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Wentworth was still a little dazed from the article when Cedric and Green exchanged a look. Green then plopped down next to Wentworth, threw an arm around his shoulders, and said,
"Don't worry, Wentworth. I don't think anyone at Hogwarts is going to believe a word of that nonsense."
But Wentworth shot back,
"What about people outside of Hogwarts? I don't want Headmaster Dumbledore to be slandered because of this. After all, he only came with me last night to make sure I was safe when I activated that Portkey."
Cedric quickly chimed in,
"Wentworth, the professors told us last night—we're not supposed to say a word about any of it. They don't want to scare the other students. So no matter what, don't tell anyone what really happened, okay?"
Wentworth nodded and replied,
"Of course. I know what I can and can't say. But I think there's another way—I'm going to convince Rita Skeeter to write a follow-up and fix her lies."
He pulled out a quill and some parchment and started writing on the spot.
Cedric, curious, asked,
"Wait—are you writing to her? Rita Skeeter? I don't think that's gonna work. My dad's told me about her—she thrives on this kind of scandal. She's not going to listen to some student's explanation."
Without even looking up, Wentworth replied,
"Oh, I'm not writing to her. I'm writing to my family—asking one of my elders to go have a proper talk with Rita Skeeter."
Meanwhile, not far from Hogwarts in the village of Hogsmeade, a figure disguised as Ilona—actually Rozier in disguise—walked into the Hog's Head pub, her head covered by a black veil.
Rozier frowned as she looked around the grimy, run-down bar. Her eyes swept the room until they landed on a masked figure sitting in a shadowy corner.
Rossier walked straight to the table tucked away in the corner and sat down next to the man in disguise.
"Abernathy, why'd you choose this run-down, filthy bar? I can barely stand to be in here for more than a second!"
Yep, it was Abernathy in disguise. He pulled out a glass of his own, walked over to the bar to get a butterbeer, and handed it to Rossier when he came back. Then he said:
"Obviously to keep a low profile! In a place like this, covering your face is practically a fashion statement. With the way we're dressed, we don't stand out at all."
Hearing this explanation, Rossier let out a long sigh, took a sip of the butterbeer, and before he could say anything, Abernathy leaned in eagerly and asked:
"We read the letter you sent last night—what's the situation with Wentworth?"
Rossier glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, then finally spoke in a low voice:
"Last night, Dumbledore and Wentworth activated that Portkey together. They came back late at night. Aside from being a little tired, Wentworth didn't seem hurt."
Hearing that, Abernathy breathed a deep sigh of relief and slowly nodded.
"That's good, that's good! So did you figure out who left the Portkey on Wentworth's bed? And where exactly did he and Dumbledore go last night? What happened?"
Rossier paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"You mean to tell me—"
Abernathy started to snap but bit his tongue, stopped himself, and just gritted his teeth.
"We can't let this slide! Someone targeting Wentworth is the same as declaring war on the Pureblood Party! Have we gone so long without fighting that they think we've forgotten how to use our wands?"
As Abernathy ranted, he noticed Rossier wasn't really paying attention. His eyes were focused behind Abernathy instead.
Curious, Abernathy turned around—and spotted someone holding up the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. On the front page was a photo of none other than Dumbledore and Wentworth.
Without hesitation, Abernathy got up, strode over, and grabbed the newspaper out of the man's hands.
The man looked confused and slammed his hand on the table in protest—but just before his hand hit, Rossier casually flipped it palm-up and dropped a shiny golden Galleon into it.
The man's eyes lit up as he happily pocketed the coin, then turned and walked out of the Hog's Head without a word. Abernathy returned to the table with the paper in hand.
He and Rossier huddled over it, reading the article written by none other than Rita Skeeter. But while they were both interested, their focus was very different—Abernathy was staring at the photo, while Rossier zeroed in on the article itself.
Abernathy pointed at the photo and whispered:
"Look at the background—those woods behind Dumbledore and Wentworth are totally scorched. Dumbledore must've fought someone. And even though it's clear he won, the other guy definitely wasn't just some random wizard. Otherwise, with Dumbledore's power, it wouldn't have caused that much destruction."
Rossier, meanwhile, jabbed his finger at the last paragraph and grumbled:
"I like how she's calling Dumbledore into question, but dragging Wentworth into it? Not cool. He's the future leader of the Pureblood Party! I don't want people going around saying he had some weird history with Dumbledore!"
They kept talking for a long while. Abernathy even suggested sneaking into the British Ministry of Magic to find the surviving wizard from last night's battle, hoping to get a lead on who was behind the ambush. But Rossier quickly shut that idea down.
"I'll figure out a way to get info from Wentworth directly. Worst case, I'll reveal who I am and ask him what the hell happened last night!"
In the end, Rossier made the final decision. He told Abernathy to go back and tell the others to be ready—anyone who dares mess with the Pureblood Party will pay the price.
But just as the two of them were leaving the Hog's Head and about to part ways, an owl swooped down from the sky and dropped a letter right in front of them.
"....."