Novel Full Chapter 186: Influence
Chapter 186: Influence
As Christmas approached, the festive atmosphere in the castle was getting stronger and stronger.
Perhaps it was because the Sirius Black incident was perfectly solved, perhaps because the Dementors who had been stationed outside the castle finally left, no matter was it was, this year Hogwarts’ Christmas atmosphere was particularly strong, and people had a happy smile on their faces.
In the Great Hall, Hagrid had chosen 12 huge Christmas trees, and Professor Flitwick used magic to hang small candles and shiny stars on them.
The stars were twinkling, changing from silver to gold from time to time, and they looked extraordinarily spectacular.
In the rest of the castle, the usual magnificent Christmas decorations had been put up. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe were strung along the corridors, mysterious lights shone from inside every suit of Armor. A powerful and delicious smell of cooking pervaded the corridors.
Unfortunately, Evan, Harry, and Hermione couldn’t go and see in person.
Madam Pomfrey insisted that the three of them should not leave; they stayed in the ward and heard from the people who came to see them about the great changes in the castle.
Apart from Snape, everyone else who stayed at Hogwarts had visited them, and Lupin and Hagrid came almost every day.
Even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been there, and they brought them the latest news from Ron. Ron was recovering very smoothly and he should be able to return to Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays.
The only regret was that there had been no sign of Sirius Black.
However, the news about him never stopped. In fact, it was as if the sky was raining them.
At the beginning of the Christmas holidays, people still rebuked the Ministry of Magic for the case of Sirius Black and the Werewolf, accusing Dumbledore of hiring a werewolf to become a school professor. The Howlers of the Slytherin students’ parents rushed to Hogwarts, and the entire castle was full of loud echoes.
By the third day of the holidays, the situation began to reverse.
It was still an endless stream of owls. This time, there were no longer Howlers, but all of them were letters from readers. The owls flew into the ward one after another and landed on the three: Evan, Harry, and Hermione. There were so many letters that the ward was getting filled.
Madam Pomfrey had to use the Repelling Spell to stop the owls from coming in.
The main reason for this phenomenon was a statement by the Ministry of Magic. Shortly after leaving the school hospital, Fudge issued this short statement.
From the statement, people knew that the Ministry of Magic finally caught Sirius Black.
But the result was completely different from what they originally thought. Black was innocent, and the culprit was a guy named Peter Pettigrew.
The news, like throwing a huge stone into the calm water, instantly detonated the entire magic world, and everyone’s interest was mobilized.
The identity of Peter Pettigrew, the truth of the event, how Peter was arrested in Hogwarts, etc., had become the hottest topic of those days, and there had been a lot of discussion about it in the magic world.
After a brief shock, people began to explore the details of the incident.
But the Ministry of Magic’s statement was too brief, and even the usually omniscient “Daily Prophet” had nothing much to give about the matter.
This great event which shocked everyone was so abrupt.
Peter Pettigrew had succeeded in replacing Black, becoming the evillest black wizard under Voldemort’s hand. But people were surprised to find that no one knew exactly what he did, what plot he had planned, and how he finally was caught.
These were all mysteries. Just a few hours after the Ministry of Magic’s announcement, rumours flew all over the Magic World, and there was gossip everywhere.
The names of the Dark Lord, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, Harry Potter, and Evan Mason were on every tongue. Whenever you would walk along the Diagon Alley, you could hear everyone talking about them.
Some people said that this was related to the truth of Voldemort’s failure in the past; others said that they have seen Lucius Malfoy’s pale face coming out Fudge’s office… After a brief calm, there was a strong outbreak.
Just when the wizards couldn’t wait, and they were ready to gather spontaneously and ask the Ministry of Magic to publicly disclose the truth about the incident, the latest issue of the Hogwarts Magic newspaper was released.
The Wizards who ordered the newspaper were delighted to find out that the obscure campus tabloids had detailed reports on the hottest topics in the current magic world.
Moreover, all were first-hand news!
The whole story went through, the unknown truth between Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, the arrest process of Peter Pettigrew after being caught by Evan Mason, etc. These were all exclusive reports.
One, ten, 100 copies sold, and the “Hogwarts Magic” sales soared. Orders for more came like snowflakes, and people couldn’t wait to know the truth of the matter. Although Evan and Lupin were fully prepared, they still printed more than 10,000 copies.
With this news and follow-up reports, the “Hogwarts Magic” circulation surpassed the “Daily Prophet” in one fell swoop, becoming the largest selling newspaper in the magic industry.
Under such circumstances, Mr. Barnabas Cuffe, the editor-in-chief of the “Daily Prophet”, which was already dying, had written dozens of letters to Evan, asking for the right to reprint these reports.
On the basis of the pleasant cooperation experience in the past and the fact that the other party offered a very large number of Galleons, Evan agreed to let the “Daily prophet” reprint these reports.
But in time, it had to be a day later than the Hogwarts Magic.
One day seemed to be short, but it was enough.
Because there were so many things to report about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, Evan didn’t give the masses everything all at once. Wizards who still were dying to know more about the incident weren’t willing to wait for even a second, let alone a whole day.
The Hogwarts Magic newspaper was selling more and more, and wizards who bought it found that its other contents, ones unrelated to Black and Pettigrew, were also really attractive. The views provided were really unique, and almost all reports were exclusive.
The paper was hiring ghosts as special correspondents, and they had exclusive access to knowledge nobody else knew about. This made people more interested in the paper.
Over the course of a few days, throughout the magic world, especially in London, with continued spread of the Hogwarts Magic, its increase in sales somewhat stabilized, and it was able to compete with the “Daily Prophet” and gradually became one of the mainstream newspapers.
In other European countries and remote areas however, the “Daily Prophet” continued to spread the truth of the incident by virtue of its channelling advantages.
With Evan’s reports and under the public opinion’s pressure, and despite the fact that the Wizengamot had not yet made a final judgment, Sirius Black was no longer a fugitive, but a worthy hero.
Black became the most famous war hero after the Second Wizard War.
In order to adhere to his own beliefs and fight against the evillest dark forces, he had been in Azkaban for a full 12 years, completely unseen and unheard. In order to protect his friendship and protect the only orphan of his friends, he chose to bear the un-understanding eyes of the world and pursue the evil Dark wizard alone.
Black’s stories and deeds were praised by everybody and spread out at a very fast speed.
In that era that had no Heroes, he was the last warrior to fight against evil, a worthy Gryffindor.