Chapter 25: The Power of the Press
"Unprecedented success, Evan!" this was Fred and George's assessment of the newspaper.
Now, Hogwarts' magical newspaper is the most popular throughout the school; all students are discussing it.
The front page featured the Quidditch field brawl, greatly satisfying everyone's curiosity. Colin even captured some photos showcasing Evan's other side.
Handsome, intelligent, and the creator of a newspaper, Evan is now nearly as famous as Harry; he is among the most popular students. Most people had a positive assessment of him, and even girls were considering writing him love letters.
The advantage of the newspaper was its ability to sway public opinion, so in his article, Evan portrayed Slytherin as the main instigator of the brawl.
Certainly, it was the truth.
Now that everyone knew what had happened, they unanimously condemned Malfoy, which angered the latter. Malfoy glared at Evan and Harry from afar but refrained from causing trouble.
Furthermore, Hermione's articles were performing better than expected, although most young wizards were not interested in such things. However, at lunch, Evan noticed several professors carefully reading the articles' content.
The introduction of articles about secret passageways, Quidditch, and magical creatures was popular among the young wizards, although much of this was covered in books that many young wizards might not read.
Some of the articles could help new students integrate more quickly into school life. The twins made puns and jokes that the older students enjoyed.
Regarding Luna's article, "How to Find a Horned Snorkack," it wasn't very popular.
Yet Luna remained happy and handed Evan a recent copy of The Quibbler, saying her father would be interested in collaborating with them deeply for a joint publication on the Horned Snorkack research findings.
The most popular articles were Lockhart's photos and novels.
Primarily popular among girls, and Hermione was no exception. Even many Slytherin girls secretly obtained a copy of Hogwarts' magical newspaper.
But most surprisingly, some people got a new newspaper from Evan to send to their parents; most of them were Lockhart fans. This would increase the number of buyers, but Evan would have to consider printing more copies.
Finally, someone noticed Lily's story by Evan at breakfast. The descriptive article transported everyone back to Godric's Hollow.
As one of the most well-known events in modern magic, young wizards knew the basics of what happened, but no one knew the details Evan wrote in his article.
For a while, this story replaced Lockhart's novel as the main focus.
Today's breakfast was meant to be much longer than usual, as everyone was immersed in this tragic tale, paying no attention to their food.
Apart from the Slytherins, the other houses were all silent as they read the article. This piqued the Slytherins' curiosity, but due to the boycott, they couldn't look.
After a while, the Slytherins returned to their common room, but the Slytherin students still looked at them curiously.
Evan smiled ironically, as he had to stay up late that night working.
The Slytherin boycott soon became almost non-existent. Evan also noticed that Snape was not at breakfast that night; it seemed the article had a significant impact on him.
Indeed, in the following week, Professor Snape's mood was peculiar. Snape was the first to leave class, not dining in the Great Hall, and besides Evan, no one else knew what was happening with Snape. Snape didn't even make things difficult for Gryffindor students, which was bewildering to some pupils.
Now everyone knew how Voldemort failed; people were not affected by the duel between James and Voldemort, but they were moved by the love that Lily showed.
As the article stated, she had the chance to live, but she sacrificed it for Harry's sake. Eventually, the power of love caused Voldemort's magic to backfire, ushering in a new era.
An hour later, when Evan and Harry emerged from the Great Hall, all the students applauded Harry.
They were paying tribute to Harry and his farewell, as heroes who saved the magical world.
That night, Gryffindor hosted a celebration where the entire staff of the Hogwarts magical newspaper became the center of attention, stirring slight concerns in Colin, arousing his emotions.
The Hogwarts' "The Prophet" newspaper achieved unprecedented success; originally printing 700 copies, they had to print another 300 due to high demand.
Even the businesses that advertised in the newspaper benefited, such as Fred and George's modified magical fireworks, which sold out in less than a day, prompting them to create new ones.
After businesses were advertised in the newspaper, their sales increased by around 30%; for example, a lot of lemonade was ordered by owl from The Three Broomsticks, making Madam Rosmerta wish to let Evan have some Butterbeer. Another example is after Evan recommended the Cockroach Clusters, they instantly became the most popular sweet at Honeydukes.
This allowed the Flume couple to sell much more than they used to, filling them with joy.
Of course, when students bought them, they immediately felt nauseous and lost their appetites, leading Evan to gain the unfortunate nickname 'Cockroach Killer'.
A few days later, businesses sent a letter to Evan inviting him to return that weekend to discuss future collaborations.
Although the amount they were willing to pay was lower than that of the Daily Prophet, at least it was a step forward after securing a long-term contract.
As a result, the necessary cost of printing the newspaper was resolved.
He felt relieved knowing he could afford the next edition of the Hogwarts magical newspaper.
Three days later, while Evan was having breakfast and whispering to Hermione about the next edition of the newspaper, he received an unexpected letter.
"Look guys!" said Evan excitedly, "The chief editor of the Daily Prophet wants to buy the rights to reprint the photos and novels of Professor Lockhart, my story about Harry's mother and..."
Evan paused, and everyone looked at him nervously.
"And your two articles, Hermione," demanding the Ministry of Magic to focus on the safety of underage witches" and "The legitimate rights and interests of Muggle-born wizards," Evan said dryly.
"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Ron, surprised, with his mouth agape.
"Is it true, Evan?" asked Hermione.
"Yes," said Evan, wrinkling his nose and adding, "In fact, Barnabas Cuffe thinks your articles are brilliant, and if you want, you can sign the contract that came with the letter, and they will send the reprinting costs and royalties tomorrow."
"Of course, I am willing!" exclaimed Hermione as she took the contract.
"The editor of the Daily Prophet is crazy, why would he want to buy Hermione's articles?" said Ron, "Is it because she wanted the Ministry of Magic to ban Quidditch?"
"Who knows, maybe he has acrophobia like me," said Evan as he stood up, "I'm going to talk to Professor Lockhart and take Colin to get some new photos."
Harry watched Evan's back and blinked innocently, not understanding why someone would want to publish the article in the Daily Prophet.
Harry agreed to let Evan put the article in the Daily Prophet; he felt it was necessary for more people to know what she had done.
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