[Main HP Comprehensive British-American] Lolita

Three days later, Victoria finally appeared in front of her friends after sending off the Browns.

Lily has long stopped crying for Angela, she has always been strong. The red-haired girl hugged her with a smile, "mulled wine?" she asked, holding a steaming glass with two sticks of cinnamon in it.

Victoria took it and took a sip, filling her mouth with cinnamon and sweet fruit.

The Pathfinders and Lily were sitting at her side, and Snape didn't come, and he'd been less involved with Lily and James since they went public.

The fire in the fireplace in the common room was still burning, making a crackling sound from time to time, and there were not many people in the room. Most of the students were picked up by worried parents, for which Dumbledore specially arranged a Hogwarts Express.

"Ah—" Jaime couldn't stand the deathly silence, scratching his head in trouble, "Are you all right, Victoria... Leah? Oops, I'm really not used to this name."

"I'm fine." She shook her head.

Then they fell silent again, and there had been a chattering little girl here a few days ago, so that all conversations were never boring.

"Then you," Lily said, "do you have any plans?"

Victoria knew what Lily meant, she was asking if she still wanted to stay at Hogwarts.

"Maybe, maybe not," she answered equivocally, "I'm not sure either."

"There's no such thing as a decision," James said, putting his hands behind his head. "Stay where you want."

"If you're waiting for the news I thought," Sirius chimed in, "Voldemort is planning to declare war on the Muggle Holy See. My cousin told me."

"I don't know if you've seen this," said Peter's weak voice, his rat-faced, always nervous expression wrinkled as he spoke in front of people, holding a newspaper in his hand, "this is today. The Daily Prophet."

The bold title flashed at Peter's fingertips: [The Age of Catastrophe: FightorExtinction (Moment of Survival: Battle or Death)].

Victoria took it, and at a glance saw a huge picture of Voldemort's speech. It was on the streets of Diagon Alley. The crowd was full of people. The man stood on the high platform with open arms and seemed to say something excitedly.

But even with such a big move, he still looked noble and aloof, as if he was the savior that the gods had sent down for his people, or...he was the gods themselves.

The reports are as wonderful as the photos, and if there is a Pulitzer Prize in the wizarding world, she can't help thinking that this article and photo will definitely be selected.

"Some say," Lily read aloud from Voldemort's speech, "that Muggles need to be protected, so we have the International Statute of Secrecy. Some say Muggles don't need to know we exist, so we have magic enforcement again. Secretary. We were also bathed in the glory of our ancestors, obsessed with the glory of the past, and lived like a shadow on this continent for three hundred years. We neither invaded nor resisted, so a son turned his back on his mother, All the children are put at risk—"

"Okay," Victoria interrupted, "OK."

"But I haven't read the best part yet..." Lily glanced at her face and shut her mouth obediently.

She could imagine that, as the first politician to stand up, Voldemort's reputation should have reached an unprecedented height at this time. This was his first move.

And now it's her turn—

"I also made an interview with someone," she said. "You can see me in the same newspaper in a few days."

"Who is the reporter?" Lily asked because her tone was too suspicious.

"Do you remember the power of the Hufflepuff rumors?" she said, and the people around her nodded. "I found its source, a Hogwarts student, Rita Skeeter."

"So Professor Voldemort is really your ex-boyfriend?" Sirius couldn't help asking.

She nodded, "But none of you believed it."

"Then you now?" he asked.

"It's very complicated," she said. "We had some differences, so we separated for the time being." Seeing their half-understood faces, she added a wicked sentence: "But we are still husband and wife legally. ."

Three months ago, Dumbledore approached her to talk on the first day of school.

The old man explained his cooperation with Voldemort, and the upcoming war.

"Then," she asked, "what can you give me in exchange for my loyalty? One notice is not enough."

"And as my successor?" the old man said gently. "Although I often remind myself to be humble, I have to admit that I am now in a detached position, and no one can beat me in terms of prestige."

"But you are regarded as a saint, I have no such charm."

"Don't forget, we are facing a war. Heroes are often made with blood and death."

"what do you mean?"

Dumbledore didn't answer immediately, but pushed the plate full of lemon candy on the table in her direction: "Would you like a candy?"

"I don't think candy will help, sir."

The old man smiled and ate the candy, "Don't worry, Victoria, I believe that one day you will be a great hero, because your kindness and bravery will help you."

"Your assumption of my good character seems to have come too easily."

"Because you're Gryffindor," Dumbledore gave a half-truth, "shh, don't tell Tom my prejudice, but I always have faith in Gryffindors.

"After that, even if I become a saint who is praised by everyone, what will it affect?"

"You take fame too lightly," he said. "If things go as expected, you have the ability to stand up to Tom. In other words, you stop totalitarianism and dictatorship."

"Is that what 'your successor' means? Just to prevent Tom Riddle from ruling the wizarding world?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Don't underestimate this job. There can't be only one right or wrong, and having different voices makes society alive, and that's something Tom can't understand or achieve. I'm getting old, Victoria. , so I understand better how important inclusion is. I believe in you."

"You, hello, Miss Stark." Seventh-year Rita Skeeter held out her hand nervously.

Victoria shook hands with her, "Hello, Miss Skeeter, I've heard it for a long time."

She managed to get the Daily Prophet to compromise by licensing the scoop, agreeing that a Hogwarts student would be solely responsible for their headlines.

"Don't be nervous," she reassured, and Rita's hands kept stroking the nonexistent folds of her school robe, "you just have to play as usual."

Rita took a deep breath and sat across from her, spreading the notebook on her lap, holding the pen in her hand.

Rita, who was holding the pen, seemed to be a different person in an instant. She stopped the uncomfortable little movements, and the hand holding the pen no longer trembled. Her eyes were intertwined with Victoria——

Victoria nodded: "Let's start."

"This is my first question," Rita's erratic eyes became extra confident. "Are you Lord and Pie?"

This is Rita's speculation, because when Victoria found her, she had revealed that she had a political disagreement with Lord Voldemort, and she even encouraged her article to boldly hint in this regard.

"No," the girl gave an unexpected answer, "I, like the famous Mr. Voldemort, think this war is imperative."

"Why, why?" Rita was a little surprised, she expected Victoria Stark to be an innocent girl full of holy light.

"Why not?" The look on her face made Rita feel like she was asking a stupid question, "In the words of the Muggle Bible, 'a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye', the perpetrator deserves to pay for his mistakes The price, as long as there is justice in the world."

"Then why do you claim that you are not a supporter of Mr. Voldemort?"

Victoria nodded to her with satisfaction, "Because I think he has been avoiding the crux of the problem, the answer to Zhan or He is very clear, the question is, what kind of war will this be, and what will the magical world after the war be like? What's it like."

"You know," she raised an eyebrow, "sometimes a massacre is called a war."

The author has something to say: Rita Skeeter's age and college here are inconsistent with the original.

Conversation with Dumbledore in chapter42.