The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

This short article contains a variety of intentions, including playing the victim, seeking sympathy, downplaying the seriousness of the matter, offering a sincere apology, feigning magnanimity, and subtly implying the enemy.

Clearly, the news queen has brought out almost all her strength this time.

Hello everyone, I'm sorry to bother you again.

I believe I have encountered an organized and premeditated case of peer bullying.

I must stand up and speak for myself, to say some sincere and heartfelt words.

I've been in a bad mood these past couple of days.

I must say, after reading that article criticizing me, I was quite apprehensive.

My first thought was, is there something wrong with me that I haven't noticed?

Although I consider myself to be always serious and responsible in my work, I would not dare to be so arrogant as to say that I have never made a mistake.

I'm terrified that my readers will be disappointed in me.

But I soon realized that I shouldn't belittle myself because of other people's unwarranted attacks, as that would be letting down all the efforts I've made in my past career.

Moreover, I believe that any rational person can clearly see the reason for this drama—

Someone wants to ruin my reputation and make "Hollingworth" famous overnight.

Yes, to reiterate, it was an organized and premeditated action.

The reason is simple: someone just wanted to kindly remind my colleague that they would compile "99 vulnerabilities" within two days?

I mean, that's too much, isn't it?

I'm sorry, but my reputation is the result of years of hard work, and these lies, mixed with a few truths, cannot discredit me.

But I still want to say thank you.

Thank you to the people behind the name "Hollingworth". Thank you, at least you reminded me of some mistakes I made in my past work.

I also ask for the readers' forgiveness.

But I still hope Mr. Hollingworth understands that a journalist who hides his real name and dares not face people with his true identity will never be able to gain the trust of readers!

Finally, I wish you, or any of you, success in becoming a journalist.

"It's remarkable."

Eddie chuckled.

"She casually reduced the 99 flaws I had painstakingly found to just a few, and then proactively apologized to the readers. As a result, I couldn't very well refute her point by point."

"That's how it's resolved?" Milton said with some regret. "You spent two nights writing that!"

"Hey hey hey..."

Eddie gave a strange smile.

"It's alright, I expected this. I knew the news queen wouldn't be so easily defeated."

"Hey hey hey..."

"This battle is fair, Hollingworth. My pen name certainly doesn't have the same reputation as Skeeter's, which has been cultivated for many years, but just as easily, she can't attack me personally."

"Hehe, this battle has only just begun."

He seemed to be getting more and more interested.

In response, Scott said helplessly, "Eddie, while I'm glad you can find genuine enjoyment in this, could you please stop laughing like a dim-witted villain from a children's movie?"

"Which movie?" Eddie asked curiously.

Scott did not answer him.

It's probably a movie called "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

At that moment, a phrase like "Hehehe, Harry Potter is dead" was playing on a loop in Scott's mind.

After that, Eddie, whose fighting spirit had been completely ignited, took action again.

This time, he was targeting Rita Skeeter's seemingly all-encompassing intelligence capabilities.

She knew many things that happened or said in private, and then published them in the newspaper.

According to Eddie, this is also why many people are wary of her.

To this end, he specifically contacted some "victims" and invited them to appear in interviews to testify and accuse Skeeter of violating their privacy.

Scott knew perfectly well how Skeeter had done it, but he didn't tell Eddie.

Eddie is enjoying the process of defeating the news queen head-on, but it's best not to reveal his hand too soon, lest he spoil Eddie's fun.

Of course, this is also because Eddie's current actions are just a prelude; his ultimate goal is actually the election of Minister of Magic.

If Eddie fails to defeat her by the crucial moment, Scott will still reveal Rita Skeeter's Animagus identity for the final blow.

Perhaps, the determined Eddie will not disappoint.

For a time, the "war" between Hollingworth and Rita Skeeter truly became a hot topic in the British magical world.

The two took turns publishing articles in the Evening Prophet, one person per day. As the war of words escalated, they attracted more and more attention and received better and better coverage.

While it didn't quite make the front page of the Evening Prophet, it was just below the front page.

As for the outcome of the "war," surprisingly, Eddie actually gained some advantages.

As expected of the gossip queen of Hogwarts, even the experienced Rita Skeeter gradually couldn't keep up after going all out.

Scott increasingly felt that Eddie was a natural businessman; even at Hogwarts, he had quietly amassed a vast network of connections through his past dealings.

At the very least, Scott couldn't call out the names of all the students at Hogwarts like Eddie could.

Yes, not just the seniors. Only two weeks into the semester, Eddie can already call out the names of all the freshmen in the four colleges and can even talk to most of them.

His network of contacts is usually unremarkable, but it always provides him with the information he needs at crucial moments.

This requires not only excellent interpersonal skills, but also strong information gathering and processing abilities.

In short, just as Eddie had hoped, the pen name "Hollingworth" truly became an instant hit.

Eddie was naturally extremely pleased with this.

“She doesn’t know who I am! To hide my identity, I didn’t even ask the newspaper for payment! Of course, from the moment she responded to me, she was destined to fail, while I will never suffer a loss.”

"Why do you say that?" Milton was becoming increasingly fond of flattery.

Eddie flashed that idiotic villain grin again. "Because the best way to avoid being stepped on by me to climb up is to not respond to me! As long as she responds, she'll share some of my fame. And even if I lose this battle, I'll only lose a pen name that I can change at any time!"

Roger asked, "Didn't Skeeter think of these things?"

“Of course she wants it,” Eddie said dismissively, “but she also wants the attention.”

He shook his head dismissively.

"The news queen is too greedy. She can't bear to part with the attention that comes her way, and she wants to attract people's attention by working with me from afar. She probably thinks she has everything under control. But clearly, she overestimated herself and underestimated me."

Scott was generous with his praise, saying, "I must say, well done!"

Eddie put away his smug expression and said seriously, "So far, I have gained initial capital, and the pen name 'Hollingworth' has also gained some influence."

"Congratulations," Scott said, giving a thumbs up.

“Things will be much easier from here on out, right?” Milton asked.

Eddie nodded, then shook his head. "But that's not enough. To prepare for the All-Witchcraft Society's media offensive, I will gradually change my style over the next period of time."

Seeing Milton's puzzled look, he explained, "This probably won't work. I need to do more than just boost my fame through the war with the Queen of News; I also need to publish other articles to cultivate a professional image."

Clearly, he already has a clear plan for this.

"Of course, I also want to thank you for your help, Scott."

Eddie is able to gain the upper hand in the "war" because he is not fighting alone.

Scott's covert protection was also indispensable.

If Eddie were to rely solely on himself, given Rita Skeeter's extensive network cultivated over many years at the Prophet's Newspaper, she could easily gain an absolute advantage.

It's even possible to follow the clues and find out the real identity behind the pen name "Hollingworth".

“I didn’t do much,” Scott smiled. “Just some small help; it was mainly thanks to you.”

He really didn't do anything.

He simply sent a crow to gather information that Eddie couldn't obtain through his connections.

There's also the remote monitoring of employees at the Prophet's Newspaper who are close to Rita Skeeter, using some harmless little secrets to ask them to promise not to side with Skeeter.

This is really nothing.

It's all just paving the way for the subsequent propaganda war.

In the time that followed, Eddie continued to maintain his popularity by exchanging messages with Rita Skeeter, and also tried to submit some more serious articles.

For example, try to objectively analyze the merits and demerits of the two candidates for Minister of Magic.

Since the election of the Minister of Magic is a topic of great interest to all wizards in Britain, articles of this kind frequently appeared in newspapers for a period of time.

In order to establish his professionalism, Eddie had to rack his brains and find alternative ways to get his analytical articles published in the newspaper.

After failing to submit his article twice in a row, he finally found the right direction and successfully published it, gaining considerable attention.

Of course, Scott also played a tiny, insignificant role in it.

To be on the safe side, Eddie did not show any obvious bias in the article.

He expressed a slightly higher opinion of Ms. Burns, while also holding similar expectations for Mr. Grevis.

Logically speaking, there are many articles with the same attitude, so it shouldn't be Hollingworth's turn.

But Eddie fully utilized his unique talent—the ability to make something boring sound hilarious.

After finding the right direction, his articles became increasingly popular.

The newspaper never went against sales figures, and soon even Scott's meager help was no longer needed.

By the halfway point of September, Hollingworth had become a well-known journalist, and his articles had been successfully published in the Daily Prophet, a more important and authoritative publication than the Evening Prophet.

Rita Skeeter's reputation was damaged by the Hollingworth attack, and she temporarily went into hiding.

With the war with the news queen over, Eddie's busy days came to an end.