Snape's spying career --- Bagman's spying career

[catlady_de_los_angeles]

No: HPFGUIDX 36298

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Molly <frodoyoda at a...> wrote:

> I've even got some (if rather flimsy) canon to back this up. Rita 
> Skeeter says to Harry in GoF that 'I know things about Ludo Bagman 
> that could make your hair curl.', or something to that effect. 
> Harry  saw her at Bagman's trial and surmised that Bagman's 
> proported DE activities were what Rita was referring to. Assuming 
> Harry was right, why didn't she *tell* him, or write an article 
> making it public. Certainly not out of discretion or integrity. It 
> *must* have been the charm. :)

I had the vague impression that Skeeter meant she knew MORE about 
Bagman than had come out at the trial (e.g. that he really had joined 
up with the Dark Side). She didn't tell Harry (or Hermione, or 
whomever she had made that statement to) because heesh didn't ask, 
and I don't know that Skeeter would give information away just 
for the gratification of being begged for it: she might have demanded 
something more in exchange for the info.

I had assumed that Skeeter had published news reportage of the Bagman 
trial. That was long ago and he was cleared; Harry doesn't read old 
newspapers and the history books Hermione reads wouldn't have listed 
ALL the people who were cleared, so the kids didn't know about it. 

Even if her news reportage was straight, the news wasn't a very big 
deal: the popular Ludo Bagman was accused of being a Dark Side spy, 
but the jury found that he had only been too trusting and foolishly 
loose-lipped, so he was found innocent and continued his Quidditch 
career. Soon the public forget the 'false' accusation and remembered 
only the Quidditch triumphs. 

If her reportage was slanted, it would have been slanted pro-Bagman, 
ecause slanting it anti-Bagman would have made her very unpopular. 
News slanted pro-Bagman would have emphasized that the false 
accusation was made out of malice, not ignorant error, by someone who 
was jealous of him, that the information he was accused of leaking 
had been terribly trivial, and that it was he who revealed the 
dangerous Death Eater spy Rookwood.

Which reminds me: WHAT useful information could a QUIDDITCH PLAYER 
have that a MINISTRY INSIDER didn't already have?  All I can think of 
is that important but foolish Ministry wizards, from important 
departments other than the one Rookwood was in, invited him to their 
dinner parties (where he was something for them to show off) and then 
talked shop in front of him, forgetful of their non-disclosure 
agreements.