The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Now all he needs to do is publish an article every few days to keep his presence felt.

Tuesday, November 20.

At breakfast time, a flock of owls flew overhead, dropping letters and newspapers.

Eddie immediately opened the Daily Prophet and flipped through it.

“Sure enough, it has already begun,” he said. “The entire UMNO’s propaganda offensive.”

Upon hearing this, Scott put down his knife and fork and picked up his newspaper.

The front page headline was normal news, but the second page featured an article attacking Dumbledore—

Burns or Dumbledore?

Scott read the commentary from a journalist whose name seemed familiar as quickly as possible.

"This reporter is suggesting that Dumbledore's recommendation of Ms. Burns was an attempt to secretly manipulate the Ministry of Magic," Milton said after reading the commentary.

“Oh, and it also involves former minister Fudge,” Roger said. “The comments say that Fudge also came to power with Dumbledore’s support, and after he became minister, he often consulted Dumbledore.”

Scott chuckled. "Ha, this is probably just a prelude. With Dumbledore's current prestige, he would have the support of most wizards even if he ran directly for minister."

“That’s right, it’s just foreshadowing, planting a shadow in people’s minds.” Eddie laughed as well. “I think they will gradually tarnish Dumbledore’s reputation next.”

Chapter 453 Scott, second place

Scott said, "So people probably won't take the content of this commentary seriously. But considering the actions following the All-Witchcraft Conference, that might change."

“It’s alright, I’m ready,” Eddie said confidently. “The All-Witchcraft Society’s propaganda war is doomed to fail.”

Scott had no objection to this.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Eddie alone can reverse public opinion or even influence the outcome of the ministerial election by publishing a few articles.

The main reason is that the UMNO was already at a disadvantage.

After Medea was cursed into a deep sleep, Mr. Grevis's chances of becoming the new minister were greatly reduced.

The so-called propaganda war is nothing more than a desperate struggle by everyone else in the UMNO.

Even without Eddie's help in public opinion, Mr. Grevis's chances of being elected were still lower than Ms. Burns'.

William, who had already become an undercover agent, was also not optimistic about the victory of the All-Witchcraft Party.

Scott and Eddie went to great lengths to get involved in this matter simply to eliminate any possibility of Mr. Grevis being elected minister.

They wanted to help Milton and get Mr. Grevis out of the spotlight.

Of course, Eddie did it out of interest as well.

Things unfolded exactly as they had anticipated.

Every day thereafter, journalists published similar commentaries in the Daily Prophet, with increasingly explicit attacks and smears against Dumbledore and Ms. Burns.

It wasn't just the Daily Prophet; the Evening Prophet, with its more entertaining content, even featured tabloid stories about Dumbledore and Ms. Burns.

Someone secretly took a picture of Dumbledore and Ms. Burns talking together.

In this photo, the two of them look a bit close together.

In short, this tabloid news caused a huge uproar at Hogwarts.

Unlike the previous commentary articles in the Daily Prophet, which, despite their malicious political interpretations of Dumbledore, did not generate much interest, this one was a different story.

But as soon as this obviously fake gossip news came out, many people immediately got excited.

Although most students didn't believe there was anything between Dumbledore and Ms. Burns, after all, Dumbledore was over a hundred years old, some students still enjoyed talking about it.

Even some students who didn't believe it were happy to see such a "joke".

Seeing their reactions, Eddie said to Milton, "See? I told you, people love scandals. They only care about the fun they get from them, not whether the scandal is true or not."

“I didn’t expect that some of the Hogwarts students would be affected by this kind of news,” Milton said worriedly.

Scott said, "It's easy to imagine that the situation is even worse outside of schools."

“Looks like it’s time for Hollingworth to make his appearance,” Eddie said, sounding a little impatient.

Prior to this, Hollingworth continued to represent some vaguely defined opinions and did not retaliate against those who made defamatory remarks.

"What a pity." Eddie looked like a lonely master. "The news queen has already been defeated by my previous attack. With her reputation damaged, she may not be able to play again."

"It's just that he probably won't play himself," Scott said.

Rita Slater is already a member of the All Witchcraft Society, and she will undoubtedly use her advantages to contribute to the organization's operations.

Even if they don't personally participate, they may still instruct others or provide intelligence.

"What are you going to do?" Milton asked Eddie. "Publish an article to clarify things for Headmaster Dumbledore and Ms. Burns?"

Eddie shook his head immediately. "Clarification is unnecessary. What I need to do is add fuel to the fire, turning one side's propaganda attack into a real propaganda war."

He patted Milton on the shoulder.

"Let me make it clear beforehand that I will attack your father, find fault with him, and even slander and defame him. Moreover, the content will become increasingly exaggerated."

Milton paused, then asked, "What's the use of this?"

Eddie laughed. "People are always easily swayed by public opinion, and they always like to think they're so clever."

"Before I attacked Mr. Grevis, quite a few people may have been influenced by those articles and developed a bad impression of Dumbledore and Burns."

“But as long as I intensify my offensive, even to an increasingly exaggerated degree, they will spontaneously ‘wake up’.”

"They will realize that this mutual attack is just a result of the election of the Minister of Magic."

"At that time, the 'smart people' who think they have seen through this tactic will view the back-and-forth between the two sides with what they consider to be a very rational, smug, and superior attitude."

"They will enjoy the farce and will no longer believe those slanderous words."

Roger rarely praised Eddie, saying, "That's amazing. It seems you've grasped this concept perfectly."

Eddie put his hands on his hips and laughed smugly, "Hmph, the future media mogul is no joke."

Milton then spoke up, "I think I understand what you mean, Eddie."

Eddie asked him, "So, you really don't care?"

Milton shook his head decisively. "If you really don't care, then do it your way, as long as the result is good."

Then he muttered to himself, "At most, I'll just avoid reading the newspapers for the next few days."

Scott chuckled to himself.

Sure enough, Milton also had his grievances against Mr. Grevis.

The events that followed unfolded much as Eddie had predicted.

Once Hollingworth officially stated its position, a back-and-forth war of words ensued.

The All Witchcraft Society's planned smear campaign against Dumbledore and Burns has turned into a farce in the eyes of many.

Eddie has far more experience in gossip and tabloid news than the journalists who work for the UMNO.

He seized upon Mr. Grevis's infidelity and abandonment of his wife and children, fabricating many fascinating stories.

People love his story like they're following a serialized melodramatic novel, captivated by the exaggerated and convoluted plot, watching it every day.

Of course, this success is also largely due to Mrs. Zabini's legendary past experiences.

Although Milton wanted to keep his eyes off the issue, he couldn't help but care about the progress, and these things caused him some trouble.

As a poor little guy abandoned by Mr. Grevis in Eddie's story, he received many sympathetic and pitying glances.

This made him, who was always very sensitive, very uncomfortable.

That wasn't the end of it; Hollingworth continued to launch a full-scale attack on Mr. Grevis.

After all, Mr. Grevis's private life is not the only thing that has drawn criticism.

His disadvantages and shortcomings in terms of political capital are also obvious.

Compared to Ms. Burns, he did not hold a high enough position in the past, nor did he have a long enough time to gain political recognition.

And so, the last day of September arrived.

On this day, as expected, Ms. Burns, the head of the Department of Law Enforcement, was successfully elected to become the new Minister for Magic of the United Kingdom.

Furthermore, after the news was announced, Milton received more and more looks of sympathy, pity, and schadenfreude.

But Milton didn't have time to care about any of that.

That evening, he finally received another message from Mr. Grevis via the [Magic Phone].

After speaking with Mr. Grevis, Milton told Scott and his team, "My dad said he's probably been abandoned by the All Witchcraft Council. The defeat has angered them, and they've decided not to give him any political support."

Eddie shrugged. "Obviously, once Ms. Burns takes over, she'll likely remove your father from the position of Secretary General and replace him with one of her own trusted subordinates."

“My dad said the same thing,” Milton said. “He said that while ceasing to provide any support might be a momentary outburst of anger, his usefulness would indeed decrease, and fewer people would be watching him.”

Scott said, "That's a good thing; the deeper you get involved, the more dangerous it becomes."

Milton smiled.

“My father also said that his marriage to Mrs. Zabini was orchestrated by Ms. Slytherin. He and Mrs. Zabini were never close, and they would be divorcing soon.”

Hearing him say that, Scott and the other two were all taken aback.

But they quickly realized what was happening and began congratulating Milton that his family would be whole again.

As for what they were thinking, no one said.

The next day, October arrived.

The atmosphere inside Hogwarts gradually became tense.

As agreed, starting in October, professors will begin signing recommendation letters for students they favor.

All the students who wanted to participate in the Triwizard Tournament started taking action.

Everyone wants to be the first to collect all five letters of recommendation, or at least be among the top 25.

Only in this way can they represent Hogwarts at Beauxbatons for exchanges, or even become warriors to compete.

Everyone's patience, which had been building for a month, was about to explode.