Chapter 251: Punishment

The night completely obscured Allen's figure; Allen soon found the only inn in Hogsmeade Village. He transformed into a butterfly again, quietly landing on the counter when no one was there, then flipped through the ledger on the counter. He quickly found Rita Skeeter's name and figured out which room she was staying in.

He immediately began searching for the room where Rita Skeeter was staying.

He had truly been thoroughly disgusted today.

He soon found the room where Rita Skeeter was staying. He flew in through the open window, but to his surprise, although the room was lit, no one was inside.

However, Allen was very patient. He flew into the room and waited patiently for Rita Skeeter's return...

The Three Broomsticks.

Although Dementors often appeared at the village entrance, dampening many people's spirits, the Three Broomsticks still had many people drinking heartily.

In a private booth, two wizards were whispering in secret. They did not notice a beetle crouching in the dark corner of the booth.

The beetle listened carefully to the two wizards' conversation, but soon grew impatient: all this secrecy was just about smuggling magical materials. Even if exposed, such matters couldn't make the front page; at best, they'd land on page three.

The beetle listened patiently for a while longer, then lost all interest completely.

Better to go back and think hard about how to write today's exclusive interview on that detestable Allen Finis. That was guaranteed to make the front page. But that boy was truly detestable; I will make him the object of everyone's ridicule. The beetle made up its mind, quietly slipped out of the booth, and flew toward the inn.

The beetle flew into the room and, after a moment of transformation, turned into Rita Skeeter.

"What a damn day!" she muttered, kicking off her shoes, then walked toward the desk in the room, preparing to write something first. She loved the high-backed armchair in this room most; sitting on it to write was extremely comfortable.

Today's harvest might not make the good pages, but she could write an anonymous letter to extort some Jin Jin Jialong. She was an old hand at such things.

But she soon noticed something was wrong. Why was that high-backed armchair facing away from her?

"Whoosh-whoosh!"

"What on ea—"

Rita Skeeter felt distorted shadows around her lunging at her. She tried to dodge, but it was too late. They were vines, twisting and wrapping around Rita Skeeter. The hand holding her wand was bent to one side. Rita Skeeter struggled fiercely, but the vines were incredibly strong, forcibly prying her fist open. Her wand fell to the floor, spun a few times, and stopped.

Only then did Rita Skeeter remember to scream, but the next moment her mouth was tightly bound by vines.

She knew she had encountered a tough opponent this time. Not only had she exposed herself as an Animagus, but she had lost the ability to resist immediately.

Rita Skeeter's chest heaved violently as she gasped for air. Suddenly, she heard the sound of parchment pages turning behind the high-backed chair at the desk.

She wanted to say something in furious anger, but could only make "mrr-mrr" sounds.

The high-backed chair turned, revealing the figure of a strange person. This person wore a plain black wizard's robe; the strangest thing was that his head was actually a yellow leopard's head.

The leopard-headed man was flipping through a thick notebook. Without looking up, he said, "Wait a moment—I've found something interesting." His voice was somewhat strange, likely due to the leopard's tongue affecting his speech.

The moment she saw that notebook, Rita Skeeter's eyes widened, and she struggled even more violently. She tried to strike the ground to make noise, but the next moment she found herself suspended in mid-air. She let out unwilling "mrr-mrr" sounds in the air.

But the next moment, bright lightning sparks appeared on the vines.

Her entire body lit up. Amidst the bright lightning, one could even see the outline of her skeleton if looked closely.

The lightning lasted only a few short seconds. Rita Skeeter's entire body turned charred black. She collapsed, utterly powerless, a wisp of black smoke puffing from her mouth...

The room suddenly fell silent. Only the sound of Rita Skeeter gasping for air filled the entire room. After ten full minutes, the uninvited guest finally put down the notebook.

Rita Skeeter, her body stiff, struggled to look at the leopard-headed man tapping the table with his fingers. His fingers were pale, his nails a healthy light pink, neatly trimmed.

The next moment, an arc of electricity leaped from that finger. Rita Skeeter watched helplessly as the arc struck her, and her whole body convulsed again.

The strange vines gently placed her on the floor and released her mouth.

It took Rita Skeeter a while to recover. "You—" the woman said hoarsely. Her wand lay on the floor right beside her hand, yet she couldn't lift a single finger, not even a tiny bit.

"Do you like my welcome gift?" the leopard-headed man said cheerfully in a strange tone.

"What you're doing... is illegal... Azkaban..." she said word by word, opening her mouth with extreme difficulty.

"Illegal?" The leopard-headed man seemed to have heard something amusing.

"Who knows that the famous Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter, is actually an illegal Animagus?" the leopard-headed man said mockingly.

"Moreover, Rita Skeeter uses her Animagus form to eavesdrop on various secret information and then uses that information for extortion. The most ironic thing is that Ms. Skeeter has a habit of keeping accounts; she actually recorded every single extortion." The leopard-headed man lifted the notebook in his hand.

"These things should be enough to keep you in Azkaban for a lifetime," the leopard-headed man said softly.

Rita Skeeter didn't know when the vines on her body had disappeared; she had regained her ability to move.

She secretly glanced at the wand beside her, then at the leopard-headed man reading the notebook, her eyes darting constantly.

But she quickly abandoned this foolish idea.

"Have you decided? Want to make a move? This might be an opportunity. Catch me, and all your crises will vanish. The story afterwards will be up to you to fabricate." The leopard-headed man raised his head, his yellow eyes looking at her.

"You're joking, Sir—" Rita Skeeter said humbly.

The leopard-headed man closed the notebook in his hand. "Think carefully. I am actually quite reasonable. I don't have time to deal with you, but unfortunately, you happened to provoke a friend of mine..."

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