Chapter 175

"By the way, Hermione, I caught a beetle, suspecting it's Rita's Animagus form."

After John and Hermione were lovey-dovey for a good while.

Only then did John remember there was something to show Hermione.

"Animagus?"

Hermione was also stunned when she heard this, instantly pulling away from the sweet atmosphere, her brows slightly furrowed, quickly switching to thinking mode.

"Yeah, after all, that's the only way to explain how she got those pieces of information."

"And I've discovered this beetle more than once on special occasions."

John took out the iron box containing the beetle from his pocket, telling Hermione about his suspicion of this beetle.

This statement was also deeply agreed with by Hermione; after all, she had also suspected that Rita's methods might not be legal.

Hermione took the iron box and continued to ask.

"Where did you catch her?"

"Just last night when Harry returned to the school infirmary, I caught it on the windowsill."

"Then have you verified it?"

"Not yet, isn't that why I'm planning to verify it with you."

John watched Hermione take out the motionless beetle and then waved her hand to lift the binding spell.

In an instant, the beetle flapped its wings and flew up, intending to escape.

But the next moment, the beetle was pulled by a force.

The beetle looked down and discovered that one of its legs had been tied with a thin string.

The other end of the thin string was held in John's hand; he pulled it lightly, and pulled the beetle back.

"I know you are Rita, don't pretend."

"I'll give you ten seconds to turn back into a human, or I'll tear off one of your legs."

John said this very plainly; if it really was Rita, she would definitely be afraid, and if it wasn't Rita, then it would be treated as insect dissection research.

As a result, hearing John's threat, this beetle immediately wilted.

As if hesitating, it jumped up and down in a hurry.

Until it saw John's big hand reaching toward it, it hurriedly turned into human form and fell to the ground in a sorry state.

"Yo, long time no see, Ms. Skeeter."

John saw this scene and laughed instantly.

He really hadn't guessed wrong.

Rita Skeeter sat on the ground in a sorry state, her hair messy, the corners of her mouth twitching as she squeezed out a fake smile.

"Uh... Mr. Merrick, and Miss Granger, this is truly a... surprising reunion, haha..."

Her voice was sharp and thin, appearing a bit trembling.

And Hermione, seeing Rita reveal her original form, was instantly filled with anger, pointing at her nose and starting to scold.

"It really was you, you despicable, shameless person hiding in the gutter!"

"Is this your reliance for stealing others' privacy? Do you know how much harm you've brought to others because of those reports of yours!"

"Hagrid almost resigned because of your report!"

Rita didn't dare to talk back; now her lifeline could be said to have been completely grasped by these two students.

But she still habitually muttered in a low voice.

"The things I reported weren't fake news either, just... processed the details a little bit."

Hearing this, Hermione was directly angered into laughter.

She had the posture of wanting to go up and kick her if they didn't agree.

But Hermione still held back, and at the same time regained her reason, speaking coldly again.

"Since you speak so high-sounding, then I'll expose your illegal Animagus identity too."

"After all, this is also a truly big piece of news; I believe there will be many people who have been hurt by you willing to pay the price to buy this news."

Rita's complexion turned as pale as paper instantly, her lips trembling, unable to speak.

She knew deeply that once her identity was exposed, she would not only face heavy punishment from the Ministry of Magic but also suffer retaliation from countless people she had maliciously slandered.

She slumped on the ground, cold sweat soaking her robes, her voice nearly sobbing: "Don't... please don't do this."

Seeing her pitiful appearance, Hermione didn't soften at all, but instead snorted coldly.

"Now you know the taste of having your secrets exposed?"

"When you wantonly fabricated rumors and trampled on others' dignity, you should have expected today!"

Rita hurriedly begged for mercy stumbling.

"I... I'm willing to compensate; I can write an apology letter and publish it on the front page of the Daily Prophet!"

Hearing Rita's words, Hermione shook her head.

"Not only that, I also require you to stop writing for a year and swear never to leak others' privacy or distort facts in any form again."

"Don't think about running away or hiding; the wizarding world is only so big, you can't run."

Hearing Hermione's words, Rita felt as if she had been granted amnesty and nodded repeatedly to agree.

Sitting in prison for life or washing her hands of it, she naturally knew what to choose.

John stood on the side watching quietly, not interfering with Hermione's decision.

In his eyes, Rita's crimes didn't deserve death, and whether she lived or died had no benefit to him either.

On the contrary, a living Rita was more valuable than a dead one.

An illegal Animagus, and such an inconspicuous bug, might be able to exert a little residual heat in the future war against Voldemort.

After Rita finished swearing, John walked up slowly.

"Come, leave a contact method; there might be a time to use you in the future."

Rita knew she didn't have the power to refuse, so she could only tremblingly take out a piece of paper from her sleeve and write down her contact address.

John took the note and then looked at Hermione and nodded.

Hermione then waved her hand.

"Alright, go, remember today's matter, don't let me discover you crossing the line even a little bit again."

Rita nodded hurriedly, then turned into a beetle again and flew away wobblingly.

Until it flew out of sight, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, her tense expression relaxing slightly.

The two looked at each other and laughed amusingly.

"Such great official prestige, Hermione; you're a good seedling for being an official in the future."

John teased with a smile.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but lift.

"Better than you thinking about utilizing her."

"What do you mean utilizing? This is called resource management."

Hermione was too lazy to argue with John, stretched out her hand, and hooked it toward him.

Mr. John looked at Hermione's hand strangely, then suddenly realized, stretched out his hand to hold her little hand, and even pinched it cheekily.

As a result, Hermione's little face flushed, and she directly slapped away John's dirty hand.

"The paper, I'm telling you to give me her contact address, idiot."

"Oh."

John retracted his hand sheepishly and handed the paper to Hermione.

Hermione then nodded.

"I'll keep this thing, to save you from taking it to do bad things."

"......"

Is there no basic trust between people anymore...

But John still habitually acted cheeky.

"Let's just say, is there a possibility that I've already memorized the address just now?"

Hearing this, Hermione glared at him and said.

"... Then forget it."

"That's a bit difficult for someone."

"Then how about I cast an Obliviate spell on you?"

"Uh uh uh uh uh, who are you?"

Hearing Hermione's threat, John directly pretended to be blank.

"... Pfft, idiot."

Hermione laughed out of anger and directly reached out to hit him.

Then she took the hand that had just been slapped away by her, and their fingers naturally intertwined.

"Alright, it's about time to go back, let's go."

He really learned the essence of hitting someone and then giving them a date.

John could only let her pull him along.