OWLS: To Irma Pince and Fleur Weasley
Date: 17 September 1998
Characters: Rita Skeeter, Irma Pince
Location: Their respective locations
Status: Private
Summary: Rita wants to pick Irma's brain about library collections, and has also heard a few things about a certain agency set up in Diagon.
Completion: Complete
The book Rita had bought in Knockturn Alley had been fascinating, but nowhere near enough to really start making notes on the history of Dark Magic. Trouble was, books that dealt with dark Magic theory were ridiculously hard to come by in Britain. It stemmed, of course, from the assumption that people interested in theory were usually interested in practice, and over the years, books like the ones she was looking for had all but fallen off the face of the planet (or been confiscated by the Ministry - who knew, really?).
Rita had found it virtually impossible to find comprehensive English-language information on Grindelwald when she'd been researching her book, and Dark Magic Theory was turning out to be just as difficult. She'd put out some feelers to the same sourced she'd used to come by the texts on Grindelwald, but she wanted more. If she was going to prove to people that she really was interesting in finally becoming a proper Ravenclaw and finding lots of facts instead of just ripping off the simplest ones and sensationalising them, she'd have to do some real legwork.
Trouble was, Rita hated legwork. It was tiring, especially in the kind of shoes she wore.
She'd considered her options, though, and come up with a rather cunning plan. Journalists often got their facts from other people, and Rita didn't see why she couldn't pick someone else's brain and save herself the gruelling task of doing it all herself.
And there was one brain in particular she knew would be good for picking. They'd been at school together, if not particularly close.
Dear Irma,
I'm rather hoping you might be able to help me. Following the mediocre success of my book, I've become rather interested in writing more non-fiction for publication (undecided as yet whether in a journal or as a book, rather depends on how much material I find). I've started some research on the history of Dark Magic - I'm interested in contextualising it in a way that was never done in classes at Hogwarts or in maintstream publications. Unfortunately, I'm finding source material rather difficult to find. I'm sure it existed at some point, but it seems to have been swallowed by the hands of time.
What I'm most interested in is Dark Magic theory - what makes magic (and wizards) dark - and possible histories of how certain spells we regard as Unforgivable or restricted today were created, and why. I am unsure if the Hogwarts collection holds anything of the sort (if it does, are non-students able to access it out of hours?), but I thought you might be aware of other collections either in the UK or Europe that might have what I need.
Would you be at all amenable to lunch in Hogsmeade sometime this week, and letting me pick your brain?
Regards,
Rita Skeeter
As she signed off, she thought of something else she'd overheard during the week. Having dinner at the Leaky certainly had its benefits. This week, it had been two witches chatting about the new business that had taken one of the storefronts in Diagon Alley - some sort of agency for helping muggle-borns get back on their feet after the war, and wasn't it right lovely of someone to think of the poor dears? There'd been a name attached to - one Rita knew well, even if in a different form. It would be interesting to meet the girl again.
Dear Mrs Weasley,
You may remember me from my reporting during the Triwizard Tournament. Rita Skeeter, of the Daily Prophet. I happened to overhear some talk about your agency for helping muggle-borns a few days ago, and I am very interested in learning more about it, both on a personal and professional level. Do you, as yet, have a contact with the press?
If not, and you would like one, I would very much like to meet with you and discuss what your agency is doing, and its plans for the future. I'm sure my editor would be thrilled to hear of such an endeavour and have the Porphet report on your progress and assist with publicity.
If you would like to meet, my schedule is fairly flexible.
Regards,
Rita Skeeter
Although it had come out at Malfoy's trial, Rita didn't like to publicise the fact that she was muggle-born. Not as a badge, anyway. It would seem rather false, considering. But the owl would do. If she met with Fleur Weasley and was questioned closely, she would mention it. For now, professional interest was enough.
Characters: Rita Skeeter, Irma Pince
Location: Their respective locations
Status: Private
Summary: Rita wants to pick Irma's brain about library collections, and has also heard a few things about a certain agency set up in Diagon.
Completion: Complete
The book Rita had bought in Knockturn Alley had been fascinating, but nowhere near enough to really start making notes on the history of Dark Magic. Trouble was, books that dealt with dark Magic theory were ridiculously hard to come by in Britain. It stemmed, of course, from the assumption that people interested in theory were usually interested in practice, and over the years, books like the ones she was looking for had all but fallen off the face of the planet (or been confiscated by the Ministry - who knew, really?).
Rita had found it virtually impossible to find comprehensive English-language information on Grindelwald when she'd been researching her book, and Dark Magic Theory was turning out to be just as difficult. She'd put out some feelers to the same sourced she'd used to come by the texts on Grindelwald, but she wanted more. If she was going to prove to people that she really was interesting in finally becoming a proper Ravenclaw and finding lots of facts instead of just ripping off the simplest ones and sensationalising them, she'd have to do some real legwork.
Trouble was, Rita hated legwork. It was tiring, especially in the kind of shoes she wore.
She'd considered her options, though, and come up with a rather cunning plan. Journalists often got their facts from other people, and Rita didn't see why she couldn't pick someone else's brain and save herself the gruelling task of doing it all herself.
And there was one brain in particular she knew would be good for picking. They'd been at school together, if not particularly close.
Dear Irma,
I'm rather hoping you might be able to help me. Following the mediocre success of my book, I've become rather interested in writing more non-fiction for publication (undecided as yet whether in a journal or as a book, rather depends on how much material I find). I've started some research on the history of Dark Magic - I'm interested in contextualising it in a way that was never done in classes at Hogwarts or in maintstream publications. Unfortunately, I'm finding source material rather difficult to find. I'm sure it existed at some point, but it seems to have been swallowed by the hands of time.
What I'm most interested in is Dark Magic theory - what makes magic (and wizards) dark - and possible histories of how certain spells we regard as Unforgivable or restricted today were created, and why. I am unsure if the Hogwarts collection holds anything of the sort (if it does, are non-students able to access it out of hours?), but I thought you might be aware of other collections either in the UK or Europe that might have what I need.
Would you be at all amenable to lunch in Hogsmeade sometime this week, and letting me pick your brain?
Regards,
Rita Skeeter
As she signed off, she thought of something else she'd overheard during the week. Having dinner at the Leaky certainly had its benefits. This week, it had been two witches chatting about the new business that had taken one of the storefronts in Diagon Alley - some sort of agency for helping muggle-borns get back on their feet after the war, and wasn't it right lovely of someone to think of the poor dears? There'd been a name attached to - one Rita knew well, even if in a different form. It would be interesting to meet the girl again.
Dear Mrs Weasley,
You may remember me from my reporting during the Triwizard Tournament. Rita Skeeter, of the Daily Prophet. I happened to overhear some talk about your agency for helping muggle-borns a few days ago, and I am very interested in learning more about it, both on a personal and professional level. Do you, as yet, have a contact with the press?
If not, and you would like one, I would very much like to meet with you and discuss what your agency is doing, and its plans for the future. I'm sure my editor would be thrilled to hear of such an endeavour and have the Porphet report on your progress and assist with publicity.
If you would like to meet, my schedule is fairly flexible.
Regards,
Rita Skeeter
Although it had come out at Malfoy's trial, Rita didn't like to publicise the fact that she was muggle-born. Not as a badge, anyway. It would seem rather false, considering. But the owl would do. If she met with Fleur Weasley and was questioned closely, she would mention it. For now, professional interest was enough.