The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

Tom felt that the petition was unreliable because Hagrid could hardly be called a "popular" teacher. Even Professor Graplan just today may have better popularity than him. It’s really hard to describe the magical animals he’s been looking for before. Last semester’s boring Flobber caterpillar, this semester’s disgusting Explosive-tailed Skrewt...

How can these compare to unicorns?

So even if Harry signs a petition, there is a high probability that he will only get support from the Gryffindor boys. Don't think about Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses will probably just sit on the sidelines.

Hearing what Tom said, the light in Harry's eyes dimmed again.

"Okay." He said bitterly. He really couldn't think of where to get Hagrid's credit. His eyes turned to the staff table, where Hagrid's seat had been replaced by Professor Grapeplan, which made Harry feel empty. And after seeing Snape's face on the staff table, he remembered that he would go to Snape in a few days to receive special training in Occlumency. This made him feel even worse.

Tom's answer disappointed Harry. Perhaps sensing Harry's state of mind, Hermione, who was sitting next to Tom, comforted Harry.

"Don't worry, Dumbledore will definitely keep Hagrid if he accepts it. Those things he did before didn't do anything to him, and this kind of gossiping can't bring him down. But Hagrid should really pay attention to it, at least not to violate magic. It’s the law of the Ministry!”

Harry wanted to refute Hermione, but looking at Tom who was eating lunch quietly beside him, he shut his mouth rationally. At the same time, after thinking about it, he felt that what Hermione said made sense.

One of the charges Rita charged Hagian with was the use of magical animals closely monitored by the Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures during teaching. Thinking back to the fact that Hagrid got a three-headed dog and a fire dragon in his first year, a hippogriff in his third year, and this year he even brought a blast-tailed skrewt, if he hadn't learned a lesson, Harry wouldn't even dare to think about himself. What magical animals will we face in the future?

Hagrid, please be more careful! Harry groaned inwardly.

Tom swallowed the food in his mouth slowly at this time, turned to Hermione and said, "Hermione, do you feel that the influence of the Daily Prophet is too great?"

As the only mainstream newspaper in the British wizarding world, the Daily Prophet has a terrifying influence on British wizards. In the original world line, Fudge used the influence of newspapers to reverse the reputation of Harry and Dumbledore in one summer vacation, causing them a lot of trouble.

An article published in a newspaper can easily destroy a person, regardless of whether the remarks in the newspaper are factual or not.

The influence of this newspaper is truly terrifying.

Hermione was confused by Tom's question, but after thinking about it carefully, she was shocked to find that the Daily Prophet had achieved a media monopoly.

This is something that European and American media giants in the non-magical world dream of. In later generations, media giants such as Facebook, Bluebird, Google, and YouTube have joined forces to block even the current president of the United States. They can even fabricate right and wrong out of thin air, and they are not yet a company. The Daily Prophet is unique! The influence is comparable to that of these media giants combined.

This is a sharp and dangerous knife.

Hermione frowned and asked with some uncertainty: "Whose property is the Daily Prophet, or which family's asset it is?"

She had never considered this issue before. After being mentioned by Tom, she was shocked to find that she knew nothing about it. She was just used to buying a copy of the Daily Prophet from an owl for one knut, but she had never explored the ownership of the Daily Prophet. She only knew that the Daily Prophet was headquartered in London and had the same editors, reporters and photographers as Muggle newspapers. But who is the owner of this newspaper?

"It should be the property of the Ministry of Magic." Tom knew that the Ministry of Magic had a Public Information Department, which was probably the department that managed the Daily Prophet.

Hermione tilted her head, feeling that what Tom said made sense.

She sighed: "Listening to what you said, the influence of the Daily Prophet is indeed too great."

"Yes," Harry agreed: "That old woman Rita can ruin a person's reputation with just one article..."

"But we are not helpless." Tom suddenly had an idea, "Hermione, when you went to school in London, was there a school newspaper in the school?"

Harry and Hermione both frowned. They searched for memories in their minds for a while, and finally remembered that their elementary school had a school newspaper? They are distributed once a semester, and students are allowed to take them home during winter and summer vacations - often used to pad tables or sent to the waste paper pile.

"We can also start a school newspaper or something. At least we have the right to speak in Hogwarts - the high ground of public opinion. If you don't occupy it, it will be occupied by hostile forces." Tom poured himself a bowl of chicken soup. As a final addition to a meal.

Hermione frowned again. She had an intuition that Tom would be the hands-off shopkeeper again.

Coming up with an idea and then handing it over to someone else to implement seemed to be a regular part of Tom's routine.

"Why do we have a school newspaper?" Harry still didn't understand. It's not his fault. He, a boy who left the non-magical world and went to Hogwarts at the age of eleven, really didn't understand this.

Tom and Hermione are the only ones who understand this.

Faced with Harry's doubts, Tom followed suit: "Do you think, if we had a school newspaper that was published regularly, wouldn't we have a way to fight back when Rita Skeeter slandered Hagrid again? Will you be beaten passively like now?"

Harry:!

"To put it mildly, it would be easier to collect signatures for the petition, right? Because we can let everyone know what kind of person Hagrid is."

Harry chewed on Tom's proposal carefully and found that it made sense. He was a little moved at this time.

Hermione covered her forehead: Tom really let Tom trick him into a coolie!

Harry didn't notice Hermione's little movement. All his attention was now on the school newspaper.

"The problem is that I have no experience in running a newspaper... I don't think anyone in Hogwarts has this kind of experience, right?" Harry thought for a while and realized that as a layman in the media industry, he didn't even know how to start.

Speaking of her experience in running a newspaper, a name vaguely appeared in Hermione's mind.

Isn’t there a school girl in Ravenclaw whose family is engaged in magazine publishing? Her name is Luna Lovegood, and the magazine at home seems to be called... The Quibbler?

"I think you might be able to meet a Ravenclaw junior." Tom introduced Luna to Harry. "If you want to start a newspaper, she will definitely be able to provide a lot of help."

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Good night!