in determination. "Later today, I'll speak with Rita Skeeter, as she seems to know the child well. We'll then decide if she wants to become the boy's guardian or if I shall raise him here at Hogwarts as my grandson."

HP

Six and a half years later, headmistress Minerva McGonagall and her best friend Poppy Pomfrey observed their godson's Sorting with interest. He was almost the last to be called from deputy headmaster Snape's long list, but finally, the Sorting Hat sorted eleven-year-old Harry Skeeter into Ravenclaw, the house where he had already wanted to place the boy's adoptive mother thirty years ago.

The End